Year 3, Day 322: 2 Chronicles 23

Political Coup

Jehoida, the priest whose family protected Joash from Athalia’s wrath, gets to make a move in the seventh year of Athalia’s reign.  Jehoida calls the military leaders to his side.  He gets the priests and the Levites to buy into the plan.  Before the coup is over Jehoida has the military and the religious leaders ready to protect the young king.  Jehoida makes sure that those who are coming off duty and those who are going on duty know their role.  The priests will be allowed to enter the temple.  The Levites protect the public spaces.  The military leaders make sure that the military doesn’t get involved and turn this into a military verses religion war.

When everyone was in position, Jehoida brought out the young king.  He presented spears and shields to the gathered assembly.  He made sure that when Joash is presented that he would be protected from Athalia’s wrath.  She had to have known that Joash was never killed.  Her wrath would be devastating when the plot against her should be revealed.

When Joash is presented, we can see Jehoida in proper motion.  Joash is brought before the people.  He is made to be king.  He is given the Law.  The people proclaimed him to be king and they anointed him.  We see Jehoida reaching back almost into the tradition of Samuel as he goes through the motions.  The young boy is brought out.  The people proclaim him king.  He is anointed.  It is as though Jehoida knows that God has asked him to reset the kingly line back to David.

Athalia’s Death

When the regent-queen Athalia hears the commotion, she cannot help but come to the temple where the commotion met.  As she sees what is happening before her, she also cannot help but cry out against the move.  She knows that Jehoida has just held a coronation.  She knows that Jehoida is attempting to wrest power away from her.  She cries out “Treason!”  She tries to rally the people around her.

However, Jehoida does not lose his cool.  Jehoida brings out the military captains just to make sure that Athalia knows that the military will not support her.  Jehoida also has the presence of mind to realize where he is.  He orders the military commanders to arrest Athalia and remove her from the temple area.  The temple space was dedicated for the worship of God, not deciding the political schemes of mankind.  The temple was not the proper place to resolve the coup and kill Athalia.  Jehoida orders Athalia to be removed from the temple and brought to the palace and executed there.  That is precisely what happens.  Athalia is executed at the gate to the palace and finally her rule of wrath is put to an end.

Now the ways of Ahab have been completely dealt with.  Joash will take over the rule of the kingdom and there is once more a hope that the king will rule in accordance with the ways of the God.

The First of Reform

Jehoida makes a covenant with the people.  Part of the covenant was that the people would again be the Lord’s possession.  Joash has been raised in Jehoida’s house and learned the ways of the Lord from him.  Jehoida wastes no time putting the land of Judah in a place of being right with the Lord.

The people respond.  They get the idea.  The first thing they do is to go and rip down the temple to Ba’al that had been erected in Jerusalem. 

This is a really interesting point.  There was a temple of Ba’al in Jerusalem.  It was supposed to be a place for the worship of God.  But somewhere a temple to Ba’al had been erected.  We can’t know if it was Athalia who built the temple or if it was Ahaziah or Jehoram.  None of those three would bring much surprise as all of them were connected to the ways of Ahab.  However, it is fair to say that Athalia’s wrathful rule over the people must have certainly spurned the people to tear down the temple.  The people certainly desired to overthrow Athalia in a coup; there isn’t any reason to think that they wouldn’t want to get rid of not only her but the religion that she sponsored.

With the temple to Ba’al removed, the religious emphasis could once more be upon God.  Jehoida reinstates the priestly and Levitical duties back to what David had intended.  Jehoida brings forth Joash as king and makes sure the people know that Joash is the rightful heir to the throne.  Judah then knows peace for a while.

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Year 3, Day 321: 2 Chronicles 22

Ahaziah

Ahaziah reigns when Jehoram dies.  All of his older siblings had been taken captive and they were killed.  The only person left to rule was Ahaziah.

Of course, Ahaziah’s mother was Athalia, daught of King Ahab of Israel.  It should be no surprise that with the evil influence of Jehoram and Athalia that Ahaziah’s reign is marked by a general sense of evil.  It should also be noted that his reign was incredibly short.  Ahaziah only had kingship over the land for a single year.

In fact, as we read through the deeds of Ahaziah we can see that he is actually more closely tied to Israel than he is tied to Judah.  He aligns himself with Israel and goes to war once more against the Syrians.  Like Ahab, Jehoram king over Israel is wounded in battle.  Unlike Ahab, Jehoram does not die from this wound.

This story reads similarly to the story of Jehosophat and his alliance with Ahab against Syria.  Here is the difference, however.  After that battle Jehosophat is convicted of his lack of trust in God and he changes.  He returns to God and there is the great moment of prayer when the trio of foreign powers conspires against Judah. 

Unlike Jehosophat, Ahaziah is not convicted of his faithlessness.  Instead of turning to the Lord, Ahaziah continues to go to Israel and to Jehoram’s side.  Ahaziah continues to get his security from his political connections rather than from God.  Ahaziah does not learn the lesson that his grandfather learned.

Ahaziah’s Death

Because the Lord knew the heart of Ahaziah, the Lord determines that his time has come.  He had anointed Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab, the evil king of Israel.  Remember, of course, that Ahaziah is Ahab’s grandson.  As Ahaziah goes to find Jehoram while he is recuperating from his battle wounds, Jehu finds Ahaziah and puts him to an end.  His evil reign ends without as much as a whimper.

This left Ahab’s legacy destroyed.  There were no more of his children or grandchildren left to rule in Israel.  Jehu, God’s executioner, will take over the leadership of the land.

This also leaves Judah without leadership.  Ahaziah was dead.  Foreign invaders had come into Judah and killed all of his older siblings when Jehoram was king of Judah.  All that was left was Joash, a young child of Ahaziah.  Ahaziah would die before he could have influence his youngest child and bring him up in the evil ways of Ahab’s descendants.

God takes care of evil on His own timeframe.  God isn’t afraid to eliminate a dynasty that rebels against Him.  God can plan things out so that evil is eliminated and His own plans can get back on track.

Athalia

The only surviving relative of Ahab – besides the baby Joash – who remains to be dealt with was Ahab’s daughter, Ahaziah’s mother, Athalia.  When she saw the destruction of her own family, she lashed out to bring down anyone who remained in the Davidic line of kings.  As I said a few blog posts back, can you imagine the evil and self-centeredness that must course through a person’s veins to destroy one’s own family out of spite?  Again, this is actually fairly common among royalty.  Athalia looks upon the world and decides that if her family is to be eliminated in Israel, then so shall the ruling family of Judah.  Athalia is all about herself, not God’s plan for the world.

As she sets out to destroy the ruling line of Judah, her own grandson has to be hidden from her wrath.  Joash is picked up and stowed away.  This should remind us of Moses being hidden away as a baby or even Jesus’ flight to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod.  God will protect the innocent people that He has raised up to save the people.

Where does Joash end up?  He ends up being held under the protection of a priest.  For six years he was hid from the wrath of Athalia.  What do you think Joash learned while he was under the protection of the priest?  No doubt Joash learned the ways of the Lord.  No doubt Joash learned about the betrayal of his own family.  It is here in this priestly protection that Joash learns to rely upon God and to not rely upon his bloodline.  It is here that the ways of Ahab truly find their death and God forges once more a king in the ways of David.

God uses the wrath of Athalia for his own advantage.  God uses what seems to be a horrible moment in the time of Judah as a time for His own preparation.  It is out of this horrible reign of wrath under Athalia that God raises up Joash – a great reformer in Judah.  Just when you think God has lost, He demonstrates just how much He was in control all along.  Now that’s a theme that you can hear again and again in the testimony of the Bible.

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Year 3, Day 320: 2 Chronicles 21

Jehoram

Remember in the prior chapters when we talked about Jehosophat and his partnership with King Ahab?  That would be the battle in which Jehosophat narrowly escaped death and in which King Ahab himself died.  Remember why it was that Jehosophat partnered with Ahab in the first place?  The answer is very simple.  It’s the answer that started the whole mess after David died: Marriage. 

Jehosophat married his son to one of Ahab’s daughters.  It was no doubt done for reasons of political alliance.  It was done in order that the nation of Judah might live in peace.  However, the ramifications would be impressive.  They would not at all be good, either.

As Jehosophat is dying, he begins to establish his sons in places of power.  Jehoram, the son who was married to the daughter of King Ahab, would be king, of course.  The other sons were given control of leading cities in the land.  Jehosophat’s family was set up to be leaders in Judah.

However, Jehoram had other ideas.  Once Jehosophat was dead and Jehoram became king, he made sure that his brothers all met a rather untimely death.  His lust for power would seal their fate.  His desire to be king and to have no challengers to the throne meant that they would die.  Isn’t it rather sad to think that love for power, prestige, and the ability to dominate would actually lead someone to kill their own family?  Just in case you aren’t upon on history, this kind of story is more akin to the norm rather than the exception.  With power, prestige, and wealth come extreme means to hold onto what you have.  Maybe there is something to be said for being normal and mundane after all.

What is interesting about this account is the rationale for Jehoram’s action.  After all, where would Jehoram learn such behavior? Certainly his father, Jehosophat – who walked in the good graces of God, would not have taught Jehoram these things.  Rather, look at what the inscription says.  Jehoram walked in the evil ways of Ahab.  Jehoram learned these things not from his father, but from his father-in-law.  Like Solomon, Jehoram found himself corrupted by the influence of a political marriage that brought ways into the country other than the ways of the Lord.  Isn’t it incredible to ponder how much influence a spouse can have upon a person even after they have been trained in the ways of God for much of their lifetime?

Effects of Jehoram’s Evil

We are told that both Edom and Libnah revolt against the control of Judah.  Jehoram is powerless to stop the revolt and exercise governance over Edom and Libnah.  The provinces are lost.

Why does Jehoram lose control?  The chronicler is rather blunt about it.  Jehoram loses control because he has walked away from God.  The chronicler loses control because God does not secure control for him.  As Jehoram turns away from God, God forces Jehoram to lean even more upon his own strength.  Jehoram’s strength fails and Edom and Libnah are lost.

Elijah

Elijah is considered to be the greatest prophet who has ever lived among the Hebrew people.  We don’t hear much about Elijah in the chronicler’s works.  In order to hear the great stories of Elijah you need to read the account of Kings.

However, we do hear Elijah send a letter to Jehoram and made some bold pronouncements.  First of all, Elijah accuses Jehoram of not following in the footsteps of his father or grandfather but instead turning to the evil ways of the kings of Israel.  Second, Elijah confronts Jehoram with the accusation that he is responsible for leading God’s people into worship of false gods and in practices that are detestable to God.  Third, Elijah confronts Jehoram with the knowledge that God knows what he did to his brothers.

Elijah also proclaims punishment.  Jehoram’s house would be devastated.  The Philistines and the Arabians came up against Judah and defeated them.   They took away the wealth and plunder that up until now had belonged to the kingly family.  The even took away all of Jehoram’s sons except his youngest.  As if that was not enough, Jehoram is afflicted with an incurable disease within his bowels.  After struggling with the disease for two years, Jehoram finally died as his insides literally came outside of him.

The People Respond

The people make no funeral pyre for Jehoram.  The people had no remorse over Jehoram.  He died after only reigning for eight years.  In those eight years Jehoram had undermined all the work of his father’s reforms and had let Judah fall into political and militaristic disgrace.  He was buried, but not in the tomb of kings with honor.  He was buried so that the people could move on with a different king.

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Year 3, Day 319: 2 Chronicles 20

Challenge

As happens with kingdoms and politics in the world, one nation rises up against another.  Some time after Jehosophat’s military blunder against the Syrians in which King Ahab was killed, a collection of armies band together and come against Jerusalem.  Isn’t it interesting to note that it is when we struggle and fail that other people band together and try and take advantage of us while we are down?  I don’t think that there is any reason to think otherwise than these nations heard that Judah was defeated in battle and they must therefore be weak.  So they come to see what plunder they might achieve.

I am amused at the human means of thinking.  We look for any opportunity to take advantage.  We do it as a nation among nations.  We do it as a community among communities.  And we do it as a person among other people.  Rather than being content with what God has given us and being content going through the doors that God opens for us, we try and open our own doors and force our way through them.  We try to claim territory – geography, reputation, social status, associates, wealth, etc – that is not ours to have.  We do it because we are not content being who God has made us to be.

Jehosophat’s Prayer

This dynamic leads me to the content of Jehosophat’s prayer.  I don’t know that Jehosophat really has fully thought this through as he prays it, but this is exactly the topic of his prayer.  My gut says that Jehosophat is simply panicked about having a large army at his border and he turns to God because he has no other person to whom he can turn.  So let’s at least give him that credit.  Jehosophat turns to God and relies upon his strength.  As Asa did when the Ethiopians rose up against Judah, Jehosophat turns to God.

