Week 21 2 Chronicles 10-12
The very first thing Rehoboam did was to alienate the northern tribes of Israel. I don’t think that was necessarily evil-doing – it seems more a stupid decision than a bad one.
But once Rehoboam was settled in power he decided for bad: he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel followed in this sin (a couple of examples are given in Kings: they built pagan shrines…set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles…and there were shrine prostitutes throughout the land).
When Egypt attacked Judah a prophet named Shemiah told Rehoboam that the cause of the conflict was that Rehoboam had forsaken the Lord – simple cause-and-effect. The news sobered up the king & court enough that they humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous in doing this to us”. The result? Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger was turned aside, and he did not destroy him completely.
Reading this I get the general impression had Rehoboam drifted away from the Lord – but then came back. But the story ends with this: Rehoboam was an evil king, for he did not seek the Lord with all his heart.
In 2021 I assessed Rehoboam as a Middler. But that final phrase – he was an evil king – makes me wonder. His mid-career repentance – in spite of being genuinely good in the moment – didn’t seem to be a permanent change or one that turned him from an evil king into a good one.
Note: quotes from 2 Chronicles 12:1 6-7 12 14 I Kings 14:22-24 (NLT)