2 Chronicles 12 - Summary

When Rehoboam's kingdom was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel abandoned the law of the Lord, resulting in divine judgment through Shishak king of Egypt who invaded in Rehoboam's fifth year with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and innumerable troops including Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. The prophet Shemaiah declared that because they had forsaken the Lord, He had forsaken them to Shishak's hand, but when the leaders humbled themselves, the Lord granted partial deliverance: they would become servants to Egypt to learn the difference between serving Him and serving earthly kingdoms. Shishak took the treasures of the temple and palace including Solomon's gold shields, which Rehoboam replaced with bronze, and though conditions improved when he humbled himself, the chapter summarizes his seventeen-year reign negatively because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.