Chronicles 11:1 – 23 “ Shemaiah’s Prophecy (1 Kings 12:20-24)
“When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 choice warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.’” So they listened to the words of the LORD and turned back from going against Jeroboam.
Rehoboam Fortifies Judah
Rehoboam continued to live in Jerusalem, and he built up cities for defense in Judah. He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He strengthened their fortresses and put officers in them, with supplies of food, oil, and wine. He also put shields and spears in all the cities and strengthened them greatly. So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.
Jeroboam Forsakes the Priests and Levites
Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam. For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD. And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat-demons and calf idols he had made. Those from every tribe of Israel who had set their hearts to seek the LORD their God followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam’s Family
And Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. She bore sons to him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king. Rehoboam also acted wisely by dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and sought many wives for them.”
After losing ten of the twelve tribes to Jeroboam, Rehoboam initially wants to wage war to get that territory back. Somehow Rehoboam is still convinced that he can force the Israelites to come under his rule! But fortunately, the prophet Shemaiah stops Rehoboam from this ridiculous quest, telling him that it is God’s will for the kingdom to split as it has. Meanwhile, Jeroboam has created two altars with golden calves and has set up his own system of priests, alienating the Levitical priests. The Levitical priests are so appalled that the leave their pasturelands and possessions and move to Judah and Jerusalem. Israelites who truly worship the Lord follow the Levites to Jerusalem. The Levites and these true believers support Rehoboam for the first three years of his eign because he is basically following the ways of his father and grandfather.
Rehoboam systematically fortifies Judah, creating a number of fortified cities. Rehoboam’s sons settle in these cities. During Rehoboam’s reign, he acquires eighteen wives and sixty concubines. Rehoboam chooses one son to succeed him and settles the other sons throughout Judah, supplying them lavishly and finding wives for them. So far, so good for Rehoboam.
For details of Jeroboam’s career, you must return to 1 Kings 12. Basically, God promises Jeroboam that if Jeroboam will follow God, God will establish Jeroboam’s family as a dynasty. Unfortunately, Jeroboam tries to take matters into his own hands by creating his own religion to keep the Israelites from returning to Jerusalem to worship, thereby setting his family and himself up for disaster. Contrast Jeroboam’s early career with that of Rehoboam. After foolishly attempting to throw his weight around, Rehoboam actually makes so wise decisions … at least in the first three years of his reign.
What can we learn from these two rulers? God made Jeroboam magnificent promises; however, Jeroboam refused to believe God and attempted to become his own amateur providence, with predictable results. Rehoboam made a wretched beginning; however, he did heed Shemaiah and behave wisely, even though Rehoboam himself never had any specific promises from God.
One television program details massive engineering failures. While some of these mistakes might be unavoidable, there are those that occur because someone refuses to heed good advice. In northern Germany, one section of the Autobahn collapsed completely when engineers refused to take into account the unstable peat bogs on which they were constructing this heavily used road. Rather than treating the problem as if they were building a causeway and sinking piles deep into bedrock, the engineers created small piles that only penetrated into the peat. Ignoring advice from some sources, the engineers opted for a cheap solution that resulted in the complete collapse of 40 meters of this important roadway.
The take – home lesson from these two leaders is this: God will advise you if you will listen. Rehoboam listened, at least for a while, while Jeroboam did not. Each of us has a choice: will we listen to God or will we go off on our own, assuming that we know what to do without any divine advice? May God help us to turn to Him for wisdom!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust in You rather than in ourselves. In the mighty and precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
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