King Rehoboam made bronze shields. (1 Kings 14:27)Shishak of Egypt invaded Judah and carried off the treasures of the palace and temple. This was most likely when the Ark of the Covenant was lost, yet the writer of 1 Kings doesn't even mention it – instead the account focuses on the loss of Solomon's gold shields. It would seem, then, that the shields are a very important part of this story.
We just read (1 Kings 10:16,17) about Solomon having the shields made from hammered gold. Once they were stolen by Egypt, the once wealthy nation of Judah couldn't afford the gold to replace them, so Rehoboam had copies made from bronze.
Every Sabbath, as Rehoboam made his way to the Temple, he would be surrounded with Secret Service agents equipped with those bronze shields. I imagine as the sun shone down on that bronze it must have dazzled the eyes of anyone looking, maybe even giving the appearance of real gold – but it was not.
After church the guards would put the shields away, locked in a cabinet where they would stay until the next Sabbath for their weekly parade to Temple.
You probably know where I'm going with this. It's easy to play dress up on the weekend. Some people head for church wearing their shiny best. They look the part, but there's no authentic relationship with God. Others fear what might happen if they were to be transparent.
Are you authentic gold? …or wannabe bronze?
Are you authentic gold? …or wannabe bronze?
I like the comments here and focus. Yet what struck me today as I read this passage was how the prophet in chapter 13 was misled by someone claiming to have a word from God. Yet when the prophet listened to the word of the old prophet he lost his life just as the old prophet said, because he had disobeyed what God himself had told him to do. How many times do we listen to what men (women) of God have to say instead of what God himself says? Seems that we too could be way off track if we do not examine what we are told against what God has said and we know to be true.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Leslie. So if I say something that goes against the Word, how are you going to know?
ReplyDeleteI need to be familiar enough with God's word to say I want to review what scripture has to say about that. To trust what I know of God, but to look for the answers where they do not change. Scripture! It is also a good idea to talk with the person who makes the statement to ensure that i hear what was meant not just what I htink i hear.
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