Living a Life of Contradiction. (2 Chronicles 11: 1-23)
Transcript:
Welcome back to The Bible Journey Daily Podcast. It’s great to have you with me again as we continue our study series through the book of 2 Chronicles, a book that doesn’t just record history, but reads our motives, exposes our tendencies, and can speak directly into the way we live today.
My title for this episode is “Living a Life of Contradictions.
And if we’re honest, that describes most of us far more accurately than we’d like to admit.
We tend to think of people as either obedient or disobedient to the Lord, as if life were neatly divided into two categories: the faithful and the unfaithful, the righteous and the unrighteous, the obedient and the rebellious.
But life isn’t that tidy.
And neither are we.
The truth is that every one of us lives a life containing both obedience and disobedience. Moments of faithfulness followed by moments of failure. Acts of devotion followed by acts of compromise. Steps toward God are often followed by steps away from Him.
In that sense, we all live lives of contradiction.
And in the Old Testament, one of the clearest illustrations of this is Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, a man who could obey God one moment and contradict that obedience the next. A man who could listen to wise counsel in one chapter and reject it in the next. A man who could strengthen the kingdom in one breath and weaken it in another.
Rehoboam is an archetype. He shows us what happens when obedience and disobedience coexist in the same heart. He shows us the danger of inconsistency. He shows us the cost of contradiction.
And 2 Chronicles 11 gives us a vivid picture of that reality.
This chapter is not just about ancient politics. It’s not just about Judah and Israel, and it’s not just about kings and kingdoms. Because it is also about the spiritual contradictions that live inside us — and what happens when we allow those contradictions to shape our decisions, our relationships, and our walk with God.
So today, we’re going to look closely at 2 Chronicles 11:1–23.
We’re going to see what Rehoboam did, and what he failed to do.
We’re going to see where he succeeded, and where he contradicted that obedience.
And we’re going to learn what we should avoid, what we should pursue, and how we can live with greater consistency before the Lord.
So, grab your Bible, turn with me to 2 Chronicles 11, and let’s explore what it means, and what it costs, to live a life of contradiction.
Let’s begin….
Before we turn to the text of 2 Chronicles 11, let me highlight something that biblical scholars often point out:
This chapter is unique within the Chronicler’s work. One commentator notes that there are 165 speeches recorded in Chronicles, and 95 of them have parallels in Samuel or Kings. But many of the speeches that do have parallels tend to be longer, richer, and more detailed, and make up the vast majority of the text of the books of Chronicles.
But this chapter is one of those unique sections. What we read here is material the Chronicler alone preserves for us.
So, what does he tell us? Let's see.
The chapter opens by describing Rehoboam’s immediate response to the revolt in the north. Verse 1 says:
“When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled Judah and Benjamin—180,000 able young men—to go to war against Israel and regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.”
This takes us straight back to the events of yesterday's chapter 10.
Rehoboam had made a foolish decision, a harsh and wrong-headed decision, and as a result of that decision, the northern tribes revolted.
Now, here in chapter 11, his instinct is predictable. He prepares for war, and he gathers a massive army with one goal in mind:
“I will conquer the northern kingdom and bring them back under my control.”
But God intervenes.
Verse 2:
“But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God.”
God sends a prophet, Shemaiah, with a message for Rehoboam and for all Judah and Benjamin:
“This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.”
(2 Chronicles 11:4)
This is remarkable.
Rehoboam had ignored the wise counsel offered in chapter 10, but this time, he listens. He obeys, and he stands down. He accepts the division of the kingdom because God says, “This is from Me.”
The Chronicler wants us to see something important:
Rehoboam disobeyed in chapter 10 but obeyed in chapter 11.
He is a man of contradictions, just like us.
There would be ongoing tension between the northern and southern kingdoms, but because Rehoboam listened to the prophet, there was no full-scale civil war. God restrained him, and Rehoboam obeyed.
Having abandoned his war plans, Rehoboam turns to strengthening Judah.
Verse 5:
5“Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defence in Judah.” 6 Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth Zur, Soko, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. 11 He strengthened their defences and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. 12 He put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So, Judah and Benjamin were his.
(2 Chronicles 11: 5-12)
The Chronicler lists 15 fortified cities, a ring of protection around Judah.
