God proves He is slow to wrath, in giving both Rehoboam and Jeroboam chances to repent. Rehoboam's sin is less, so his reign was simply shortened, and he lost a lot of wealth. Jeroboam was evil to the end, and destroyed Israel, in the long run.
2 Chronicles 11:5-17 -- Rehoboam built up fortifications, somewhat a continuation of his father's work. In all the cities he fortified, he added garrisons of troops, plenty of food stores to withstand a siege, and a stockpile of weapons. Judah was also strengthened by the arrival of all the Levites, who left behind their holdings in Israel. For a few years, their presence gave Judah a heart to worship God, which protected them from wrath.
11:18-23 -- Rehoboam took somewhat fewer wives and concubines than his father. Of 18 wives, three were fairly close relatives. He also had sixty concubines, and altogether 28 sons and 60 daughters. His chosen heir was Abijah (Abiyahuw: "Worships Jehovah"), born from his favorite Maacah, a granddaughter of Absalom. The one smart thing he did was disperse his sons around the realm in his fortified cities. He made sure they lived a lavish lifestyle. Not only did this increase the likelihood of having a survivor in case of war, but would prevent the sort of conniving that plagued his grandfather.
12:1-4 -- Once everything was set, Rehoboam also turned from God. As punishment, the Pharaoh Shishak came up from Egypt in 925 BC, bringing a massive army that included allies from other African nations. After successfully taking every fortified city on the way, Shishak laid siege to Jerusalem. This story is paralleled in 1 Kings 14:21-31.
12:5-8 -- The prophet Shemiah, who had warned Rehoboam about going to war with Israel upon Jeroboam's revolt, came and told the royal court this siege was punishment for defying God's law. They responded by humbling themselves, and calling on God, confessing their sins. The Lord was impressed. He allowed them to buy off Shishak. The word of the Lord was that they should experience serving other kings, and realize the difference between that and serving Him.
12:9-12 -- Shishak took all the royal treasures. This included the golden shields, probably the ivory throne, and most everything else that was loose. Worse, they gave him all the treasures in the Temple, too. The gold shields, a real point of royal pride, were replaced with bronze ones. These were brought out on parade by the royal bodyguard whenever Rehoboam went to the Temple. For a time, he was rather faithful about it. Things went pretty smooth for Judah after that.
12:13-16 -- We are offered a quick review of Rehoboam's reign. He took the throne at age 41, lasted 17 years, which has him buried at 58. The scribe her introduces the tradition of judging each ruler based on how well he obeyed the Lord. Here, Rehoboam is labeled evil for not really having a heart for God. He was faithful only when things got rough. He was succeeded by his intended heir, Abijah.
1 Kings 13:1-10 -- On a day when Jeroboam was in the temple he built in Bethel, quite likely near the end of Rehoboam's reign, he was standing before a crowd of people. As he prepared to offer incense as a symbol of prayer, he received a strange visit. The visit was from God, but was hardly welcome. A prophet had been sent up from Judah, and entered the Temple. Just as Jeroboam was about to place incense on the altar, the prophet cried out, speaking to the altar.
His warning was that Jehovah would raise up a man named Josiah (Yoshiyah: "Founded by God") of the House of David. This man would desecrate the altar by burning on it the bodies of the priests Jeroboam had consecrated. The sign that it would indeed happen was the altar in question would split apart and dump its sacred ashes on the ground.
Jeroboam was enraged, and pointed to the man demanding his guards arrest him. Barely had the words escaped his mouth when his hand and part of his arm was paralyzed. He was unable to pull his hand back. At the same time, the altar split and broke open, dumping its ashes on the floor. At this point, Jeroboam realized he was in trouble. He also realized the visitor was truly from God, so begged him to intercede with God on behalf of his arm. After praying a bit, Jeroboam got his arm back.
Relieved, Jeroboam offered to reward the man from his personal wealth, and invited him home for a meal. The prophet refused, citing a strong warning he had from the Lord to eat or drink nothing, nor even go back the same way to Judah. Had the prophet accepted, it would have blunted Jeroboam's fear of God, and might indicate the final punishment had been somewhat lessened or averted. The prophet's refusal was a blunt statement this was not so. The Lord had ordained these things, and there was no going back. It was too late of Jeroboam and his house. Everyone attending this worship service knew what it meant.
13:11-22 -- Among those in attendance at this worship were the sons of an aged prophet there in Bethel. His sons came home bursting with the miraculous encounter. The visitor's path away from there was well known, and they told their father which road he had taken. The old prophet wanted to fellowship with this very real man of God, but was too old to catch him on foot. He had his sons saddle a donkey for him, and took off after the visitor. The old prophet caught up with the younger resting in the shade of an oak. He invited the him home with him, but the younger man begged off reciting his command from God. We don't know that the elder had in mind when he lied, but he told the young prophet an angel had instructed him to countermand those orders from God. The younger prophet believed it. While they sat at their meal, the elder prophet was seized by a word from God, warning the younger he would die for disobedience.
13:23-32 -- Finishing his meal, the elder saddled a donkey for his guest. The young prophet had not gotten far when a lion pounced on him and killed him. This was clearly a miracle, for the lion simply stood next to the corpse. It did not tear the man's body, nor attack the donkey, which stood placidly by the two. Some travelers saw this scene, and told of it in the town. The old prophet heard about it and went out to see for himself. He knew what it was about, had his sons saddle his donkey again. He mounted the body on his other donkey and brought both back to his home, where he buried the young prophet. He was deeply sorrowful for the part he played in all this, and ordered his sons to bury him with the young prophet when the time came.
The point of the story is that both Jeroboam and the young prophet had a clear command from God. It was irrevocable, and only a liar would seek to change it. Just as surely as the young prophet died for defying the command of the Lord, so Jeroboam would surely have no excuse for his rebellion.
13:33-34 -- Jeroboam was not impressed by this lesson. He persisted in his evil, adding more priests to his collection. He even went so far as having himself anointed as priest. He brought the sentence of death to his whole kingdom.
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Ed Hurst
13 November 2004
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