2 Chronicles 11:1-4 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men… I. THE KING'S ARMY. 1. Whence collected. From Judah and Benjamin, or that portion of the latter which adhered to Judah. 2. Its place of rendezvous. Jerusalem, the metropolis of the southern kingdom. It was intended that the king's forces should proceed from the capital. 3. The number of its force. A hundred and eighty thousand men - a contingent of the army of Judah. 4. The character of its soldiers. "Chosen men, which were warriors;" picked veterans, because of the importance and difficulty of the expedition upon which they were about to be despatched. 5. The work for which it was designed. "To fight against Israel " - against the ten or nine and a half northern tribes who had lately belonged to the same empire with them, and were still of the same race. 6. The ultimate aim of the expedition. To reduce Israel to subjection. Politically viewed, it was not wrong to aim at the conquest of Israel; only Rehoboam would have done well had he sat down calmly and considered whether he was able, with the help of one or two tribes at most, to overcome ten, with a population vastly larger and equally inured to war with those acknowledging his sway (Luke 14:32). Religiously examined, it is not so certain Rehoboam was pursuing a legitimate aim, seeing that under him, no less than under his father, the unbroken empire had forsaken Jehovah and declined into idolatries, which declension, besides, was the primal cause of the disruption that had taken place. II. JEHOVAH'S INTERDICT. 1. Through whom conveyed. "Shemaiah the man of God." This prophet appears to have belonged to Judah (2 Chronicles 12:15), and resided in Jerusalem; unlike Ahijah, whose home was in Ephraim (1 Kings 11:29). 2. To whom delivered. "Rehoboam... King of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin." The Divine message was no doubt spoken in the palace to the king and his pnnces, and through them published to the assembled warriors. 3. In what terms issued. (1) A prohibition: "Ye shall not go up" upon this expedition, "nor fight against your brethren; (2) a command: "Return every man to his house;" and (3) a reason: "For this thing is done of me," saith the Lord. Thus to Rehoboam by Shemaiah, as to Jeroboam through Ahijah, was the intimation given that the disruption of the kingdom exactly accorded with the Divine purpose. 4. How received. In sub-minion and with obedience. Whether this prompt compliance with Heaven's will was due, on the part of Rehoboam, his princes, and his army, to religion, humanity, or worldly policy, is not said by the Chronicler. They may have felt it would be dangerous to fight against God; or been touched by the consideration that the Israelites were, after all, their brethren; or calculated that prudence would be the better part of valour, seeing it was not self-evident they would succeed in their enterprise. LESSONS. 1. The sinfulness of war, especially of civil war. 2. The paramount authority of God in civil and political, no less than in private and religious, affairs. 3. The presence of God's finger in all social and national movements, in the establishment and overthrow of kings, in the permitting or hindering (as his wisdom determines) of civil strife, etc. 4. The wisdom of obeying God. - W. Parallel Verses KJV: And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. |
    |