Returning to the topic at hand, let’s look at the content of Jehosophat’s prayer.  Jehosophat is essentially saying, “These people have come to take what You have not given into their hand.  Help us defend what You have given to us!”  Jehosophat is simply asking God to protect the boundaries that God has established as proper.  Jehosophat is praying against the greed of the incoming army.

God’s Response

God honors Jehosophat’s prayer.  God tells Jehosophat and the whole assembly that the battle will be won by God.  God tells Jehosophat that all they need to do is simply show up and watch God at work in their lives.  I’m pretty sure that there is a deep spiritual lesson in that.

How much better is life when we are patient and let God go before us?  How much better is life when we wait for God’s grace to open doors before us and simply go through them?  Why do we so often make life difficult by trying to force open doors that aren’t meant to be forced open?  I think God is teaching the people of Judah just what life looks like when we are patient and wait for God.  When we have the patience to not get ahead of God, then we actually have the opportunity to see God’s grace go before us.

I love the recounting of how it is that God works on behalf of Judah.  This large army composed of three nations turns on itself.  Rivalries begin to form.  There can be little doubt that some arguments over power and plunder happen.  Soon two rise up against the third.  The people of Mount Seir are devoured.  A third of the army is destroyed.

However, that doesn’t end the issue.  Where there are two, there are still reasons to compete.  Just because one party has been eliminated doesn’t mean that the arguments over power, prestige, renown, and plunder end.  The two who are left begin to rise up themselves and battle each other.  The annihilate one another.  They fight until the battlefield is littered with corpses and there is nobody left to challenge Judah.

Without lifting a finger, the people of Judah watch as God allows the humanity of the armies to resolve Judah’s issue for them.  God doesn’t force the people of the armies to bicker, squabble, and destroy one another.  God simply lets human nature take its course.  The self-centered and greedy elements of humanity come alive once God no longer holds them back.  Soon a large army is decimated simply because it is composed of human beings.

Isn’t that an incredible testimony to the power of God?  Who would I be if God did not hold my humanity in check with His Spirit? Who would I devour in my self-centered walk?  What would I destroy on my way to accomplishing my own designs?  God doesn’t have to destroy me.  All God has to do is remove His Spirit from me and I do a pretty good job of destroying myself as it is.

The Plunder

It is Judah who reaps the benefits of war, not the armies who came against Judah in their moment of weakness.  This is a really powerful set of verses for me today.  The people of Judah do nothing but humble themselves before God and rely upon Him.  They simply pause and put themselves in a position to have God go before them.  That’s it.  Out of that simple act of humbleness, they reap more plunder than they can carry away for three days.

How many times am I wrapped up in what has to happen?  How often am I so wrapped up in what has to happen that I feel the burden of it all on my shoulders?  How often does that place actually lead to forgetting about God as I try to do it all?  How often do I make the mistake of Asa that Jeroboam so deftly avoids in this passage?  How often should those moments of burden cause me to turn to God and trust in Him rather than bear the burden to His exclusion!  Oh, wretched man that I am.

What an incredible end to this story.  The people of Judah humble themselves and rely fully upon God.  They reap the benefits of humbleness.  God’s name is praised and the fear of the Lord spreads.  What an incredible testimony.  What a great chapter of the Bible.

Humanity

God knows about our humanity.  After such an incredibly testimony of what it looks like to submit, God gives us an incredible testimony of Jehosophat’s blunder.  After trusting in the Lord, Jehosophat turns and joins up with Israel in another endeavor.  This displeases the Lord greatly.

But in some strange way, it is good to hear – one leader to another.  Jehosophat had his moments when he got things incredibly right because he was genuinely submitted.  Jehosophat had his moments when he got things incredibly wrong because he went his own way.  I’m not glad Jehosophat messed things up.  But it is nice to realize that I am not alone among people who forget to submit to God and get things messed up when they do so.

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Year 3, Day 318: 2 Chronicles 19

Jehu Chastising Jehosophat

The opening three verses of chapter 19 gives us a very honest perspective of how God felt about Jehosophat.  Why does Jehosophat love those who hate God and associate with those who oppose God?  Yet, Jehosophat hasn’t been all bad, either.  He has fought against the worship of false gods by tearing down the holy sites dedicated to the worship of Asherah.

I can’t help but think that this is a pretty accurate description of just about any of us who follow God.  Sure, we do a few things right.  But we also have this annoying habit of loving sin and hanging out with sinners – and not in a “trying to bring them into relationship with God” sort of manner.  I have got to believe that if God were to send a prophet into my midst he would say these exact same words to me.  “Why do you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?  Yet, some good is found in you.  You help destroy the false gods that some have established in their lives.”

Yeah.  I’d say that’s pretty accurate.  For the record, that’s pretty humbling, too.  It is one thing to think about one’s God praising you for success.  But it is another thing to realize that God knows my failings and my flaws, too.  I’d love to be perfect for God, but I’m not.  I’m just like Jehosophat.

Personal Witness

One of the more respectable things about Jehosophat was his personal witness.  After we hear about Jehu’s critique of him, we also hear that he goes among the people and encourages them to turn to the Lord.  He is personally involved in bringing people back to the Lord.  Yes, he’s not perfect.  Yes, he backed the wrong horse in the war between Israel and Syria.  But he is trying among his own people.

Remember that he is king.  He could have servants out there doing this for him.  He could have delegated this task to others.  He could have sat in his throne room and assumed that he was too good for God’s grunt work.  But that is not the case with Jehosophat.  He is out in the trenches helping to turn people back to the Lord.

Judges

However, Jehosophat realizes that he cannot do it alone.  He alone cannot turn the whole of the people of Judah back to the Lord.  He alone cannot train all the people who need to be trained.  Thus, Jehosophat appoints judges to go out into the people and train them as well.

In a sense, I really see the New Testament concept of discipleship posted here in this passage.  When Christ came, He knew that the plan wasn’t for Him to physically reach every person on the earth.  So He trained disciples to assist Him.  His disciples trained more disciples to assist Jesus.  That’s what discipleship is all about: training people to do what we’ve been trained to do and to pass it along.  That’s exactly what Jehosophat is doing here with the judges.  He’s training other people to help with a most daunting task.

If we look at what Jehosophat says, we notice that he places a high sense of value upon fairness.  The judges are to judge among the people fairly.  They are not to take bribes.  They are not to show partiality.  They are not to act unjustly.  There is no injustice in God.

Furthermore, Jehosophat establishes a kind of supreme court in Jerusalem for severe cases that are to be referred to them by the judges in the rest of the land.  Jehosophat knows that there are some troubles that need a more skilled judge, a wiser judge, or a judge who is not personally involved.  There is always a need for a special group of people to handle the cases that are too hard or too complex for the regular people.  There is always a need for a master of a craft to tackle the tasks that the regular disciple cannot handle.  This is true with any skill.  It is true for being a judge over people.  For the record, it is true about discipleship, too.

