Context No. 3728 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 11:13-17: in context

13The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him out of all their territory. 14For the Levites left their pasture lands and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office to the LORD. 15He himself appointed priests for the high places, for the male goat and calf idols which he had made. 16After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those who set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 17So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

When Jeroboam set up idolatrous worship in the northern kingdom and rejected the true priests, the faithful Levites and priests left their homes and their lands and came south to Judah, where they could rightly serve the LORD. And they were not alone: from all the tribes, those who set their hearts to seek the LORD came to Jerusalem to worship the God of their fathers.

There is a beautiful picture here of people willing to uproot their lives for the sake of faithful worship, leaving comfort and possessions behind to be where they could truly serve God. When a whole society turns to false worship, the faithful may have to make costly choices to remain true to God. And notice the telling phrase: those who set their hearts to seek the LORD. Faithfulness in a faithless time is a matter of a settled, deliberate heart, a heart fixed on seeking God, willing even to leave home for the sake of true worship. And these faithful ones strengthened the whole kingdom of Judah.

Have I set my heart to seek the LORD, willing even to make costly choices for the sake of remaining faithful when others turn away from him?

Sources

2 Chronicles 11:16: "Those who set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers."
2 Chronicles 11:14: "The Levites left their pasture lands and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off."
Hebrews 11:25: "Choosing rather to share ill treatment with God's people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a while."