https://esv.literalword.com/?q=2+Chronicles+11
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 3 December 2025:
2 Chronicles 11:1-4 — When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
Rehoboam responds to the divided kingdom the same way the flesh always responds to loss: force, control, and immediate action. He assembles an army to reclaim what’s slipping from his hands. His instinct is understandable, even predictable, but it is not spiritual. God intervenes through His prophet, reminding Rehoboam that what looks like political disaster is actually divine orchestration. “For this thing is from me” reframes the entire crisis. God is not simply allowing the division; He has purposed it for judgment, discipline, and the preservation of His long-term redemptive plan.
Rehoboam is commanded to lay down arms and relinquish control, something that goes against every human impulse. God regularly instructs His people to choose the counterintuitive path because His thoughts are above ours and His wisdom runs deeper than our instincts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Faith means obeying even when it contradicts our strategy, emotions, or sense of justice. And at this crucial moment, Rehoboam actually listens. This obedience averts civil slaughter and preserves Judah from unnecessary bloodshed among God’s own people.
God’s command highlights His desire for peace within families, both physical and spiritual. The people Rehoboam wanted to fight were his “relatives.” Anger blinds us to relational obligations, but God brings clarity: do not destroy what I have created, even when wounded pride urges retaliation. In households, churches, friendships, and communities, God’s call is the same — pursue peace, refuse escalation, and yield to His sovereign working even when it humbles us.
Since God’s thoughts are far removed from our thoughts, He will, if we are listening, tell us to do many things that are contrary to our will and to our wisdom. We must be careful to heed the word of God and not be tempted to merely do what seems right to us.
2 Chronicles 11:4 – “‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’”
God desires peace in families not strife.
2 Chronicles 11:5-12 — Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. He built — Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. He made the fortresses strong and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
Once Rehoboam accepts God’s boundary, “do not fight your relatives,” he turns toward strengthening what remains. Obedience often clarifies responsibility: he may not recover the north, but he can steward the south. He invests in strongholds, provisions, and leadership. Though Rehoboam is far from a fully righteous king, this season reflects the blessing that comes when people submit to the limits God sets.
This practical investment is a reminder that faith is not passivity. Obedience to God’s message did not mean sitting still; it meant strategic diligence within God’s assigned sphere. Paul mirrors this principle when he urges believers to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). Faith listens to God, but it also builds what God entrusts. Satan tempted Adam & Eve to focus on lack, what God had not given them (the one tree of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil), rather than focusing on and enjoying the incredible provision God had given (the rest of the Garden of Eden). Learn the lesson of the Garden – Satan still tempts the same way. Don’t focus on what you don’t have maximize all that you do have, cultivate it and grow it.
2 Chronicles 11:13-15 — And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made.
Jeroboam’s leadership pivots from insecurity to open rebellion against God. He removes faithful priests, the very people whose calling was to teach God’s Word, lead in worship, guard holiness, and maintain fidelity to the covenant. In their place, he installs priests of his own creation, men willing to legitimize idolatry and soothe the consciences of a rebellious nation. This is the ancient form of “itching-ear religion,” a system designed to sanctify sin rather than call people away from it.
Whenever a nation turns its back on God, it inevitably silences or marginalizes the voices that speak truth. The faithful become inconvenient. Spiritual leadership becomes political and pragmatic rather than holy and obedient. Worship is reshaped into something palatable to the unfaithful, creating a religion that looks spiritual but denies God’s authority.
Paul warned Timothy that these dynamics would intensify in later generations (2 Timothy 4:2-5). People would not endure sound doctrine; they would accumulate teachers who preach what aligns with their passions, not God’s will. This is exactly what Jeroboam engineered. But the Levites refused to remain in a system that distorted God’s truth. They chose exile over compromise. Their example exposes something vital: fidelity to God is always costly. Ungodly leaders may cast out the faithful, but God preserves them, uses them, and anchors His purposes through them. Ungodly leaders will seek to shut up or eliminate godly priests and preachers and replace them with preachers who will proclaim what they want to hear.
Again, a nation rejects God it will no longer tolerate sound doctrine; it is replaced with religion that is acceptable to the unfaithful, religion the seeks to legitimize sin. These are hard times for the faithful. Conversely, when a nation accepts the teachings of God, the people of God are treated well and the nation is strengthened. Regardless the choice of a nation, regardless the cost, God’s people must remain faithful to the KING.
2 Chronicles 11:16-17 — And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
Godly people strengthen a nation. Nations are blessed through the influence of godly people.
This migration of the faithful is a powerful moment. People who hungered for the true worship of the Lord uprooted their lives, left their ancestral properties, and refused to remain in a nation that had rejected God. They moved to Judah simply because God was honored there. They were willing to lose everything, homes, comfort, social status, to remain faithful to the Lord.
Their commitment stands in contrast to the many “religious” who stayed behind in convenience, embracing a false system because it was easy. Faithful discipleship often requires departure: leaving behind old environments, unhealthy relationships, ungodly influences, or compromised religious settings. Jesus says following Him may cost family, possessions, or security (Luke 14:26-33), yet He promises the gain of eternal treasure.
Their arrival strengthened Judah. Godly people fortify nations, families, communities, and churches simply by the presence of their obedience. Righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34), and here that truth is visible in real time. For three years, Judah experienced spiritual vitality, stability, and security because its people collectively walked in the way of David. When righteousness prevails, nations flourish; when it is cast aside, nations crumble.
“And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came….” You may have to leave everything behind and lose everything to remain faithful to the LORD, to go where He wants you to go, and to do what He wants you to do. You shouldn’t be surprised when many ‘religious’ around you refuse to make that sort of committed sacrifice. Most choose comfort over fidelity and justify it through clever lies, often religious lies. (2 Chronicles 11:13-17)
2 Chronicles 11:18-23 — Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. And he dealt wisely, and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions, and procured wives for them.
The chapter ends on a mixed note. Rehoboam’s marital excess mirrors Solomon’s and runs contrary to God’s design for kings (Deuteronomy 17:17). His polygamy creates future instability — Abijah will succeed him, but favoritism and divided loyalties will eventually erode spiritual health. Yet even here, God preserves the line of David through imperfect vessels.
Rehoboam distributes his sons throughout fortified cities to stabilize leadership and avoid internal power struggles. It is pragmatic, shrewd, and partially wise, though overshadowed by the underlying moral compromises. The hope of Judah does not rest in Rehoboam’s strategy but in God’s unbreakable covenant.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 3 December 2025: Choose one area where God is calling you to obey even though it contradicts your instincts or preferences. Submit to His wisdom, refuse escalation, pursue peace where there is tension, and be willing to leave anything that compromises fidelity to Christ. Let your obedience strengthen the people around you.
Pray: “Lord, shape my heart to trust Your wisdom even when it runs against my instincts. Teach me to choose peace over pride, obedience over impulse, and truth over convenience. Strengthen me to follow You even when it costs relationships, comfort, or stability. Make me a source of spiritual strength for others and anchor my life in unwavering faithfulness to You. Lead me in the way that exalts You and blesses those around me. Amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 