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This is the New King James text of the passages. |
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I Kings 15:1-24; II Chronicles 13-16 Listen
Rehoboam out; Abijam (aka Abijah) in (I Kings 15:1-8; II Chronicles 13)
I Kings 15 |
II Chronicles 13 |
1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. 4 Nevertheless for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; 5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 ¶ So Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. |
1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. ¶ And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor. 4 ¶ Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: 5 Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord. 7 Then worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not withstand them. 8 And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. 9 Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods? 10 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the LORD are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. 11 And they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken Him. 12 Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” 13 ¶ But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. 17 Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. 18 Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD God of their fathers. 19 ¶ And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephrain with its villages. 20 So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the LORD struck him, and he died. 21 ¶ But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in the annals of the prophet Iddo. |
Rehoboam's boy takes over after his death, but reigns only 3 years - didn't serve the One True God according to I Kings 15:3. He is compared (in a bad way) to David in this verse. David is commended for having a "perfect heart" before God here. For more information on David's "perfect heart," click here. Abijah was pretty much preoccupied with getting Israel united with Judah once again for his 3 years as king of Judah. He even went to war with the Northern Kingdom in what can only be described as an enormously bloody battle. With supernatural help from God and despite an ambush maneuver by Jeroboam, 500,000 of the 800,000-man army of Israel (Northern Kingdom) under King Jeroboam were wiped out.
Abijah does precede the battle with a noteworthy speech, making some excellent points to Jeroboam in II Chronicles 13:4-12. He basically says to Jeroboam, "Your new gods ain't nuthin'!" Obviously, Abijah intends to leave a legacy of a united Israel. Abijah does, in fact, prevail in that battle, and Jeroboam never recovers afterward. But with all the excitement of his three years, when the smoke clears, there's still a Northern Kingdom separate from Judah (Southern Kingdom). Abijah's only significant legacy at the end of his short reign was 14 wives, 22 sons and 16 daughters. I wonder when he even had time to fight.
The "covenant of salt" found in II Chronicles 13:5 is only referenced one other time in the Old Testament - Numbers 18:19 (see notes), "All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you." It is apparently a reference to the preservation, the permanence of a covenant.
Incidentally, in verse 7 Abijah refers to "children of Belial." While the KJV frequently transliterates the Hebrew word, Belial, as a proper name, in fact it is a general Hebrew word meaning worthless or wicked. Seeing it capitalized, one might get the impression that it was the name of a pagan god, but not so. In the NKJV it is translated here at "worthless rogues."
So...Abijah's three-year mission as king of Judah was characterized as a Northern/Southern Kingdom of Israel unification period, but it failed. He died after tremendous bloodshed with nothing to show for his efforts. There's a great lesson to be learned here. Abijah missed the whole point...BIG TIME! The kingdom split because of Solomon's tolerance for paganism (I Kings 11, see notes). The split of Israel into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms was done by the hand of God. Therefore, restoring the Kingdom of Israel as it was during Solomon's reign could only have been accomplished by King Abijah serving the one true God of Israel. However, I Kings 15:3 says he did not have any interest in that; instead, "he walked in all the sins of his father." As I said, Abijah missed the point - the spiritual point. The forced reunification of Israel was not the remedy for a spiritual problem...yet Abijah was not in tune with God and did not see that.
A Summary of King #2 over Judah from 913 to 911 B.C.: Abijam (aka Abijah) |
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References | The Good | The Bad |
I Kings 15:1-8 |
Nothing specified | I Kings 15:3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. |
How about a good king for a change...enter Asa (I Kings 15:9-15; II Chronicles 14)
I Kings 15 |
II Chronicles 14 |
9 ¶ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah. 10 And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did his father David. 12 And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13 Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron. 14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa’s heart was loyal to the LORD all his days. 15 He also brought into the house of the LORD the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. |
1 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years. 2 ¶ Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God, 3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. 4 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. 5 He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him rest. 7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor. 9 ¶ Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!” 12 ¶ So the LORD struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the LORD and His army. And they carried away very much spoil. 14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them. 15 They also attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem. |
Abijah's boy, Asa, becomes king - a good king - not perfect, but a good king. It's about time. Asa rids the land of the male prostitutes and removes all the idols his father had made. He got rid of most of the high places (altars to pagan gods) - the ones in the cities of Judah anyway. According to I Kings 15:14, he didn't exactly get all of them though. They kind of crept back in during his reign. He fortified the cities of Judah and built up a 580,000-man army. Asa had a large army, but it was nothing compared to the Ethiopian army of 1 million that attacks Judah, headed up by Zerah the Ethiopian (aka Zerah the Cushite). Following is an entry extracted from "The Expositor's Bible Commentary" regarding this battle: "Cushites, known also as Nubians, served as Egyptian mercenaries and, by the close of the next century, had come to rule all Egypt, as the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty."
