seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 11:1 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered Judah and Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.
2 But this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,4 ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the words of the Lord and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah:6 Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth Zur, Soko, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. 11 He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. 12 He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.
13 The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him.14 The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord 15 when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goatand calf idols he had made. 16 Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.
Oh I remember reading about this in Kings. Rehoboam started out on the right track. At first he was going to fight to get the Theocracy back under one king. God sent Shemaiah to Rehoboam to set him straight. This split was God's doing. Solomon only had two sons... one of them had to stay on the throne that covered Judah and Benjamin because that's where Jesus is supposed to be born in the future.
Meanwhile.... back in the northern area.... Jeroboam [One of Solomon's overseers] became king. He didn't want his people going to Jerusalem to worship because they would not be as productive. He was also afraid his people would decide to stay there in Jerusalem because traveling was dangerous and time consuming. So.... Jeroboam had two fake temples built and he put a golden calf [yep like the golden calf that jumped out of the pot while Moses was up on the mountain getting the 10 commandments] in each one. So the people in the northern territories [Israel] were worshiping shiny objects while the people in the area of Judah and Benjamin [Judah] were worshiping God in Jerusalem.
Here it says that Rehoboam was going to go fight to keep Israel under one king. God told Rehoboam to stop.... but then it shows that all the priests and Levites moved to Judah. They didn't want any part of worshiping shiny objects. So instead of chasing after Jeroboam and his troops.... Rehoboam put his troops in the towns around the southern area. He fortified all the little towns.
Enduringword.com discusses this fortification.
Built cities for defense in Judah: Stung by the civil war that more than halved his kingdom, Rehoboam set his focus on defense, building a series of fortified cities for defense.
“The fifteen cities that Ezra lists lie towards Judah’s southern and western borders. Their choice seems to have been dictated by threat from Egypt (12:2-4).” (Payne)
In every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong: Rehoboam sought to strengthen his kingdom and succeeded to some extent. Yet overall he neglected the spiritual things necessary to strengthen his kingdom.
“In these places he laid up stores of provisions, not only to enable them to endure a siege; but also that they might be able, from their situation, to supply desolate places.” (Clarke)
Rehoboam was Solomon's son. Apparently, Solomon's other son was off with the Queen of Sheba, so Rehoboam would have had full run of the palace and the temple. If Solomon dictated Proverbs to scribes... it would make sense that Rehoboam would have heard a few along the way. Solomon wasn't really a man after God's heart. It says Solomon built temples for some of those wives. I wonder.... if Solomon went to all that trouble to build temples for their shiny idols.... why didn't they have kids. Don't get me wrong.... I'm glad Rehoboam is the only one that is Solomon's flesh in this study.... it makes it so easy to track Jesus and Christianity now. It amazes me.... all the priests and Levites even left the north and went to Judah. With all the priests and Levites in that smaller tract of land.... one would think there would be no room for demons.... but there were demons... shiny objects that skewed Rehoboam's good start.I can see how Rehoboam went bad. It's from all those likes.... views.... pats on the back. Rehoboam got a bigger head than his heart could manage and he went off track.
Recently I checked on this site from my phone. I got to the end of the study and guess who's ad popped up.... Joel Osteen! He's got an ad at the bottom of my little Bible Study on an obscure [I mean it's not a big Bible Study on a public facebook page... it's Southern Maryland Online] page. I figure it's because I mentioned this site on a public site where I have blasted Joel Osteen. He started off ok.... I'm sure he meant well at one point.... but he went sour. He didn't want to help people... he only wanted to encourage the rich.... he picked the pockets of the poor and warped the minds of the rich.... he lead them to believe that Luke 6:38 is about money, when the verse he quotes actually begins with the previous verse in my Bible.... it context it reads....
Luke 6:37 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
The Joel Osteens of the day whispered in Rehoboam's ear. They fed him just enough truth to make the lies palatable. Rehoboam was corrupted and he's going to corrupt Judah.
