DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY MAY 2:
WORD OF WISDOM
Sometimes our arms are so full with the burdens we carry that it hinders our
view of the load those around us are staggering beneath.
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MEMORY SCRIPTURE FOR WEEK OF MAY 2/
Job 13:15/
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own
ways before him.
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DAILY DEVOTION
We Can't Stay on the Mountain
"But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they
were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it
came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it
is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee,
and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said."
Luke 9:32-33
One of the most majestic sights in the United States is the great peaks of
the Rocky Mountains. If you travel across the west, the tall mountains rise
up and up. Many of them are covered with snow all year long because of their
elevation. Yet as beautiful as they are, it is because of that elevation and
the resulting cold air and lack of soil or moisture that almost nothing
grows on the tops of the mountains. There is what is called a "tree line"
and once you get above that point, there is little plant or animal life. The
mountains are lovely to look at and experience, but they are not a place to
stay.
Peter was amazed by what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration and wanted
to just stay there. He was all for building structures and leaving the rest
of the world behind. But God does not call us to withdraw from the world and
isolate ourselves into tiny spiritual communities. He calls us to go meet
with people where they are and reach out to them with the gospel. Peter's
desire is understandable, but as the text from Luke tells us, it was based
on a lack of understanding of God's plan. There are times to rest and
recharge our spiritual batteries. There are times to spend seasons alone
with God. But most of our lives are to be lived among the people around us,
loving and ministering to them as Jesus did.
Although mountaintop experiences are a blessing, most of the work of the
Christian life is done in the valleys.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
2 Chronicles 10-12Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Rehoboam Acts Foolishly
10 Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had run away from
Solomon. When he heard about Solomon's death, he returned to his city,
Zeredah, in the hills of Ephraim.
Rehoboam and all the Israelites went to Shechem to make Rehoboam the king.
The people said to Rehoboam, 4 "Your father forced us to work very hard.
Now, make it easier for us. Stop the heavy work that your father forced us
to do and we will serve you."
5 Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days, and I will answer you."
So the people left.
6 There were some older men who had helped Solomon make decisions when he
was alive. So King Rehoboam asked these men what he should do. He said, "How
do you think I should answer the people?"
7 They answered, "If you do what is good for the people, you will please
them. If you speak kindly to them, they will always work for you."
8 But Rehoboam did not listen to the advice from the older men. He asked the
young men who were his friends. 9 Rehoboam said, "The people said, 'Give us
easier work than your father gave us.' How do you think I should answer
them? What should I tell them?"
10 Then the young men who grew up with him answered, "Those people came to
you and said, 'Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work
easier.' So you should tell them, 'My little finger is stronger than my
father's whole body. 11 My father forced you to work hard, but I will make
you work much harder! My father punished you with whips, but I will punish
you with whips that have sharp metal tips.'"
12 Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam, just
as he had told them to do. 13 King Rehoboam did not listen to the advice
from the older men, and he was rude to the people. 14 He did what his
friends told him to do and said, "My father forced you to work hard, but I
will make you work much harder! My father punished you with whips, but I
will punish you with whips that have sharp metal tips." 15 So the king did
not do what the people wanted. The Lord caused this to happen. He did this
in order to keep the promise he made to Jeroboam son of Nebat when he sent
Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, to speak to him.
16 The Israelites saw that the new king refused to listen to them, so they
said to him,
"We are not part of David's family are we?
We don't get any of Jesse's land, do we?
So, people of Israel, let's go home
and let David's son rule his own people!"
So the Israelites went home. 17 But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites
who lived in the cities of Judah.
18 A man named Adoniram was one of the men who directed the workers. King
Rehoboam sent Adoniram to talk to the people, but the Israelites threw
stones at him until he died. King Rehoboam ran to his chariot and escaped to
Jerusalem. 19 So Israel rebelled against the family of David, and that is
how things are even today.
11 Rehoboam went back to Jerusalem and gathered together an army of 180,000
men from the families of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Rehoboam wanted to
go fight against the Israelites and take back his kingdom. 2 But the Lord
spoke to a man of God named Shemaiah. He said, 3 "Talk to Rehoboam, the son
of Solomon, king of Judah, and to men of Judah and Benjamin. 4 Say to them,
'The Lord says that you must not go to war against your brothers. Everyone,
go home! I made all this happen.'" So all the men in Rehoboam's army obeyed
the Lord and went home. They did not attack Jeroboam.
