The Consequences of Choice

Rehoboam inherited a strong and stable kingdom built by David and Solomon. But once the kingdom was firmly established, he grew proud and abandoned the law of Yahweh, and all the people followed him and turned to idolatry. In the end, only five years into his reign, Shishak king of Egypt invaded, and the treasures of the temple and the royal palace were taken.

Though guilty of the same sin, Rehoboam and the people humbled themselves before God and repented, and so they escaped complete destruction; yet through the suffering of becoming Shishak’s servants, they had to learn how serving God differs from serving the world. Even so, because he never set his heart firmly to seek Yahweh, he remained an evil king. Yet even he was buried in the city of David, which shows that the covenant God made with David was faithfully kept to the end, despite the weakness and failure of his descendants.

From his grandfather David and his father Solomon, to the help of the priests and Levites early in his reign, to Shishak’s invasion and the rebuke of the prophet Shemaiah, Rehoboam was given opportunity after opportunity to turn back to God. He took the evil path not because he lacked opportunities, but because, having been given them, he did not choose the way of faith. Before the opportunity given now, the choice still remains to seek God with an undivided heart.