And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare or set his heart to seek the Lord, and his failure to seek God was the reason for his evil conduct. To seek the Lord means to fear, honor and follow Him, and preparing the heart to do so is essential, while failing to do so leads to doing evil.
He was not steadfast even though he sometimes served God and received prosperity in connection with that service. In the end he yielded to the evil influences that had surrounded him from childhood. His character was shaped in part by his Ammonite mother.
During the invasion and affliction from Shishak and Egypt he humbled himself and received partial deliverance followed by prosperity, yet his heart remained unprepared to seek God. When the affliction was removed he forgot its lesson and failed to make his humbling experience a decisive and lasting change. He returned to idolatry and again practiced the sins that had brought judgment on Judah. The evil taking root under his rule was never wholly uprooted, and Judah later fell into periods of unfaithfulness and disgrace.
Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare or set his heart to seek the Lord, and his failure to seek God was the reason for his evil conduct. To seek the Lord means to fear, honor and follow Him, and preparing the heart to do so is essential, while failing to do so leads to doing evil.
He was not steadfast even though he sometimes served God and received prosperity in connection with that service. In the end he yielded to the evil influences that had surrounded him from childhood. His character was shaped in part by his Ammonite mother.
During the invasion and affliction from Shishak and Egypt he humbled himself and received partial deliverance followed by prosperity, yet his heart remained unprepared to seek God. When the affliction was removed he forgot its lesson and failed to make his humbling experience a decisive and lasting change. He returned to idolatry and again practiced the sins that had brought judgment on Judah. The evil taking root under his rule was never wholly uprooted, and Judah later fell into periods of unfaithfulness and disgrace.