11 Chronicles Chapter 11

Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom

2Chronicles 11:1 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

Rehoboam was not accepting the Lord's judgment and decides to fight instead. This would have caused more bloodshed, more division, more hate and more trouble. Seeking the Lord's will is always best. How many innocent soldiers and civilians have died over the centuries because one leader decides to have war. While the others die, the leaders stay in a places of safety. It happens over and over again. This is one reason I've never liked the draft but preferred volunteers to enlist in the armed services.

2Chronicles 11:2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

Thankfully God intervened and stopped this immediately. There is another account of this in 1 Kings 12. This reminds me of later kings of Judah that resisted the invasion of Babylon which was allowed because of God's judgment for their idolatry and other sins. It ended very badly for those kings. I believe in defending one's country but when God shows through His prophets that something is allowed by Him because of a nation's sin, then we have accept it and not rebel.

In today's world it would be hard to do because people do not go to the prophets or trust in God in order to know His will. The only way to win any war today with all the nuclear weapons available is to trust in God and be on the Lord's side in all things.

2Chronicles 11:5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.

We can't fault Rehoboam for doing this. Now he had Jereboam and the other tribes of Israel in the north and had Egypt in the south. Both were his enemies.

2Chronicles 11:6 He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
7 And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,
8 And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
9 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,
10 And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities.
11 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.
12 And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

So the prophecies of the past have been true. Judah and Benjamin in the south and the other 10 tribes formed Israel in the north. The kingdom of David splits apart but we know from reading God's word, they were to be reunited under Jesus Christ in the last days. Those last days started coming to pass in 1948. Actually because of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by Britian, the return of the exiles started earlier in 1917. Recently I discovered that because of the heavy debt the Ottoman Empire had as early as 1867, they began to sell tracts of land opening up the land to return to it's original owners. We never know the power and will of God that is at work constantly to bring about the return of that land to Israel.

Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem

2Chronicles 11:13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.
14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:
15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

The Levites and priests that formerly was given cities in all the tribes of Israel had to flee to Judah and Jerusalem. The northern kingdom of Israel already through the leadership of Jereboam changed the worship of God to the worship of idols appointing his own priests to lead in that kind of worship. The northern kingdom was the first to fall a few years after this because of their idolatry.

2Chronicles 11:16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.
17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

God always has His people. There are always those that want to live for God and stay faithful. There also are those that refuse to walk away from God but choose sometimes at the risk of their own lives, to stay faithful. Oh that we today would choose that path. The path of righteousness and staying faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ in all our ways, brings joy and fruitfulness. To choose right, to choose holiness, to choose everlasting life instead of the ways of evil will, bring future rewards.

Rehobaom stayed right for only three years though. How the flesh is weak. Thank God for sending Jesus to us. Except for the grace of God there many of us would be.

Rehoboam's Family

2Chronicles 11:18 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;
19 Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.
20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.

He loved the daughter of Absalom above all the other wives and appointed Abijah to be king after him. It seems like the multiple of wives was a weakness of David, Solomon and Rehoboam. In David's case he repented of his sins and he never once embraced idolatry. In many other cases though the wives turned the hearts of king to worship idols and lose their standing with God.

In the beginning God created man with only one wife and when she died, then he could take another. God told the kings not to multiply wives to themselves.

Deuteronomy 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

God knew that many wives could turn the hearts of kings into the sin of idolatry which destroys the soul and brings in much evil. They seemed to take wives for political reasons from other nations, many of which practiced idolatry.

1John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

11 Chronicles Chapter 12