Shemaiah, A Man Of God

Text: 1 Kings 12:22, KJV: But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD (note: this message is also found in 2 Chronicles 11).

Thoughts: Shemaiah is another “man of God” mentioned in Scripture, but we don’t know much about him. From the text, we know he lived during the days of Solomon and Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and heir to the throne of Israel. It is possible he lived in or near Jerusalem; Gad and Nathan, both prophets of the LORD, seemed to live there. Israel was blessed to have prophets like these men, plus Shemaiah and other men of God living among them.

But after Solomon died, and Rehoboam was crowned king, Rehoboam made a serious blunder which led to the Ten Northern Tribes breaking away from Judah and Benjamin. Jeroboam of Ephraim became king of the Ten Tribes (Israel, apart from Judah) and eventually led these Ten Tribes into idolatry too. All of this is mentioned in 1 Kings 12.

Soon after this act of secession or rebellion, Rehoboam decided that he was going to use military action against the Ten Tribes. He had 180,000 battle-ready soldiers, and was ready to go to battle, but God stepped in and stopped this campaign before it got started.

And Shemaiah was the man of God who brought God’s message: “Don’t do it, stay home, this thing is from Me,” God said in so many words.

It’s true, we don’t know much about Shemaiah: we’re never told anything about his parents, his tribe, his children if any, not even his age or if he delivered any more messages. Even if not, he was there when he was needed, and he was there when it counted. He got the message from God and gave it to the king, no matter what Rehoboam may have thought.

May the Lord give us legions of men of God, not afraid to speak the truth when it’s needed!

2 Ch 11:2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).