2 Chronicles Chapter 12
The Chastisement of Rehoboam and Judah
A. Egypt Comes Against a Disobedient Kingdom of Judah
1. (2 Chronicles 12:1) The Sin of Rehoboam and His People
“And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.”
Once Rehoboam had secured his throne and fortified his kingdom, his heart turned away from the Lord. Prosperity became his downfall. The very strength that God had granted him produced self-sufficiency and pride. When the crisis of division had passed, and the threat from Jeroboam subsided, Rehoboam ceased to depend on the Lord who had delivered him. This is one of the most common spiritual tragedies in Scripture—success breeding complacency.
“He forsook the law of the Lord.” This phrase reveals deliberate apostasy, not mere neglect. Rehoboam willfully turned from the Word of God that had guided his fathers. The Chronicler draws a direct line between spiritual decline and national disobedience. It was not simply a lapse in worship; it was rebellion against divine authority.
According to 1 Kings 14:21–24, this forsaking included gross moral corruption:
“And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.”
These “sodomites” were cultic prostitutes, male and female, connected with the pagan fertility rites imported from Canaan. Deuteronomy 23:17–18 explicitly condemned such abominations:
“There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.”
Thus, Rehoboam’s forsaking of the Law included moral perversion and religious syncretism. It was not a passive drift but an open rejection of holiness.
“And all Israel with him.” The sin of the king became the sin of the nation. Leadership carries spiritual consequence; when the leader forsakes God, many follow. Rehoboam’s rebellion led the people into widespread idolatry, and their collective disobedience provoked the Lord to jealousy. Their unfaithfulness was spiritual adultery against the covenant God who had redeemed them.
As the Lord had warned through Moses in Exodus 34:14, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Judah’s idolatry stirred that divine jealousy, for the people had exchanged intimacy with the living God for fellowship with idols.
2. (2 Chronicles 12:2–4) Egypt Attacks a Disobedient Judah
“And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.”
The judgment of God came swiftly. Within five years of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt invaded Judah. This Pharaoh—known in Egyptian records as Sheshonk I, founder of the Twenty-Second Dynasty—was one of the most ambitious military rulers of his time. His campaign against Judah and Israel is historically confirmed: the walls of his temple at Karnak in Thebes still bear an inscription listing the names of many conquered cities in Palestine.
Rehoboam’s political stability and military strength could not protect him from divine chastisement. The Scripture clearly states that this invasion came “because they had transgressed against the Lord.” The Chronicler does not credit Egypt’s might or strategy for Judah’s defeat; he attributes it directly to God’s discipline for covenant violation.
The word “transgressed” is significant. It conveys covenant unfaithfulness—a willful breach of relationship, not merely an error in conduct. As Selman notes, “To be unfaithful to God is one of Chronicles’ key terms, and its regular occurrence shows Israel’s constant estrangement from God…. It involves denying God the worship due to him, usually on a national scale, and is the primary reason given in Chronicles for the exile.”
The invading army was massive—twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and an innumerable host of foot soldiers, including mercenaries from Libya (Lubims), Sukkiim, and Ethiopia (Cush). These were seasoned warriors from Africa’s powerful regions, hired or allied under Egypt’s banner.
“And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah.” These were the very strongholds Rehoboam had earlier fortified (2 Chronicles 11:5–12). What he had built in self-reliance was now overrun under God’s judgment. The man who trusted in walls rather than the Word found that human strength offers no defense against divine chastisement.
“And came to Jerusalem.” The Egyptian army stood at the gates of the holy city itself. Only two generations after David had conquered Jerusalem, and less than a century after Solomon’s golden temple dedication, the city was again under siege—not by a superior army, but by the righteous judgment of God.
This event underscores a key biblical principle: national security is never ultimately about fortifications, alliances, or numbers—it is about faithfulness to God. As the psalmist wrote in Psalm 127:1, “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
Rehoboam’s Judah had fortified walls, chariots, and soldiers, but it had forsaken the Lord. Therefore, the Lord Himself allowed Egypt to break through the defenses. The once-glorious kingdom of David and Solomon was now humbled before a pagan power because it had abandoned its true King.
The Chastisement of Rehoboam and Judah (Continued)
3. (2 Chronicles 12:5) God’s Word to Rehoboam and Judah
“Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken Me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.”
At this moment of crisis, when the armies of Egypt surrounded Jerusalem, Shemaiah the prophet once again stepped onto the stage of Judah’s history. He was the same faithful messenger who earlier forbade Rehoboam from warring against the northern tribes (2 Chronicles 11:1–4). Once more, he delivered the uncompromising Word of the Lord to king and leaders alike.
“Ye have forsaken Me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.” God’s message was clear and just. Their punishment perfectly mirrored their sin. Because they had abandoned Him, He would now abandon them to the very enemy who threatened their gates. This was divine justice in poetic proportion. When a nation or a believer says to God, “Leave us alone,” the greatest danger is that He might eventually grant that request.
