2 Chronicles 12:1-16

Rehoboam had thoughts of grandeur when he began his reign.  Solomon had left him tremendous wealth, a prosperous nation that was united and at peace with all of it neighbors.  However, within a few short years, the nation was divided, he abandoned the Lord and he found himself losing a war.  What took decades of hard work to build was gone in a matter of a few years.  This same principle is true in every area of life.  We can spend a lifetime building up our reputation, starting a church or founding a ministry.  All that work can come crashing down and in a very short time our reputation can be destroyed, a church can be torn apart and a ministry can become totally extinct.  Tearing down is always faster than building up and can be very painful.  Fortunately, God is always faithful and even in the darkest of days and bleakest of circumstances he often steps in to provide restoration.

ISRAEL REBELS AGAINST GOD AND IS RANSACKED: Rehobam began his reign obeying the Law of the Lord, but after the first three years, he abandoned the Law and began to follow idols.  Perhaps he felt like Jeroboam was being more prosperous than he was or he just became discouraged because of the division in Israel.  Whatever the case was, he stopped obeying the law and started to worship idols.  The Lord raised up the nation of Egypt to come and attack the nation and they plundered the cities, the temple and the king’s palace.  Just like that, all the treasure that Solomon had accumulated on earth was gone and Rehoboam was left trying to replace shields of gold with bronze.  There are always consequences for our sin and we do not control what they might be or when they might come, but they are always worse than we imagined possible and last longer than we desire.  We don’t often recognize the blessings of obedience and that is a very dangerous thing.  Apparently, Rehoboam got to the place where obedience did not seem to be worth the sacrifices he was making.  He simply did not recognize how blessed he was until all that he had was removed.  We must learn to avoid the trap of discontentment that imprisons us in the consequences of disobedience.

ISRAEL REPENTS BEFORE GOD AND IS RESCUED: When the Word of the Lord came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah through the prophet; they woke up to the fact that they were under attack for having abandoned the Law.  They humbled themselves before the Lord, admitted their own guilt and honored the Lord for being just.  This demonstration of humility and repentance moved the heart of God and raised the hand of God to protect them from the continuing attacks.  Peace was restored in Jerusalem and Rehoboam was able to continue his reign without further tragedy.  The consequences of his sin were still very evident.  The gold was gone, the nation was weakened and many cities had been conquered; but Jerusalem was still standing and the people were still in the land.  The nation had been receiving tribute from Egypt and now they were paying tribute.  The consequences were grave but their repentance rescued them from complete annihilation.  When we fail we must learn to repent and return to the Lord that we might experience His blessed restoration and forgiveness.