“But when Rehoboam was firmly established and strong, he abandoned the Law of the Lord, and all Israel followed him in this sin. Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign. He came with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horses, and a countless army of foot soldiers, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. Shishak conquered Judah’s fortified towns and then advanced to attack Jerusalem. The prophet Shemaiah then met with Rehoboam and Judah’s leaders, who had all fled to Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah told them, “This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak.” Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is right in doing this to us!” When the Lord saw their change of heart, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. But they will become his subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.” So King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace; he stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. King Rehoboam later replaced them with bronze shields as substitutes, and he entrusted them to the care of the commanders of the guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the Temple of the Lord, the guards would also take the shields and then return them to the guardroom. Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger was turned away, and he did not destroy him completely. There were still some good things in the land of Judah. King Rehoboam firmly established himself in Jerusalem and continued to rule. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from among all the tribes of Israel as the place to honor his name. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, a woman from Ammon. But he was an evil king, for he did not seek the Lord with all his heart. The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Shemaiah the Prophet and The Record of Iddo the Seer, which are part of the genealogical record. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. When Rehoboam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Abijah became the next king.”
2 Chronicles 12:1-16 NLT
We sometimes forget about God. One may argue that this is due to our finite and linear nature. We move from moment to moment, and so the past is easy to forget. However, God makes it clear that one of his attributes is his enduringness. He is everpresent. He is always. Therefore, we cannot say that he was ever missing to not be found. When we forget God, it was always us. We lost alignment with him because our hearts refused to find him at that moment. Interestingly, he hasn’t lost us. He forgives those who humble themselves, despite this slight against him. He doesn’t abandon them. This is no small task since our abandonment of him is as everpresent as he is, because he is infinite. Forgetting him must be willful. Nevertheless, despite his forgiveness, history records that Rehoboam was still wicked. He was wicked because he did not seek the Lord with all his heart. This could be summarized as the idea that he chose to forget. This is why the discipline was slavery. The context is key. God chose to flourish Israel as a nation within Egypt. It then enslaved them. They chose to forget about him and found themselves enslaved again. This is the consequence of forgetting about God. It is the lesson every king should learn for his people. More so, than wisdom as to how to govern. He must remember God in all things. This is the litmus test of a righteous king, governor,mayor, father, husband and son.
God’s Presence: God is everpresent and enduring, always available to those who seek Him.
Human Forgetfulness: Humans forget God due to their finite nature and tendency to focus on the present moment.
Consequence of Forgetfulness: Forgetting God leads to spiritual and temporal consequences, as seen in the example of Rehoboam and the Israelites’ enslavement.
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