Opportunities To Speak - Shemaiah

The prophet Shemaiah then met with Rehoboam and Judah’s leaders, who had all fled to Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah told them, “This is what the LORD says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak.”

2 Chronicles 12:5

Part of the training of a young circus elephant is teaching it to stay put. Trainers put its leg in a stock and chain it to a deeply rooted stake. At first, the young elephant strains against the chain, trying to gain freedom, but once it realizes that it can’t uproot the stake, it gives up.

From then on, the animal can be “chained” with nothing but a slender rope that it could easily snap with one movement. The elephant stays put because it believes that it can’t pull free.

The Bible includes many examples of God sending men to free his people from their sin and rebellion. One of those people was the prophet Shemaiah, who took a message of freedom to his people. All that was required was for them to turn back to God.

Shemaiah’s message for Rehoboam and the other leaders of Judah was hard to swallow. Shemaiah told Rehoboam that the people of Judah had abandoned God, so he was giving them over to their mortal enemy, King Shishak of Egypt.

It’s difficult to imagine that Shemaiah felt anything but heartache over having to deliver such a message. Judah was his country, too, after all. He loved his people and wanted God’s best for them.

But Shemaiah’s willingness to speak God’s message made a difference.

The leaders of Judah listened to what Shemaiah said, and they humbled themselves. Though their sin would still have consequences, God relented on his plan to destroy Judah (see 2 Chronicles 12:6-8).

Shemaiah knew the conditions for Judah’s freedom, and because he believed God and obediently spoke that message, his nation and its people avoided certain death.

When you have that kind of courage, you can make a difference in your world.

Listen to the inner promptings that tell you to share your faith. God may want to use you to free someone you care about from the power of sin and bring him into his eternal Kingdom.