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Chronicles chapter 12 begins with an all too familiar story, “After
Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong,
he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord“.
Prosperity and success can give us a false sense of security and
confidence in our own ability to manage our life… at least until
something beyond our control happens! We think of faithfulness as
some kind of religious piety, but the Bible speaks of it more in
terms of the exclusivity of marriage. God desires our undivided
worship. Rehab and all of Judah turned their hearts away from God,
and we read, “Because
they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt attacked
Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. With twelve hundred
chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops…
captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem“.
When the Hebrews strayed and turned their affection to other gods
they lost the covenant protection of God. He again spoke through the
prophet Shemaiah. “This
is what the Lord says, ‘you have abandoned Me; therefore, I now
abandon you’.”
With some surprise we read, “The
leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves“.
In what is essentially a confession of guilt, they said, “The
Lord is just“.
Do you believe the Lord is just?
Once
again we see an example of God changing in response to prayer. “When
the Lord saw that they humbled themselves“,
He spoke through Shemaiah. “Since
they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon
give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem“.
God added “They
will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the
difference between serving Me and serving (earthly)
kings“.
We may not understand His purposes, but God is a loving and merciful
Father. Simply put, God is perfect in His righteousness. Man is
imperfect, self-centered and easily corrupted. The king of Egypt
“carried
off the treasures of the temple… and the royal palace. He took
everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made“.
And as is so often the case, when we do not listen to God’s
leading, we settle for less than God’s best. “So
King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them“.
Are you tired of settling for religion in stead of a relationship?
Rehab
matured through the process and the chapter ends on a positive note,
“Because
Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he
was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah“.
Maybe you are immature in your understanding of God’s heart toward
you. But notice Rehab was no child when he began his experience with
God. “He
was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen
years in Jerusalem“.
It is never too late to begin your relationship with God! Luke
chapter 18 contains the familiar story of the rich young ruler that
came to Jesus and asked, “What
shall I do to inherit eternal life?“.
The story explains that although he had kept all the commandments
from his youth, something was still missing. The answer Jesus gave
made him “very
sorrowful”
because Jesus pointed out that his possessions were hindering him.
This relates to everyone that put their trust in “stuff”, even
religious stuff. ANYTHING that keeps you from trusting in the
sacrificial blood of Jesus for your salvation will ultimately make
you sad and keep you separated from experiencing the mercy of God.
“The
things which are impossible with men are possible with God”
(Luke 18:27).