The Cause of all Our Spiritual Failures (2 Chronicles 12: 1-16)
Transcript:
I wonder if sometimes we are even aware of what spiritual failure actually looks like in our daily lives.
Sometimes we can look in the mirror and notice an attitude, a compromise, or a choice that runs entirely contrary to the Word of God. Sometimes, it is easy to spot; it's an outward, undeniable disobedience to what Scripture plainly and clearly commands. Sometimes it is not so obvious but serious, nonetheless.
But what is the root cause of such failure? Why can we so easily drift away from the source of our life and peace?
Today, we are diving into 2 Chronicles chapter 12 to look at someone who learned the cause and consequences of spiritual failure the hard way. We are continuing the narrative around Rehoboam, in which contradictions are laid bare in a dramatic account that reveals God’s loving discipline and breathtaking mercy in the most surprising ways.
From Ancient History to New Testament Reality.
As we will see throughout today’s study, the struggles of Rehoboam and the southern kingdom of Judah are not isolated events confined to the pages of the Old Testament. They set the stage for a timeless spiritual dynamic that the Apostle Paul unpacks for us in the New Testament, specifically in his profound teaching in Romans chapters 6 through 8.
Today, we watch Judah shift from walking in the wisdom and security of God to becoming subject to the Pharaoh of Egypt; we are looking at a physical picture of a deeply spiritual truth: the devastating reality of the consequences of walking by the flesh versus walking by the Spirit.
And we will consider the New Testament perspective on this through the writing of Paul when hear him say thing like…
"Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."
(Romans 8:5–6)
The Choice Before Us Today…. And the people of God have always faced the same fundamental choice.
Will we serve the Lord who rescues and sustains us, or will we wander back toward the heavy, suffocating yoke of our own old spiritual "Egypt"?
As we open our Bibles to 2 Chronicles 12, my prayer is that this study will not just leave us with a historical warning about the consequences of sin, but will lift our eyes upward and see how God uses His discipline not to crush us, but to wake us up, bringing us back to the boundless grace, life, and freedom we have in Christ.
Let's look at what happened to Rehoboam, but also look and see what the Lord has to teach us today...
Turn with me, if you will, to chapter 12 of Second Chronicles, which opens by telling us this.
After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord.
(2 Chronicles 12:1)
So, after Rehoboam established the kingdom, the whole nation forsakes the law of the Lord by practicing Canaanite idolatry.
Now the verse I just read doesn't say that they did it by practicing Canaanite idolatry, but the First Kings chapter 14 account of these events does say that.
The next verse in First Chronicles says. (v. 2)
“Because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. “
So, this Egyptian Shishak attacked Jerusalem. In fact, archaeologists have found that carved on the walls of a temple in Egypt the names of the cities in Judah that he conquered in this campaign.
Verse 3-4 continues.
“With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt, he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.”
(2 Chronicles 12: 3-4)
So, 1200 Chariots, 6000 horsemen, and a huge force of troops came with him out of Egypt. And then it lists some other countries that participated as well.
So now, just 5 short years after Solomon had died, the Egyptians were at Jerusalem's gate. Interesting. Just five years, and Shishak and the Egyptian army took the fortified cities of Rehoboam. So, these fortified cities had no real benefit to Rehoboam and Israel in the end.
The Egyptian pharaoh subdued Judah. Not because the Egyptians had military superiority, but because the text says it was because Judah was unfaithful to the Lord.
“Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.’”
(2 Chronicles 12: 5)
Notice verse one says he forsook the law, but now in verse 5 God personalized it and says, you forsook me. So, this chapter, in the writer's view, points out clearly the connection between this Egyptian invasion and the real consequences of unfaithfulness to both the Lord and to His Word.
So, these opening verses simply tell us about his sin, but the next section in this chapter tells us about his confession. (v. 6-8)
“The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just. When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”
(2 Chronicles 12: 6-8)
They confess, and the Lord says, all right, I'm not going to let you let them destroy the city.
So, the Lord's mercy and grace provided deliverance to the nation because they repented.
The next part of this passage shows the consequences Rehoboam and the nations of Israel faced. The first part was simply his sin. The second was his confession, but this next part is the consequences. (v. 9)
When Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made.
So, he took spoils of war, so to speak, but the spoils of war included the treasuries of both the temple and the palace. So, the people were spared, but the Kingdom was dis-spoiled. (v. 10)
“So, King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.”
In other words, he substituted the bronze shield for the gold shield, unwittingly illustrating that God's presence, represented by the gold, is replaced by the bronze, a less precious metal, another illustration of God’s judgment.
Verse 11 then says:
Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.
In other words, to protect the new Shields from theft, guards carry these new Shields from the guardroom to the temple and then back, when their real home was meant to be in the temple. The were there to help protect the temple, not be the thing that in themselves became the thing that needed protection in themselves.
Verse 12 says.
Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.
The King's conduct had inevitable consequences for the nation. When the king obeyed the Lord, the Lord blessed the nation. When the king turned away from the Lord, his subjects suffered. But when the king repented and humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord's forgiveness and restoration would cover him and his Kingdom.
