The Theology of Bricks and Mortar
Introduction: Chastened Wisdom
We live in an age that is profoundly gnostic. By that I mean we have a deep-seated suspicion of the material world. We think that true religion happens somewhere "in here," in the heart, in the quiet places of the soul, and that the grimy business of politics, economics, and construction is, at best, a necessary evil and, at worst, a distraction from "spiritual" things. This is a lie from the pit, and it is a lie that has rendered the modern church largely impotent. The God of the Bible is not the god of the gnostics. He is the God who made heaven and earth, the God who became flesh and dwelt among us, and the God who cares about harvests, boundary stones, and, as we see in our text, fortified cities.
The man at the center of our text is Rehoboam, and we must remember the context. This is Rehoboam fresh off the most humiliating moment of his life. He is the son of Solomon, the heir to a vast and glorious kingdom, and he lost ten-twelfths of it through sheer, arrogant folly. He listened to his puffed-up young friends instead of the wise old counselors, and the result was a national schism, a catastrophic tearing of the covenant people. God had prophesied it, and Rehoboam's pride was the instrument God used to bring it about. God had forbidden him from trying to win it back by force, and so Rehoboam, chastened and cut down to size, is left with a rump state: the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
What does he do? Does he retreat into a monastery to contemplate his navel? Does he write a book of lamentations? No. He gets to work. He builds. He fortifies. He stocks. He arms. He engages in the hard, practical, earthy business of statecraft. And the Chronicler records this for us not as a sign of his lack of faith, but as the first evidence that God's discipline was perhaps bearing some fruit. This is a passage about the theology of bricks and mortar. It is about the vital intersection of God's absolute sovereignty and man's responsible, practical duty. Faith is not a pious wish; it is a hammer and a trowel. It is the wisdom to build walls after you have been a fool.
The Text
Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for fortifications in Judah. Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. And he put large shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
(2 Chronicles 11:5-12 LSB)
Sovereign Boundaries and Dutiful Walls (v. 5-10)
We begin with the immediate aftermath of the schism.
"Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for fortifications in Judah. Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin." (2 Chronicles 11:5-10)
The first thing to notice is where Rehoboam is. He "lived in Jerusalem." He has accepted the new reality. God, through the prophet Shemaiah, had told him, "You shall not go up or fight against your relatives...for this thing is from me" (2 Chron. 11:4). Rehoboam obeyed. He accepted the boundaries that God's sovereign judgment had drawn. This is the starting point of all true wisdom: submission to the revealed will of God, even when it is a bitter providence. He is no longer the king of the United Monarchy; he is the king of Judah. His jurisdiction has shrunk, and his first act of wisdom is to recognize it.
His second act of wisdom flows from the first. He builds. He fortifies. This is the duty of the civil magistrate. God ordains government to be a minister for our good, to punish evil and to protect the righteous (Romans 13). And how does a government protect the righteous from foreign invaders? It builds walls. It establishes defenses. This is not a carnal trust in military might over against God. It is the responsible use of the means God has appointed for the preservation of order and peace. To refuse to build, to refuse to arm, to refuse to prepare, would not be an act of faith. It would be an act of presumption, a lazy and pietistic dereliction of duty.
And look at the list. This is not a random collection of towns. These cities form a strategic defensive perimeter around the heartland of Judah. They guard the main approaches from the Philistine plain to the west and from Egypt to the south. This is not the work of a fool. This is intelligent, prudent, strategic planning. The same man who just a chapter ago was spouting moronic threats about scorpions is now engaged in careful geopolitical calculation. This is what godly discipline does. It sobers a man up. It forces him to trade his bluster for blueprints.
The Infrastructure of Prudence (v. 11)
But walls alone are not enough. A fortress is just a pile of stones without the infrastructure to sustain a defense.