Rehoboam fortified strongholds; he appointed military commanders, and he stocked cities with food, oil, and wine; he equipped them with shields and spears, and secured Judah and Benjamin on his side.
These cities formed a defensive circle, especially toward the south and west, indicating Rehoboam feared attack from Egypt. So, much of his early reign was spent building defensive infrastructure.
So, the opening section of chapter 11 shows us this pattern:
Rehoboam planned war, God said no, and Rehoboam obeyed. Then Rehoboam built defensive cities instead of fighting battles.
This is obedience, but it is maybe obedience mixed with fear and insecurity. It is obedience, but it is not pure. It is obedience, but it is part of a life of contradiction.
The next section of this chapter then shifts from military strategy to spiritual movement.
Verse 13:
“The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him.”
Why?
Verses 14- 15 explain:
“The Levites left their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made.”
So, Jeroboam expelled the legitimate priests and Levites from the northern kingdom, and he replaced them with illegitimate priests and established worship centers.
High places of worship for goat-demons, and the golden calves he had made. This was not just political rebellion; it was spiritual apostasy.
So, the faithful priests and Levites migrated south. They left their homes, their land, their possessions, and their communities, all to remain faithful to the Lord.
Verse 16:
“Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord… followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
This is beautiful. The faithful remnant, those whose hearts were set on seeking the Lord, left the northern kingdom and moved to Judah. They sacrificed comfort, land, and livelihood to worship God as He commanded.
And the Chronicler tells us, by doing so: “They strengthened the kingdom of Judah.” (v.17)
Rehoboam’s kingdom was spiritually strengthened because faithful worshipers came south. Jeroboam plunged the north into idolatry. And Rehoboam, despite his contradictions, became the refuge for the faithful.
This migration cost these people everything, but it preserved true worship.
The Chronicler now turns from fortified cities to faithful people, and what he describes is one of the most fascinating movements in Israel’s history.
Verse 13 told us that the priests and Levites “took their stand” with Rehoboam. But commentators differ on exactly how this migration unfolded.
Some say the faithful settled permanently in Judah.
Others say they visited Jerusalem only for sacrifices.
Still others say the Levites remained in the north but sided with Rehoboam spiritually while traveling south for worship.
And honestly, all three views make sense, because the text itself allows for all three.
So, we likely have:
Some who moved permanently to Judah, giving up land, livelihood, and community.
Some who remained in Israel but travelled to Jerusalem for worship.
Some who sided with Rehoboam but stayed in the north, resisting Jeroboam’s idolatry from within.
Maybe this resembles the modern church:
In that, a third of the people are fully committed.
A third are opposed.
And a third are undecided, but sadly all three types of people will have influence in determining the direction of the congregation.
It’s a light-hearted observation, but it illustrates a deeper truth:
People respond differently to spiritual crisis, and those responses shape the future of God’s people.
Verse 17:
“They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during that time.”
Don’t underestimate this verse…. This is astonishing.
For three years, Rehoboam walked in obedience.
For three years, Judah was spiritually strengthened.
For three years, the faithful remnant from the north infused Judah with devotion, worship, and loyalty to the Lord.
The writer is making a big spiritual point:
Obedience brings blessing, even if that obedience is temporary. But in this case, the blessing lasted only three years.
Because in the fourth year, Rehoboam broke God’s law. And in the fifth year, God punished him.
This is the Chronicler’s perspective on how retribution following disobedience will often be immediate.
Obedience brings peace.
Disobedience brings discipline.
And the consequences sometimes come quickly.
Rehoboam’s life is a contradiction: obedience for three years, disobedience straight after.
Blessing followed by judgment.
Strength followed by weakness.
Rehoboam’s Marriages. (11:18–21)
The final section of the chapter shifts from marriage migration, and here the contradictions become even clearer.
Verses 18 and 19 begin by listing Rehoboam’s wives.
18 Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. 19 She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham.
Rehoboam becomes a polygamist, though not nearly on the scale of Solomon.
His wives are named, and interestingly, they are all Israelite women, descendants of David.
This is significant.
The Chronicler's purpose here is to magnify the Davidic line and highlight that Rehoboam’s wives were connected to David’s family. This is not mentioned in Kings, but the Chronicler includes it to reinforce the legitimacy of the Davidic dynasty.
20 Then he married Maakah, daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maakah, daughter of Absalom, more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
(2 Chronicles 11: 20-21)
So, he had 18 wives and 60 concubines, producing 28 sons and 60 daughters.
