Today in God's Word—February 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
February 22, 2 Chronicles 12
“Thus says the LORD, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” - 2 Chronicles 12:5, 7-8
Parents make covenants with their children quite often. I’m not thinking about big life- spanning covenants, but little agreements. We might call them mini-covenants. Suppose a child needs some positive motivation to improve his math grade. The promise of some reward for doing the work and raising the grade is an example of such an agreement. If the grades do not improve, the parent doesn’t grant the reward.
We parents also make mini-covenants with warnings attached as well. A teenager is granted the privilege of going out with his friends, with the condition that he will be home by 10:30 PM. If he is late, the parent must be faithful to honor what he said he would do in the covenant. The parent’s integrity and credibility demand that he or she administer the punishment that was promised.
God dealt with Israel in much the same way after he gave Moses the law at Mount Sinai. He clearly announced the demands of the law. He promised to bless their obedience and then warned that he would curse their disobedience. God is always righteous and faithful to his word. When they obeyed, they were blessed. When they disobeyed, they suffered the promised consequences of their disobedience.
Rehoboam was a king, but he was also as human as the rest of us. So often when we humans feel weak and helpless, we realize we
are dependent on God. But when we feel confident of our strength, we are prone to forget and abandon God. That’s exactly what Rehoboam did when he had firmly established what was left of his diminished kingdom. He abandoned the LORD’s commands and led the nation into unfaithfulness. Since God is faithful to keep his covenant promises, he punished them, just as he had honored his promises to bless them.
When Shishak of Egypt and his allies invaded Judah, all the princes of the nation gathered with their father the king in Jerusalem because of the threat. God sent the prophet Shimaiah to deliver the bad news: “You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.” This news brought the king and the people to their knees in humble repentance.
God’s heart of compassion was stirred when the people of Judah humbled themselves. He sent Shemaiah back to them to announce that the punishment would now be less severe. But they would still have to serve Egypt for a while to learn that it’s better to serve God than an enemy nation. So Judah was humiliated, but not destroyed when God restrained the Egyptians.
Shishak took all the treasures of the temple and the palace. He seized anything of value, including the gold shields that Solomon had made for the temple and the palace. Rehoboam replaced the stolen gold shields with much less valuable bronze replicas. Even those were only put on display when the king left his palace to go to the temple. After he was back home, the replacement shields went back into secure storage until they were needed again. Those shields are symbolic of the terrible, worthless substitutes God’s people are left with when they turn away from God.
Rehoboam did evil, because his heart was not set on seeking God. The seventeen years of his reign were filled with strife. The division between Israel and Judah was still raw and easily irritated. Both nations wasted time,
resources and soldiers’ lives in ongoing wars between themselves.
Like any human being, even kings die. Rehoboam died, and was buried with his royal ancestors in Jerusalem. His son Abijah took his place.
Dear reader, what can you and I take away from this sad chapter? Let’s remember that we are especially vulnerable to forsaking and forgetting God when we think we’re strong enough not to need him. Let’s rejoice that our God is tender- hearted toward us and wants us to come back to him when we’ve strayed. Let’s also be careful not to not lose our humility after God shows us mercy. I need to acknowledge that I do evil when my heart is not set on God. And one day, we will die, regardless of who we are or how important we may be. When we do, someone will take our place. As David told Solomon, it’s the way of all the earth. What changes would you and I make in how we live if we really believed and lived by these things?
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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