Abandoning God

Sometimes we abandon God because we feel we’ve got it all together and we don’t need Him.

• 2 Chronicles 12:1 HCSB When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he abandoned the law of the LORD--he and all Israel with him.

Sometimes we abandon God by imitating bad examples or by following the crowd.

• 2 Chronicles 12:1 HCSB When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he abandoned the law of the LORD--he and all Israel with him.

But we will quickly discover our weakness and vulnerability.

• 2 Chronicles 12:2-5 HCSB Because they were unfaithful to the LORD, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen, and countless people who came with him from Egypt--Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Then Shemaiah the prophet went to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them: "This is what the LORD says: 'You have abandoned Me; therefore, I have abandoned you into the hand of Shishak.'"

Our sin affects not only our own lives but the lives of those within our sphere of influence as well. The greater our sphere of influence, the greater the consequences of our decisions.

• 2 Chronicles 12:1 HCSB When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he abandoned the law of the LORD--he and all Israel with him.
• 2 Chronicles 12:7-8 HCSB When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the LORD'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. However, they will become his servants so that they may recognize the difference between serving Me and serving the kingdoms of the land."

We may repent of our sin but the consequences of our foolishness will remain. They may be tempered by God’s grace, but we will not escape unscathed.

• 2 Chronicles 12:6-12 HCSB So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is righteous." When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the LORD'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. However, they will become his servants so that they may recognize the difference between serving Me and serving the kingdoms of the land." So King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem. He seized the treasuries of the LORD's temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took the gold shields that Solomon had made. King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them into the care of the captains of the royal escorts who guarded the entrance to the king's palace. Whenever the king entered the LORD's temple, the royal escorts would carry the shields and take them back to the royal escorts' armory. When Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD's anger turned away from him, and He did not destroy him completely. Besides that, conditions were good in Judah.