2Chronicles 11:1 ¶ And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.
2Chronicles 11:2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
2Chronicles 11:3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
2Chronicles 11:4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
Continuing in context from the previous chapter…
After the murder of Hadoram, Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem to gather together an army in preparation for going to war against the northern tribes. He amassed a military force of 180,000 chosen men identified as warriors with the intent of restoring the whole kingdom of Israel under his rule.
The LORD sent a message to Rehoboam through Shemaiah “the man of God,” a man that was recognized as a prophet of God. He told Rehoboam that the LORD’s command was for him to send all the men back home. He was not to go and fight against Jeroboam and the northern tribes because their rejection of Rehoboam was in accordance with God’s will.
Interesting to note is that Rehoboam obeyed the word of the LORD without protest.
2Chronicles 11:5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.
2Chronicles 11:6 He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
2Chronicles 11:7 And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,
2Chronicles 11:8 And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
2Chronicles 11:9 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,
2Chronicles 11:10 And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities.
2Chronicles 11:11 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.
2Chronicles 11:12 And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
Rehoboam maintained his palace in Jerusalem and built up the defense cities of Judah and Benjamin, specifically near its borders. As he fortified the cities he assigned captains to be in charge, including supervision of stores of food, olive oil and wine to provide for the troops stationed there. He also equipped them with shields and spears to strengthen their defenses.
The IVP Commentary adds this insight: These cities “form an inner line of defense of the Jerusalem hills. There are four groups, ranging north to south, at strategic points guarding major approaches and highways: (1) Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa and Beth Zur guard the eastern boundary; (2) Soco, Adullam, Gath and Maresha guard the west; (3) a southern line of defense includes Lachish, Ziph and Adoraim; (4) Zorah and Aijalon seem to function as northwestern fortresses, while Hebron (David’s old capital in 2 Sam 2:1) may function as a staging point or regional center for both the south and the west.”
2Chronicles 11:13 ¶ And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.
2Chronicles 11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the LORD:
2Chronicles 11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
2Chronicles 11:16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.
2Chronicles 11:17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.
After Jeroboam removed all the priests and Levites that were faithful to the LORD from their positions as priests, they left their homes and possessions in the northern kingdom to come to live in Judah and Jerusalem.
Jeroboam ordained priests of his own choosing to serve at the high places for the “devils” (goat/faun gods) and the calves (idols) that he designated as representing God. 1Kings adds a bit more information.
1 Kings 12:26–29 “And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.”
I liked Gill’s observation on the use of the term “devils”: “…idols of whatsoever kind are so called; for whosoever worships them worships not God, but devils….”
Others out of ALL the tribes in the northern kingdom that desired to remain faithful to the worship of the LORD God of Israel also came to Jerusalem to be able to sacrifice to the LORD at the temple. These additional people helped to strengthen the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom, and made Rehoboam a stronger king for the first three years of his reign.
It is significant to note that people from all tribes were represented in the southern kingdom of Judah. There were no “lost tribes” of Israel.
It is emphasized that for three years they (Rehoboam and those under his rule) walked in the way of David and Solomon. I believe this is a reference to choosing to obey the LORD. Though we know that Solomon rebelled for quite some time, we know his reign began in faithful obedience to the LORD. I also believe the book of Ecclesiastes indicates that he ended his reign in repentance and faith.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
2Chronicles 11:18 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;
2Chronicles 11:19 Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.
2Chronicles 11:20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
2Chronicles 11:21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
2Chronicles 11:22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
2Chronicles 11:23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.
This section makes reference to Rehoboam’s wives and sons. (Reminder: “son of” can be a reference to grandsons and great grandsons)
Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth son of David
Abihail, daughter of Eliab son of Jesse – children: Jeush, Shamariah, Zaham
Maachah, daughter of Absalom, the wife he cherished above all others – children: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, Shelomith
A total of 18 wives and 60 concubines that gave him 28 sons and 60 daughters
Rehoboam appointed Abijah, son of Maachah, to the highest authority among his siblings; he intended Abijah to inherit the throne.
It is noted that he dealt wisely by sending his children throughout the cities of Judah and Benjamin with an abundant supply of food. By giving them all areas of authority, he probably helped avoid jealousy among them.
Like his father Solomon before him, he “desired” many wives. The Hebrew indicates that he demanded to have these wives. I can’t help but wonder if he thought that so many wives and concubines made him appear to be stronger.
2Chronicles 12:1 ¶ And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
Eventually, after Rehoboam had established himself as a strong ruler of the kingdom of Judah, he quit following God’s law after the first three years of his rule. Sadly, the people followed the example of their king.
