Prophet Shemaiah (Judah)

Shemaiah, "the man of God", spoke at the very moment the kingdom split. When Rehoboam gathered 180,000 warriors of Judah and Benjamin to force the northern tribes back, Shemaiah delivered God's word: "Do not go up or fight against your brothers, the people of Israel; go home, for this thing is from Me." Remarkably, the king and the army obeyed and went home (1 Kings 12:21–24). In Rehoboam's fifth year, Shishak king of Egypt invaded and captured the fortified cities of Judah. Shemaiah told the king and princes, "You have abandoned Me, so I have abandoned you to Shishak"; they humbled themselves, and God spared Jerusalem from destruction, though Shishak carried off the treasures of the Temple and the palace, including Solomon's gold shields (2 Chronicles 12:2–9).

Shishak's campaign is one of the earliest biblical events confirmed outside the Bible: Shoshenq I listed the towns he conquered in Canaan on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak, and a fragment of his victory stele was found at Megiddo.