2 Chronicles 11, 12
“Indeed, there was some good in Judah.” (2 Chronicles 12:12)
How quickly the
nation of Israel turned away from serving Jehovah! The nation reached its pinnacle during the
reigns of David and Solomon. Then
Solomon turned away from God and began to worship the gods and goddesses of his
pagan wives. God promised Solomon that
he would tear the kingdom out of his hands because he did not obey him as David
had obeyed. But because of his promise
to David, Jehovah would not do this in Solomon’s days but after his son,
Rehoboam, became king. Rehoboam only
reigned 17 years over Judah and Benjamin so the destruction of Israel took
place in a matter of a few decades!
Jeroboam became
king of Israel (the ten northern tribes) and he immediately established idol
worship on the high places of Israel.
All the priests and Levites fled the north and moved to Judah giving
their allegiance to Rehoboam. All the
people of Israel who wanted to follow Jehovah also fled to the south. Judah had all the people of God, all the
people who wanted to serve God.
Nevertheless, 2 Chronicles 12:1 says, “After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become
strong, he and all [the nation] with him abandoned the law of the LORD.” God brought judgment upon Judah through
Shishak, king of Egypt, who carried off the wealth of Jerusalem.
God’s prophet,
Shemaiah, came to Rehoboam and 12:6 says that all the leaders of the nation and
King Rehoboam humbled themselves. Then
verse 12 says, “Because Rehoboam humbled
himself, the LORD’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally
destroyed. Indeed, there was some good
in Judah.” Finally, we read in verse
14, “He did evil because he had not set
his heart on seeking the LORD.”
When I read
these accounts of the spiritual fall of Israel my heart aches for those who
lived in the land and remained faithful to God.
They must have grieved when they saw the sins of their king and their
leaders! They must have cried out to God
to have mercy on their land and give them a godly king! There were many who were still alive who
could remember the glorious early days of Solomon’s reign. Then in a matter of decades the nation was
torn apart and many of them had fled their own lands to be in Judah only to see
Rehoboam arrogantly turn away from Jehovah!
What pain must have gripped their spirits when they saw Jerusalem
looted! What sorrow they endured because
their leaders had turned away from God.
Nevertheless, there was still some good in Judah!
My heart grieves
for our country. How quickly a nation
can fall! I’m old enough now to have
been able to witness the spiritual decline in our country in a matter of
decades. Yet there is still some good in
America! There are still men and women
who call out to God to have mercy and give us leaders who are God-fearing
people! There is still hope. The faithful need to remain faithful and not
give up! We pray for awakening. We pray for another stirring of the Holy
Spirit in our land. We find ourselves in
this sad situation because we have leaders who have not set their hearts on
seeking the Lord. We must continue to
cry out to God for mercy and we must continue to hold fast to the Word of
God. Even if our nation is in decline,
the kingdom of God is more powerful than ever because God is still bringing men
and women to faith. He will build his
church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!
