Context & Key Themes
2 Chronicles 12 is Rehoboam’s fall and partial recovery. When the kingdom is established and Rehoboam is strong, he forsakes the law of the Lord and all Israel with him. In response, Shishak king of Egypt comes up against Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and an innumerable army. The prophet Shemaiah comes to Rehoboam and the princes: you have abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak. They humble themselves. The Lord says: they have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them. I will grant them some deliverance. They shall be servants to Shishak, so that they may know the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other countries. Shishak takes the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, including the golden shields Solomon made. Rehoboam replaces them with bronze shields. The chapter is a study in partial humility producing partial deliverance.
Key Verse
“So they humbled themselves. And the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: ‘They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance.'”
— 2 Chronicles 12:6–7
Summary
When Rehoboam’s kingdom is established and he is strong, he abandons the law of the Lord and all Israel with him. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt comes up against Jerusalem, for they had been unfaithful to the Lord, with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. They cannot be counted — Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians come with him. He takes the fortified cities of Judah and comes as far as Jerusalem. Shemaiah the prophet comes to Rehoboam and the princes: because you abandoned me, I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak. The princes and the king humble themselves and say: the Lord is righteous. The Lord sees that they have humbled themselves and the word of the Lord comes to Shemaiah: they have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them. I will grant them some deliverance and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. Shishak king of Egypt comes up against Jerusalem and takes the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s house. He takes everything, including the golden shields that Solomon had made. King Rehoboam makes bronze shields in their place and commits them to the care of the officers of the guard who guard the door of the king’s house. Whenever the king enters the house of the Lord, the guards come and carry them and then bring them back to the guardroom. So Rehoboam humbles himself and the Lord’s anger turns from him, and he does not destroy him completely. Indeed conditions are good in Judah. The king does evil because he does not set his heart to seek the Lord.
Reflection
The bronze shields replacing the golden shields is one of the most vivid images of decline in 2 Chronicles — a physical representation of what happens when the covenant is abandoned. The golden shields Solomon made went everywhere the king went, carried by the royal guard as a symbol of the kingdom’s glory. Shishak takes them. Rehoboam replaces them with bronze. The guards still carry them. The ceremony continues. But the substance is gone and the substitute is a different metal, a cheaper approximation of what was there before. The Chronicler does not editorialize extensively. The image speaks for itself: this is what happens when you forsake the law of the Lord and then do just enough repentance to avoid total destruction. You get bronze instead of gold, and the ceremony continues with a hollowed-out version of the original.
The Lord’s explanation of why he allows Shishak to plunder but not destroy is worth noting: that they may know the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other countries. The discipline is educational. God wants them to feel the difference between the two kinds of service so they choose the right one with genuine knowledge. The difference between serving God and serving an Egyptian conqueror is not abstract. It is felt in the loss of the golden shields, in the tribute paid, in the status of being a vassal. God teaches this lesson through experience because no amount of theological lecture had produced the lesson without it.