2 Chronicles 12-14: Trading in Gold for Bronze

Thoughts

Chronicles 12

Sadly when Rehoboam’s kingdom was established and strong, he and all Israel abandoned the law of the Lord.

As a result, in the fifth year of his reign, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem  Shishak attacked with a massive army (1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless soldiers from Egypt, Lubim, Sukkiim, and Ethiopia).

The prophet Shemaiah told Rehoboam and the leaders:
“You have abandoned Me; therefore, I have abandoned you to Shishak.”

The leaders of Israel and Rehoboam humbled themselves, saying, “The Lord is righteous.”

• God saw their humility and said:
  “I will not destroy them, but they will become servants of Shishak so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving earthly kingdoms.”

Shishak took treasures from the temple and the royal palace, including the gold shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields and gave them to the guards who watched the palace gate.

• From https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/2-chronicles-12/ : According to 2016 prices for gold ($1269 an ounce) a large shield would be worth $152,000, meaning about $30 million for the large shields. The small shields would be worth $76,000, meaning about $23 million for the small shields. The total worth of all the shields would be about $53 million invested in gold ceremonial shields – that were now in the hands of the Egyptians.

Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned away, and Judah was not destroyed completely. Judah still did evil, but there was some stability.

Rehoboam reigned 17 years in Jerusalem (his mother was Naamah, an Ammonite). He and Jeroboam were continually at war. When he died, his son Abijah succeeded him.

Chronicles 13

In the eighteenth year of Jeroboam (king of Israel), Abijah became king of Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem.

Abijah prepared for battle with 400,000 warriors. Jeroboam came against him with 800,000.

Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim (in Ephraim) and said to Jeroboam and all Israel:

• “Do you not know that the Lord gave the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” (v.5)
• He condemned Jeroboam for rebelling against Rehoboam and for leading Israel into idolatry with golden calves 
• He reminded them that Judah had remained faithful to the true worship of God, maintaining the priesthood of Aaron and the temple sacrifices (vv.9–11).

Jeroboam set an ambush behind Judah while they faced him from the front. When Judah realized they were surrounded, they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets.  God struck down Jeroboam and all Israel.

Israel lost 500,000. Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord.

Abijah pursued Jeroboam, capturing Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron with their surrounding towns. Jeroboam did not recover power in Abijah’s lifetime and the Lord struck him, and he died.

Abijah became strong, took fourteen wives, and had 22 sons and 16 daughters.

• The rest of his acts and sayings were recorded by the prophet Iddo.

Chronicles 14

After Abijah’s death, his son Asa (now at Solomon’s great grandson) became king, and the land had peace for ten years. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord! He removed foreign altars, high places, broke down sacred pillars, and cut down Asherah poles.

Asa also fortified the cities of Judah, since the land was peaceful and God had given them rest.They built and prospered.

Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah (with shields and spears) and 280,000 from Benjamin (with shields and bows).

Zerah the Ethiopian (Cushite) came against Judah with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, heading to Mareshah.Asa went out to meet him and called on the Lord in prayer to come to their aid. 

The Lord struck down the Ethiopians, and they fled before Asa and Judah.Judah pursued them to Gerar and destroyed them completely.

The men of Judah carried off a lot of plunder. They also attacked surrounding towns. 

Questions

What made Asa choose to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord as Abijah was not an entirely righteous king (1 Kings 15:3)

Applicaiton

Pride replaces gold with bronze. Rehoboam’s story reminds us how easy it is to forget God once life feels stable. When things finally seem secure, we can start to rely on our own strength.. and that’s usually when pride sneaks in. God let Shishak invade Judah, in hopes to wake them up. They lost their gold and had to replace with bronze. However, when Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord turned His anger away. When we are humble, we depend more on God.