Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

INTRODUCTION
The fall of Samaria and the death of Hoshea marked the end of Israel. The northern kingdom established by God lasted for 208 years before Assyria conquered the nation.

All nineteen of Israel’s kings were evil and their combined actions led to the northern tribes being led away into captivity just as the prophets had foretold.

Would the Kingdom of Judah be any different? Seeing these events would require the Godhead to pause the virtual time run and entering the timeline with the split that occurred after Solomon’s death.

KING REHOBOAM
Rehoboam was the son of King Solomon and 41 years old when he began to reign over the kingdom he inherited from his father along with its 700 wives and 300 concubines (slave women). One of Solomon’s wives was Naamah, an Ammonite who became the mother of Rehoboam.¹

Solomon was a lustful man who acted upon his sexual indulgences with heathen women and this made Rehoboam cursed. As a young prince, Rehoboam began to add women to his harem. He started by marrying his uncle Jerimoth’s daughter Mahalath. Her mother’s name was Abihail, the daughter of Eliab. who was the son to Jesse, the father of King David. Mahalath had three children with Rehoboam.²  Chronicles 11:18-19

The next woman he married was Maachah, the daughter of Uncle Absalom, and she bore four children. The oldest child was a son named Abijah, who would be the next king. verse 20

Thus we can see that Rehoboam’s first two wives were part of the Davidian clan.

Rehoboam’s harem was modest in comparison to his father’s with only 18 wives and 60 concubines. They bore him a large brood of 28 sons and 60 daughters. Maachah became his favorite wife. verse 21

Rehoboam was a spoiled prince, and when he began to reign after his father died, he tried to demand more taxes from the people. This resulted in nine northern tribes revolting and forming a new kingdom – Israel. 1 Kings 12:1-19

Rehoboam appointed Abijah to rule over his siblings. In order to maintain control over Judah, his children were spread out as administrators of different cities.

Rehoboam treated Judah and its people as his own family property, instead of being a servant of the people. 2 Chronicles 11:22-23

HOMOSEXUALITY
The Canaanites were deeply into homosexuality. The different worship sites featured female prostitutes for the men and sodomites for the worshipers who preferred someone of the same gender. Rehoboam allowed these vile practices to continue in Judah. 1 Kings 14:22-24; 22:46; 2 Kings 23:7

Humans died when God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the demons of homosexuality sought new hosts. Demons or evil spirits do not die and they simply moved on. They infested the capitols of Judah and Israel, which were only 34 miles apart. Jerusalem was 40 miles from Sodom.

These evil spirits of homosexuality are very active in modern day Israel. The coastal city of Tel Aviv boasts a huge number of homosexuals. They hosted a Pride Festival in 2020 with 250,000 participants.³

This is especially telling since the population of Tel Aviv in 2016 was 435,855 persons and Pride Festival attendance represented more than half of its population. In addition, Tel Aviv is only 42 miles away from Jerusalem.

JUDGMENT OF GOD
Five years after he consolidated his grip of Judah, Rehoboam forsook God and slid into idolatry. 2 Chronicles 12:1

Jesus moved upon the Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt to punish Rehoboam; all the work he and his children had done to fortify the cities of Judah came to naught. verses 2-4

The Godhead sent a prophet to ensure that Rehoboam and his 28 sons understood that Shishak was outside the gates of Jerusalem to punish them. verse 5

Rehoboam and his sons realized their only hope was in the Lord and repented of their sins. verse 6

The Godhead decided that Shishak would not destroy Judah because of their repentance. verses 7-8

Jesus showed Rehoboam that the temple in Jerusalem was not holy and God was allowing Shishak to plunder it. verse 9

FAILURE
When Shishak removed the golden shields from the temple, Rehoboam replaced them with brass shields. He became paranoid that someone might steal them and had the shields locked up in the guardhouse when he was not in the temple. verses 1-11

Because of Rehoboam’s partial repentance, the Godhead did not allow Shishak to completely destroy him, allowing him to reign another 12 years before he died. verse 12

There was constant war between Israel and Judah during Rehoboam’s 17-year reign. He died a failure, having wasted his life and accomplishing nothing. verses 13-16

SUMMARY
What can we learn from Rehoboam’s life?

1. The evil spirit of lust that caused so much damage in the lives of his grandfather (David) and his father (Solomon), also wrecked Rehoboam’s life. 1 Corinthians 6:15-18; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

2. Rehoboam’s allowance and participation of idolatry destroyed any good he might have experienced in his spiritual life. 1 Corinthians 10:18-22

3. Rehoboam only lived to 58 years old. We don’t know how he died, but based upon his action, we can surmise that he never trusted God for salvation and joined his father in hell. Matthew 7:15-20; Mark 8:36-37