This is not obedience, this is not wisdom, and this is certainly not covenant faithfulness…. This is contradiction.
Rehoboam obeyed God in refusing civil war.
He obeyed God for three years.
But he contradicted that obedience by multiplying wives, something explicitly forbidden in Deuteronomy 17:17.
The Chronicler is showing us that Rehoboam’s life is a mixture of obedience and disobedience, blessing and folly, as well as times of devotion and compromise…. Just like ours.
The closing verses then tell us about Rehoboam’s succession plan.
“Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maakah as leader among his brothers, with the intention of making him king.”
So, he chose one son, Abijah, as his successor. But to avoid jealousy and rivalry, verse 23 says:
He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them.
This is one of the few times the Chronicler says Rehoboam acted wisely.
He appointed Abijah as heir and placed his other sons in administrative roles. He gave them provisions and sought wives for them. This prevented internal conflict and stabilized the kingdom.
So even here, at the end of the chapter, we see the same pattern:
Rehoboam obeys in one area and disobeys in another.
He acts wisely in one moment and foolishly in the next.
He strengthens the kingdom and weakens it at the same time.
He is a man of contradiction, and his life is an example for us all.
When you step back and look at 2 Chronicles 11, it really is a short, simple story, in a short chapter, but one packed with important spiritual insights.
Rehoboam begins the chapter ready to launch a civil war. God sends a prophet and says, “Do not go up to fight your brothers.” And to his credit, Rehoboam obeys.
Instead of attacking the northern tribes, he fortifies fifteen cities in the south. He watches the priests and Levites migrate to Jerusalem, and he receives faithful worshipers who refuse Jeroboam’s idolatry.
And for three years, he walks in the ways of David and Solomon.
But then there is the contradiction.
Rehoboam obeys God in his military life, but he disobeys God in his married life.
Deuteronomy 17:17 explicitly commands that a king must not multiply wives. Yet Rehoboam takes 18 wives and 60 concubines. He doesn’t reach Solomon’s staggering total, but that’s hardly a compliment.
He still violates the Mosaic law.
So, in this chapter, Rehoboam is both obedient in one area and disobedient in another.
He is a man of contradiction. And if we’re honest, that’s not just Rehoboam’s story — it’s ours.
Paul describes this same tension in the New Testament in Romans 7:
“For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” (v.15)
And again:
“The good I want to do, I do not do, but the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing.” (v.19)
That is a contradiction.
That is the divided heart and the struggle every believer knows.
So, what’s the solution?
Paul asks the same question:
“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me?”
And the answer comes in Romans 8.
The solution is not simply, “Try harder.”
The solution is not, “Just obey in every area.”
The solution is not moral grit or spiritual determination.
Paul simply says: “Do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the prompting of the Spirit.”
He then goes on to explain how: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
That phrase “set their minds” includes:
Our thinking.
Our will.
Our emotions.
Our desires.
Our values.
Our assumptions.
Our outlook.
And our purpose.
In other words, your inner orientation determines your outer obedience.
It sounds very much like the greatest commandment:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”
So, if you want victory over your contradictory lifestyle. If you want consistency instead of conflict, you begin by setting your mind on the things of the Spirit.
But that’s only the first step. You must also depend on the Spirit.
Hebrews 4:16 says:
“Come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
So here is the biblical pattern:
Set your mind on the things of the Spirit.
Depend on the Spirit for the power to obey.
Now, it is one thing to know what God says, but it is a whole other thing to rely on God’s grace to do it.
Rehoboam obeyed in one area and disobeyed in another, and we do the same…. But the Spirit of God enables us to live differently.
So don’t settle for a life of contradiction.
Live a life of consistency. A life shaped by the Spirit, strengthened by grace, and oriented toward the will of God. And forearmed with what this chapter has taught us today, I believe we are much more equipped to do exactly that…
OUTRO:
Thank you for joining me for this episode on 2 Chronicles 11.
Next time, we’ll move into chapter 12, and we will look at the root cause of all spiritual failure.
Where Rehoboam’s contradictions continue, and where God’s discipline and mercy meet in surprising ways.
Until then, may you set your mind on the things of the Spirit,
depend on the grace of God,
and walk in the strength He provides.
See you in the next episode.
