This is what the LORD says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for I have done this. (1 Kgs 12:24) So before we try to make practical applications from this story, we need to make sure we understand what the writer wants us to see primarily. The focus is on divine sovereignty, not on the lack of wisdom of youth or how older people get ignored (Davis, 1 Kings, 128). We might rightly note such matters, but the point in the text is