David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Chronicles 12, 1 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 13, Psalm 3.

2 Chronicles 12:2-8

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” ⁶ Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.” ⁷ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

When I read these chapters from 2 Chronicles and 1 Kings, my eyes glaze over. There are just too many names for me to keep straight. Too many different kings from the northern and southern kingdoms. Some are good. Some are evil. And which is the good kingdom: Israel or Judah? As a friend once said to me, “Don’t confuse me. It’s too easy!”

So if today’s readings left you struggling to keep the kings straight, you’re not alone. The kingdoms are divided, rulers come and go, battles are fought, and some kings are faithful while others are wicked. I have to refer to a chart of the kings and kingdoms to keep them all straight. Even then I get lost in the details.

Because of Solomon’s spiritual drift from the LORD the kingdom was divided. Solomon was the last king to rule a united Israel. Then Solomon’s son Rehoboam responded to weary people by making their life more difficult, leveling higher and higher taxes, a brutish leadership style, with pride rather than wisdom marking his reign.

So now we will have a parade of kings – of Judah and of Israel – reigning for a range of mere days to several decades. But the broad theme is surprisingly consistent: when kings trust the LORD, things go better; when pride, compromise, and idolatry take over, decline follows.

Given this dizzying parade of kings, you might think that God would abandon his people and his promises of deliverance. But he does not leave his people without his word. Prophets appear in the narrative, reminding kings that history is not random. Kingdoms rise and fall, but the LORD still speaks, warns, judges, and shows mercy. And even Rehoboam – twice confronted by the prophet Shemaiah – actually repents and humbles himself before God.

I take two things from these chapters. First of all, the parade of kings may be something that dizzies me, but God is neither dizzied nor at a loss in dealing with these men. He is constantly calling them back to himself whether they will listen to him or not. And second, we have a record of real men with real failures and real triumphs in the Bible. God does not gloss over sin nor ignore faithfulness. Jesus is the only King that perfectly fulfills God’s will – and we don’t follow him as we should.

What is he to do? He will show his steadfast love to thousands of generations and call us to repentance and faith. May we obey his call and follow King Jesus!