27So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
Often times when we rebel we lose the things of greatest value to us. One of the sources of pride for the king of Judah were the 500 gold shields made by Solomon during the glorious days of blessing following David’s reign as king. But because of Rehoboam’s rebellion his son has died, and Egypt has come and defeated them, taking these shields as part of the spoils of war. What Rehoboam does next is what we so often do when our rebellion robs us of things that are really valuable. Rehoboam makes a cheap substitute and displays them as though they had value. Rehoboam makes bronze shields. I see this when affairs happen. The offending party loses their spouse and family, so they jump into another relationship and try to fill the void created by their folly. Of course the new relationship does not fill the void. It is just a cheapened substitute. Unless true repentance has taken place, God’s blessing in its fullness cannot happen. The bronze shields had the appearance of something of wealth, except when compared to the original gold shields. It is interesting to note that the new shields were only used when the king visited the Temple. Then they were put back in the guardroom. Anyone who had seen the previous shields knew the new ones were nothing to brag about, except the king. Are we bragging about a cheap substitute because we are unwilling to repent and face the truth?
The Arnold Journey 