GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 11:22-23
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22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah to be the crown prince among his brothers, since he planned to make him king. 23 He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them.
The prophet keeps describing the ways Rehoboam was blessed by God even though he was sinning. We will give our attention to the blessings since we have already delved into the sins. By selecting his son Abijah to be his successor, Rehoboam avoided the problems David faced, since David did not face the idea of a successor until he was nearly on his deathbed. Abijah was given special authority ahead of all his brothers, and students of history who speak English would describe him as “crown prince,” which means the son of the king who was clearly in line to succeed his father.
Rehoboam also did well by sending out his other sons into the kingdom, each one with his own authority and tasks. These sons learned to govern and to get to know the people of their areas, in the cities, the towns, and out in the countryside. This way they were happy and had something to do (David’s sons seemed bound the get into trouble because they were bored) and they would also be useful to their brother when he became king by being both loyal and experienced.
Once again, the almost inevitable sin against the Sixth Commandment appears; Rehoboam considered it to be wise to select many wives for each of his twenty-eight sons. The Sixth Commandment should not be a tightrope, but man is capable of twisting the simplest blessing into the most ridiculous and bizarre sins. On the one hand, the church of David and Solomon’s time produced a doctrine rejecting the limits of the Sixth Commandment, imagining that if the pagan kings took many wives, that they could do the same thing. They misunderstood God’s message through Nathan the prophet, who delivered the message of God who was in a rage over David’s sin with Bathsheba when he said, “I gave the house of your master to you, and I gave the wives of your master into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel and the house of Judah. If this were too little, I would have added even more” (2 Samuel 12:8). Perhaps they thought this was God’s blessing on a king taking many wives, forgetting the Saul only had one wife (Ahinoam, 1 Samuel 14:50) and one concubine (perhaps after his wife died) named Rizpah, who was young enough when Saul died she was taken by Abner (2 Samuel 3:7). But whatever the people of that time thought, the will of God was and still is that a man should have one wife (1 Corinthians 7:2).
On the other hand, the church in Medieval times produced a doctrine rejecting marriage altogether for priests, monks and nuns, even though this violates God’s will for men and women, too. History shows in every generation that although a few men were able to renounce marriage without sinning, many more, and really almost all priests, monks and nuns could not. They became guilty of sinning against their own consciences by finding ways to have companionship and sexual release that were outside of marriage. For while pious men like Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis of Assisi wanted to devote more time to study, teaching, and other duties, the men who followed them fell into the trap of Sodomy and other terrible sins.
Our culture falls on both sides of the narrow middle path just as they did in ancient times. Some people renounce marriage but become adulterers and whores; many young people even talk about judging one another by their “body count,” that is to say, how many people that they have slept with. They think God doesn’t care, but God’s hand is lifted up against them, and his wrath will not be turned back. First, because they have rejected the law of the Lord and not kept his decrees (Amos 2:4), and second, because they have done unspeakable things against their children in many different and abhorrent ways (Amos 1:13). Other people renounce marriage and live without sexual intercourse at all, preferring lust, masturbation, pornography, sexually suggestive novels and films, and many other vices instead of the blessings of companionship, healthy and enjoyable marital sex, chastity, raising godly children, and the other great and wonderful joys of marriage. They live with terrible guilt and shame, and they wonder if they can ever be forgiven by God. It is a prison of the mind and a jail in which their bodies cannot escape, for every sinful act adds another lock, another door, another set of bars. It is no way to live. Our Lutheran Confessions address these sins in the context of the time in which they were written, focusing especially on the sins of monasticism and the vows of celibacy made by priests, monks, nuns, bishops and popes. Those vows to be celibate could never produce the celibacy that was claimed or sought, “Such a vow is not lawful for anybody whose weakness causes him to defile himself because he does not have the gift of continence.”
Lord God, protect your people against sexual sins and the sin of rejecting your gift of marriage. Few can do this in a godly way, although some may have to, on account of circumstances. But your will is for each and every woman to have her husband, and for each and every man to have his wife. Bless those who do! Help those who seek a godly spouse to find one! Bless the widows who mourn, and help them to find godly companionship once again if it pleases you and if it is possible. Lord God, bless your people. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 11:22-23 What David did not do