In the end, we see Jehosophat trying to establish a routine in the land that will allow the people to find success.  He is trying to establish a system in the land that will help keep people focused upon God.  As we said I the beginning, Jehosophat is a human being: he is flawed, but he is trying.

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Year 3, Day 317: 2 Chronicles 18

Jehosophat’s Blunder

Yesterday we began by speaking about Asa’s blunder.  Remember that Asa’s problem was that he did not consult the Lord.  He came up with a great plan and the plan worked.  But in doing so he forgot to consult the Lord.  It is easy to forget the Lord when our problems are small, manageable, or we approach them with too big of an ego.

Today we get a look at Jehosophat’s blunder.  Allow me a moment to summarize the story by glossing over some details that I’ll come back to a bit later.  Jehosophat’s son marries a daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel.  To celebrate their new alliance, Jehosophat goes to the capital of Israel and is impressed with what he finds there.  Ahab invites Jehosophat to go to war with him.  Jehosophat agrees, but he does so conditionally.  Jehosophat requests a prophet come before him and give a word from the Lord.  At this point, it looks like Jehosophat has actually learned the lesson that Asa forgot!

In fact, when Ahab brings four hundred of his best prophets to come before him, Jehosophat will not listen to them.  Jehosophat knows that they are not true prophets of God.  They are false prophets who seek to soothe the king’s will and thus gain favor with the king.  So Jehosophat demands that a true prophet come before them.  It looks even more like Jehosophat is on the right track!

So Micaiah is found.  Micaiah comes and begins by simply telling the king what he wants to hear.  The king is not fooled, however.  The king demands that Micaiah speak what he has truly heard rather than mocking the king.  So Micaiah tells the king that God has put this battle before Ahab so that Ahab might die in it.  Micaiah declares disaster on the plans for battle.

At this point, we expect to hear Jehosophat back away from the battle plans.  After all, up until now he had made all the right choices.  He discerned until he heard a true prophet.  He actually got the prophet to speak truth.  Yet after Micaiah speaks and is sent away to prison we hear of Jehosophat going to battle anyway.  Here we see a sad and unfortunate truth.  Jehosophat gets the whole way to hearing truth, but he doesn’t listen.  How many times do we make the same mistake?  We are so diligent about seeking out truth yet we don’t often listen.

The choice is almost disastrous for Jehosophat – and we’ll get to even more outcomes tomorrow.  But for today, realize that the Syrians had come with a single goal – to kill King Ahab.  When they see Jehosophat riding into battle, many think that Jehosophat is Ahab and they nearly kill him.  But for the grace of God, he would have fallen that day.  His inability to listen to God’s will nearly cost Jehosophat his life.

Micaiah

Having looked at the story from Jehosophat’s perspective, allow me to circle back around and pick up some of the details that up until now I’ve left off.  First, allow me to take a look at Micaiah.  Here is a prophet in a very dangerous land.  The priests and Levites had already been expelled from Israel.  The only people of God in the whole land are the prophets and the few who followed them.  Talk about living in a hostile environment!

Second, Micaiah had to know that his prophecy would get him into trouble.  He had to know that when he spoke he would end up in prison.  If we listen to Ahab’s words prior to Micaiah’s speech we can ascertain that Micaiah had spoken poorly of Ahab before.  There seems to be a pattern of Micaiah speaking, Ahab rejecting, and Micaiah feeling Ahab’s wrath in one way or another.  Yet, Micaiah continues to speak.

I believe that this is one of the more inspirational portions of God’s Word as it relates to prophets.  In a world that enjoys rejecting God’s Word, it is difficult to continue to stand for God’s Word.  It is difficult to stand among four hundred people all saying one thing and lift up a contrary voice knowing that it will be refuted and people will despise you for it.  But someone has to stand.  The true prophet of God will indeed stand.  Even knowing the consequences, even knowing the persecution that will follow, and even knowing the future ramifications the true prophet will stand for God’s Word.

God

I’ve still left out one very important detail in all of this.  In Micaiah’s recounting of what is going on here, there is a clear story of God enticing Ahab into battle.  It is clear that God has planned this battle to bring about Ahab’s death.  Ahab does in fact die in battle – even after hearing Micaiah’s truthful recollection of what God said would happen.

We should be careful here.  There is truth in this story, but there is also a very easy sidetrack that does not lead to truth.  Let’s talk about the sidetrack first.  It is easy to read this story and come away seeing God as a deceiver.  After all, this story reads like God wanted to trick Ahab into going into battle so that he would die.  The reality is, however, that there is no trick.  Micaiah is up front with Ahab in that it will lead to destruction.  It is not God but the false prophets who willingly make it seem like God will bless Ahab in battle.  God is not the trickster, the false prophets are.  God is willing to use the false lips that will say anything to sooth King Ahab and bring about His plan through their willingness to speak falsehood to the king.

That being said, the truth is that God did plan this event to bring about Ahab’s death.  In the battle, God clearly protects the fool Jehosophat – who was where he should not have been – while offering no protection at all to Ahab from a random arrow let loose by a nondescript soldier.  It might bother some people to understand that God determined that it was time for Ahab to die.  But this is not the first time that such a determination has been made by God.  I only need to remind you of how God deals with evil in the stories of the Great Flood, the Crossing of the Red Sea, the Exodus wanderings in the wilderness, etc.  God is not afraid of dealing with evil by bringing death to those who embody it.

As you contemplate this, however, don’t lose sight of the fact that Ahab knew what he was getting into.  Micaiah told Ahab what would happen, he just didn’t listen!  For the record the people of the flood likewise knew, Moses warned Pharaoh, Moses warned the Hebrew people in the wilderness, etc.  God does not determine judgment without giving proper warning and an opportunity for repentance, either.

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Year 3, Day 316: 2 Chronicles 16-17

Asa’s Blunder

This is an important story, because up until now it seems as though Asa has done really well.  But he’s not perfect.  Asa makes a few mistakes along the way.  Unfortunately with leaders, when a leader makes a mistake it is usually magnified.  Such is the case here with Asa.

Baasha, the king of Israel, has come to Asa’s border and began to build a fortification to limit the number of people who could get to Judah.  In other words, Baasha wanted to harass people who intended to come to Judah to trade, to do business, to arrange for political treaties, and things like this.  Baasha wanted to cut Judah off from the north.  This would naturally cause Judah to diminish in power as their economy would suffer and their political network would diminish.

