A Devotional Thought From 2 Chronicles And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD. With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 12:1-4 Two salient ideas are central to this piece of history. 1. When Rehoboam had established and strengthened his government, he and his people “forsook the law of the LORD.” They stopped obeying God’s rules. They chose to do things that were wrong. We don’t know if they justified their sins as modern people do, by saying something like; “That’s not my truth. My truth says there’s nothing wrong with what I am doing.” 2. The result of their turning from God’s truth was that one of the powerful nations of that period in history came against them in war. The scriptures note here in verse 2 Shishak, the enemy king, came “because” Rehoboam and his people “had transgressed against the LORD.” Rehoboam’s government capitulated. They lost cities, surrendered to be subjects of Shishak, and gave up their treasures and riches (12:4,9). God’s prophet made this declaration about the situation; “Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore I have left you in the hand of Shishak” (12:5). Here is a clear example of a nation that brought trouble on itself because it turned from God’s truth.