Over the past 3 sermons we have been looking at King Jeroboam and his Northern Kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes that had defected.
• They defected not just from David’s dynasty but from God. King Jeroboam led them into idolatry, creating another new religion, with new gods.
What about the Southern Kingdom, the remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin?
• Will those who stay in Jerusalem keep faith with God? Will they continue to honour God, since they have the Temple of God situated right there before them?
• We are going to read 1 Kings 14:21-28 and see what is happening in Judah and with King Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
We read about him two chapters ago in 1 Kings 12. When he first came onto the throne, the people requested that he lightens the burdens placed upon them.
• He consulted the elders (those who had served his father Solomon) but rejected their counsel, which was to accede to the people’s request.
• Instead, he listened to the advice of the young men he grew up with and gave the people a very harsh reply. That drove the ten tribes away and they defected.
Now let’s read what happened in the South - 1 Kings 14:21-28.
Rehoboam FAILED TO TREASURE WHAT HE HAS
He inherited his father Solomon’s wealth and resources. He has the council of the elders who once served his father.
• He has Jerusalem, “the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put His name” (14:21), the writer reminded us.
• He has the Temple of the Lord (built by his father) in which to worship God.
• He has the Levites and the priests to serve in the worship of God, unlike King Jeroboam (who feared not having places of worship and had to appoint priests).
Rehoboam has all the right conditions to make Jerusalem the centre for the worship of God, as the Lord so said.
• He was in better state than King Jeroboam but he did not treasure what he has.
• The better circumstances did not lead to a godly reign. Instead, Rehoboam introduced something more – 14:23 “They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.”
The circumstances don’t make us; our decisions do.
• It’s not the circumstances that make us who we are; it’s the decisions we make.
• Rehoboam has a good starting point, but that’s about it. He did not treasure what God has given him.
Was this the result of a lack of knowledge of the Law of God, that he was unaware of Gods’ ways?
• No. 2 Chron 12:1 tells us, “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.”
• It was a choice he made, after he was established and he had become strong.
Rehoboam ABANDONED THE LAW OF THE LORD
In actual fact, God has given specific instructions for the King at Mount Sinai.
• Deut 17:18-20 “18When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”
• Rehoboam was just the second generation after David, so this practice was likely taught. He was not ignorant of God’s Law.
Circumstances can be good or bad, and they can change. But they don’t make us who we are. Ultimately we become what we choose to be.
• Whatever the circumstances, we can choose to do the right thing and honour God, by the grace of God.
• Most circumstances are beyond our control, but we trust the One who is in control and we seek Him to help us make the right choices.
• We are not a product of the circumstances, nor are we victims of the circumstances.
Rehoboam led Judah into sin. The circumstances were in his favours but he led Judah into sin. And then we see God stepping in.
• We have been seeing God stepping in a couple of times now, in the reigns of the last few kings that we have been looking at.
• God steps in to awake man from their sinful slumber. In the 5th year of Rehoboam’s reign, God sent Egypt to invade Jerusalem.
We can read more about the situation from 2 Chron 12:1-8.
“1After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD. 2Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. 3With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt, 4he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.
5Then 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.'"
6The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is just."
7 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. 8 They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands."
The King of Egypt carried away all the treasures of the Temple and the royal palace, including the 300 gold shields (2 Chron 9:16) Solomon had made.
• These shields were used by the royal guard whenever they escorted the King to the Temple of God. They are now gone, taken into Egypt by King Shishak.
But the show must go on. The ceremony must continue. So Rehoboam made bronze shields (or brass) to replace them.
• So you can imagine this sight – the usual splendour and shine that comes from 300 glittering gold shields when the King moves into the Temple of God – is now gone.
• What is left are these cheap imitation of the real thing that no longer shine. They are inferior substitutes made to imitate the old glory.
This represented the spiritual state of the people. The glory of God is gone. What we have left is an imitation of the real thing.
• The King still goes to the temple of the Lord to “worship”, in the midst of all the idolatry that is taking place in his land.
• He has the form but no substance. Everything looks right from the outside, but it’s empty on the inside. He has the ritual but no true worship.
Rehoboam FORFEITED THE TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD
• He placed more faith in the rituals than in God, in the methods than in the Source of blessings, in the healing more than in the Healer.
Rehoboam did humble himself when he heard that Egypt was coming against him, but that was only momentary, just during the short time when he needed help.
Let me conclude. So what was the root of his problem?
2 Chron 12:14 “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.”
Only two times in Rehoboam’s life we saw him listening to the Lord.
• (1) When the ten tribes defected to Jeroboam, when the Lord said, “Don’t fight them, for this is my doing.” (12:24). He obeyed and went home.
• (2) When Egypt threatened to destroy Jerusalem (2 Chron 12), he humbled himself.
Unfortunately, such times were rare. Rehoboam did not set his heart on seeking God.
SET YOUR HEART ON SEEKING THE LORD (2 Chron 12:14)
Are we repeating Rehoboam’s mistakes?
• Do we treasure what God has given us? The freedom to worship, no fear of persecution, the nice environment God has given us to grow our faith…
• Have we abandoned the Word of God? We do not read His Word, not interested to know His will, we do not believe it…
• Have we forfeited the true worship of God? Going through the motions, heart is not there…
Pursuing God does not happen naturally. We must SET OUR HEARTS on seeking Him.
• We have to DECIDE to honour Him and follow Him, to seek Him and worship Him.
• The circumstances around us can be good, and they can be in our favours, but that doesn’t mean our hearts will be right.
We are not the products or the victims of our circumstances; we are products of our decisions. We have to DECIDE to seek God.
• If we don’t DECIDE AHEAD of time to honour God, we will likely choose sin.
• SET OUR HEARTS ON SEEKING THE LORD because everything flows from there.
• When we have to make a choice and do not make it, that is in itself a choice.
Let’s pledge our allegiance to the Lord!
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, we want to set our hearts on seeking You. We want to heed your Word and do Your will. Strengthen us with Your power so that we can stand firm in our decision to follow You and honour You, always. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