This principle runs throughout Scripture. The psalmist laments in Psalm 81:11–12, “But My people would not hearken to My voice; and Israel would none of Me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.” Likewise, Romans 1:24 warns, “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts.” To be “left in the hand” of worldly powers is the inevitable result when God’s hand of protection is withdrawn.
Yet, even in judgment, the Lord sent His prophet. The fact that Shemaiah was still speaking showed that mercy had not yet been extinguished. God could have destroyed Judah without warning, but in His covenant faithfulness, He first sent His Word, giving them an opportunity to repent.
B. Repentance and Servitude Come to Judah
1. (2 Chronicles 12:6) The Repentance of Rehoboam and Judah
“Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous.”
In the midst of fear and humiliation, something rare happened: Rehoboam and the princes humbled themselves before the Lord. Surrounded by Egyptian armies and facing imminent defeat, they finally recognized their sin and confessed the righteousness of God’s judgment.
“The Lord is righteous.” This confession is profound in its simplicity. It acknowledges both divine justice and human guilt. When they declared that the Lord is righteous, they simultaneously admitted that they were not. They ceased to justify themselves and instead justified God, agreeing with His verdict against them.
True repentance always begins with this acknowledgment—that God is right and we are wrong. As Ezra 9:15 later expressed it, “O Lord God of Israel, Thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before Thee in our trespasses.”
Historically, whenever leaders humble themselves, God often extends mercy to a nation. Rehoboam’s repentance was not merely personal; it was corporate, involving the entire ruling body of Judah. National revival always begins with leadership repentance. Though this humility would not permanently reform Judah, it did open the door for temporary deliverance.
2. (2 Chronicles 12:7–8) Deliverance with a Reminder
“And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”
God’s response to repentance is immediate and merciful. “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them.” This statement illustrates the heart of God revealed throughout Scripture—He is quick to forgive the contrite. As Psalm 34:18 declares, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
However, while God promised “some deliverance,” He did not remove every consequence. Judah would be spared total destruction, but the nation would experience servitude under Egypt. God’s mercy prevented annihilation, yet His justice allowed chastening.
“Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” This was divine pedagogy—discipline designed to teach. Since Judah had forsaken the sweet yoke of God’s service, they would now experience the bitter yoke of foreign domination.
Adam Clarke insightfully comments, “They shall be preserved, and serve their enemies, that they may see the difference between the service of God and that of man. While they were pious, they found the service of the Lord to be perfect freedom; when they forsook the Lord, they found the fruit to be perfect bondage. A sinful life is both expensive and painful.”
Likewise, Trapp observes, “Know by woeful experience, the worth of My work and wages by the want thereof, and the contrary miseries.” God was not merely punishing Judah; He was correcting them through contrast. By feeling the weight of Egyptian tyranny, they would learn the blessing of divine sovereignty.
This principle is echoed in Romans 6:16, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” The believer—and by extension, the nation—must choose whose yoke to bear. There is no neutrality in spiritual allegiance.
God’s chastisement of Judah thus served two purposes:
Preservation – He would not allow them to be destroyed because of His covenant with David.
Correction – He would let them feel the cost of rebellion so they might learn to cherish His rule again.
The Chastisement of Rehoboam and Judah
3. (2 Chronicles 12:9–12) The “Some Deliverance” Granted to Judah
“So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber. And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.”
The mercy of God was revealed not in total deliverance, but in partial preservation. Judah was spared destruction, yet severely humbled. The once-glorious kingdom of Solomon was now reduced to tribute and loss.
“And took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house.” These treasures represented the height of Israel’s wealth, splendor, and divine favor under Solomon’s reign. Gold and silver had once been so abundant that silver was counted as nothing in his days (2 Chronicles 9:20). Yet in only five years of Rehoboam’s rule, all that wealth vanished—taken by a foreign king. This was not merely political misfortune but divine chastisement. The treasures of God’s temple and the royal palace were both removed because Judah had forsaken the One who gave them prosperity.
Sin always depletes spiritual and material wealth. When a people abandon righteousness, their blessings are consumed by foreign powers—whether literal nations or the figurative forces of sin and decay.
“He carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.” According to 1 Kings 10:16–17, Solomon had crafted two hundred large shields and three hundred smaller ones, all of pure gold. They hung in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, a symbol of the kingdom’s strength and glory. Yet these shields were purely ornamental, too heavy and soft for battle. They represented image rather than substance—a warning that Israel’s splendor under Solomon had already begun to decay beneath its golden surface.
The removal of these shields by Shishak was a visible sign that God had stripped Judah of its glory. In five short years, Solomon’s empire had gone from unmatched wealth to humiliating loss.
Knapp insightfully applies this spiritually:
“Rehoboam made in their stead shields of bronze, and with these pathetically tried to keep up former appearances. It is like souls, who, when despoiled of their freshness and power by the enemy, laboriously endeavor to keep up an outward appearance of spiritual prosperity; or, like a fallen church, shorn of its strength, and robbed of its purity, seeking to hide its helplessness, and cover its nakedness, with the tinsel of ritualism, spurious revivalism, union, and anything that promises to give them some appearance.”
