2 Chronicles 12:1-16

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah

2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 12

Rehoboam – 2 Chronicles 12:1-16

v1 Rehoboam established his rule as king and he became strong. Then he and all *Israel stopped obeying the law of the *LORD. v2 In the 5th year of King Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He came because Rehoboam and the people had not been loyal to the *LORD. v3 Shishak came with 1200 *chariots and 60 000 men on horses. Also, there were a vast number of men from the countries called Libya and Cush. And there were men called Sukkiim. They came with Shishak from Egypt. v4 Shishak *captured the strong cities of Judah and he even came to Jerusalem.

v5 Then Shemaiah the *prophet came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah. They had gathered in Jerusalem because they were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah spoke to them. ‘This is what the *LORD says to you. “You have left me, so now I will leave you. I will hand you over to Shishak.” ’

v6 Then the leaders of Judah and King Rehoboam were sorry because of what they had done. And they showed the *Lord that they were sorry. This is what they said. ‘The *LORD does what is right.’

v7 The *LORD saw that they were sorry. They *repented for what they had done. Then the *LORD spoke to Shemaiah. He said, ‘The king and the leaders have shown that they are sorry. So, I will not kill them. I will not punish them as I would have done. I was angry but now I will not use Shishak to destroy Jerusalem. v8 But the people in Jerusalem will become Shishak’s servants. So, they will learn what it is to serve me. And they will see how different it is to serve kings of other countries.’

v9 Shishak, king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He took the valuable things from the *LORD’s *temple and from the royal palace. He took everything, even the gold *shields that Solomon had made. v10 So, King Rehoboam made *bronze *shields to replace the gold *shields. He gave these *shields to the officers of the guards who were on duty at the palace gates. v11 When the king went to the *LORD’s *temple, the guards went with him. They carried the *shields. Afterwards they put the *shields back in the room that belonged to the guards.

v12 Rehoboam was sorry for what he had done. So, the *LORD was not angry and he did not kill Rehoboam. And things were good in Judah.

v13 King Rehoboam made himself a strong king in Jerusalem. He was 41 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for 17 years. The *LORD had chosen Jerusalem from all the *tribes of *Israel to be his city. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah. She came from the country called Ammon. v14 Rehoboam did evil things because he did not want to obey the *LORD.

v15 The *prophets Shemaiah and Iddo recorded the life of Rehoboam. They wrote down all that he did from the beginning to the end of his rule. What they wrote is in the book of the family history. Rehoboam and Jeroboam fought wars all the time that they ruled. v16 Rehoboam died and they buried him in Jerusalem. Then his son Abijah became king.

Verses 1-4 For the first three years of his rule, Rehoboam encouraged the people to *worship the *LORD (11:17). He ruled over the people of the *tribes of Judah and Benjamin. And many people had come from the other *tribes to join up with them. They came because they wanted to serve the God of their *ancestors. There was peace and security for those three years.

But when Rehoboam became strong, he *turned from the *LORD. Also all the people in his *kingdom stopped obeying God’s law. They set up high places to *worship other gods. They made *Asherah poles on every high place. These poles were images of the female god *Asherah. And the people did all the bad things that other nations did (1 Kings 14:22-24).

Because of all this *sin, the *LORD did not protect Judah from the king of Egypt. In Rehoboam’s 5th year as king, King Shishak of Egypt came and he attacked Jerusalem. He punished Judah because they were not loyal to the *LORD.

Another name for Shishak was Shechonq. He was the first king of the 22nd series of kings of Egypt. He came with an enormous army and he fought against both Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

In Shishak’s army, there were men from the countries called Libya and Cush. These countries were in northern Africa. And there were men called Sukkiim. We are not sure who the Sukkiim were. They were probably a nation of people who lived in tents. The country called Cush was south of Egypt.

On the walls of Amun’s *temple in the town called Karnak in Egypt, there is a record of Shishak’s battles. The Bible does not record these battles except that he *captured strong cities.

When Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, Jeroboam ran away to King Shishak in Egypt (1 Kings 11:40). But that did not save him when Shishak attacked *Israel.

Verse 5 Shishak and his army came close to Jerusalem. All the leaders of Judah were afraid of him. So, they had come together in Jerusalem. Then Shemaiah the *prophet spoke to Rehoboam and to the leaders. He told them what the *LORD said. They were in such danger because they had *turned away from the *LORD. Because they had *turned from the *LORD he had *turned away from them. The *LORD would not protect them from Shishak. The *LORD would give them to Shishak.

This was a message that the *Israelites had failed to understand. Peace and security come when the people obey the *LORD. When they *turn to other gods then *disaster is the result.

Verses 6-8 The leaders heard what the *LORD said by Shemaiah. They had been proud but now they became humble. They realised that they had been wrong to *turn to other gods. They saw that the *LORD was right to punish them. And they *repented of all that they had done.

The *LORD sent Shemaiah with his answer. Because they had *repented, the *LORD would not allow Shishak to destroy Jerusalem. The *LORD would save these people. But he would make them serve Shishak for a short time. They had to learn the lesson from their wrong deeds. They would learn how much better it is to serve the *LORD than to serve other men.

Verse 9 Shishak did not destroy Jerusalem. But he took away all the valuable things from the *temple and from the royal palace.

Among those things, there were the gold *shields that Solomon had made. There were 200 large *shields and 300 small *shields. The amount of gold in these *shields was in either *shekels or *bekas (9:15-16). In *shekels, it would amount to about 5000 pounds (2200 kilos) weight of gold. In *bekas, it would be about 2500 pounds (1100 kilos) weight of gold.

Verses 10-11 Rehoboam could not afford the cost of gold to replace the *shields. So, he made *shields of *bronze, which cost much less than gold. They kept these *shields safe in a special guard’s room in the palace. The guards carried the *shields when they went with the king for ceremonies in the *temple.

Verse 12 Rehoboam was sorry and he *turned to the *LORD. Then the *LORD did not remove Rehoboam. And he did not destroy the *kingdom called Judah. After the departure of Shishak, things became normal again in Judah.

The anger of the *LORD means his punishment. But Rehoboam *repented and so God did not punish him.

Verses 13-14 Rehoboam was a strong king but he was not good towards the *LORD. He was king in Jerusalem for 17 years. But there is some doubt about Rehoboam’s age when he became king. He was a young man (10:8-10). He was weak. And he did not know what to do (13:7). These statements seem to suggest a man younger than 41 years of age.

For the first three years, Rehoboam obeyed the *LORD. From then on, he *turned away from the *LORD. He did on occasions *repent but it did not last.

Verses 15-16 Shemaiah and Iddo recorded the life of Rehoboam in the book of the family history. This book became the records of the kings of Judah (1 Kings 14:29).

When Rehoboam died, they buried him with his *ancestors in Jerusalem. His favourite son Abijah became king.

Abijah – 2 Chronicles 13:1-14:1a

kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
chariot ~ a kind of cart that soldiers use to fight. Horses pulled it.
capture ~ to fight for something and to make it yours as a result; or, to make somebody a prisoner.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from sin and to turn to God.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
shield ~ soldiers carried shields in their hands for protection in battle; they were like covers to protect the body from swords or from other weapons. Solomon’s shields of gold were probably not for use in war.
weapon ~ a tool of war; people use it in attack or in defence when in a fight (like a sword or a gun).
bronze ~ a metal that glows when it is in a fire. When a person polishes it, it shines in the light. And it is very strong.
tribe ~ the *Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of *Israel.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
ancestors ~ people in history that your family has come from.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
Asherah ~ a female god.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
disaster ~ when something very bad happens.
shekel ~ equal to 0.4 ounces (11 grams) in weight.
beka ~ equal to half a shekel.
shekel ~ equal to 0.4 ounces (11 grams) in weight.