Asa responds by sending some resources to Ben-hadad, the king of Syria (Some Bibles use the ancient name Aram here).  Asa asks Ben-hadad to attack Israel from the north so that Baasha’s attention would be split.  As Baasha’s attention would be split, then Asa could attack Baasha from the south and destroy this new fortification.  Ben-hadad agrees to the plan and the plan succeeds.  The new fortification is destroyed and Asa carts away all of the cut rock and timber that had been used in construction.

From the world’s perspective, we would call this an incredible success, wouldn’t we?  Here is a person who saw a future problem and had the forethought to deal with the problem before it actually became a real problem in the present.  Here is a person who leveraged some of his own resources in order to astutely resolve the issue.  The plan was put into motion and it worked.  From a worldly perspective, this is an incredible plan!

There’s just one issue.  God hates the plan.  Even though it worked, God hates the plan.  God hates the plan so much that He sends His prophet to Asa to tell him about it.  God hates the plan so much that the rest of Asa’s reign is spent just surviving conflict.  Here we have a great story to indicate that just because something is successful it doesn’t mean that it is God’s will and brings pleasure to Him.

So what does God hate about the plan?  God hates the plan because God is not involved with the plan.  Asa doesn’t consult the Lord.  Asa schemes on his own.  Asa doesn’t rely upon the Lord.  In fact, this is perhaps the best way to state Asa’s perspective.  When things are out of hand, Asa turns to the Lord; but when he can manage on his own, Asa only relies upon his own reason and strength.  God finds that offensive.

I find this particularly humbling today.  How easy is it to do exactly what Asa does here?  How easy is it to convince ourselves that a particular problem is easily solved and we don’t need to go to God about it?  While this might be true in many circumstances, the danger is the pattern we create.  When we don’t go to God in the little stuff, chances are that we don’t go to God in the big stuff either.  The issue is bigger than solving the problem.  The issue is about setting up the repeatable rhythm that can take us to God.

We can truly see the heart of the problem through the lens of Asa’s foot disease.  What is it that is reported about Asa as he has a foot disease?  Asa doesn’t seek the Lord.  Instead he seeks help from the physicians.  This is the lesson to be learned from Asa.  As great as he has been praised over the last two chapters for the occurrences of his reign, Asa relies too much upon himself and not enough upon God.

Jehosophat’s Reform

In chapter 17 we hear that Asa’s son Jehosophat reigns after Asa died.  Jehosophat is generally regarded as a very good king – although he is not without his faults, either.  With Jehosophat we hear that he walked in the ways of David.  He sought God.  All of Judah saw the wisdom of his ways and they brought him tribute.  As his reign begins, he tears down the high places that Asa had left standing.

What the chronicler desires for us to remember at this point is that Jehosophat instituted an educational reform.  Jehosophat commissions a movement of priests and Levites to go through the cities of Judah and teach about the Lord.  Jehosophat understands something.  People need to do more than just see an example and have things done to them.  They need to learn why things are happening.

You see, Jehosophat had taken the religious reforms of Asa one step further and completely removed the high places away.  Those who had been worshipping there would need to know why.  If all that happened was that their places of worship were torn down, the people would rebel.  But if the people had an opportunity to be legitimately taught, then the people would have an opportunity to reform.  This is the important part.

As we shall see in the end of Jehosophat’s story, by the end of his life there are high places of worship to false gods standing again.  Clearly not all of the people do reform.  And clearly as Jehosophat ages his fervor in fighting false teaching dwindles.  But we can learn a great lesson from the beginning of his story.  In the beginning Jehosophat fights with fervor against the false gods.  But he also understands the importance of educating the masses.  In order for people to have a closer and more meaningful relationship with God, there has to be some access to teaching from those who have such a relationship.

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Year 3, Day 315: 2 Chronicles 15

Azariah’s Message

The Lord is with you while you are with Him.  The content of that message completely depends upon the emotion of the listener.  On one hand, it could be taken in an extremely childish way.  It could be heard in a sense of, “so long as you play by His rules, God loves you.”  Or maybe even in a “If you don’t play by God’s rules, then He is going to take His ball and His bat and go home.”

Neither of these positions is correct.  It isn’t like God is looking to stop life from happening unless it happens according to His desire.  How long has sin been a part of the world and God has yet to stop it from happening?  If God truly wanted to take His ball and His bat and go home, He’s sure had ample opportunity to do so!

Instead, what is happening here is that God is making the point that a person can choose to either live with God or to live without God.  To those who choose to live with God, then God will honor that choice and be with that person.  To the person who makes it clear to God that they want to live apart from God, then God will honor that person’s choice and live apart from him.  It isn’t God saying, “My way or the highway,” at all.  Rather, it is God saying, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”

Of course, my last quote – from Joshua 24:15 – demonstrates that this is actually how God always operated.  When God gave the covenant to Abraham there are promises for those who obeyed and there were consequences for those who did not.  When God gives the Law and reinforces the covenant with Moses, there are clear promises for those who obey and even clearer consequences for those who do not.  God has always been a God of free will.  God has always looked to us and said, “You have the freedom to live life my way or the world’s way.  If you choose my way, then I will be with you.”

But we are always free to choose the way of the world.  There is always a choice.  God never forces us to do anything.  At best, it is our conscience that forces us because our conscience knows what God’s way looks like and our heart wants to follow our own desire.  So we feel forced into obedience because of our conscience.  That’s not God forcing our hand; that is our conscience reminding ourselves what obedience looks like.

Asa’s Response

Asa hears the words and is empowered by them.  We spoke yesterday about the reforms that he did.  We heard about how he tore down all of the high worship places to the foreign false gods.  We heard how he focused worship back upon God.  We were inspired yesterday by his witness.

Asa then gathers the whole nation of Judah – and a healthy number of deserters from Israel – and gathers them to him.  They reconstitute the sacrificial system.  They reconstitute their covenant to seek the Lord.

Let me stop here for a second and look back upon the last few chapters where Abijah was the subject.  Remember when Abijah stood before Jeroboam and his soldiers and pompously declared that they had not forsaken the Lord?  How is it that Abijah’s claim could be true when his son has to rebuild part of the temple that had been neglected (or intentionally destroyed)?  How is it that Asa would have to enter into a covenant to seek the Lord if the people were actually seeking Him under Abijah’s reign?  No, here we see the truth.  Abijah put up a great façade of faithfulness before Jeroboam.  But there was no substance behind the façade.

Now, Asa understands the truth.  When he becomes king he sees behind the curtain and he doesn’t like what he sees.  God has been neglected.  Reform is desperately needed.  Repair – physical, emotional, and spiritual – is in grave necessity.  Asa hears the call from Azariah the prophet and he takes off and does it.

In fact, one of the most telling verses of Asa’s kingship is verse 16.  Asa even removes his mother from her position.  Can you imagine!  Honestly, for a second, imagine how that conversation would go.

“So, yeah.  Hey mom.  Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about God and religion.  And to be honest, your faith is all wrong.  In fact, God finds your worship habits rather detestable.  So you aren’t going to be queen mother anymore.  All of the benefits that you’ve been enjoying as my mother – the mother of the king – are going to be cut off.  And oh yeah.  Just for the record.  I’m going to go out and personally destroy your favorite worship spot.  I’m going to go out, cut it down, crush it, and then burn it.”

Honestly?  Can you imagine the strength of character and faith that such a conversation would have taken?  I can’t help but give Asa a little credit on that one.  Here is a man who was able to put God before family!

Looking at the story, let’s make sure we see truth.  Asa becomes king, sees the whole picture, and calls out for reform.  The first bit of reform has to be difficult, but along the way Asa also picks up deserters from the northern kingdom who are looking for a spiritual leader to lead them.  Through reform, a strong community is forged out of a community that only a decade ago was a façade of faith.  That’s God at work.  That is a demonstration of what God can do when the people are genuinely focused upon God and willing to follow Him instead of the desires of their own heart.

Chink in the Armor

Unfortunately, at the end of this account we can see that Asa did have a chink in the armor.  While Asa did some great reforms, not all the high places of worship were removed.  Some of the false worship practices did remain.  It was a great age of reform, but it was not a golden age of reform.  Asa had his moments, but like the rest of us he was not perfect.  We’ll look tomorrow at some of Asa’s imperfections and why it is that some of the high places remained even though he had the courage to depose his own mother and destroy her place of worship.

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Year 3, Day 314: 2 Chronicles 14

Asa

Asa follows Abijah in the kingly line.  He reigns for 41 years.  There can be no doubt that part of the reason that Asa reigns for so long is because his father reigned for such a short time.  Asa easily became king at quite a younger age than Abijah did.

However, I believe there is a more important reason that we can give for Asa’s extended reign.  Simply put, Asa followed the ways of the Lord.  Asa sought peace.  Asa focused on fortifying the defenses of Judah.  Asa tore down all of the places that God found despicable.  As he focused on God, life went on under God’s protection.

There is a lesson beyond the obvious one.  How easy would it have been for Asa to take those easy years of rest and do nothing?  How easy would it have been for Asa to be complacent?  How easy would it have been for Asa to learn bad habits and fall into a life of sinfulness that could have come when life was easy?  Isn’t that a pattern that most of us have felt at least some time in our life?

Not so with Asa.  When Asa reigns and there is peace in the land, Asa is proactive.  He is leading people into reclaiming their life of faith.  When there is external peace, Asa is actively tearing down the internal turmoil and rebuilding the religious infrastructure so that it is strong once again.  What we learn from Asa is that when we are in a time for external peace we are automatically in a great time for internal challenge and reconstruction.

Can you imagine the inner turmoil that happened as Asa went about that work?  Remember that it was Solomon who allowed those places to be built.  Solomon was regarded as one of the wisest kings of the Herbew people.  Rehoboam had allowed them to remain.  Abijah had allowed them to remain.  Then this young upstart king comes into power and begins to tear down all the places that were not of God and that had existed for somewhere between 20 and 60 years.  I can only imagine the grumbling and the pain that Asa endured as he went through that process.

Yet, how is it that Solomon is remembered?  He was a wise king who fell away into the worship of false gods at the end.  Rehoboam walked in ways of evil.  Asa walked in the same evil ways as his father.  All of those people had a great reputation among the people in spite of how they are remembered in God’s Word.  So how is Asa, the one who sought internal reform, remembered?  He was a king who did good in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of David.

It is difficult to lead.  It is even more difficult to lead when internal reform needs to be accomplished.  But if the reform is of God, the difficulty is worth the pain and the struggle.  Internal reform that is at the hand of God will eventually bear great fruit.

After reading Asa’s account, I have a simple request and a prayer from God.  I hope any of you who are in a time of reform in your life can join me in this prayer.  Lord, as I lead, may Your hand guide me and may my work be about your will.  In the end, may it be said of me that I walked in the ways of the Lord regardless of the depth of the struggle.

The Ethiopians

Of course, not all of Asa’s reign is at peace.  Eventually, there comes a time when peace is taken away from Asa.  The internal reforms are completed.  The difficult change has been accomplished.  It took ten years, but Asa manages to purge the public false worship of other gods from the land.  Then it becomes time to bear fruit.

The Ethiopians come to challenge Asa and the people of Judah.  They come with an impressive force of a million warriors.  They have come to conquer and plunder this land that has been rebuilt under Asa.  So Asa takes his forces out to battle and meets them.  Numerically speaking, we are talking about Asa going out to battle with a force of roughly half of what was sent against him.  It’s one thing to fight a battle of 1-on-2 or even 2-on-4.  But there seems to be something horrifically disturbing in realizing you are outflanked by roughly 500,000 people.

What does Asa do?  He relies upon the Lord.  He doesn’t brag about his faith in the Lord and he doesn’t use his faith as a way to demoralize the opponent.  Rather, he prays to the Lord and lets the outcome rest in God’s hand.  Asa submits to God on the battlefield and asks for God’s strength.

God grants Asa his prayer.  God goes before Asa and defeats the Ethiopian army.  The Ethiopians flee until there is nobody left to run before the army of Judah.  The battle is a rout.  The people who had come to plunder the land of Judah were instead plundered by the land of Judah.  Asa submitted to God and trusted God to fight His battle for him.

As with the stories of Asa’s reforms, I think that I am again inspired to prayer by the account of Asa.  Lord, as I go through life and fight battles, remind me to submit to you.  Remind me to let you fight my battles for me and to go forth only at your call once you have prepared the way.  Teach me, Lord, to submit to Your victories rather than causing me to seek my own.

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Year 3, Day 313: 2 Chronicles 13

Abijah

Abijah reigned for only three years after Rehoboam’s death.  He did not last long as king, although he left quite a few tell-tale markers upon the kingly line of David.  Let’s look at a few of the things that Abijah leaves behind as clues to his reign.

