2 Chronicles 12-13 The Inevitable Results

Rehoboam’s first three years as king were not bad.  He was trying to obey the Lord.  But once he’d firmly established his rule, he and his nation stopped obeying God.  So God sent the king of Egypt to attack Jerusalem.  He wanted to shake up Judah to draw them back to Him.  To make sure they understood this, He said, “You have left Me, so now I will leave You to face Shishak alone.”

The leaders repented of their actions and God could see that they were truly sorry, so He said, “I will not destroy them but will save them soon.”  The Egyptians attacked and looted the treasures from the Temple and the palace.  Their sin was pardoned, but they still suffered the consequences of it.

After Rehoboam died, his son Abijah became king.  Abijah called out Jeroboam, King of Israel, for his idol worship.  He told Jeroboam’s people, “Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, because you WON’T succeed.”  I thought it was particularly telling that he said the God of your ANCESTORS instead of the Lord YOUR God.

I liked what the sidebar in my Bible said, applying this to us today:  “Without self-examination we atrophy from the Christian value system into something less … slowly, almost imperceptibly, we undo the moral knowledge to which we pledged ourselves.  When once we redraw the line, there is less pressure against redrawing it, and less and less each time thereafter.”

Those are the consequences of compromise.  When we give in, it makes it much easier to give in the next time, and the next after that.

Father, I know all too well that the lines we draw in the sand are easily shifted when we give in to sin.  In the past I’ve found myself far from where I ever intended to be for that very reason.  Remind me never to give in and never to give up.  You are worth it, Father.  Help me stay the course.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford