A PLACE YOU NEVER WANT TO BE

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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord. Because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt, he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.’”

The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just.”

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”

When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made. 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. Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.

King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. 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. He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.

As for the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

2 Chronicles 12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I have to admit that I am an optimist at heart. Anyone who knows me would say that if asked. And as an optimist, I typically prescribe to the glass half-full perspective on things. In other words, even in the midst of what would be seemingly negative circumstances, there can be a positive takeaway.

As I look at the United States these days, it’s taking every ounce of my strength to maintain my optimism about where our country is heading. We’re in a clear state of moral decline and it is from the top down. We have taken the concept of separation of church and state to the place where our elected and appointed officials have decided to separate themselves from God in their decision making – and the people are following their lead. This is making us far from being a nation who places their trust in God as our coin currency states or “One Nation Under God” as we say when we recite our Pledge of Allegiance.

So where are we headed? Are we in the United States of America so arrogant and obstinate that we think we can continue our current national attitude without consequence from the God we are turning from, the God who blessed our nation to be as great as it has been?

If anyone thinks that we’re not in danger, perhaps they had better read the scriptures and note what happened when nations decided to turn away from God. Today’s scripture from the 12th Chapter of 2 Chronicles serves as a perfect example.

You’ll recall that Rehoboam had designs on attacking the ten tribes who had turned from his rule and restoring his kingdom but God sent a message via Shemaiah commanding that Rehoboam and his army return to Jerusalem because the division of Israel was his doing. Rehoboam was obedient to God’s command and as a result, he found safety and success within his territory of Judah. In fact, as the northern kingdom of Israel began to worship idols, the Levites and priests relocated to Judah where God was still being honored and worshiped properly. Scripture tells us that this injection of spiritual leaders who had their hearts set on God brought strength to Judah and established a worship environment that had been present when David and Solomon ruled.

It’s a shame it didn’t last.

For as Chapter 12 opens, we find that Judah had changed, joining Israel in abandoning the law of the Lord. Their unfaithfulness to the Lord did not go unaddressed for we read where Judah was attacked by Shishak, king of Israel, who defeated and captured all of Judah’s fortified cities before turning his eyes toward Jerusalem. The kingdom of Judah was in danger of annihilation and just in case Rehoboam was trying to figure out why things were playing out the way they were, God spoke to him again through Shemaiah saying, “You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.”

At this, Rehoboam and all of Judah knew they were in deep trouble and so they did the only thing they could do. They humbled themselves and proclaimed the Lord as being just. In other words, they were getting what they deserved.

In return for this display of contrition and humble acknowledgement of sin, the Lord relented in completely destroying Jerusalem however He still needed to teach the Israelites a lesson. And so, although Jerusalem and its people would not be destroyed, they would be subject to Shishak so that they would “learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.” In essence, the Lord was saying, “If you thought it was so hard to obey and follow Me, let me show you how hard it can be to follow someone else.”

And so it came to be. Shishak attacked Jerusalem and carried off all the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace, including the gold shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam replaced the gold shields with bronze and his actions showed a humility that pleased God, so much so that the Lord’s anger turned from Him and the southern kingdom was not destroyed. In fact, the scriptures make it a point to say that there was good in Judah once again.

Rehoboam would rule for 17 years before handing the throne over to his son Abijah. And although he had seemingly learned from the Lord’s correction, his legacy as captured in God’s word was that he had not set his heart on the Lord and thus was identified as evil.

So what does this have to do with today and the United States of America?

Think about it. If God would abandon and turn from His chosen people of Israel and endorse the holy city of Jerusalem to be attacked and nearly destroyed, don’t think that there isn’t a nation on earth that is immune from His judgment if they do likewise. This is where we are heading in our nation if we don’t repent and turn back to being obedient and loyal to the God who made us and blessed us.

Far greater empires have risen and fallen. Go back to the Egyptian empire of Moses’ days and you’ll see just how much God can do to a nation. His consequences don’t have to come in the way of military action.

Where we choose to go is anyone’s guess but there’s absolutely no guesswork as to what will happen if we continue down the path we’re on now. For Jesus said that the wide path of sinfulness only leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). And that’s not the place anyone should want to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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