Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=2Chronicles+011
2 Chronicles Chapter 11 (ESV)
1 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam…
13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. 14 For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, 15 and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 16 And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
REFLECTION:
- People who worship power think that power can solve all problems but do not know that true power comes from sacrificial love. Rehoboam’s stupidity brought the division of the kingdom but he still wanted to unite the country by force. True unity does not come by force but from the willingness to obey. Reflect if there are conflicts in your church, workplace and family. If you are a person in power and you want to have unity among your congregation, employees, or children, do not force them to obey with power as Rehoboam did. Reflect how you could treat them with love in Christ to bring about unity.
- After the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam, the new king of Israel, considered the priests and Levites to be a threat to the regime because they still maintained their loyalty to Jerusalem. Jeroboam appointed his own priests, forbade the Levites to serve and forced them to move to Judah. The pagan priests Jeroboam appointed encouraged the Israelites to worship idols. The new kingdom fell into a crisis of being forsaken by God because there was no spiritual leader. The priests and Levites who obeyed God and disobeyed Jeroboam kept the unity of Judah with their spiritual strength. Later on, most people in Israel followed the wicked arrangement by Jeroboam and compromised their faith for self-benefit. We must not follow their example in ignoring God’s command and seeking only worldly gain. Reflect that God is the only one we should follow. Is the path you are walking on deviating from His way?
PRAYER:
Pray for the conflicts around you and ask God for humility and obedience so that you can resolve the conflicts, following the example of Jesus’ sacrificial love and bringing about unity in Christ. Ask God to give you steadfast faith to follow Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.
HYMN:
“He Will Carry You” – www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBCcBwnW1PU
