“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped” (Ps 28:7).
“Rehoboam the son of Solomon,” we are told, “was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem” (1 Ki 14:21). We are also informed that his mother was “an Ammonitess.” Since Solomon only reigned 40 years, he obviously married this Gentile bride, Naamah, before he ascended the throne. The fact that she’s mentioned at the beginning and end of Rehoboam’s reign (v 31) may point to her influence on her son. After five years of rampant idolatry, the Lord removed His protection, and “Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem” (v 25). Here’s some irony. When the Lord delivered the Israelites, “they plundered the Egyptians” (Ex 12:36), taking that wealth to build the Lord’s sanctuary. And what did Shishak plunder? “The treasures of the house of the Lord” (1 Ki 14:26). The people seemed to have no appreciation for the lavish appointments of the Lord’s earthly dwelling. They had their idols, after all. So why not let the Egyptians have them? It’s true in every sphere: Use it or lose it. Then the divine author bluntly states: “he took away everything.” But one collection of items is expressly listed: “He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made” (v 26). There were 300 of them, each made of hammered gold. Just imagine them reflecting the king in his glory (as our shield of faith should do). But the people seemed not to care that our Lord “is a shield to all who trust in Him” (Ps 18:30). So “Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place” (1 Ki 14:27). Say, Christian, is your shield of faith a pale imitation of “the faith…once…delivered to the saints” (Jude v 3)? Let’s value every precious truth, and also those “from whom you have learned them” (2 Tim 3:14).