Rehoboam married Mahalath, whose father was Jerimoth son of David and whose mother was Abihail, the daughter of Eliab and granddaughter of Jesse.
In breeding. Ouch.
Rehoboam wisely assigned responsibilities to his sons and stationed them throughout Judah and Benjamin in the fortified cities. He provided generously for them and also secured many wives for them.
Nepotism.
As soon as Rehoboam had established his authority as king, he and all his people abandoned the Law of the Lord.
The problem of the law without the Spirit: once the fear of the stick dissipates…
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign their disloyalty to the Lord was punished. King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem with an army of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand cavalry, and more soldiers than could be counted, including Libyan, Sukkite, and Ethiopian troops.
You don’t assemble an army of this magnitude in a day; this was a campaign a long time in the making (1 Kings 11:40).
King Shishak came to Jerusalem and took the treasures from the Temple and from the palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that King Solomon had made. To replace them, Rehoboam made bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates. Every time the king went to the Temple, the guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.
In five short years, Rehoboam lost everything: the northern tribes of Israel and the treasures of Solomon. So to protect his image and appearances, he chose to live an illusion. Lord, may I always live in reality whatever the circumstances and however bad it looks. Please help me to live like that.