REHOBOAM, KING OF JUDAH
1 Kings 14:21-31
Judah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. (22)
chapter 14
21. Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.
22. Judah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done.
23. They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.
24. There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
25. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.
26. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.
27. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
28. Whenever the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.
29. As for the other events of Rehoboam’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
30. There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
31. And Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.
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1. Rehoboam was King David’s grandson and Solomon’s son. He had all the advantages anyone could hope for. He knew David’s heart for God and Solomon’s God-given wisdom. By all accounts he should have been a great king. But he forgot God’s grace and he slid into sin. As a nation’s leaders go, so goes the nation. Judah also sinned greatly against the Lord. They stirred up the Lord’s jealous anger more than any had before them. They engaged in all sorts of idolatry The Lord had set the people of Judah apart from the other nations. They were to be his own. They should have behaved differently from the surrounding nations. They didn’t. They ended up adopting the wicked practices of the nations the Lord had told them to drive out.
2. Egypt attacked Judah and took the temple’s treasures, including the gold shields. Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields. Everything looked the same. But it was all whitewash. Inside, the cup was filthy. Sin corrupted Rehoboam: sin also corrupted the whole nation. Because of this, they were objects of God’s wrath.
Prayer: Father, when we forget your grace, we also forget you! Help us to hold on to your word, and to have you in our hearts at all times.
One Word: Hold onto God’s word