2 Chronicles 11:17 “So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.”
2Chronicles 12:2 And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,
2Chronicles 12:3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.
2Chronicles 12:4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign the king of Egypt attacked. The Chronicler is clear in noting that God allowed this attack because of their rebellion against Him. The enemy forces included 1200 chariots and 60,000 men on horseback; they included not only Egyptians, but also the Lubims, Sukkiims and Ethiopians. They captured the fortified cities in Judah as they closed in on Jerusalem.
I liked Spurgeon’s comment: “That was not Shishak’s reason for coming up against Jerusalem. He had heard of the riches of Solomon; and doubtless, he came for the sake of the spoil which the palace and the temple would yield to him. But God often overrules, for the accomplishment of his own purposes, the lower motives of men. ‘I girded thee,’ said he of Cyrus, ‘though thou hast not known me.’ So did he gird Shishak for the chastisement of Israel, though Shishak knew him not.”
2Chronicles 12:5 Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.
2Chronicles 12:6 Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.
The LORD sent a message by the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah gathered with him in Jerusalem. He declared that God had given them into the hand of Shishak, king of Egypt, because they had forsaken Him. The king and his leaders immediately humbled themselves before the LORD and declared Him to be righteous—in other words, admitted they deserved His judgment.
2Chronicles 12:7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
2Chronicles 12:8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.
When the LORD saw that they had responded to His message with humility, he gave Shemaiah another message. He promised to provide some deliverance and withhold His wrath upon Jerusalem at the hand of Shishak. However, He was going to make them subservient to the Egyptian king to impress upon them the difference between serving God and serving human kings of other lands.
2Chronicles 12:9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
2Chronicles 12:10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house.
So Shishak attacked Jerusalem and took away all the treasures of the temple and the palace, including the shields of gold that Solomon had made. Rehoboam made shields of brass to replace the gold shields and gave them into the care of those that guarded the entry to the palace.
Wiersbe makes a good application: “How often the precious treasures of former generations are lost because of sin and then replaced by cheap substitutes. Life goes on and nobody seems to know the difference. That’s what happened to the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:17-19). Counterfeit spiritual actions can continue for a long time before someone notices that God is no longer in the picture.”
How quickly the wealth of nation or individual can be lost!
JFB provides this interesting note: “An account of this conquest of Judah, with the name of ‘king of Judah’ in the cartouche of the principal captive, according to the interpreters, is carved and written in hieroglyphics on the walls of the great palace of Karnak, where it may be seen at the present day. This sculpture is about twenty-seven hundred years old, and is of peculiar interest as a striking testimony from Egypt to the truth of Scripture history.”
2Chronicles 12:11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber.
2Chronicles 12:12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.
Whenever the king went to the temple, the guards used the shields to accompany him, returning them to the guardroom afterwards.
The LORD’s anger was turned away from Rehoboam when He saw how the king humbled himself. After that, things went well in Judah.
2Chronicles 12:13 ¶ So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
2Chronicles 12:14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
King Rehoboam reestablished himself in strength in Jerusalem. He became king at 41 years of age and reigned 17 years in Jerusalem. It is emphasized again that Jerusalem was the one place in Israel with which God chose to associate His name. It is noted that Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, an Ammonite. This king did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
It stands out to me that Rehoboam was 41 years old when he ascended to the throne. When he was seeking the advice of his peers at the beginning of his reign, it wasn’t a group of young men just out of their teenage years. It was a group of adults that should have known better and been wiser. It is obvious that none of them had prepared their hearts to seek the LORD.
That is an important truth. We choose to do what is evil because we do not choose to obey God. To live a good life we must “prepare” our hearts to seek the LORD. The Hebrew includes “…to set up, in a great variety of applications, whether literal (establish, fix, prepare, apply)… confirm, direct, faithfulness….” In other words, we need to choose to establish ourselves before the LORD with a determined heart to be faithful in obedience before Him.
Can people do “good” things apart from knowing God? Yes.
Luke 6:33 “And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.”
Can one live a good life and reject God? No. Only what we do that is in accordance with God’s will can truly be called good.
Romans 3:12 “…there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
Romans 8:5–9 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit….So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work….”
Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Colossians 1:9–10 “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work….”
2Chronicles 12:15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
2Chronicles 12:16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.
The account on Rehoboam closes with a statement that more can be read about him in the book of Shemaiah the prophet and the book of genealogies by Iddo the seer.
It is also noted that there was continual fighting between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
When Rehoboam died, he was buried in the city of David, and his son Abijah became the next king.