Joel M Bradshaw

21Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. 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.

22Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. 23They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 24There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

25In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace.–1 Kings 14

1. One of Solomon’s 1000 women, a Gentile, bore the next king. The next king of Judah wouldn’t even be considered Jewish by modern rabbinical standards.
2. But forget his lineage and observe Rehoboam’s character.
3. He led Judah–the kingdom reserved by God for David and his sons–to evil.
4. Solomon’s legacy was apostasy and compromise. The very next son in his line literally was no better.
5. Observe the idolatry and sexual immorality that flourished in Rehoboam’s reign. God called it detestable. Jeroboam’s reign in Israel up north was also evil and was being judged by God.
6. Egypt even carried away all of Solomon’s splendor and raided that wonderful temple that Solomon built.
7. What evil do you allow to flourish in your own heart? If God were to consider where you compromise–the sin you allow or justify–would He find anything detestable in His eyes?–JMB