Does God Hold Us Back?

1 Chronicles 12 tell us that Rehoboam along with the people of the southern kingdom of Judah were established and strong, but they forsook the law of the Lord. Yahweh then appointed the prophet Shemaiah to tell the people that since they left God, God left them alone to face the invading army of Shishak, an Egyptian Pharaoh.

Rehoboam and the nation’s leaders humbled themselves, and declared the “Lord is righteous.” Yahweh saw their humility, and spoke through the prophet saying, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (vv. 7-8, ESV).

God forgave the people of Rehoboam’s kingdom, but the people still experienced the effect of their sin of their unfaithfulness. Shishak spared the city of Jerusalem from destruction, and “he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made” (v. 9).

Here we have Yahweh unveiling things to Rehoboam and the people of Judah mysteries about this episode in their lives, particularly about the way God’s hand was working within world events to bring about divine judgment, correction, and instruction. Such things ordinary humans could never know apart from God revealing it to them. This was a unique situation in that people rarely ever have prophets speaking the Word of the Lord concerning world events and the way God uses them. Still, there is manifold application to God’s message to Rehoboam and Judah.

God absolved Rehoboam and the people of Judah for their sin; however, He still allowed them to experience the tyranny of pagan Egypt. Not only that but the experience also served as God’s vivid reminder to Rehoboam and the people of Judah of what it really is like to be chained to the masters of a very cold and cruel world. On the flip side, it is never really burdensome to be a servant of God. So the real problem is being enslaved to the masters of this sinful and fallen world.

There is beyond Rehoboam and Judah’s episode within the ultimate scheme of things the situation in which all people are born captives to sin and their captor offers no real love to them.

The true dark side of sin often appears as something tantalizingly delectable. Oh, the prohibition of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil can be twisted in such a way that we wind up thinking that God is keeping something valuable from us, but once the forbidden fruit is consumed, then comes the enslavement to sin and a lifetime of suffering.

Countless people seek after all the world has to offer, supposing in doing so they are free, but what really happens is enslavement to a master who offers nothing of substance. But Jesus Christ has come to set the captives free. His message and agenda is far from the one everybody wants to hear about or even bother with, but His appeal still stands: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS,” For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

~ WGN