1 Kings 14:27–28: “Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guards, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. And whenever the king went into the house of the LORD, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.”

July 17th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

God promised David that his descendants would sit on the throne forever. But Solomon’s disobedience caused the kingdom to be divided, plunging it from the heights of greatness to the depths of idol worship. Jeroboam was king of Israel (the 10 southern tribes), and he quickly led the people into idol worship. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, was king of Judah (the 2 northern tribes). For a short few years, Rehoboam followed the Lord. But he was stubborn and self-willed, and it wasn’t long before he too went after false idols and led the rest of the people of Judah with him. So God disciplined Rehoboam and the people’s idol worship by sending the pharaoh of Egypt to sack Jerusalem.

The Holy Spirit wants us to see the deterioration that was taking place in the kingdom because of their sin of idol worship. Solomon had crafted solid-gold shields for the guards to use, and they were kept in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, the royal armory. Pharaoh carted off the gold shields, and Rehoboam tried to save face by having bronze shields made to replace them. In striking contrast, the guards left the bronze shields in the guardhouse instead of the armory because they were not very valuable. Brass will take on a shine if you work hard enough at it. It looks like gold for a while, but it doesn’t take very long before it tarnishes. Sin has a way of doing that in our lives doesn’t it? Haven’t we made similar substitutes? Brass for gold? How much better (and easier) to simply say:

“LORD, I am wrong. Please forgive me and take control of my life again. I surrender to You this day. Amen”