II Chronicles 12:1 "And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him."

It seems that nations like to do this exact thing; for they build a defense system to protect themselves; then they turn away from the true God to rely on themselves and their weapons for protection. Solomon had died, and when the kingdom was split with Rehoboam receiving only the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin to rule over, the first thing he had done was to strengthen his nation in arms. Once his army was in place, he as well as the rest of the tribes to the north in the house of Israel forsook the Lord.

II Chronicles 12:2 "And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord."

We can date the event of Ezekiel 4:5 as a fixed date in history; so using this date in time from the fifth year of Jehoiakin's captivity, the fixed date looking back 390 years to the end of Shishak's invasion would be exactly 874 B.C. There is an inscription by Shishak on the outside of the south wall of the temple of Ammon at Karnac, in which Shishak named the "King of Judah", as well as the list of 120 fortified cities which fell to his army. I Kings 14:25, 26 gives us a account of this action.

I Kings 14:25, 26 "(And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:" [25] "And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made." [26]

This was the king of the northern kingdom of Egypt that attacked Jerusalem. During that raid he tool all of Solomon's treasures that were stored in the "king's house". God allowed the Egyptians to take all the wealth of Judah back to Egypt, for remember all the shiploads of gold and silver, as well as those precious stones. God is marking this day well as we read in Ezekiel 4:5.

Ezekiel 4:5 "For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear their iniquity.

For each day there will be one year of iniquity.

II Chronicles 12:3 "With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkims, and the Ethiopians."

The kings of not only Egypt, but Lybia (Lubims) and all of Ethiopia, including far to the south of the east coast of Africa (Sukkims) joined into the battle with Shishak. These kings knew where the wealth of the world was in the storehouses in Jerusalem. They came in massive force.

II Chronicles 12:4 "And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem."

II Chronicles 12:5 "Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak."

This prophet Shemaiah was the prophet that told Rehoboam not to fight against the house of Israel, after the nations split, as recorded in I Kings 12:22-25.

I Kings 12:22, 23 "But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying," [22] " "Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the People saying," [23]

The Lord is speaking through Shemaiah the man of God as to what He is about to do. This verse also documents the people that went to make up the house of Judah, Rehoboam's kingdom. Benjamin was part of Judah, not Israel, and this connection you can read about in the closing chapters of the book of the Judges. In war between Benjamin, all of the tribe, women and children were killed, and the six hundred men of Benjamin that were left alive took women from Judah to marry and rebuild their tribe, thus there would always be this tie between the two tribes.

Now here this same prophet, Shemaiah is telling Rehoboam that because of the wickedness that he has allowed to enter Jerusalem, and his forsaking God's ways, God will not lift a hand to protect Jerusalem and Rehoboam's kingdom when the Egyptians come against him.

II Chronicles 12:6 "Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous."

When Jeroboam refuse to allow the people of the ten tribes to travel to Jerusalem to worship as required by the law; man people of the other tribes left the house of Israel to live and raise their families in the nation of Judah. After Shemaiah the prophet called attention to the wickedness that had crept into their land to where God lifted His protective hand from them, these leaders humbled themselves and turned their hearts back to the Lord and His Ways.

II Chronicles 12:7 "And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore 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 Shishak."

God promised that for a while that His protective hand would remain covering their land. When we are right with the Lord and try to walk in His Ways, He blesses us and protects us in many ways.

II Chronicles 12:8 "Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

There will be a time of correcting when we stray from the ways of the Lord, and God is going to cause Jerusalem to be Shishak's servants for awhile. "My service" will show them the contrast as being in the service of these heathen countries that rules over them.

II Chronicles 12:9 "So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made."

Remember that God told king Rehoboam and the house of Judah ahead of time that they would lose the treasure that was accumulated by Solomon during his reign. When it happened all that the house of Judah could do is watch. When it was over the soldiers would no longer have their shields of gold, but would carry shields of brass.

II Chronicles 12:10 "Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house."

II Chronicles 12:11 "And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber."

II Chronicles 12:12 "And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well."

When the enemies of Judah had gathered their wealth and left, Rehoboam and the people of Judah praised the Lord in humility, for things went well in Judah.

II Chronicles 12:13 "So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there, And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess."

Rehoboam took the throne when he was forty one years old, and reigned until his death at fifty eight. After the war with Egypt, he and Judah continued to have their border disputes with the house of Israel until his death. This is why it was necessary to have strong borders between them, yet during this time, the people of other tribes continued to flow southward into Judah, so that they could continue to worship at the house of the Lord, built by Solomon.

II Chronicles 12:14 "And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord."

II Chronicles 12:15 "Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually."

II Chronicles 12:16 "And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead."