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feet in both worlds

2 Chronicles 12:1-16

2 Chronicles 12:1 When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he abandoned the law of Yahveh — he and all Israel with him.
2 Chronicles 12:2 Because they were unfaithful to Yahveh, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem
2 Chronicles 12:3 with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen, and countless people who came with him from Egypt– Libyans, Sukkiim, and Cushites.
2 Chronicles 12:4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 12:5 Then the prophet Shemaiah went to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them: “This is what Yahveh says: ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I have abandoned you to Shishak.'”
2 Chronicles 12:6 So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “Yahveh is righteous.”
2 Chronicles 12:7 When Yahveh saw that they had humbled themselves, Yahveh’s message came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them but will grant them a little deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak.
2 Chronicles 12:8 However, they will become his servants so they may recognize the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands.”
2 Chronicles 12:9 So King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem. He seized the treasuries of Yahveh’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took the gold shields that Solomon had made.
2 Chronicles 12:10 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and committed them to the care of the captains of the guards who protected the entrance to the king’s palace.
2 Chronicles 12:11 Whenever the king entered Yahveh’s temple, the guards would carry the shields and take them back to the armory.
2 Chronicles 12:12 When Rehoboam humbled himself, Yahveh’s anger turned away from him, and he did not destroy him completely. Besides that, conditions were good in Judah.
2 Chronicles 12:13 King Rehoboam established his royal power in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city Yahveh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name. Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
2 Chronicles 12:14 Rehoboam did what was evil because he did not determine in his heart to seek Yahveh.
2 Chronicles 12:15 Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of the Prophet Shemaiah and of the Seer Iddo concerning genealogies. There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns.
2 Chronicles 12:16 Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. His son Abijah became king in his place.

feet in both worlds

After abandoning the LORD, Rehoboam was humbled by a foreign invasion, but not completely destroyed. The LORD wanted him to know the difference between serving him and serving other gods. The difference was that Rehoboam and his people enjoyed a measure of peace and a measure of war. They had their feet in both worlds, and considered it normal.

LORD, may we never settle for our feet in both worlds. We seek your kingdom and your righteousness alone.