2 Chronicles 12:14

2Ch 12:14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.

Ver. 14. Because he prepared not.] Some good resolutions he had, but they were flashy and fleeting: he drew them not into execution, but was soon off all again; his quicksilver was not fixed. See 2Ch 12:6.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch_12:14

He prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.

Rehoboam the unready

I. He did not begin life with seeking the Lord.

II. He showed no heart in seeking the Lord afterwards.

III. He was not fixed and persevering seeking the Lord.

IV. He had no care to seek the Lord thoroughly. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Rehoboam

I. Implied obligation. To seek the Lord is the obligation of all This is suggestive--

1. Of the loss sustained. How is God lost to man? He has lost--

(1) The true knowledge of His character.

(2) The conscious enjoyment of His favour.

(3) The blessedness of communion with Him.

2. Of its retrievableness. For this purpose--

(1) God has revealed Himself to man in His own nature.

(2) The redemptive work of Christ is made known.

(3) The Holy Spirit performs His beneficent functions.

3. Of the importance of its recovery.

II. Mental conviction. In Rehoboam we see mental conviction arising from knowledge of duty, promptings of conscience, consciousness of guilt. This is a mental state of frequent occurrence. It may be observed--

1. As the effect of truth. The Word of God is a discoverer of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Felix. There are many Felixes.

2. As intensified by circumstances.

3. As critical in its results. How much depends on moments of conviction! They are often the turning-points of destiny. It does not seem that Rehoboam ever paused in his downward career from this time forward.

III. Moral infirmity. There was want of decision in Rehoboam. He did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. This may be traced--

1. To sensual habits (2Ch_11:18-23; 1Ki_14:21-24).

2. To evil companionship.

3. To Satanic temptation.

IV. Accumulated guilt. He did evil because, etc. This sin was parent of a host. He sinned in this neglect of known duty, and in what resulted from it. So do all who pursue a like course. They sin--

1. In resisting their convictions.

2. In self-depravation. Beware lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

3. The depravation of others. Through his guilty conduct the people were corrupted. One sinner destroyeth much good. (S. A. Browning.)

A heart not fixed

The marginal reading is, He fixed not his heart upon the Lord. This was a favourite expression of Davids. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. Perhaps it was intended to draw a contrast between the character of Rehoboam and his far worthier ancestor. Religion is not a thing that can be taken up in a loose, careless manner. It claims the whole purpose and energy of the heart. In the Pilgrims Progress, Prudence wished to know from Christian how he was enabled to overcome his temptations and to persevere in the good and holy way. Christians reply was, When I think of what I saw at the Cross, that will do it; when I look upon my broidered coat, that will do it; when I look into the roll that I carry in my bosom, that will do it; and when my thoughts wax warm about whither I am going, that will do it. I cannot do better than follow in the line of the great dreamers allegory.

I. The first condition of a fixed heart is a sight of the Cross. The worlds religion ends with forgiveness; Gods religion begins with it. There is nothing that imparts such solidity to character, and such strength and dignity to life, as conscious peace with Heaven.

II. The next thing is to look upon your broidered coat--the righteousness that is unto all and upon all them that believe.

III. Bunyans pilgrim looked also oftentimes into the roll which he carried in his bosom. Habitual study of the Bible is indispensable to a healthy condition of the soul. McCheyne would not speak to any one in the morning till he had first of all heard the voice of God. It gives a tone to the whole day, when we begin the day with Him.

IV. when his thoughts waxed warm about whither he was going, that gave fixedness to Christians heart. You may be none the less shrewd as to the interests of time because you are wise as to the concerns of eternity; like a trusty pilot, who, though his eyes are on the stars, keeps his hand upon the helm. (J. T. Davidson, D.D.)

True and false seeking

I. There is what one may call natural seeking. Seeking is the language of human want. The cravings of life will always demand attention. All the industries of the world, with their ten thousand beneficent developments, are the products of human wisdom to supply human wants. Human life is but a seeking in so many ways, from the cradle to the grave.

II. Seeking the Lord. This is not born of nature, but of grace. Seeking the Lord implies a conscious sense of weakness and insufficiency.

