2 Chronicles 12:1-10
Grace for the Humble
July 16, 2023
The Apostle Peter says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. When King Solomon died, he left a kingdom that was filled with splendor, power and the presence of God. But unlike his father, King Rehoboam was a very foolish and wicked man. After Israel’s rejection and rebellion the kingdom was split into North and South. Rehoboam, who was king in the south called Judah, had an every opportunity to walk with God and enjoy the blessings of the Lord, because Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord were in his kingdom. Even the priests and the Levites left the Northern Kingdom and moved to Judah to serve the Lord, 11:13-17. Yet, Rehoboam walked away from God, refusing to serve the Lord like David his grandfather or Solomon his father. Rehoboam simply refused to commit his life to God and he and his people paid a terribly high price. God is worthy of our very best. Romans 12 says that total surrender to the Lord is “your reasonable service.” In other words, the least we can do for the Lord, in light of all that He has done for us, is to give Him the best we have. OSWALD CHAMBERS is quoted in 1935, “Shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only—My Utmost for His Highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone.” Oswald Chambers was a principal of the Bible Training College in London and a chaplain during World War l. After his death, his wife from her own shorthand notes of his teaching into a famous daily devotional, My Utmost for His Highest!
I. v. 1 THE DEPENDENCE - Verse one is a real eye-opener regarding the character of King Rehoboam. When he established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord AND all Israel with him! We are told that he operated in pride; that he disregarded the Word of God, and that he led others astray from God as a result. The problem that affected Rehoboam was a problem in the heart. He believed that neither he, nor his nation, needed the Lord; the Lord’s directions; or the Lord’s involvement! The bible says in verse 14, “And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.” This is the perfect example of a life that God does not bless nor use for His glory! God is looking for people who prepare their hearts to seek Him. He is looking for people who realize their dependence upon Him – John 15 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Jesus said, in John 14 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John also wrote “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” The Apostle James said, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” In order to truly depend on God we must humble ourselves before Him! So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The Lord is Righteous."
II. v. 7 THE DIFFERENCE “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance… Nevertheless they will be servants of the king in Egypt, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.” Rehoboam and Israel sinned and God used the King of Egypt as His method of discipline. But God said that there is going to be a difference between how I make you serve and how the world makes you serve! God said I will not let the enemy overtake you! God said that I will give you SOME deliverance! God saved us so that we might “walk in newness of life,” Romans 6:4; and so that He might use us for His glory. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” God has always been about using His children to DISTINGUISH how He does things DIFFERENT from the world. You will never fit in with the world because you are different. Your difference is by God’s design! You see, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed!” But, when you are His child and you refuse to walk in His will; He will not hesitate to send chastisement into your life. King Solomon taught in Proverbs 3 "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." The Hebrew writer adds, If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Just as He did in Israel, God will often use this world as His rod. Jesus said in Revelation 3 “As many as I love I rebuke and chasten.” He will use whatever is necessary to speak to your heart because your difference is by design!
III. v. 9-11 THE DUPLICITY - The idea of doubleness is at the core of duplicity. If you are being duplicitous there are two “yous”; the one you're showing and the one you're hiding. And—key to the idea of duplicity—you're hiding that “you” in order to make people believe something that's not true. “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” — Proverbs 11:3 (NIV) We are told that the King of Egypt took EVERYTHING! The bible says in verse 9, “He took it all!” He even took the three hundred golden shields that Solomon had made. These shields hung in the king’s palace. They were taken down by the king’s guard when he went to the Temple to worship. The guards would line the avenue leading up to the Temple; 150 guards per side, each holding a gold shield. Imagine the gleam that went up from those shields as Solomon made his way into the Temple to worship. I’ve seen some preachers with some shinny doodads in my day, but King Solomon was “fancy.” He loved grandeur and when he worshiped, he made a spectacular scene. So, when the shields are taken, Rehoboam commissions the metal workers to fashion three hundred new shields of brass so he could look like his daddy but yet be fake. When polished, these brass shields would gleam like gold, but when the king passed between the rows of these shields, he knew and the guards knew that they were inferior and that they were poor substitute for the stolen shields of gold. Rehoboam tried to maintain the trappings and appearance of former glory, but he couldn't measure up. When God is no longer central in our lives, maintaining the appearance of a Christian life becomes superficial and cheap. Brass, or bronze, is not pure. It is an alloy of copper and zinc. It was cheap. Before we come down too hard on King Rehoboam, perhaps we need to examine our own hearts for a moment. I would submit to you that we are often guilty of giving brass instead of gold. We offer Him an inferior substitute for our very best. How do we do this? When we operate in human effort instead of divine power; When we live carnal lives instead of committed lives; When we live in compromise instead of total commitment; When we offer up excuses instead of humble obedience; When we try to keep up appearances instead of humbling ourselves before the Lord in repentance – When we know we are not where the Lord wants us to be with Him; and we pretend all is well, we are giving Him brass for gold. God gave us His best in Jesus, we should too!
