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Context No. 1933 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

2 Chronicles 11:1-12: in context

1When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. 2But the LORD’s word came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4‘The LORD says, “You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Every man return to his house; for this thing is of me.”’” So they listened to the LORD’s words, and returned from going against Jeroboam. 5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. 6He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, 8Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. 11He fortified the strongholds and put captains in them with stores of food, oil and wine. 12He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceedingly strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

After the kingdom is divided and the northern tribes break away, Rehoboam gathers a great army, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight and bring the kingdom back under his rule. He has the power and the will to reclaim by force what he has lost. But the word of the LORD comes to Shemaiah: tell Rehoboam and all Judah, you shall not go up nor fight against your brothers; every man return to his house, for this thing is from me. And they listened, and turned back from the fight.

Rehoboam faced a hard thing, and did a hard thing. He had lost most of his kingdom; he had the army and the desire to take it back by force; and by human reckoning he had the right to fight for what had been his. But God said, do not fight, this thing is from me. The division of the kingdom, painful as it was, was God's doing, part of his purpose, and Rehoboam was told not to resist it by force but to accept it and go home. And, to his credit, he obeyed; he laid down the fight he had the power to wage, and accepted the loss as from God's hand. There is a difficult obedience here worth learning. Sometimes we face a painful loss or situation that we have the power and the will to fight against, and that we feel we have every right to resist; and God calls us to accept it rather than fight it, because in some way it is from him. This is among the hardest kinds of obedience: not the obedience of doing what we want to do, but of refraining from a fight we could wage, accepting a painful providence as from God's hand rather than resisting it with all our strength. It requires trusting that God is at work even in the loss, that his purposes are being served even in what we would fight against, and that his word, do not fight, this is from me, is to be obeyed even when everything in us wants to reclaim what we have lost. This is the LORD, Eli said in another such moment; let him do what seems good to him. Rehoboam could have insisted on his rights, gathered his army, and fought; and instead he heard God's word, recognized the loss as from God, and laid down the fight. There are times when the faithful response to a painful situation is not to fight it but to accept it as from God, to lay down the struggle we could wage, and to trust the God whose purposes are at work even in what we would resist. This thing is from me, God said; and Rehoboam obeyed, accepting from God's hand a loss he had the power to fight.

When I face a painful loss or situation that I have the power and the will to fight against, and feel I have every right to resist, can I be open to hearing, as Rehoboam did, that in some way this is from God, and accept it from his hand rather than resisting with all my strength, trusting that his purposes are at work even in what I would fight?

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