This substitution of bronze for gold perfectly captures the moral decline of Rehoboam’s reign. Bronze resembles gold outwardly but lacks its purity and value. It is the symbol of religious pretense without divine power.
Payne notes, “They wished to emphasize how far Rehoboam fell in a mere few years. He had inherited an empire; five years later, master of a small state, he could protect his capital itself only by denuding his palace of its treasures. Solomon’s court had despised silver; his son’s court had to be content with bronze!”
Morgan adds, “The picture of Rehoboam’s substitution of brass for gold is unutterably pathetic. Yet how often do the people of Jehovah masquerade amid imitations because they have lost the things of pure gold through unfaithfulness and sin.”
Thus, the gold shields that once symbolized divine blessing were replaced by bronze shields, symbols of man’s self-made religion—hollow, polished, but powerless.
“And committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard.” Unlike Solomon’s open display of glory, Rehoboam hid his imitation treasures under armed protection. The bronze shields were brought out only for ceremonial occasions, then promptly returned to their guarded chamber. It was religion for show, not for the heart—a spectacle of reverence without the presence of God.
This parallels the modern believer or church that keeps the external forms of worship and morality but hides its spiritual barrenness behind ritual and pride. When God’s presence departs, humanity’s instinct is to polish the brass and pretend it still shines like gold.
Yet there is still mercy in the text: “And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether.” Though the humiliation was great, it was not total. God’s chastisement had a limit. Rehoboam deserved complete destruction, but the Lord’s covenant with David restrained His wrath.
Psalm 103:8–10 declares this same truth:
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”
Selman observes, “If God could show favour to a man such as Rehoboam, who typified the attitude which resulted in Judah’s eventual collapse, there was always hope for those who humbled themselves before God. Indeed, the interest in the people was surely a direct encouragement to the Chronicler’s contemporaries to seek God for themselves.”
Even after his personal repentance in verse 6, Rehoboam still needed deeper humbling. God knew how much chastening his heart required, and He completed that process through these losses. Many who repent superficially must still endure trials until true humility is formed.
Finally, “and also in Judah things went well.” The literal rendering, as Poole explains, is “There were good things in Judah.” Despite corruption and chastisement, God saw a remnant of faithfulness within the nation. His mercy was not due to Rehoboam’s merit but to His covenantal love and the presence of those who still feared Him.
Even under divine discipline, Judah retained some measure of blessing—an enduring reminder that God’s mercy is greater than man’s failure.
4. (2 Chronicles 12:13–16) A Summary of Rehoboam’s Reign
“So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.”
The Chronicler closes Rehoboam’s record by summarizing both his mercy and his failure.
“So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned.” God allowed him to continue ruling, not because of his merit, but because of His covenant with David. This preservation was mercy upon mercy—Rehoboam had faced rebellion from his own people, invasion from Egypt, and the loss of all his wealth, yet he survived to die a natural death.
“And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.” This phrase reveals the root of his entire downfall. His evil was not only in his actions but in his failure of preparation. He occasionally sought God but never fixed his heart upon Him. The Hebrew implies negligence, not outright hostility. Rehoboam was spiritually unstable—a man who turned toward God only in crisis, never in constancy.
Spurgeon remarks, “You see how readily Rehoboam went, first towards God, then towards idols, and then back again towards God; he was always ready to shift and change. He wrought no great reforms in the land; we do not read that he held a great Passover, as Hezekiah did, or that the high places were taken away. But, as soon as Shishak was gone, he felt perfectly content. There was not anything real and permanent in his religion; it did not hold him. He held it sometimes, but it never held him.”
This lack of steadfastness mirrors many who seek the Lord only under pressure. Temporary repentance without a prepared heart inevitably collapses when the trial passes.
The Chronicler concludes with several theological insights unique to his narrative. While 1 Kings portrays Rehoboam primarily as a political failure, 2 Chronicles emphasizes divine mercy and the enduring possibility of repentance. Selman notes, “Chronicles’ over-all view of Rehoboam [has] quite a different feel from Kings. While accepting Rehoboam’s very real failings as a leader, Chronicles is keen to demonstrate the value of repentance and the extent of God’s mercy.”
As the first monarch of the divided southern kingdom, Rehoboam became a pattern for all Davidic kings to follow. His reign establishes several themes that dominate the rest of the book:
Obedience to prophetic revelation (2 Chronicles 11:1–4).
Strengthening through divine blessing and construction (2 Chronicles 11:5–12).
The centrality of priestly and Levitical faithfulness (2 Chronicles 11:13–17).
The expansion of royal lineage (2 Chronicles 11:18–21).
The necessity of humble repentance (2 Chronicles 12:5–12).
Ultimately, Rehoboam’s reign ends with mercy, not triumph. His failures remind the reader that religion without heart preparation leads to ruin, while his survival testifies that God’s covenant grace outlasts human weakness.
