BAD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN WE ABANDON GOD

PROCLAMATION

“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.”  2 Chronicles 12:1 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  After Rehoboam had secured his position as king of Israel, and had fortified his high-walled cities, he abandoned the law of The Lord. (2 Chronicles 12:1)  In his fifth year as king, he was attacked by Shishak king of Egypt who captured the fortified cities of Judah.  Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and told him that The Lord said that because you have abandoned Me, I have now abandoned you and left you in the hand of the king of Egypt. (2 Chronicles 12:2-5)  Israel and the king humbled themselves and admitted that The Lord was just in what He did.  Because they humbled themselves, The Lord did not totally destroy them.  He let them be subject to Shishak basically to teach them a lesson.  Shishak attacked Jerusalem and defeated them and took all of the treasures from the house of The Lord and from the king’s house including the gold shields which Solomon had made. (2 Chronicles 12:6-9)  After he humbled himself, Rehoboam reigned in Jerusalem for seventeen years.  When Rehoboam died, his son Abijah succeeded him as king. (2 Chronicles 12:10-16)

 

APPLICATION

When we abandon The Lord God and choose not to follow His ways, generally bad things happen to us.  We cannot continue to enjoy the benefits of all of His blessings when we do not keep His commandments or follow His Holy Word.  While all of us are blessed, the sun shines on the good and the evil, and it rains on the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)  However, there are a number of conditional blessings which we only receive when we obey His Holy Word.  These blessings usually begin with words like “If My people will …” and are followed by words like “Then will I …” (2 Chronicles 7:14)  If we keep His commandments we will abide in His love and be blessed. (John 15:10)  If we abandon Him, then we can expect that there will be negative consequences, including blessings that we will miss out on.