II Chronicles 12, Invasion by Egypt

Rehoboam, son of Solomon, is king of Judah. Jeroboam is king of the northern kingdom, Samaria/Israel (sometimes called Ephraim.)

2 Chronicles 12:1-4, Invasion  by Shishak

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. Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. 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.
 

In  the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak of Egypt invades from the west, reaching as far as Jerusalem. Payne says that the year is 925 BC and Shishak is probably the same as Sheshonk I, founder of the Twenty-Second Egyptian dynasty.

2 Chronicles 12:5-6, Explanation by Shemaiah

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.'"

The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is just."
 

Shemaiah explains to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah why their country has been invaded. This is the important message carried throughout the scroll of Chronicles: the safety of Israel or Judah depended on their faithfulness to YHWH.

2 Chronicles 12:7-8, Partial salvation

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."

The repentance of the leaders brings a partial salvation; the people will not be destroyed by Shishak but will become vassals.

2 Chronicles 12:9-11, Gold shields and other treasures

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 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. 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.

Part of being a vassal of Shishak is that he gets to look around the palace and temple and pick any baubles he finds. The wonderful treasures of Solomon, placed there only a decade or two before, are taken.  This includes Solomon's gold shields which Rehoboam replaces with fakes, shields of bronze probably made to look as if they were gold.

2 Chronicles 12:12-14, Some good

Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD's anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah. 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.

So Rehoboam did some good in Jerusalem and Judah.  He lived to be 58.  We have a few final comments -- his mother was an Ammonite -- and the evil of Rehoboam's reign was because he did not "set his heart" to seek YHWH. One wonders if there is a connection between the two facts -- did Rehoboam's mother, a foreigner, influence him?

2 Chronicles 12:15-16, Rested with his fathers

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 fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

The Chronicler ends with the traditional statement of a king's death and comments about his reign. The civil war between him and Jeroboam never ceased and there are other records with details of Rehoboam's reign. These include records of the prophet Shemaiah (whom we've seen briefly in the last two chapters) and Iddo the seer who was apparently the one assigned to keep up with the genealogies. (He appeared in 2 Chronicles 9:29 and will appear again in the next chapter.) These other records surely include the book of Kings but may also include additional material now lost.

The next king is Rehoboam's son Abijah. We look at his reign in the next chapter.

This material roughly parallels 1 Kings 14:21-31.