So, what we've seen so far in this chapter is Rehoboam's sin and his confession and Rehoboam’s consequence in both the temple and the palace.
There's one more short section at the end of the chapter that sort of summarizes the whole Rehoboam record in verses 13 through 16
King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.
As for the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah, his son, succeeded him as king.
(2 Chronicles 12: 13-16)
So, in later years Rehoboam reigned with power and wealth, at least to some degree, and he died at age 58.
So, in this very short little chapter in Second Chronicles, we could sum it up by saying that because of Rehoboam’s deliberate disobedience to the law and departure from the Lord himself, the Lord allowed the Egyptians to spoil Jerusalem.
But because of Rehoboam’s repentance, the consequences in this case were not death and disruption but the sacking of Jerusalem's wealth.
In his emphasis on this immediate retribution, the chronicler is warning the restored community that he is writing to some years later against any complacency or presumption that the punishment might be deferred, as it had been in the past.
The difference between Rehoboam and his grandfather David was that David sought the face of the Lord, and Rehoboam did not.
And that is a very important point.
Because today, I started by asking, what is the root cause of spiritual failure? And from this we can see that it is forsaking your relationship with the Lord, which means disobedience to the Word of the Lord.
That is the bottom-line root problem.
Close:
But as we bring our journey through 2 Chronicles chapter 12 to a close, we need to step back and view this historical narrative through the transformative lens of New Testament theology.
The struggles of Rehoboam and the southern kingdom of Judah, when understood correctly, are able to reflect the timeless reality of the true condition of the human heart, which points us directly to the important truths found in the writings of the Apostle Paul, specifically in Romans chapters 6 through 8.
In Romans 6, Paul uses the vivid imagery of slavery to describe our fundamental spiritual orientation. He reminds believers there are two potential masters:
Walking by the Flesh or walking by the Spirit
"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the chosen master, whether you obey sin leading to death, or obedience leading to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16)
In 2 Chronicles 11, we saw a nation that initially walked in wisdom and obedience.
Rehoboam listened to the word of the Lord through the prophet Shemaiah, refusing to wage war against his brothers in the northern kingdom. And because of this, Judah walked in stability, became a refuge for the faithful, and experienced a level of security and blessing.
However, today chapter 12 reveals a heartbreaking shift.
Just as Solomon before him was led astray, Rehoboam and his people drifted from their first love, turning away from God's protection. The result? Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded. Their fortified cities fell, and they found themselves subjected to foreign oppression.
Yet, notice what God did through the prophet in 2 Chronicles 12:8:
"Nevertheless, they will become his subjects, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of the earth."
God used the oppression of Egypt to wake them up to the bitter reality of misplaced service of the flesh instead of serving the Lord.
But the New Testament reality teaches us that we can go from this place of condemnation directly to a place of living in the Spirit
For the believer today, this dynamic is amplified by the grace and power of the New Covenant. As Paul explains in Romans.
"Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."
(Romans 8: 5–6)
When we attempt to live life in our own strength, relying on the flesh, we find ourselves spiritually dry, vulnerable, and bound to the "Egypt" which represents our old habits and sin.
But when we walk by the Spirit, we experience the true security, peace, and freedom purchased for us by Christ.
The choice that faced Judah is the same choice placed before every follower of Christ today, and every day: Whose servant will we be? Will we wander into spiritual captivity, or will we walk in the liberating power of God's grace?
In the New Testament, we witness the ultimate triumph of God's mercy.
While 2 Chronicles 12 gives us a sobering warning about the consequences of straying from God, it also points us toward something infinitely more glorious.
In Chronicles, we see that when the leaders of Judah and Rehoboam humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is righteous," God relented, and He did not destroy them utterly…. Mercy met them in their mess.
Isn't it the same way for Christians today? We walk with the Lord through the power of the Spirit. We can see the blessings of God in our lives. When we choose to disobey God, we see the negative consequences in our lives.
The people of God have always had the same choice.
In other words, Rehoboam illustrates that very basic biblical principle. Obey the Lord, and you are blessed. Disobey the Lord, and you suffer the consequences of your sin.
Which brings us to the breathtaking crescendo of Paul's teaching in the New Testament in Romans 8:1–2:
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."
Beloved listener, if you have stumbled, if you have found yourself looking back toward your "Egypt" or find yourself facing the consequences of walking in the flesh, take heart! The story of Rehoboam does not end in destruction because our God is a God of restoration.
Again, hear what the bible teaches.
“We do not serve a God who merely watches us fail; we serve a Savior who invites us back into the light of His grace. Nothing in all of creation "will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord"
(Romans 8:39).
So today, let us put off the heavy, suffocating yoke of the flesh, and step boldly back into the life, peace, and boundless grace of the Spirit.
Outro:
Thank you for joining me for this journey through 2 Chronicles 12.
In our next episode, we’ll move into 2 Chronicles 13 and ask, what should we do when we feel outnumbered or overwhelmed?
So, I hope you’ll join me next time as we consider a chapter that promises to be helpful in our walk through life.
Until then, remain mindful of what this passage warned us can be the consequences of spiritual failure, as well as walking wisely, so as to be able to know the blessing in every part of our lives that God has promised to us.
See you in the next episode….
