2 Chronicles 12 Commentary
Solomon had inherited wealth and goodwill from his father, David. It appears Rehoboam inherited only wealth from Solomon. We guess there was very little goodwill to inherit from Solomon by the time he died.
Where is the goodwill and diplomacy that Solomon built and even cemented by marriage with Egypt? Is it possible that all of it can evaporate merely 4 years after Solomon’s death?
Parents are warned. Wealth alone isn’t as cool an inheritance as we think!
Look at what has happened to Solomon’s vanity investments. The gold shields are gone, and Solomon’s body isn’t even cold yet! There is an investment that lasts; Rehoboam doesn’t inherit it!
There is more at play here. Rehoboam and his subjects have abandoned the Law of the LORD. The LORD has pronounced judgment on the nation. Judah must be scattered. But repentance intervenes. Jerusalem survives but only as a subject kingdom of Egypt.
None of the books of the holy script is called Shemaiah, but we have a lot of material from the writings of this prophet. He was to Rehoboam what Isaiah was to Hezekiah.
Let Israel know the difference between serving the LORD and serving other gods. The message is simple. There is no land in between. You are either a slave of the cross or a slave of the devil. It is the purpose of the gospel to tell the world that the yoke of the LORD Jesus is easy and His burden is light.
“But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.”
These words of the LORD were still fresh in the minds of the people! But because Rehoboam humbled himself, the result is different, and the nation survives. What repentance can do!
In place of the gold shields, Rehoboam made bronze shields. This is a picture of a devaluation process that the saint undergoes when sin strikes. A boy born under Solomon’s rule, when the nation swam in gold, will still be a youth by the time Rehoboam is dying and gold is replaced with bronze!
Worse still, Jerusalem, the capital of a vast and prosperous nation, is now only a little more than a city-state. This is a miracle!
Mortals always find a way to mess up. Rehoboam is not definitely the son, nor the promised seed to bring the scattered humanity back to an everlasting kingdom.
How blessed, and consequently, how grateful the saint must be to the man Jesus! His kingdom of righteousness is everlasting. The saint’s value runs from clay through iron, bronze, and silver, all the way to gold. We increase; we don’t reduce. Ours is an everlasting kingdom. We can bask in the righteousness of the cross daily.
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