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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was 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, that Shishaq king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had 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 twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. |
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| 4 And he took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came unto Jerusalem. |
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| 5 Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishaq, and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, Ye have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishaq. |
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 Then 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 some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishaq. |
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| 8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know both my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. |
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| 9 So Shishaq 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 all away: he took away also the shields of gold which 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 copper, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, that kept the door of the king’s house. |
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| 11 And it was so, that, as oft as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the guard came and bare them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber. |
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| 12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of Jehovah turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.
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| 13 So 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 which Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. |
Seventeen years – Link No.27 in the chain of Bible chronology. B50; R1980:4
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| 14 And he did that which was evil, because he set not his heart to seek Jehovah. |
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| 15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the manner of genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. |
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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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