"He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine." (2 Chronicles 11:11)
Here we see Rehoboam's wisdom deepening. He is thinking in terms of logistics and command structure. First, he puts "officers" in the fortresses. This is the principle of delegated authority and order. A godly society is not a chaotic mob; it is an ordered reality with clear lines of responsibility. God is not the author of confusion. Rehoboam establishes a chain of command, which is essential for any functioning institution, whether it is an army, a business, or a church.
Second, he stocks them with "stores of food, oil and wine." This is foresight. This is planning for the future. He knows that a siege is not a short-term inconvenience. It is a war of attrition. He is preparing for the long haul. This is the ant, not the grasshopper. This is the wise virgin, not the foolish one. True faith does not live hand-to-mouth in a state of manufactured crisis. True faith works hard, plans ahead, and stores up provisions, trusting that God will bless this prudent labor. Notice what he stores: food, oil, and wine. These are the staples of life, the symbols of God's covenant blessing upon the land. He is taking God's gifts and stewarding them wisely for the defense of God's people.
Means of Grace, Means of Defense (v. 12)
Finally, the preparations are completed with the instruments of war.
"And he put large shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin." (2 Chronicles 11:12)
Rehoboam places shields and spears in every city. He arms his people. The shield is for defense, the spear for offense. The magistrate, as Paul tells us, "does not bear the sword in vain" (Rom. 13:4). God has delegated the power of the sword, the power of lethal force, to the state for the protection of its people. Pacifism is a heresy that would leave the sheep to the wolves. A godly ruler has a duty to arm his people against credible threats. Rehoboam is acting as a king should act.
And notice the result, stated with beautiful simplicity: "So he held Judah and Benjamin." The word "so" is a conclusion. It connects the action to the outcome. Because he built, because he stocked, because he armed, he was able to hold and secure the kingdom God had left him. God's sovereignty did not negate Rehoboam's responsibility; it established it. God decreed the end, that Judah would be preserved for a time, and He decreed the means to that end, which was a chastened king acting with practical wisdom. God did not keep Judah safe in spite of Rehoboam's fortifications, but through them.
Conclusion: Our Unassailable Fortress
There is a profound lesson here for the church in our time. Like Rehoboam, we have seen a great tearing. We live in the ruins of what was once Christendom. And we are tempted either to foolishly try to fight battles God has forbidden, or to retreat into a pietistic stupor, pretending that the state of our culture has nothing to do with us. Rehoboam shows us a third way: the way of chastened, practical, constructive faithfulness.
We are to accept the boundaries of our current situation without despair, and then we are to get to work. We are to build. We build strong families, where the law of God is taught. We build strong churches, fortified with sound doctrine and disciplined practice. We build Christian schools and institutions that are stocked with the "food, oil, and wine" of a robust Christian worldview. We put "officers" in them, elders and deacons and headmasters who are qualified and faithful. We arm ourselves and our children with the "shields and spears" of Scripture, logic, and a comprehensive understanding of the truth, ready to defend the faith against all attacks.
But we must also learn the lesson that Rehoboam himself would soon be taught. In the very next chapter, because he and his people forsook the law of the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt comes up and walks right through these impressive fortifications. He plunders them all (2 Chron. 12:1-4). What does this teach us? It teaches us that our walls, our preparations, and our wisdom are necessary means, but they are not our ultimate hope. "Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain" (Psalm 127:1).
Our practical preparations are an expression of our faith, not a replacement for it. We build and fortify precisely because we trust the God who commands us to be wise stewards. But our ultimate trust is not in the walls we build, but in the God who is our rock and our fortress. Our security is not in the spears we sharpen, but in the Lord of Hosts. Rehoboam's fortifications were a temporary, earthly picture of a greater spiritual reality. We are citizens of the New Jerusalem, a city with walls great and high, a city that cannot be shaken, a city whose builder and maker is God. Our King has already secured the perimeter, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Therefore, let us be about our work. Let us build with wisdom, prepare with diligence, and stand our post with courage, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain, for our fortress is Christ Himself, and in Him, we are more than secure.