1 Kings 14:21-31--Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

1 Kings 14:21-31
English Standard Version

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah
21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. 22 And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 24 and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 27 and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 28 And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

​29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.

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We're changing scenes now and headed back to the Southern Kingdom of Judah to take a look at the reign of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.  Remember that he foolishly rejected the advice of the older counselors and sought to hear the advice of his peers who told him that he needed to be hard on the people and make them respect him because of the heavy yoke he put on them.  He treated his people like slaves instead of citizens, and because of him there was nearly civil war between the Twelve Tribes, but instead the LORD told Rehoboam not to fight the northern ten tribes, for it was His plan to let them follow after Jeroboam.

We hope after reading all the sin that Jeroboam led the people of the Northern Kingdom into that Rehoboam and the Southern Kingdom of Judah will at least do a better job, but it seems that Judah too was quick to turn from the LORD and to turn instead to idols.  The author seems to infer that part of this had to do with the fact that Solomon married foreign women who turned the hearts of the their children (and the rest of the people of Israel) towards foreign gods.  Rehoboam's mother was an Ammonite, so it is likely that he grew up watching his mother worship her idols and that he also became an idolater at heart.

The people followed Solomon's example and built "high places" to worship false gods and put pillars and Asherim "on every high hill and under every green tree" so that the country of Judah was full of idols and people who practiced idolatry.  They also worshiped these gods in the same ways that the pagan nations did with abominations such as orgies and child sacrifice.  This was the same kind of wickedness that cause the LORD to drive the Canaanites out of their land, destroy them and give their land to Israel, and now the people of Israel are doing exactly the same things.

To get the attention of Rehoboam and the people, the LORD is going to send foreign kings to invade and make war with them, and the LORD will not protect them.  Countries that were once allies with Israel under Solomon are now the enemies of Judah.  Remember that the king of Egypt hid Jeroboam and kept him safe from Solomon for many years.  Now he decides to invade the Southern Kingdom of Judah in Rehoboam's fifth year and he took away treasures from the Temple and Solomon's palace (including all gold shields that Solomon had made to adorn the walls of his palace).  Instead of going and getting them back, Rehoboam simply made shields of bronze (a stronger, but less valuable metal) to take their place as a system that he thought he could be tougher and harder than his father.  Instead of hanging them on the wall for decorations, they were given to the guards who protected the palace (notice Rehoboam seems to only be acting in a way to protect himself right now, as he's not fortifying the defenses of the nation as a whole).  Only when the king went to the Temple did the guards not bring their shields with them, for they believed that the kind was safe in the Temple, which they call the house of the LORD here.

The end of Rehoboam's story ends much like the end of Jeroboam's story encouraging the reader to read the Book of Chronicles if they want to know more.  The other fact the author wants the reader to know is that there was cold war that possibly broke out into hot war from time to time continually between Jeroboam and Rehoboam (the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah).  The text repeats for us again as part of the information about his death that Rehoboam's mother was an Ammonite, and then tells us that his son Abijam ruled in his place.  No longer are the people seeking the will of the LORD through His priests or prophets to choose the one that is to rule in the place of the father (sometimes the oldest might not make the best king), but the throne is being treated as part of the birthright that goes to the oldest as part of their inheritance.  This is going to make for some bad kings in the Southern Kingdom (and the Northern Kingdom too--though there there is less of a tie to lineage and more of an idea that the strongest person should rule.  If someone could defeat the king, then he would rule in the king's place.)

We'll discuss the reign of Abijam (a very short passage) next time.