listening = obeying

"'Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.'" So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
2 Chronicles 11:4

Even though the divided kingdom was a tragic turn of events, it was the act of a sovereign God among His people. Rehoboam put together an army with the attention of restoring the union of the nation. He prepared to attack Jeroboam. And God intervened with a prophetic command that stopped the civil war. The king of Judah checked his pride and obeyed the Word of God.

The rest of 2 Chronicles 11 details the blessings that followed in the wake of obedience. Judah was secured. Instead of attacking his fellow Israelites, Rehoboam fortified his holdings. He built strong cities all around Judah and Benjamin. He stocked those fortresses from the royal storehouses and the people prospered. God granted Judah success as the king trusted God and followed His commands. This is a good period of time despite the divided nature of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

I love that the scriptures give us insight into what it truly means to "listen" to God's Word. Truly listening to God, hearing from Him, yields full obedience to Him. It is not enough to have knowledge of the truth. To be blessed, we must obey. And that principle carries forward today. In order to truly be "people of the Word" we must DO what God calls us to do. It isn't enough to locate chapter and verse... we must live out its meaning!