2 Chronicles 12:1 - Meaning and Application

Israel had already been weakened and disgraced by being split into two kingdoms. Yet Judah, which had both the temple and the royal city, and both the house of David and the house of Aaron, could have done very well if it had kept doing its duty. Instead, everything here was out of order. Rehoboam and his people left God, for he abandoned the law of the Lord and so, in effect, abandoned God, along with all Israel with him (2 Chronicles 12:1).

Rehoboam had once enjoyed a good three-year period, when he walked in the way of David and Solomon (2 Chronicles 11:17). But that time ended, and he grew careless in worshiping God. We are not told exactly how he failed, only that he fell away, and Judah fell with him. Here Judah is called Israel, because they followed the evil ways that Jeroboam had drawn the northern kingdom into. This happened after Rehoboam had secured his kingdom and strengthened himself.

As long as he thought his throne was shaky, he kept close to his duty, hoping to make God his friend. But when he saw the kingdom standing fairly firm, he thought he no longer needed religion. He felt safe enough without it. That is how the prosperity of fools destroys them. Jeshurun, a poetic name for Israel, grew fat and kicked. When people prosper and see no danger ahead, they are ready to say to God, "Go away from us."

God quickly brought trouble on them to wake them up and bring them back to repentance before their hearts grew hard. They had only begun to turn from God in Rehoboam’s fourth year, and in the fifth year the king of Egypt came against them with a huge army. He took Judah’s fortified cities and then moved against Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 12:2-4). This great disaster came so soon after they had begun to neglect God’s worship, and it came from a hand they had little reason to suspect, since Judah had had friendly dealings with Egypt in the previous reign. It also came with such force that all the fortified cities Rehoboam had recently built and garrisoned fell at once, with no resistance. That made it clear the trouble came from the Lord, because they had sinned against him.

Lest they miss the meaning of this providence, God explained the rod through his word (2 Chronicles 12:5). When the princes of Judah had all gathered in Jerusalem, likely in a council of war to plan for their safety in this crisis, God sent a prophet to them, Shemaiah, the same prophet who had earlier delivered God’s command not to fight against the ten tribes (2 Chronicles 11:2). Shemaiah told them plainly that Shishak was prevailing not because they had handled affairs badly, though that may have been what the princes were examining, but because they had left God. God never leaves people until they leave him first.

When the message from God’s word and the blow from God’s hand came together, the king and the princes humbled themselves before God for their sin. They admitted their guilt and patiently accepted the punishment, saying, "The Lord is righteous" (2 Chronicles 12:6). We too should act that way under God’s discipline. We should justify God and judge ourselves. Even kings and princes must either bend before God or break under him, either be humbled or be ruined.

Because they professed repentance, God showed them some mercy. He saved them from total ruin, yet he left them with some fear of judgment so they would not rebel again. First, God kindly stopped the destruction they were almost facing. With such a vast and victorious army under Shishak, after he had taken the fortified cities, who would have expected anything less than the fall of the whole country and even Jerusalem itself? But when God says, "This far and no farther," the most threatening force suddenly loses its power. Here again, when the destroying angel came to Jerusalem, he was forbidden to destroy it: "My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem, not now, not by this hand, not to destroy it completely" (2 Chronicles 12:7, 2 Chronicles 12:12).

Those who admit that God is right in afflicting them will find him gracious. Those who humble themselves before him will find favor with him. The God of mercy is quick to take the first opportunity to show mercy. If we have humble hearts under humbling troubles, then the trouble has done its work, and it will either be removed or changed in its effect.

Second, God gave them some deliverance, though not complete deliverance. He gave them some advantage over the enemy, so they recovered a little. They reformed only partly, and only for a short time, and they soon fell back again. Their deliverance matched their repentance. Yet it says that in Judah things went well, and the situation began to look better (2 Chronicles 12:12).

In one sense, things went well because there were still good people in Judah. There were good things there, as the margin says, such as good ministers, good people, and good families, and the country’s troubles made them better. It is some comfort, in times of deep corruption and decline, if there is still a remnant among whom good things are found. That gives hope for Israel.

In another sense, things went well in their outward condition. Things had gone badly when all the fortified cities were taken (2 Chronicles 12:4), but when they repented, the situation changed. We should be thankful if things go better than we expected, better than before, and better than we deserved. We should recognize God’s goodness if he grants us even partial relief.

Still, God left them to suffer sharply under Shishak, both in their freedom and in their wealth. In their freedom, they were told, "They will be his servants" (2 Chronicles 12:8). That means they would be forced to live at his mercy, pay tribute to him, and some may even have been taken prisoner and held in captivity. This was so they would learn the difference between serving God and serving the kingdoms of other lands. They had complained, perhaps, that God’s law was too strict and too heavy, and they had abandoned it in verse 1 for that reason. God’s answer was, in effect, "Then let them try another master. Let neighboring rulers govern them for a while, since they do not want me to rule them, and let them see how they like that."

They could have served God with joy and gladness of heart, but they would not. So let them serve their enemies in hunger and thirst (Deuteronomy 28:47-48), until they remember their first Master, when it was better with them (Hosea 2:7). Some think this is also the sense of Ezekiel 20:24-25, where God says, "Because they despised my statutes, I gave them statutes that were not good." The more we compare God’s service with other kinds of service, the more reasonable and easy it will appear.

Whatever difficulties or hardships we think come with obedience, it is far better to face them than to suffer the punishment of disobedience. Do people think the laws of temperance are hard? The results of self-indulgence will be much harder. The service of virtue is complete freedom, while the service of sinful desire is complete slavery.

The Egyptians also struck them in their wealth. The king of Egypt plundered both the temple and the royal treasury, which Solomon had left very full. He carried off everything he could reach (2 Chronicles 12:9). That was exactly why he came. David and Solomon, who walked in God’s way, filled those treasuries, one through war and the other through trade. But Rehoboam, who abandoned God’s law, emptied them.

The removal of the gold shields and the replacement of them with bronze ones (2 Chronicles 12:9-11) was already described before (1 Kings 14:25-28).