1 Kings 14:21-31
"21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.22 And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 24 and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 27 and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 28 And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.
29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place."
The scene now shifts from Israel to the southern kingdom, where Rehoboam, son of Solomon reigned for 17 years. They were years of declension, as the brief record shows, and they brought the chastisement of God upon the nation for their wicked ways. Shishak's invasion must have been a fearful blow to national pride, involving as it did the pillaging of the Temple and the royal palace. All the glory that had been amassed by Solomon was taken as booty. It is a grimly sad picture, and affords a parable whose message has been repeated again and again in the history of the sins of men and nations. For, as in Israel's earlier history, the glory had now departed from them because they had departed from God. The replacement of the gold shields by others made of brass is a startling indication of the spiritual 'devaluation' that took place during these fateful years. This is always what happens when men turn from God; the enemy of souls steals all that is precious and fine in individual and national character, and base metal does service in its place. Think of the lives of those who used to, but now no longer, give the things of God highest place; think of our nation which used to give moral leadership to the world, but now has descended to premium bonds, football pools and bingo. Has there not been a devaluation? Has not the gold been replaced by brass?