1 Kings 14:22-25

The actions of those who govern matters. A nation can be held accountable for the sins of the past even if they try to rectify those sins. Although Jerusalem and Judah were spared total annihilation at this time because Rehoboam repented, Jerusalem was looted as a result of the sins that took place “on his watch”.

Love God above all and have faith in Him alone to get you safely home.

1 Kings 14:22-25

22 Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

Yahweh is provoked because Israel worshiped other gods. Reading “Rehoboam” implies that David and Solomon were both sinners. The high places were a  standard phrase describing the location of Canaanite religious sites. These sites were often associated with fertility. The Hebrew word used here denotes a sacred, consecrated person. The connection between these people and prostitution  can only be inferred. Two verses in Deuteronomy have led to the association of sacred persons with prostitutes. Deuteronomy prohibits any of the daughters or sons of Israel from becoming shrine (or cult) prostitutes. Faithlife Bible.

Although Rehoboam apparently began his reign well, his spiritual condition soon deteriorated. Despite the fact that Judah had several spiritually sensitive kings, apostasy ultimately took its toll in the southern kingdom, just as it also did in the northern kingdom.

The high places were a problem throughout the history of Judah and Israel. At times, the worship offered on them might have been done sincerely, in the true worship of God. But these were also the places in which Canaanite worship rites were practiced in honor of Baal and where other foreign gods were worshiped as well. Sacred pillars refers to standing pillars of stone or wood. God had prohibited Israel from setting these up. Wooden images is literally “Asherahs”, and refers to obscene wooden symbols that were associated with the sexual worship of the Canaanite deity of that name. Male prostitutes were part of the fertility rituals of ancient Canaan. Here the word is a term that means “devoted to sacred service.” Abominations is an exceedingly strong term; it describes perverted activities that impelled God to dispossess the Canaanite peoples from their land.

Although Jerusalem and Judah were spared total annihilation at this time because Rehoboam repented, Jerusalem was looted as a result of the sins that took place “on his watch”. Egyptian records confirm that Shishak’s invasion was widespread and highly successful. NKJ Bible.

2 Chronicles 12:1 Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel along with him.

Jeremiah 2:20 “For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down, playing the harlot.