2 Chronicles 12:2-12

In Rehoboam’s fifth year, because he and the people were unfaithful to GOD, Shishak king of Egypt invaded as far as Jerusalem. He came with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalry, and soldiers from all over—the Egyptian army included Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. They took the fortress cities of Judah and advanced as far as Jerusalem itself. Then the prophet Shemaiah, accompanied by the leaders of Judah who had retreated to Jerusalem before Shishak, came to Rehoboam and said, “GOD’s word: You abandoned me; now I abandon you to Shishak.” The leaders of Israel and the king were repentant and said, “GOD is right.” When GOD saw that they were humbly repentant, the word of GOD came to Shemaiah: “Because they are humble, I’ll not destroy them—I’ll give them a break; I won’t use Shishak to express my wrath against Jerusalem. What I will do, though, is make them Shishak’s subjects—they’ll learn the difference between serving me and serving human kings.” Then Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He plundered the treasury of The Temple of GOD and the treasury of the royal palace—he took everything he could lay his hands on. He even took the gold shields that Solomon had made. King Rehoboam replaced the gold shields with bronze shields and gave them to the guards who were posted at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to GOD’s Temple, the guards went with him carrying the shields, but they always returned them to the guardroom. Because Rehoboam was repentant, GOD’s anger was blunted, so he wasn’t totally destroyed. The picture wasn’t entirely bleak—there were some good things going on in Judah.

Free Reading Plans and Devotionals related to 2 Chronicles 12:2-12