Civil Warfare

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.  Regardless of who started it, remember that by definition war between Judah and Israel is civil war.  God brought up the descendants of Israel – the children of Abraham – as a single nation.  Though they were of different tribes they were of one God.  Now politics and economics and human jealousy have driven a wedge between the people.  Civil war ensues because the people are more concerned about their human demarcations and their human investments than their relationship with God.  When our relationship with stuff grows larger than our relationship with God we will usually have trouble and conflict in our life – especially those of us who are supposed to be humbly submitted to God.

However, the people do choose to go to war with one another.  The people of Judah come out against the people of Israel.  There shouldn’t be any doubt that the people of Judah are smaller than the people of Israel.  Remember that only a few years prior Rehoboam had just fought a conflict with Pharoah Shishak of Egypt.  It makes sense that Judah can only muster the smaller force.

Before the battle begins, Abijah addresses the gathered Hebrew people.  He reminds the Israelites especially that God had given the whole of the people to the line of David.  Remember that God did not want a king in Israel, but the people did.  Therefore, God gave the people over to their will and established a kingly line.  This is the covenant of salt to which Abijah supposedly refers.

However, let’s look at the covenant of salt.  We do see that in Leviticus 2:13 the Hebrew people were to season their grain offerings with salt as a testimony to the lasting nature of God and the relationship between God and mankind.  But even more specifically in Numbers 18:19 we hear that the covenant of salt is actually a covenant made between God and the Aaronic priests.  The covenant of salt is that the priests receive the sacrifices as provision for their lives since they will not be receiving land upon which they could provide for themselves.

Abijah is beginning to show his true colors.  He has taken the true covenant of salt and misappropriated its meaning.  Originally it was reassurance to the priests that they would be cared for by the people.  Now Abijah changes the terms and makes it refer to the Davidic line of kings and how the people were to be under the kingship of the line of David.  What had been for the support of God’s agenda was now being twisted and misconstrued by Abijah to imply his own greatness and the sustaining of his rule.

We see even more misconstruing of the facts as Abijah recounts Jeroboam’s rebellion.  Remember that Jeroboam and the people in the northern kingdom came to Rehoboam and asked for the yoke to be made lighter after the intense period of Solomon’s building.  Rehoboam had the good counsel of the elders to ease the burden on the people.  But it was Rehoboam who chose to not listen to the people and drove them to rebellion.  Yes, the people rebelled.  But it was Rehoboam who drove the people into rebellion.

Caught in the Trappings

Abijah takes this point and makes it even more egregious.  He reminds the Israelites that Judah has all the priests of God and the Levites and Israel has none.  Remember that Jeroboam kicked all of the priests of God out and established new places to worship and erected idols at those places.  In this point, Abijah is correct in his facts.  Israel doesn’t have any priests of the Lord remaining in its land.

However, what Abijah seems to forget is that at the end of Rehoboam’s career the whole system became corrupt.  Remember that God’s Word taught us that Rehoboam and all the priests coming from Israel were only faithful for a measly three years.  They may have the people and the official building, but that doesn’t mean that they have true relationship with God.  Here we see that Abijah is caught in the human trappings of the worship of God, not in a relationship with God.  Abijah is about the stuff and the process, not God.

Abijah also makes the declaration that The Lord is with Judah.  That may be true, but he goes on to add that the Lord is their God and they have not forsaken Him.  In this Abijah does go too far.  We know about the end of Rehoboam’s ways.  We know Abijah only reigns for three years and 1 Kings 15 tells us that he walked in all the sins of his father.  In fact, 1 Kings 15 tells us that the only reason that his son was allowed to rule was for David’s sake, not anything that Abjiah did. 

In Abijah we see a man who clearly believes that his circumstances indicate that he is right.  Since he is successful and king, then God must love him and he must be right in his choices.  What a dangerous philosophy to have.

Judah may win the battle.  God might even fight against Israel.  But let’s remember this point.  Just because God fights against a nation does not mean that God is for the opponent.  God uses Assyria to judge Israel and drag them into captivity.  But that does not imply that God loved Assyria and that Assyria was better than Israel.  It simply meant that God had a lesson to teach Assyria.  I believe the same is true here.  Judah may win because of God’s hand.  But I believe that has more to do with God trying to humble Israel than it has to do with God supporting the ways of Abijah.

Harem

In the end, we know that Abijah has 14 wives.  1 Kings 15 has told us that Abijah walked in the evil was of Rehoboam, so this isn’t really a surprise.  The sins of the people – and especially the sins of the kings of Judah – are perpetuated to the next generation.

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Year 3, Day 312: 2 Chronicles 12

Shishak

Today we learn that Rehoboam’s attempt to fortify the cities of Jerusalem just wasn’t enough.  The Pharaoh Shishak comes forth out of Egypt and attacks Judah.  Not only does he attack, he wreaks havoc against them.  We know that this happens in only the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign.

Here’s some neat information about this story.  Pharaoh Shishak (called a king in the Bible) was the founder of Egypt’s 22^nd dynasty.  He ruled from 935 – 914 BC.  While Solomon ruled the Hebrew people, Shishak had given asylum to Jeroboam, the rival king of Israel who rose to power during Rehoboam’s reign in Judah. But perhaps the most interesting historical fact is that in a temple to Amon at Karnak, Shishak inscribed a list of the Hebrew cities that he conquered in the land of Canaan.  Isn’t it neat to know that there are actual stone temple walls that we can still see to this day that were carved as a result of this story!

So what exactly is happening here in this story?  Shishak had harbored Jeroboam in Egypt.  When the kingdom split and much of the Hebrew might was divided, Shishak no doubt saw his opportunity.  Shishak also likely knew that he could count of Jeroboam to not come to Rehoboam’s aid.  This is absolutely a calculated political move on Shishak’s part in order for him to increase his fame and reputation.

However, this is also a very much a spiritual effort on behalf of God.  The Hebrew people begin to rebel. In fact, we are told that it was when Rehoboam stood up and was strong that he fell from the Lord.  Rehoboam had strengthened his borders and began to lean upon his own might.  God would make a point early in the rebellion of the Hebrew people.  When we learn to lean upon our own might things will go poorly.  There is always a bigger fish out there that is waiting for the opportunity to bring us down.  When we lean upon our own strength and not the strength of the Lord, then we have little protection from those who have stronger might than we have.

Rehoboam’s Repentance

Rehoboam repents.  The hand of the Lord’s wrath is stayed.  Shishak is not allowed to conquer all of the land of Judah.  Instead, Shishak is allowed to march up to Jerusalem and pillage the city.  The temple has much of its wealth stripped from it.  A good portion of the wealth of Solomon was taken out of Jerusalem merely five years after Solomon’s death.  Wealth is fleeting indeed.

