Lives of Scripture

Shishak was a king of Egypt (widely identified by historians with Pharaoh Shoshenq I) who appears at two points in Israel's story. Early in Solomon's reign he gave asylum to Jeroboam son of Nebat after Jeroboam fled Solomon's anger, sheltering him in Egypt until Solomon's death (1 Kings 11:40). Years later, after the kingdom split and Rehoboam had reigned over Judah for five years, Shishak invaded with a massive force of chariots, cavalry, and troops drawn from Egypt, Libya, and Cush (2 Chronicles 12:2-3). Scripture is explicit about the cause: "because they had been unfaithful to the LORD" (2 Chronicles 12:2). Rehoboam and Judah's leaders humbled themselves when the prophet Shemaiah confronted them, and God relented from destroying them entirely, but still allowed Shishak to plunder the treasures of the temple and the royal palace, including the gold shields Solomon had made -- shields Rehoboam later replaced with bronze ones (1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Chronicles 12:6-12). Shishak's invasion, recorded in Scripture and corroborated by an Egyptian temple inscription at Karnak listing conquered cities, stands as a vivid historical example of the covenant principle running through Israel's kings: unfaithfulness to the LORD brings real, national consequence, even under a Solomon-built kingdom's own heir.