King Rehoboam humbles himself
When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he grew strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, he and all Israel with him. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalry. A countless army came with him from Egypt - Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. He took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the officers of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the Lord: You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak." Then the officers of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is in the right." When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying: "They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants, so that they may know the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands."
So King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house; he took everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made; but King Rehoboam made in place of them shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. Whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard would come along bearing them, and would then bring them back to the guardroom. Because he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy them completely; moreover, conditions were good in Judah.
Reflection
I remember a conversation I had in my youth with a friend at work. We were talking about being humble. His thoughts were that humility pointed to a human quality of weakness. I had never thought of humility in this respect. I was always taught that it was an honor to be humble. I was taught that it was proper to be humble. I was taught that humility brought forth aspects and traits of strength and honor.
Through life I have striven to be humble. As the saying goes, sometimes that's not easy. It's natural for pride to take over and humility to fly out the window. But graciously, God has given me occasion to learn humility and brought me back around.
I'm not sure if my friend ever learned the ability to be humble. I think life tends to teach this over the years. I know he has been successful in business and lives a good life. And somehow...I think we both have been given the lesson and instruction from God about humility. Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Lord keep me humble...and when needed teach me. --- Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment