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| 1 And it cometh to pass, at the establishing of the kingdom of Rehoboam, and at his strengthening himself, he hath forsaken 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 cometh to pass, in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, come up hath Shishak king of Egypt against Jerusalem because they trespassed against Jehovah |
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 a thousand and two hundred chariots, and with sixty thousand horsemen, and there is no number to the people who have come with him out of Egypt Lubim, Sukkiim, and Cushim |
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| 4 and he captureth the cities of the bulwarks that [are] to Judah, and cometh in unto Jerusalem. |
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| 5 And Shemaiah the prophet hath come in unto Rehoboam and the heads of Judah who have been gathered unto Jerusalem from the presence of Shishak, and saith to them, 'Thus said Jehovah, Ye have forsaken Me, and also, I have 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 heads of Israel are humbled, and the king, and they say, 'Righteous [is] Jehovah.' |
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| 7 And when Jehovah seeth that they have been humbled, a word of Jehovah hath been unto Shemaiah, saying, 'They have been humbled; I do not destroy them, and I have given to them as a little thing for an escape, and I pour not out My fury in Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak; |
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| 8 but they become servants to him, and they know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.' |
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| 9 And Shishak king of Egypt cometh up against Jerusalem, and taketh the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king the whole he hath taken and he taketh 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 maketh in their stead shields of brass, and hath given [them] a charge on the hand of the heads of the runners who are keeping the opening of the house of the king; |
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| 11 and it cometh to pass, from the time of the going in of the king to the house of Jehovah, the runners have come in and lifted them up, and brought them back unto the chamber of the runners. |
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| 12 And in his being humbled, turned back from him hath the wrath of Jehovah, so as not to destroy to completion; and also, in Judah there have been good things. |
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| 13 And king Rehoboam strengtheneth himself in Jerusalem, and reigneth; for a son of forty and two years [is] Rehoboam in his reigning, and seventeen years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah hath chosen to put His name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother [is] Naamah the Ammonitess, |
Seventeen years – Link No.27 in the chain of Bible chronology. B50; R1980:4
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| 14 and he doth the evil thing, for he hath not prepared his heart to seek Jehovah. |
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| 15 And the matters of Rehoboam, the first and the last, are they not written among the matters of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, concerning genealogy And the wars of Rehoboam and Jeroboam [are] all the days; |
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| 16 and Rehoboam lieth with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David, and reign doth Abijah his son 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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