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.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah.6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem
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.
Rehoboam's Family
18 Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, 19 and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22 And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.[a] 2 Chronicles 11 ESV
Rehoboam is not going to take this lying down. He pulls together an army of 180,000 warriors, he intends to keep the kingdom united. There may be speculation or doubt as to the claims of Jeroboam, like did God actually tell him this, were you there? Now there is this one man, who we have no prior history of that I recall, but his name is Shemaiah, meaning "heard of Jehovah". He enters the scene as we see at times, and I wonder in these Bible stories, what else? Why do these men appear for only a paragraph, a singular, simple and brief purpose? But I am an idiot when I think about it, for "what is man that thou art mindful of him?" It is actually quite a spectacle, men that are all born into a world that God's judgment is against, one of those men, stopping an army with words. It is also a marvel to me that God uses men, brings them in to His circle, through means that men cannot produce themselves. It is all brief, eternity has eclipsed the longest of lives and largest events. God truly mocks the strength of men, the weakness of God is stronger, one man, not interpreting the words of God, but proclaiming them. God says, "this thing is from me." There is no need for you to fight your brothers, I have caused this separation. We don't have to guess at why, but we will suppress the source of the answer rather than ask how. How can we fix this? Who can fix this? No one is really asking.
The priests and Levites, who live in the sanctuary cities of Israel, are no longer wanted up north. They have been replaced by those loyal to the new crown, and they cannot stay there for reason of a new religion. Jeroboam has made a Judaism after his own heart, toward his own honor and power, it is apostasy and God hates it. The Levites become defectors and come to Jerusalem to honor the only true God, and to seek to do it the way He says, in spirit and in truth.
The situation of Jeroboam 1 Kings 13
Rehoboam was wise at first to listen to God's prophet and not go to war. He seems to have his father's excesses but his pockets don't run as deep. He takes care of his families physical needs, but still finds the show to be more important than the substance and even after his defeat by the hand of Egypt he still likes to carry on the parade of shields. There are tensions and smaller wars between the north and south that mark his reign. Peace was taken for granted and peace is now gone.
1 Kings 14
Rehoboam is not going to take this lying down. He pulls together an army of 180,000 warriors, he intends to keep the kingdom united. There may be speculation or doubt as to the claims of Jeroboam, like did God actually tell him this, were you there? Now there is this one man, who we have no prior history of that I recall, but his name is Shemaiah, meaning "heard of Jehovah". He enters the scene as we see at times, and I wonder in these Bible stories, what else? Why do these men appear for only a paragraph, a singular, simple and brief purpose? But I am an idiot when I think about it, for "what is man that thou art mindful of him?" It is actually quite a spectacle, men that are all born into a world that God's judgment is against, one of those men, stopping an army with words. It is also a marvel to me that God uses men, brings them in to His circle, through means that men cannot produce themselves. It is all brief, eternity has eclipsed the longest of lives and largest events. God truly mocks the strength of men, the weakness of God is stronger, one man, not interpreting the words of God, but proclaiming them. God says, "this thing is from me." There is no need for you to fight your brothers, I have caused this separation. We don't have to guess at why, but we will suppress the source of the answer rather than ask how. How can we fix this? Who can fix this? No one is really asking.
The priests and Levites, who live in the sanctuary cities of Israel, are no longer wanted up north. They have been replaced by those loyal to the new crown, and they cannot stay there for reason of a new religion. Jeroboam has made a Judaism after his own heart, toward his own honor and power, it is apostasy and God hates it. The Levites become defectors and come to Jerusalem to honor the only true God, and to seek to do it the way He says, in spirit and in truth.
The situation of Jeroboam 1 Kings 13
Rehoboam was wise at first to listen to God's prophet and not go to war. He seems to have his father's excesses but his pockets don't run as deep. He takes care of his families physical needs, but still finds the show to be more important than the substance and even after his defeat by the hand of Egypt he still likes to carry on the parade of shields. There are tensions and smaller wars between the north and south that mark his reign. Peace was taken for granted and peace is now gone.
1 Kings 14
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