2 Chronicles 12

Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah

1 ¹When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ²he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the LORD.

2 ³And it came about in King Rehoboam's fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, that ⁴Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem

3 with 1,200 * chariots and 60,000 * horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: ⁵the Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.

4 He captured ⁶the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

5 Then ⁷Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because * of Shishak, and he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, '⁸You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.' "

6 So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The ⁹LORD is righteous."

7 When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "¹⁰They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and ¹¹My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak.

8 "But they will become his slaves so ¹²that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

Plunder Impoverishes Judah

9 ¹³So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's palace. He took everything; ¹⁴he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made.

10 Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the door of the king's house.

11 As often as the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the guards' room.

12 And ¹⁵when he humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions ¹⁶were good in Judah.

13 ¹⁷So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one * years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen * years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

14 He did evil ¹⁸because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

15 ¹⁹Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of ²⁰Shemaiah the prophet and of ²¹Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually *.

16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and his son ²²Abijah became king in his place.

2 Chronicles 12 Commentary

Chapter 12

Rehoboam, forsaking the Lord, is punished.

- When Rehoboam was so strong that he supposed he had nothing to fear from Jeroboam, he cast off his outward profession of godliness. It is very common, but very lamentable, that men, who in distress or danger, or near death, seem much engaged in seeking and serving God, throw aside all their religion when they have received a merciful deliverance. God quickly brought troubles upon Judah, to awaken the people to repentance, before their hearts were hardened. Thus it becomes us, when we are under the rebukes of Providence, to justify God, and to judge ourselves. If we have humbled hearts under humbling providences, the affliction has done its work; it shall be removed, or the property of it be altered. The more God's service is compared with other services, the more reasonable and easy it will appear. Are the laws of temperance thought hard? The effects of intemperance will be found much harder. The service of God is perfect liberty; the service of our lusts is complete slavery. Rehoboam was never rightly fixed in his religion. He never quite cast off God; yet he engaged not his heart to seek the Lord. See what his fault was; he did not serve the Lord, because he did not seek the Lord. He did not pray, as Solomon, for wisdom and grace; he did not consult the word of God, did not seek to that as his oracle, nor follow its directions. He made nothing of his religion, because he did not set his heart to it, nor ever came up to a steady resolution in it. He did evil, because he never was determined for good.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Chronicles 11:17; 2 Chronicles 12:13
• 2. 2 Chronicles 26:13-16
• 3. 1 Kings 14:25
• 4. 1 Kings 11:40
• 5. 2 Chronicles 16:8; Nahum 3:9
• 6. 2 Chronicles 11:5-12
• 7. 2 Chronicles 11:2
• 8. Deuteronomy 28:15; 2 Chronicles 15:2
• 9. Exodus 9:27; Daniel 9:14
• 10. 1 Kings 21:29
• 11. 2 Chronicles 34:25-27; Psalms 78:38
• 12. Deuteronomy 28:47, 48
• 13. 1 Kings 14:26-28
• 14. 1 Kings 10:16, 17; 2 Chronicles 9:15, 16
• 15. 2 Chronicles 12:6, 7
• 16. 2 Chronicles 19:3
• 17. 1 Kings 14:21
• 18. 2 Chronicles 19:3
• 19. 1 Kings 14:29
• 20. 2 Chronicles 12:5
• 21. 2 Chronicles 9:29
• 22. 2 Chronicles 11:20

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "in the hand of"
• [b]. Lit "hands"
• [c]. Lit "runners"
• [d]. Lit "runners"
• [e]. Lit "runners"
• [f]. Lit "words"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 12

Rehoboam and his people forsaking the law of the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt is allowed by God to invade his land, and take his fenced cities, 2Ch 12:1-4, upon which a prophet of the Lord was sent to him and his princes, to show them the reason of it; whereupon they humbled themselves, and the Lord was pleased not to allow the enemy utterly to destroy them, yet to reduce them to servitude, and take away their riches, 2Ch 12:5-12, and the chapter is closed with an account of the reign and death of Rehoboam, 2Ch 12:13-16.