* The following is an imagined account of the conversation behind the scenes of 1 Kings 14:25–28. Take a minute to read the biblical account.
The servant trembled as his hand reached for the door. How would the king take this news? Would he lash out? He was notoriously harsh, and the news was especially bad. All had been lost. Was it really possible? All had been lost.
As he was summoned to enter the presence of King Rehoboam, the servant mumbled a quiet prayer from a dry mouth.
“What news of the losses?” Rehoboam asked, his only acknowledgment of the servant’s entrance.
“The losses are … total, your majesty. It is all gone.”
There was no need to gloss over it. Everyone had seen what Shishak and his troops had walked away with. Rehoboam adjusted in his seat but still didn’t make eye contact.
“All the gold?”
“Yes, my king.”
“All of it? Even the items from the temple?”
“Yes, my king. They took it all.”
“The house of the Lord is empty?”
“Yes, my king.”
“And the shields of gold from my father’s store?”
“They, too, are gone, my king.”
A heavy, deep silence fell over the room. No one dared raise their eyes to meet the king’s wrath. Everyone expected deep anger and despair. This loss represented God’s harshest judgment on Judah. It had been true what the prophets had predicted. All that Solomon had built lay in ruins. Generations of longing and hoping from the people of Jerusalem had been carried back to Egypt, back to the land of their slavery!
King Rehoboam rose from his throne and walked to an open window to look over what was left of Jerusalem. He didn’t rage, or wail, or weep. He just looked. Then, he turned to speak to the servant.
“Can we make new shields of bronze?”
The servant didn’t know if he was being addressed and so remained silent. The king asked again.
“Can we make new shields of bronze?
An advisor—recognizing the danger of the moment—stepped before the king.
“My king, we most certainly could, but they would be poor imitations, and I fear the people would know. Besides, your majesty, the items of worship in the temple must be gold. They are to be pure, like the prayers and sacrifices of the people. Bronze won’t suffice.”
The king waved off his objection with a swipe of the back of his hand.
“Make shields of bronze. As many as my father had. Give them to the officers of my guard. Make sure they carry them before me every time I go to the house of the Lord. Have them stored in the guardroom afterwards.”
“But my king,” the advisor spoke in useless objection. “The house of the Lord is empty. All the treasures are gone. The coming and going will be meaningless.”
“I have spoken!” King Rehoboam declared.
And the shields of bronze were made, and they were brought out every time Rehoboam went to the empty temple. Parades of bronze in the paths forged by purest gold.
In many ways, Rehoboam was set up for failure. His father’s rebellion had brought a curse upon his reign that he would never fully escape. And still, he rebelled against God even further on a number of occasions in his reign as king of Judah. His pride blinded him to wisdom. His insecurity prevented him from pure worship and obedience.
In the tragic telling of his reign, this story of the bronze shields stood out to me as perhaps the most tragic. I wrote in my journal as I was prepping the sermon.
Oh Lord, how much of our life is nothing more than the carrying of bronze shields?
I can be more like Rehoboam than I care (or dare) to admit. I, too, can yield to the temptation to care more about appearances of piety than actual devotion to the Lord. I, too, can try to pretty up my spiritual state so that the community around me thinks things are better than they actually are. The tragedy is that this directly opposes Jesus’ offer of a flourishing life. Jesus has so much mercy available for me and you… but only repentant and humble hearts can receive it. His mercy is not for those who try to cover up with bronze shields and fig leaves.
God already knows the true state of our hearts, and He is willing and able to meet us where we really are—with great mercy. What bronze shields do you hide behind?
Want to dive deeper? Check out our sermon series guide on Kings of Judah, or watch the most recent sermon from our Kings of Judah sermon series.
