Reading: 2 Chronicles 9-12, Psalm 73

Well, we have reached the end of the reigns of David and Solomon, and at this rate one might think the book of Chronicles will be six volumes and hundreds of chapters long. Fortunately the Chronicler was not quite as interested in the kings that followed these two progenitors of the royal line. He also cares nothing at all for the royal progression in the northern kingdom, as they are not descendants of David. I think the Chronicler has pretty much said what he wants to about the past, but continues to develop his thoughts using the history of David’s family as an argument. God has not yet fulfilled his promise to the house of David, because the people involved have not lived up to their potential. Rehoboam son of Solomon is a great example of this.

First let’s once again mention the visit of the Queen of Sheba. This character, who gets mentioned here much more briefly than in Kings, is a bit of an enigma. She appears to have great respect for Solomon and the God of Israel. She is powerful and wise. The Chronicler has already cast Solomon as a new Adam, it almost seems he is setting up the Queen of Sheba as a possible new Eve… but then she just goes home, and Solomon shacks up with the daughter of Pharaoh. And a few hundred other women. Bummer. The new Adam didn’t get the whole marriage thing figured out. Not the last guy to have this problem.

Let’s move on to Rehoboam. Though the Chronicler has great respect for the family of David, you can read into Rehoboam’s story that this is where that respect begins to fracture a bit. His ascension to the throne goes fine, but then he is immediately faced with a visit from representatives of the northern tribes. They are tired of the amount of work required of them by Solomon, and wish Rehoboam to give them a break. We get a little scene where he consults two group. One is a group of wise old guys, and the other a bunch of foolish young guys. The scene progresses as one might imagine, and Rehoboam listens to the foolish young guys. He threatens the northern tribes. Instead of giving them a break, he will double down on his father’s policies. More work! The beatings will continue until morale improves! This goes over about as well as one might imagine, and in one fell swoop Rehoboam loses three quarters of the kingdom he inherited from Solomon. We have gone from a retelling of the story of Adam to that of Cain and Abel, as the nations goes to war with itself. One generation after Solomon, his kingdom is divided and at war.

The rest of the reign of Rehoboam doesn’t get much better. He has some success in fighting off Jeroboam, the king of the northern tribes. All the righteous priests and Levites come to work for him. Then he promptly abandons the worship of the God of Israel and the Pharaoh Shishak shows up and loots Jerusalem. We are into the downward spiral of fallen humanity. Rehoboam chooses to embrace his own wisdom rather than trusting God to show him the knowledge of good and bad, with by now utterly predictable results.

I believe the Chronicler has been writing this whole time with the future in mind. We are now into the part of the story that explains why the restoration of Israel hasn’t happened yet: because this is how the royal family has been acting. They have not lived up to their potential. They choose to take the knowledge of good and bad over the wisdom of God in the fear of the Lord. Being of the house of David is not enough, as Rehoboam so clearly demonstrates. In the reigns of David and Solomon the Chronicler painted the picture of the Messiah Israel needs. In the lives of their descendants he is painting the picture of the one they don’t.