June 24 - 2 Chronicles 10-12: Rehoboam Loses the Kingdom and Solomon's Riches, Returns to God

Today’s Reading: 2 Chronicles 10-12

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Rehoboam went down the same path as Jeroboam but changed when God punished him.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Rehoboam became king. Israel asked for lighter work. Rehoboam's elders counseled him to grant the wishes. His peers wanted to intimidate Israel. Rehoboam listened to his peers and lost the kingdom, fulfilling God's promise to Solomon.
Rehoboam built forts throughout his land. At first, God prevented civil war between the two kingdoms. Later they skirmished for years.
All of the God-worshipers moved to Judah to escape Jeroboam's evil. This lasted three years.
Rehoboam stopped worshiping God. Shishak, king of Egypt, plundered Jerusalem and the Temple. Rehoboam repented and God relented.
Rehoboam died with a reputation of not obeying God.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

People will only work hard for leaders willing to be a servant and to accomplish a specific task.

We must be careful reading too much into what happened to Rehoboam, since God was behind everything. However, what the text wants us to see is that Israel was willing to follow Rehoboam like his father but only if they had lighter loads. They had faithfully obeyed Solomon to build the Temple, houses, and other important buildings in Jerusalem. Once he died, they wanted rest from the work. Unfortunately, Rehoboam's peers decided they needed a swift kick in the rear instead of lighter loads. Because he listened to his peers instead of the elders, Rehoboam lost the kingdom. There is so much Rehoboam could have done to keep his kingdom: asked God to remove the punishment, listened to the elders and followed their advice, or quickly rescinded his words once the people began to rebel. Unfortunately, he was too spoiled to do this. It is better for people to follow because they believe in the purpose of the task than obey because they fear the repercussions.

Rehoboam went down the same path as his father.

Rehoboam only learned from his initial setback until he fortified the kingdom. He continued to worship at the shrines his father erected. He abandoned God. So God punished Rehoboam with the loss of the riches Solomon had amassed over his 40-year reign.

Unlike Jeroboam, Rehoboam learned from his mistakes and returned to God.

Shemaiah and the refugees of Israel came to Rehoboam and all repented of abandoning God. Because they repented God blunted the punishment. However, they were not free. God wanted them to see the difference in serving God and serving humans. That lesson taught the people to obey God for the remainder of Rehoboam's life. When we learn from our mistakes and repent God will remove or blunt our punishment.

Have you seen the difference in serving God vs. serving humans?

June 23 - 1 Kings 12-14: Jeroboam Sets a New Record for Sinning Against God

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 12-14

The Message

English Standard Version

Today we begin the divided kingdom section in the history of the Jews. We now have two kings to keep track of. This becomes confusing, especially since the reigns did not always begin and end at the same time. Since we are reading chronologically, some of the confusion will be taken out. However, the two books (1 Kings then 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles) will overlap. When they do, I will summarize and comment on the life of one king the first day (today will be Jeroboam) and the other king the next day (Rehoboam).

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Jeroboam was taken from nothing, given most of the kingdom of David, the man who received a promise from God, and then caused Israel to worship other gods.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

As promised, God took the kingdom away from Solomon's son. Jeroboam became king over 10 tribes.
Jeroboam worried Israel would reunify. He changed Israel's worship, built two golden calves, multiple shrines and appointed unworthy priests—blatantly sinning against God.
God sent a messenger to condemn the new altar at Bethel. A king would sacrifice its prophets there.
An old prophet of God came and tricked the messenger to his death.
Jeroboam did not change.
Jeroboam sent his wife to Ahijah on behalf of his son. Ahijah told her God would punish Jeroboam's entire household with death. His son died.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Jeroboam forsook God because of his unwillingness to trust God's promise.

God gave Jeroboam a kingdom—David's kingdom. Yet that promise was not sufficient for Jeroboam. He had to prevent Israel from going to Jerusalem to worship. So he instead erected altars to other gods and appointed unholy people as priests for these new gods. Saul's reign ended because he would not wait to worship God the correct way. Jeroboam not only lost the kingdom for his lineage, he forfeited the lives of all his servants! When we regard our position higher than our faithfulness to God we are on the road to death. We may not die as Jeroboam died, but we cannot be on the road to life.

The story of the holy man of God who went to Jeroboam is one of the saddest stories in the Bible.

He is one of the most pitiable people in the Bible. He was willing to stand before the king of Israel and condemn the king's actions. He was willing to obey God's instructions. His problem was believing in the wrong person. The person he believed in told a great lie. Unfortunately it turned out to be the mistake that took his life. Beware when someone, even a person who proclaims to be from God, tells you to go against God's direct commands. It may be a test to see if you trust God.

What is your highest record of sin? (Don't answer that)