Rehoboam Strengthens Judah
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judah to defend
against attacks. 6 He repaired the cities of Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth
Zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10
Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These cities in Judah and Benjamin were made
strong. 11 When Rehoboam made these cities strong, he put commanders in
them. He also put supplies of food, oil, and wine in them. 12 Also, he put
shields and spears in every city and made the cities very strong. He kept
the peoples and cities of Judah and Benjamin under his control.
13 The priests and the Levites from all over Israel agreed with Rehoboam and
joined him. 14 The Levites left their grasslands and their own fields and
came to Judah and Jerusalem. The Levites did this because Jeroboam and his
sons refused to let them serve as priests to the Lord.
15 Jeroboam chose his own priests to serve in the high places, where he set
up the goat and calf idols he had made. 16 When the Levites left Israel, the
people in all the tribes of Israel who were faithful to the Lord, the God of
Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their
fathers. 17 These people made the kingdom of Judah strong, and they
supported Solomon's son Rehoboam for three years. They did this because
during that time they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.
Rehoboam's Family
18 Rehoboam married Mahalath. Her father was Jerimoth. Her mother was
Abihail. Jerimoth was David's son. Abihail was Eliab's daughter, and Eliab
was Jesse's son. 19 Mahalath gave Rehoboam these sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and
Zaham. 20 Then Rehoboam married Maacah. Maacah was Absalom's
granddaughter.[a] And Maacah gave Rehoboam these children: Abijah, Attai,
Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah more that he loved all his
other wives and slave women. Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 slave women. He
was the father of 28 sons and 60 daughters.
22 Rehoboam chose Abijah to be the leader among his own brothers. He did
this because he planned to make Abijah king. 23 Rehoboam acted wisely and
spread all his sons through all the areas of Judah and Benjamin to every
strong city. And Rehoboam gave plenty of supplies to his sons. He also
looked for wives for them.
Shishak King of Egypt Attacks Jerusalem
12 Rehoboam became a strong king and made his kingdom strong. Then Rehoboam
and the whole tribe of Judah[b] refused to obey the law of the Lord.
2 During the fifth year that Rehoboam was king, Shishak king of Egypt came
to attack Jerusalem. This happened because Rehoboam and the people of Judah
rebelled against the Lord. 3 Shishak had 1200 chariots, 60,000 horse riders,
and an army that no one could count. In Shishak's large army there were
Libyan soldiers, Sukkite soldiers, and Ethiopian soldiers. 4 Shishak
defeated the strong cities of Judah. Then Shishak brought his army to
Jerusalem.
5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah. The
leaders of Judah had gathered together in Jerusalem because they all were
afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, "This
is what the Lord says: 'Rehoboam, you and the people of Judah have left me
and refused to obey my law. So now I will leave you to face Shishak without
my help.'"
6 Then the leaders of Judah and King Rehoboam were sorry and humbled
themselves. They said, "The Lord is right."
7 The Lord saw that the king and the leaders of Judah had humbled
themselves. Then the message from the Lord came to Shemaiah. The Lord said,
"The king and the leaders humbled themselves. So I will not destroy them,
but I will save them soon. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on
Jerusalem. 8 But the people of Jerusalem will become Shishak's servants.
This will happen so that they may learn that serving me is different from
serving the kings of other nations."
9 Shishak took the treasures from the Lord's Temple and from the king's
palace. He also took the gold shields that Solomon had made. 10 King
Rehoboam made more shields to put in their places, but they were made from
bronze. He gave them to the guards on duty at the palace gates. 11 Every
time the king went to the Lord's Temple, the guards took out the shields and
went with him. After they were finished, they put the shields back on the
wall in the guardroom.
12 Rehoboam humbled himself, and the Lord stopped being angry with him. So
he did not completely destroy Rehoboam. There was some good in Judah.
13 King Rehoboam made himself a strong king in Jerusalem. He was 41 years
old when he became king of Judah. Rehoboam ruled 17 years in Jerusalem, the
city the Lord chose for his own. He chose this city from all the other
cities of Israel. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah. She was an Ammonite. 14
Rehoboam did evil because he didn't decide in his heart to obey the Lord.
15 All the things Rehoboam did when he was king, from the beginning to the
end of his rule, are written in the writings of Shemaiah the prophet and in
the writings of Iddo the seer. Those men wrote family histories. And there
were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the time both kings ruled. 16
Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Then
Rehoboam's son Abijah became the next king after him.
Footnotes:
a.2 Chronicles 11:20 granddaughter Literally, "daughter."
b.2 Chronicles 12:1 Judah Literally, "Israel."
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
