2 Chronicles 10-13
Rebellion
In our reading today King Solomon has died and his son, Rehoboam is made king. We also read of Jeroboam. At one time King Solomon made Jeroboam superintendent over some building projects. As the years went by King Solomon allowed himself to be corrupted by his many wives. He built high places for the idols his wives worship thus rebelling against God who had given him so much. As a result, God sent a prophet to Jeroboam telling him he would be given ten of the twelve tribes which he was to be King over. God instructed Jeroboam to Fear the Lord and God would make him into a lasting dynasty. The ten tribes will be known as Israel. The remaining two tribes will be known as Judah. It is thought that being a “can do” type of guy Jeroboam had attempted to form plots and conspiracies against King Solomon and was forced to flee to Egypt when King Solomon found out.
When Rehoboam became king Jeroboam returned and met with Rehoboam in order to lessen the load on the people of the nation resulting from all of Solomon’s projects. Rehoboam wanting to establish his power acted out of pride and rebellion and said that rather than things getting easier on the people he was going to make things much harder. At this Jeroboam rebels and forms the nation of Israel. Almost immediately fear grips Jeroboam’s heart and he abandons God’s plan and tries to sever the newly formed nation of Israel from their religious heritage with Judah. Jeroboam forces the priest and Levites out of Israel and appoints his own religious leaders. He makes idols for the people to worship based on what he saw in Egypt and restricts the people from traveling to Judah. What the nation had originally rebelled against became a reality in their lives under Jeroboam.
Rehoboam also continued in his rebellion against the Lord by abandoning the Law of the Lord. God removed His hand of protection from the nation and allowed Shishak king of Egypt to invade Judah and humble Rehoboam so that he and the nation would know the difference between serving God and serving the ways of the world. Egypt is a symbol of the world and worldliness.
Finally when Rehoboam dies his son Abijah becomes king. He also rebels but this time it is in a good way. He rebels against his father and starts the return of Judah to God.
The purpose of the books of Chronicles is to remind the people who are in exile in Babylon of their history. They need to reflect on what it was that led to their captivity and exile. God is not finished with the nation. While they are in exile God is preparing them for what He has planned for them as Jeremiah made clear in Jeremiah 29:10-14
Pride and fear blinded these kings from seeing and trusting God. I have found that often pride is just a shell meant to hide fear. Jesus called us to Fear the Lord in Luke 12:5. Here are a couple of Psalms that speak of the Fear of the Lord, Psalm 19 &111. Here are some Proverbs that speak of fear as well. Proverbs 3:25&26, 10:27, 29:25.
The book of Proverbs was written for Solomon’s son who would become king. It is really good wisdom for everyone and I recommend reading it on a regular basis. Had Rehoboam put these instructions into practice he may have avoided the truth in Proverbs 29:23!
Fear the Lord
Pastor Dave