2 Chronicles · chapter 11 of 36
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2 Chronicles 11 tells how Rehoboam gathers one hundred eighty thousand warriors to recover the north, but the prophet Shemaiah tells him not to fight his brothers because the division is from the Lord, and the king obeys. Rehoboam fortifies cities of Judah, and the priests, Levites and those who seek the Lord move from the north to Judah. The chapter ends with Rehoboam's large family and the choice of Abijah as heir.
The previous chapter ended with the kingdom divided. Now the chronicler shows how Rehoboam responds. First he obeys a word from God that forbids war, and then he sets about strengthening his kingdom. For readers returning from exile this is an important scene: Judah, with Jerusalem and the temple, becomes the home of those who want to keep seeking the Lord.
Rehoboam arrives in Jerusalem and assembles the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to himself. But the word of the Lord comes to Shemaiah, the man of God, with a message: they are not to go up to fight their brothers. Each is to return home, for this has been done by the Lord. They obey and go back.
Rehoboam lives in Jerusalem and builds fortified cities in Judah, among them Bethlehem, Hebron and Lachish. He provides them with commanders, food, oil, shields and spears. The priests and Levites from all Israel come over to him, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving the Lord and had appointed his own priests for the high places, the goat idols and the calves he had made. And after them, from all the tribes, those who set their hearts to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam for three years, as they walked in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam marries Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth, and Maacah, daughter of Absalom, who bears him sons, among them Abijah. He loved Maacah more than all his wives. He had eighteen wives, sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. He appointed Abijah, son of Maacah, as chief among his brothers, intending to make him king. He acted wisely and dispersed his sons throughout the fortified cities.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God commands through Shemaiah that they not go up to fight their brothers, because the division comes from him, and they obey. It is an example of obedience to a word from God even at the cost of one's own plan.
The Levites leave their pasturelands and possessions to move to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam had expelled them from the priesthood. Choosing the Lord has a price, and these families pay it.
From all the tribes, those who set their hearts to seek the Lord come to Jerusalem to sacrifice. Seeking God with the heart is a key idea in the whole book.
The kingdom of Judah is strengthened for three years because it walked in the way of David and Solomon. The chronicler links the strength of the kingdom to faithfulness to God, and also hints at what will come later.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: One hundred eighty thousand chosen warriors from Judah and Benjamin. — 2 Chronicles 11:1
Answer: Shemaiah, the man of God, said they must not go up to fight their brothers, because the division was the Lord's doing. — 2 Chronicles 11:2-4
Answer: They obeyed the word of the Lord and turned back without going against Jeroboam. — 2 Chronicles 11:4
Answer: He built fortified cities and supplied them with commanders and provisions. — 2 Chronicles 11:5-12
Answer: Because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from the priesthood of the Lord and appointed other priests for the high places. — 2 Chronicles 11:13-15
Answer: Abijah, the son of Maacah. — 2 Chronicles 11:22
Rehoboam obeys an uncomfortable word: he gives up war and accepts a situation he did not choose. Sometimes faithfulness to God means ceasing to push our plans and accepting what he allows. In a small group we can talk about a situation in which it is hard to recognize that God is at work in what we did not want.
The chapter also highlights the cost of faithfulness. The Levites leave their land to serve the Lord. Today some believers pay a price for keeping their faith or conscience, and the church can accompany them with concrete support, hospitality and prayer.
2 Chronicles 11 shows Judah strong and united around the temple for three years. In 2 Chronicles 12 that picture changes: when Rehoboam feels secure, he abandons the law of the Lord and an invasion comes from Egypt.
He was a prophet, called a man of God in the text, who gave Rehoboam the word of the Lord not to fight Israel. He appears again in 2 Chronicles 12, when he announces God's judgment through Shishak's invasion and later brings the message of mercy.
Jeroboam had excluded them from the priesthood of the Lord because he set up a worship of calves and high places in the north. The Levites left their fields and property to remain faithful to worship in Jerusalem, according to the law of Moses.
The text reports that Rehoboam had many wives and concubines, something the law of Moses discouraged for kings in Deuteronomy 17:17. The chronicler records it without comment, but it fits the picture of a kingdom that grows strong and drifts little by little from full faithfulness.