SOLOMON’S GOLDEN SHIELDS

“Shishak carried away the shields of God.” – 2 Chronicles 12:9

When I began studying this chapter, I quickly found that the last sentence in this verse has captured the minds of preachers and scholars for centuries (because of its dark undertone).

In his heyday, Solomon was paid over 25 tons of gold per year.  Silver didn’t have any value because gold was everywhere!

In 1 Kings 10:14-16 we are told what he did with this gold. He beat the gold into 200 full body length shields and 300 smaller ones! He had so much gold that he didn’t know what to do with it.

These shields were not for war…they were primarily for testimony for what God had done for Israel. When visiting dignitaries from other nations would come over he would bring out these shields to display God’s favor (ex. Queen of Sheba). Usually they were hanging in the House of Lebanon for decoration, but mainly they were a display to the outside world that “We worship the one true and living God and this is what God had done for us”.

Note* Almost always, when you see something physical like this in the Old Testament they will represent something spiritual in the New Testament! Question: So what is the spiritual parallel of these physical shields for you and I today? Answer: Jesus’s death provided for us golden shields for our souls!

Note* The more I study, the more I realize that it’s all about Jesus!

Fast forward now to Rehoboam’s day (Solomon’s son)…Solomon has long since been gone…the Bible tells us that Rehoboam has become intoxicated by prosperity and immoral living and has led all of Israel into idolatry and immorality. The Bible tells us that he actually redefined evil. (Side note* He married Absalom’s daughter!)

2 Chronicles chap 12 makes it very clear that as a result of Rehoboam’s tragic apostasy (immoral behavior) God forsook Israel into the hands of Egypt.

Then Rehoboam made shields of bronze to replace them (shiny and glittery but phony) – 2 Chronicles 12:10-11…do you know any Christians like this?

Attention: Shishak’s (Satan) on the loose!

Golden shields are lost through small invasions (ungodly magazines, TV shows, minute compromises of God’s Word). These things open the door for Satan to step in and fill the void….allowing ‘Shishak’ (Satan) to pluck those ‘golden shields’ off our hearts!

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Before Creation, God the Father and God the Son had a covenant (pact). They agreed to redeem fallen man from his sin and to reestablish him to a right relationship with God.

God the Father commissioned the Son to be the Mediator (the second Adam) between God and man, to give His life for the Salvation of the world. In accepting this, Jesus promised to obey the Father and to righteously (without sin) do the work that God the Father had set before Him, by perfectly obeying the Law of God.

So, before the Foundation of the World, God determined that the world would not be destroyed by sin (this is God’s grace), and that Christ would be the Savior of the world.

Matthew, Mark and Luke are the SYNOPTIC GOSPELS. They are called Synoptic because they are similar to each other, giving a SYNOPSIS of the earthly/bodily life of Jesus.

Years later a group of people called the Gnostics (SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE) came and distorted the life and teachings of Jesus and were persuading many Christians and Jews of their false teachings. To correct these misguided teachings, The Apostle John wrote a strong Theological teaching/letter on Jesus, who is God.

This letter is best known as The Gospel of John.

‘RECANTING’ our sins is just to agree that our sins are indeed sinful but ‘REPENTING’ our sins isn’t just agreeing that they’re bad but to actually ‘turn away from them’…to hate them…to despise them….to say to yourself “I don’t want them in my life”…