2 Chronicles 12 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

2 Chronicles 12

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

12:1 When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” 6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.” 7 When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 10 and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. 11 And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. 12 And when he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good¹ in Judah.

13 So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. 14 And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer?² There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah³ his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

[1] 12:12 Hebrew good things were found
[2] 12:15 After seer, Hebrew adds according to genealogy
[3] 12:16 Spelled Abijam in 1 Kings 14:31

Commentary

v1: "Jeshurun grew fat and kicked" (Deut 32.15); this prophecy was fulfilled several times in the history of Israel and Judah. This was one such occasion. Rehoboam had strengthened the kingdom (see also Uzziah in 26.16), but then abandoned the law of the Lord God. Rehoboam had only been king for four years, but grew complacent. The military defeat at the hands of Shishak, king of Egypt, was due to his forsaking the law of God.

v2-4: Shishak was God's instrument of judgment. He came with a large army, and captured the fortified cities, which proved useless without faith in the Lord God.

v5: The Lord, being gracious, continued to speak to His people. The message was clear; the people had turned from the Lord; and He had abandoned them to Shishak.

The reign of Rehoboam is described in chapters 10 and 11. There is no open idolatry, no explicit abuse of the poor. But there seems to be a drift away from God, little mention of God in Rehoboam’s decisions and actions. He seems simply to have lived his life ignoring God. As in the book of Hebrews, the danger is not always rejection; our greater danger might be neglect of God and His ways.

v6-8: The measure of repentance was honoured by the Lord. He promised deliverance from Shishak. There was also a lesson to learn; the difference between serving God and serving the enemy.

v9-11: Rehoboam lost the gold of glory, and replaced it with bronze of judgment.

v12: Through Rehoboam's humility before God, there was some restraint of evil in the land.

v13-14: Rehoboam failed because he did not set his heart on seeking the Lord. It is vital for us, that we enter His presence with reverence; that we fill our lives with the things of God; and that we maintain an attitude of prayerfulness.

Rehoboam’s mother, one of Solomon’s wives, was Naamah, an Ammonitess; she would not be a good influence. See also 15.16, which refers to Maacah, Rehoboam’s wife, who encouraged idolatry.

v15-16: Through Rehoboam's reign, there was ongoing warfare with Israel.