Enter Egypt
- About five years into his reign, Rehoboam turns his back on God. So does the rest of Israel.
- This just so happens to occur at the same time that the King of Egypt decides to attack Israel.
- Coincidence? We think not.
- Because God is angry with Israel, Egypt is able to take control of the defensive cities that Rehoboam built up. The Egyptian army's closing in on Jerusalem and it's not looking good.
- Luckily, the prophet Shemaiah comes to Rehoboam and lets him know exactly why this all happened. It's because they didn't listen to God, natch.
- Rehoboam humbles himself and God changes his mind. A little.
- He doesn't let the Kingdom of Judah be utterly crushed, but he does let Egypt take control of the area. You know, just to prove a point. Who would they rather serve—God or a foreign king?
- The King of Egypt takes all of Judah's gold and treasures (the ones Solomon loved so much) for himself.
- Because Rehoboam repents, he reigns over the Southern Kingdom for 17 years (and constantly fights with the Northern Kingdom the whole time).
- Finally, he dies. Probably from all the stress. The Chronicler isn't too broken up about it because Rehoboam wasn't consistently faithful in his relationship to God.