Theological Commentary: Click Here
I have two
thoughts as I read through this chapter: one from each section of the chapter.
First, let’s
look at the nation of Israel. I find it
interesting to see how long it takes for the nation to completely erode. The country has fallen into God’s wrath
during the first king after Solomon.
Perhaps even more interesting is the focus of God’s wrath. God s wrath burns against the
leadership. It is King Jeroboam that has
earned the wrath of God. Jeroboam has
led the people into the worship of other gods, and that is about the worst
offense that you can commit against God.
One leader after Solomon and the people have already turned their back
on God.
The news
doesn’t get much better when we consider Judah to the south. The Bible is clear that under Rehoboam the
people are also doing evil. They begin worshipping other gods in high places. There sin is no better than their kin to the
north! As a result, God sends the
Egyptians up to plunder Judah. We see
once more that sin leads to consequences.
There is a
deeper lesson to be learned through the consequences given to Judah,
though. Notice that neither the people
of Judah nor its leadership repents. They
don’t turn back to God. In fact,
Rehoboam puts the mindset of the people on display when he makes bronze shields
to replace the gold ones that the Egyptians took as plunder. Rather than repent, they accept lesser
quality.
This is the
danger of sin. Once we fall into its
temptation, we disobey God. In our
disobedience, we end up settling for less and convincing ourselves that we
happier. So often, we’re even blind to
the fact that we are settling for less! That’s a huge lesson to learn.
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