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| 1 And it came to pass when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and when he had become strong, that he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him. |
Forsook the law – Finding himself strong in the kingdom, Rehoboam became lax in respect to its religious conditions. R2362:6
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| 2 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, because they had transgressed against Jehovah, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, |
Against Jerusalem – There has been discovered at Karnak, Egypt, a splendid structure erected by the very Shishak who conquered Rehoboam, commemorating his victories. R3467:6
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| 3 with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. |
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| 4 And he took the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. |
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| 5 And Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah that had gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, Thus saith Jehovah: Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. |
Therefore have I also left – Teaching them the important lesson that if the Lord let go of them they would be swallowed up of their enemies. R2363:1
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| 6 And the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Jehovah is righteous. |
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| 7 And when Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them, but I will grant them a little deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. |
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| 8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. |
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| 9 And Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house; he took away all; and he took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made. |
Shishak – See comment on 2 Chron. 12:2.
Took away the treasures – This was intended of the Lord to teach Israel that if the Lord let go of them they would be swallowed up of their enemies, and that he always made obedience profitable to them in their temporal welfare. R2363:1
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| 10 And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the couriers who kept the entrance of the king's house. |
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| 11 And it was so, that as often as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the couriers came and fetched them, and brought them again into the chamber of the couriers. |
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| 12 And when he humbled himself, the anger of Jehovah turned away from him, that he would not destroy him altogether; and also in Judah there were good things. |
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| 13 And king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned; for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. |
Seventeen years – Link No.27 in the chain of Bible chronology. B50; R1980:4
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| 14 And he did evil, for he applied not his heart to seek Jehovah. |
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| 15 And the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the words of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, in the genealogical registers? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. |
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| 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abijah his son reigned in his stead. |
And Rehoboam slept – Death is a condition of rest, of quiet, of peaceful unconsciousness. R5059:6, R4794:2; HG121:6
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