In all of this, we see the Rehoboam’s repentance is not actually genuine.  Rehoboam’s epithet says that he did evil in the sight of the Lord.  Rehoboam was allowed to reign for another 12 years after Shishak’s invasion, but we are told that he did not seek the Lord.  God may have spared him, but he is not spared because his repentance was true.

So why would God spare Rehoboam?  I think God is teaching a lesson to the Hebrew people of Rehoboam’s day and all those who would follow him.  I think the chronicler is attempting to convey this same lesson as he writes this story.  God wants to demonstrate the power of repentance.  God had every right to let the Hebrew people fall.  God had every just reason to let the Hebrew people of Judah fall into the hands of Egypt.  They had forsaken him and their pride was swelling.  God could have let them go into captivity and it would have been just.

However, God has mercy upon them.  Rehoboam has a brief moment of sorrow and that is all it takes to stay God’s hand of wrath.  Rehoboam has a slight moment of humbleness and God responds.  Repentance and humbleness are powerful tools in the life of a human being.  Repentance and humbleness before God are powerful dynamics in our relationship with God.

I think God is also making another point.  God is trying to demonstrate how harsh human beings are to one another.  He is trying to demonstrate to Rehoboam how difficult life would be should he become a vassal state of Egypt.  God is trying to teach Rehoboam and the other Hebrew people that life is easier in submission to Him than in submission to anyone else.  This lesson seems to go unlearned.

Plunder

I’ve already mentioned that Shishak took much of the wealth of Solomon with him and carted it back to Egypt.  So what is it that Rehoboam does?  Rehoboam makes bronze shields to replace all of the gold ones that Solomon had constructed.  Don’t get me wrong.  Bronze can be just as pretty as gold.  But bronze is a poor imitation of gold.  Instead of truly repenting and accepting what God would bring into his life, Rehoboam attempts to replace what was lost through his own might.  Instead of settling for what God brought into his life, through his own power Rehoboam tries to recreate what was lost.

No, there is little humbleness within Rehoboam.  There is little repentance.  Even after an act of humbling such that a foreign king could bring upon him, Rehoboam is still focused on his greatness and his reign and his reputation.  Can there be any wonder that the chronicler tells us that he did evil and did not seek the ways of the Lord?

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Year 3, Day 311: 2 Chronicles 11

Rehoboam Listens

 Of course Rehoboam is angered by the reaction of the people.  I don’t think anyone in leadership would take well the reality that 5/6 of their kingdom has gone into rebellion.  I completely understand why Rehoboam would want to lash out in reaction.  Add to this natural tendency that Rehoboam clearly had a controlling personality since he had the gall to tell people that he was going to make their yoke even more unbearable when they had come to him to ask for a easing of their burden.  It should be no surprise to any of us that Rehoboam tries to rally the nation under his leadership.

However, to his credit he actually listens to a prophet of God.  Shemaiah comes to Rehoboam and tells him that the rupture of the land was actually God’s plan.  I’d like to stop and look at this from two perspectives.

First, imagine hearing this message as Rehoboam.  Not only does this message immediately cause him to change his plans – not something that is easy for a controlling personality to do – but it also immediately tells him that the will of God is not with him.  It immediately should bring the truth into his mind that his father must not have been obedient to God.  He would know with certainly that the promise that God gave to David was already made void by the sinfulness of the kingly line.  The only two kings on record after David at this point are Solomon and Rehoboam!  The kingdom is already split after two kings!  I can’t imagine the amount of conviction that must have been necessarily laid upon Rehoboam’s heart as he heard this message.

Let’s give Rehoboam some credit here, though.  As difficult as the message must have been for him to hear, he does at least listen to the message.  He calls off the assault onto the northern kingdom.  He lets it go.  Instead of focusing upon vengeance, he turns and focuses on building up the defenses of Judah.  In this moment we see Rehoboam grow up a good bit.  He goes from being a brash young king listening to bad advisors and becomes a king capable of being humbled by God and at least temporarily setting himself on a decent path afterwards.

Second, imagine hearing this message from God as Shemaiah.  Imagine being the one who is asked to bring this message to the brash young king.  Imagine being the one that God picks to tell the king that he has messed up and his father had messed up before him.  Talk about potentially putting your neck out for God!  But this is exactly what Sehmaiah does.  He takes the message given to him by God and goes to Rehoboam with it.  He acts courageously as he goes forth with God’s message.

To Jerusalem

The priests and the Levites who were living in the northern kingdom now come south to Judah and present themselves for service.  We hear in Chronicles that this is because Jeroboam and his sons had thrown them out of the land.  Jeroboam and his sons stop the worship of God in Israel and instead erect statues of goats and calves for them to worship.  Now we see the extent of the sin among the people.  In one bold and swift move the northern kingdom has not only abandoned the Davidic line of kings but they have also abandoned the official worship of God.

I give much credit to the priests and the Levites who were living in the northern kingdom as these religious changes were being made.  They were not afraid to abandon ship.  They were not afraid to give up life and home to stay with God.  Many of them likely left the land and cities that had been in their family for generations, probably since the Hebrew people first took the Promised Land.  These priests and Levites give up all that they have in this world so that they can stay in relationship with God.

Unfortunately, there is a dark end to this story.  The Bible tells us that they only made a difference as a large scale movement in Judah for three years.  For three years they help Rehoboam make the land secure.  I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but we’ll talk about this point more tomorrow.  In the first verse of 2 Chronicles 12 we hear that once Rehoboam’s borders were secure and his authority was established, then he and the people of Judah also turn from the ways of the Lord.

Solomon’s Sin Continued

In the last third of this chapter, we hear about Rehoboam’s marriages.  Yes, that’s right.  We hear that Rehoboam continues in the practice of David and especially Solomon.  Rehoboam is said to have a total of 18 wives and 60 concubines.  This is more than David but far less than Solomon.  Of course, Rehoboam’s kingdom was greatly reduced in scope and he would have fewer countries seeking to establish peace with him through marriage.  This would explain the greatly diminished harem as compared to Solomon.

Remember that God had told the Hebrew people to not accumulate wives.  In fact, it is clear that God’s design is that a man should have one wife.  We’ve already seen that Solomon’s policy of having a large harem and ignoring God’s ways has led the country into religious strife.  It shouldn’t be any surprise that this is the last topic about which the chronicler speaks before telling us about his rebellion in other areas.  Blatant disobedience to God in one area of our life commonly leads to blatant disobedience to God in other areas of life as well.

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