What changed when Roboam and the princes humbled themselves before the Lord?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The Lord said he would not destroy them and would give them a little help. They still had to serve Sesac, and he carried off the temple and palace treasures; the relief did not remove every consequence.

Chapter breakdown

Roboam is delivered into Egypt’s king’s hands for his sins, and the temple’s treasures are taken.

When Roboam’s kingdom was strengthened and fortified, he forsook the Lord’s law, and all Israel with him. In his fifth year Sesac king of Egypt came against Jerusalem because they had sinned against the Lord. He brought 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen and people beyond number from Egypt: Libyans, Troglodites and Ethiopians. He took Juda’s strongest cities and came to Jerusalem.

Semeias the prophet came to Roboam and Juda’s princes, gathered in Jerusalem while fleeing Sesac. He gave the Lord’s message: they had left the Lord, and he had left them in Sesac’s hand. The princes of Israel and the king, in consternation, said, “The Lord is just.”

Seeing that they were humbled, the Lord spoke to Semeias: because they were humbled, he would not destroy them, would give them a little help, and his wrath would not fall on Jerusalem by Sesac’s hand. Yet they would serve Sesac so they could know the difference between serving the Lord and serving a kingdom of the earth.

Sesac departed Jerusalem carrying away the treasures of the Lord’s house and the king’s house. He took all, including Solomon’s golden shields. The king made brass shields instead and gave them to the captains of the shieldbearers who guarded the palace entrance. When the king entered the Lord’s house, the shieldbearers took the shields and brought them back to their armoury. Because they were humbled, the Lord’s wrath turned away and they were not utterly destroyed; good works were found even in Juda.

Roboam was strengthened in Jerusalem and reigned. He was forty-one when he began and reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all Israel’s tribes to establish his name there. His mother was Naama, an Ammonitess. He did evil and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. His first and last acts were diligently recorded in the books of Semeias the prophet and Addo the seer. Roboam and Jeroboam were at war all their days. Roboam slept with his fathers and was buried in David’s city; his son Abia reigned in his place.

The story inside

The chapter begins with Roboam forsaking the law after his kingdom is strengthened. Sesac’s invasion in the fifth year is expressly connected to their sin. His army takes the strongest cities and reaches Jerusalem, where Semeias addresses the king and princes fleeing him. Their acknowledgment of the Lord’s justice is followed by the Lord’s word that their humbling has changed the promised outcome: no destruction, but a little help and continued service to Sesac. The loss of treasures and replacement of gold shields with brass are then recorded. The closing notice keeps Roboam’s restored strength alongside the judgment that he did evil and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord, before recording his reign, wars, death and succession.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The text gives a reason for this invasion: they had sinned against the Lord. Semeias makes the relationship plain by saying that their leaving the Lord has been answered by his leaving them in Sesac’s hand. This is a statement about these events, not a rule that every military defeat proves the same cause or that security always creates a particular motive.
2
The relief has an explicit limit. Their humbling leads to the promise not to destroy them, a little help and wrath not falling on Jerusalem through Sesac. The next word still requires service to him, with the stated purpose of learning the difference between the Lord’s service and an earthly kingdom’s service. The treasures and golden shields are nevertheless taken.
3
The record distinguishes spared destruction from the whole judgment on Roboam’s life. It names good works in Juda and his strengthened reign, yet says he did evil and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. His forty-one years at accession, seventeen-year reign, mother Naama, named records and continual war with Jeroboam remain part of that ending; one response to Semeias does not erase it.

Test your recall

Roboam and Israel forsake the Lord’s law → the account connects Sesac’s fifth-year invasion to their sin. They have left the Lord → Semeias says the Lord has left them in Sesac’s hand. The Lord sees their humbling → he promises a little help and no destruction, while requiring service to Sesac. Sesac takes Solomon’s golden shields → Roboam replaces them with brass shields for the shieldbearers. Roboam dies → he is buried in David’s city and Abia succeeds him.

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 45384–45387
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 12 Roboam for his sins is delivered up into the hands of the king of Egypt: who carrieth away all the treasures of the temple.
Lines 45389–45399
12:1. And when the kingdom of Roboam was strengthened and fortified, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. 12:2. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem (because they had sinned against the Lord) 12:3. With twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt, to wit, Libyans, and Troglodites, and Ethiopians. 12:4. And he took the strongest cities in Juda, and came to Jerusalem.
Lines 45401–45407
12:5. And Semeias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of Juda, that were gathered together in Jerusalem, fleeing from Sesac, and he said to them: Thus saith the Lord: You have left me, and I have left you in the hand of Sesac. 12:6. And the princes of Israel, and the king, being in a consternation, said: The Lord is just.
Lines 45409–45415
12:7. And when the Lord saw that they were humbled, the word of the Lord came to Semeias, saying: Because they are humbled, I will not destroy them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not fall upon Jerusalem by the hand of Sesac. 12:8. But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference between my service, and the service of a kingdom of the earth.
Lines 45417–45431
12:9. So Sesac king of Egypt departed from Jerusalem, taking away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house, and he took all with him, and the golden shields that Solomon had made, 12:10. Instead of which the king made brazen ones, and delivered them to the captains of the shieldbearers, who guarded the entrance of the palace. 12:11. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the shieldbearers came and took them, and brought them back again to their armoury. 12:12. But yet because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord turned away from them, and they were not utterly destroyed: for even in Juda there were found good works.
Lines 45433–45446
12:13. King Roboam therefore was strengthened in Jerusalem, and reigned: he was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to establish his name there: and the name of his mother was Naama an Ammonitess. 12:14. But he did evil, and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. 12:15. Now the acts of Roboam first and last are written in the books of Semeias the prophet, and of Addo the seer, and diligently recorded: and there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their days. 12:16. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abia his son reigned in his stead.