The Results of Disobedience

I Kings 14.21-28

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

Things had begun to deteriorate. With the nation split the military was cut down too. This made Jerusalem a target for other nations. Jeroboam and Israel were being judged dramatically by God in the northern kingdom. 

Shishak was aligned with Jeroboam. He had fled to him in Egypt as a boy when Solomon ruled. Now that Solomon is dead he returns and  after a showdown with Rehoboam he becomes the king of the new northern kingdom. Shishak sees the weakness in Judah under Rehoboam. He goes right for the gold and gets it.

The morale of the nation is dropping, as its reputation around the world. People who once feared this super power now look at it as very vulnerable.

The temple service is disrupted. The accomplishment of Solomon in furnishing it is carried off to Egypt. I am sure God used Egypt at this point because He had warned Solomon about her and what would happen if he failed to be fully committed to the LORD as his father, David, had been.

Deuteronomy 17.16

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 

Solomon, now Rehoboam, his son, both sinned against the LORD. As we shared last week, Rehoboam rejected the wise counsel of the elders and went with the inexperienced and arrogant advice of his contemporaries.  Rehoboam was confident in himself. it was overconfidence. Moving without the support of the elders, those who knew the people best, he pushed the people into rebellion. The people of Judah continued with the worship of the false gods Solomon had introduced through his 700 marriages to women of foreign origin. only things grew worse. They did more evil under Rehoboam than under Solomon.  The hills around Jerusalem were filled with idol worship. Under every spreading tree idols were set up. They even brought male prostitutes into Jerusalem. The wickedness was beyond imagination. The city the LORD had chose for His Name to be honored had become a very wicked city.  As people came up to Jerusalem for the feasts they saw all this idolatry. They left the LORD choice but to judge them. God worked out His judgement, His purpose through the results of Rehoboam's sin.

Consequences of Disobedience:

1. Enemies Making Inroads and Gaining Victory.

There are so many promises associated with protection from our enemies if we obey the LORD.

Psalm 6:10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame. 

Psalm 18:3 I called to the LORD,  Who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. 

Psalm 7:6 Arise, LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice. 

Psalm 18:47-48 He is the God Who avenges me, Who subdues nations under me, Who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man You rescued me. 

Psalm 56:9 Then my enemies will turn backwhen I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. 

Psalm 118:7 The Lord is with me; He is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. 

If a person or a nation disobeys the LORD and does not take the warnings of the LORD to heart the protection of God is lifted. This is what happened on 

9-11

Psalm 44:9-10 But now You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go out with our armies. You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us. 

The enemies of Israel and Jerusalem were making inroads into the nation and city because of sin. The leaders had led the people in sin. This went back to the seeds planted by Solomon as he got old.

Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation,

                                     But sin is a reproach to any people. 

The nation is now living with the consequences of disobedience. It is a sad day.

This once powerful nation, a nation under God, a nation which became a super power and very wealthy, because its leaders did not  listen to the Word of God, because they trusted in the military strength and the accumulated weath,  because they sinned against the LORD, had to watch as the nation went down the tubes.

2.The Loss of National Treasures

The carrying away of the temple and palace treasures must have been such a sad time in Jerusalem. 

Notice they are going to the land of Egypt where God brought His people out of!

The land they once plundered is now plundering them.

The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. Exodus 12.35-36

Obeying the LORD they plundered the Egyptians.

Disobeying the LORD the Egyptians plundered them.

Their loss was not only out of the royal palace but out of the temple. God was saying by this, "If you are not going to be fully committed to Me, I will take away the items with which you worship Me." He doesn't share His glory with another.

Their gold shields were now replaced with bronze ones... A sign of economic decline.  A sign of the loss of the glory. Still they didn't realize it was the beginning of judgement. 

Every time King Rehobaom made his way up to the temple the people would be reminded of this atrocious act of the Egyptians. Each time he would march out in pride of his replacements, the nation would be humbled. It was humiliating to see the once proud gold shields replaced by bronze ones. God was speaking through this. The people did not understand. They did not see or hear. They lacked true spiritual discernment. 

Rehoboam looked at this as national pride. Pride becomes before a fall. Proud people embarrass themselves but they are unaware that they are doing so. What they think looks like a show of strength is really a sign of weakness, what they think is a display of pomp is really showing the nakedness and wretchedness of their souls. 

The spiritually desensitized person is unable to detect God's quiet voice. They don't hear the "speech" of the heavens in 

Psalm 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His  hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. 

1 Corinthians 2:14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 

This is why so often we ask ourselves, "How come they are not getting it?! Its so plain to see." We forget II Corinthians 4.4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

3. The Loss of Spiritual Treasures

Worse than the loss of wealth and its material treasures was the loss of the spiritual riches. 

God had desired to bless all nations on thee earth through them (and He did fulfill part of that with the early church which were Jewish)

Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. "

His Promise to Abraham was:

“I will make you into a great nationand I will bless you;I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 12.2-3

They had failed in spiritual matters now the spiritual responsibilities were being taken away. God allowed the Egyptians to come and loot the temple to show His displeasure with them. Soon he would send prophets, finally He would send His Son, Jesus, Whom they would crucify.

I think when people are disobedient and rebel against God they do not realize how grave the consequences would be.

Some of the things going on today as we "play" around with what a family is, are going to have tragic and grave consequences. There is an insanity brewing among churches in America and God will not be mocked. What we sow we will reap.

4. Fear of Attacks

 Now in Israel and Judah there was fear of attack. The safety and security they once took for granted was gone. There would be sneak attacks. There would be attacks where the city would be held inside the walls. There would be a final blow where they were removed from the land and taken to another country just like Solomon had warned them in his dedicatory prayer of the temple.

1 Kings 8:46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 

The LORD wants us to take the warnings about the results of disobedience and let them motivate us to obey Him. He wants us to think about our actions and words. He loves us and desires the best for us.

 

I wish we had time today to speak of the benefits of obedience. Peace, great peace, contentment, joy, God given us things, heaven....

Trust and Obey