III. Heart preparation. All true and successful seeking of the Lord comes of prepared hearts. The heart is always the part that makes our hearing, believing, praying, and doing right or wrong. As soon as the sun rises in the morning the birds are ready to go forth from their nests to sing. So it is with all the moral forces or faculties of the soul when the heart is prepared to seek the Lord. The heart is to the whole man what the main-spring is to the watch--it sets all the other powers in motion. But as the bowl, says one, runs as the bias inclines it, and as the ship moves as the rudder steers it, so man seeks as the heart prompts him. A prepared heart is a loving heart, believing true and clean. It enters into the secret place of the Most High as a loving child enters into his fathers home. Whence cometh this preparation? There must be some efficient cause to account for the differences we see among men. The difference between the common field and the garden to-day has been brought about by the application of human thought and manual skill. It is even so with respect to differences among men. As the garden did not enclose itself, or of itself become more fertile than the field, neither have men become different among their fellows or before God except by different resolutions of will and energy of character. Those who exercise no forethought or natural sagacity become as the man who built his house upon the sand.

IV. The evil of neglecting to prepare the heart. Men may do evil by failing to do well. Mere neglect is sufficient to ruin a man. A man need not be openly profane or wicked to be excluded from Gods presence; he has but to neglect the means of grace, or to prepare his heart to seek the Lord while He may be found, to call upon Him while He is near. (John Kerr Campbell, D.D.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 12:14. He prepared not his heart, &c. — Directed not, or settled not, &c. That is, although he humbled himself, and seemed penitent for a season, and professed the true religion and worship of God; yet he quickly relapsed into his former sins, because he was not sincere and serious in his actions, and his heart was not right with God. To seek the Lord — He did not serve the Lord, because he did not seek the Lord. He did not pray to the Lord, as Solomon did, for wisdom and grace. Or he did not consult the word of God, did not seek to that as his oracle. Hence, what little goodness he had, passed away like the morning cloud, and he did evil because he was not fully determined for that which was good. Those are easily drawn aside to evil by Satan, who are wavering and inconstant in that which is good, and are not persuaded to make religion their business.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(14) And he did evil.—Syriac adds “before the Lord.” The nature of his evil-doing is explained immediately: “for he directed not his heart to seek Jehovah.” This estimate of Rehoboam’s conduct seems to refer to the early years of his reign, which ended in the catastrophe of Shishak’s invasion. 1Ki_14:22, says, “And Judah did evil in the eyes of Jehovah “; and then goes on to tell of the acts of apostacy which brought that judgment upon the nation.

The phrase “direct or prepare the heart to seek the Lord,” recurs 2Ch_19:3; 2Ch_30:19; Ezr_7:10.

The book.—History.

Concerning genealogies.—For registration (lehithyahçsh). On the authorities here named, see the Introduction. The important particulars about the reign which are not given in Kings, e.g., the fortification of the southern cities, the migration of the priests, and Rehoboam’s private relations, were probably drawn by the chronicler from these sources.

First and last.—The former and the latter. (See on, 2Ch_17:3.)

And there were wars.—And the wars of Rehoboam and Jeroboam [continued] all the days, i.e., throughout the reign. So 1Ki_14:30, “Now there had been war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days.” Reuss is wrong in regarding this as “a contradiction” of 2Ch_11:4. What Shemaiah forbade was a particular attempt to recover the obedience of the northern kingdom by force of arms. The permanent attitude of the rival kings could hardly be other than hostile, especially as Jeroboam appears to have instigated the Egyptian invasion of Judah; and this hostility must often have broken out into active injuries.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. he prepared not his heart] R.V. he set not his heart. The phrase implies steady purpose.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now the acts of Rehoboam,.... Of these two verses; see Gill on Kg1 14:29. Kg1 14:30. Kg1 14:31.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 13

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He prepared not his heart ... - See the margin. Rehoboam’s sin was want of earnestness and consistency.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lord, with sincerity, being actuated only by a servile fear. He died impenitent. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Prepared not, or directed not, or settled not, &c, i.e. although he humbled himself, and seemed penitent for a season, and professed the true religion and worship of God; yet he quickly relapsed into his former sins, because he was not sincere nor serious in his actions, and his heart was not right with God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

These summarizing moral estimates of the character of the succeeding kings are, indeed, common to the compilers of both Chronicles and Kings, though absent, in the case of Rehoboam, from the parallel.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Did evil - Or, settled not, although he humbled himself, for a season, yet he quickly relapsed into sin, because his heart was not right with God.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.