But Solomon’s successor failed to exert a strong influence for loyalty to Jehovah. He was naturally headstrong, confident, self-willed, and inclined to idol worship. Nevertheless, if he had placed his trust wholly in God, he would have developed firm faith and submission to the divine requirements. But as time passed, the king put his trust in the power of his position and in the strongholds he had fortified. Little by little he gave way to inherited weaknesses until he threw his influence entirely on the side of idol worship. “When Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, ... he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him.” 2 Chronicles 12:1. The people whom God had chosen to stand as a light to the surrounding nations were seeking to become like the nations about them. As with Solomon, so with Rehoboam—the influence of his wrong example led many astray. God did not allow the apostasy of Judah’s ruler to remain unpunished. “And it happened...