This battle was fought in Southern Israel. However, Asa prays for victory! God enables Judah to pursue them as they fled back toward Ethiopia and wipe out this massive army. What a miracle and a testimony to the power of God!
We again see a little bit of complication with elementary math when it comes to counting up the Tribes of Israel. Even though Judah was the lone tribe of the Southern Kingdom, it is obvious from this passage that a sizable fighting force (280,000) from the Tribe of Benjamin joined with them. You will recall that Simeon had no distinct territorial lines of its own; it was all contained within the borders of Judah. It must be that some of the Tribe of Benjamin aligned themselves with the Northern Kingdom, while others merged with Judah. Otherwise, one can only account for nine Northern Kingdom tribes instead of ten. Click here to see more on that issue from the notes on I Kings 12:16-24.
Asa's all Jehovah all the time (II Chronicles 15)
1 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
3 For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law;
4 but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.
5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands.
6 So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity.
7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
8 ¶ And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD.
9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
10 ¶ So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
11 And they offered to the LORD at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought.
12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
13 and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
14 Then they took an oath before the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns.
15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.
16 ¶ Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
17 But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.
18 ¶ He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.
19 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Then Asa gets really zealous towards God at this point after hearing from God through Azariah the son of Oded. He gets rid of more idols and high places to false gods. These little rascal gods seemed to multiply (with some help from the misguided people). He goes one step further this time in an attempt to suspend their seeming proliferation; he enters into an oath with the people of Judah to stop making those idols and stop worshipping those gods...and death this time to those who have a relapse. The oath was marked with one of those big smoky days at the really big altar - 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep sacrificed...in one day. He even makes the gutsy move of removing his own Mama from being Queen because of her idol worship. And then, here it is again, verse 17 says he did fall a tad short of complete success in his extermination of false worship.
What about freedom of religion? Not here! Notice verse 13, "and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman." Asa was obviously DEAD serious about the one true God. We see in verse 9 that Asa's influence against pagan worship extended into the Northern Kingdom (verses 8-9), but he fell short of ridding Judah AND Israel of their pagan worship when it says in verse 17, "But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days."
Asa has a tough time in his elder years (I Kings 15:16-24; II Chronicles 16)
I Kings 15 |
II Chronicles 16 |
16 ¶ Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 19 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.” 20 ¶ So Ben-hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah, and remained in Tirzah. 22 ¶ Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted. And they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. 23 ¶ The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24 So Asa rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. |
1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.” 4 ¶ So Ben-hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah. 7 ¶ And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. 11 ¶ Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. 13 ¶ So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him. |
In the 36th year of Asa's 41 years of reign, Baasha, King of Israel (Northern Kingdom), builds Ramah right outside Jerusalem for the purpose of interrupting Judah's trade routes. So, what does Asa do - kick them out like he did the 1,000,000 Ethiopians with God's help? No! He calls the King of Syria (Benhadad) for assistance - of all people, the King of Syria. Here's the good news and the bad news. That worked; Baasha did evacuate Ramah and give up the idea of attacking Jerusalem, but God sends a prophet, Hanani, to tell Asa that, because he didn't rely on God like before against the Ethiopians, it'll be war for the rest of his days. It's great to have a conduit to God like this bold prophet, right? Well, Asa goes on a tear and locks the prophet up while exercising cruelties toward some of his own people.
There's a not-so-obvious dynamic working here which may explain Asa's decision to involve the King of Syria. Asa's father, Abijam (aka Abijah) had wiped out the Northern Kingdom's army back in II Chronicles 13:17 (see above) - 500,000 men. So, basically, Israel was unable to defend itself from predators. It is likely that Baasha was no more than a vassal king of Syria's King Benhadad at this point in time, and the only way he was able to flex his muscles at all was with the assistance of the Syrians. Without assistance from the Syrians, Baasha had no warring abilities to speak of. It probably made sense to Asa to call in the markers with the King of Syria to abandon his relationship with the Northern Kingdom and support Judah instead - for a price of course. Once Syria switched its support from the North to the South, it was over.
Asa dies after reigning for 41 years - dies of a foot disease. Sounds like diabetes to me. II Chronicles 16:12 says, "And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians." With all the good Asa did before the Lord, his life ends with a lapse of spiritual insight accompanied by bad judgment.
A Summary of King #3 over Judah from 911 to 870 B.C.: Asa |
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References | The Good | The Bad |
I Kings 15:9-24; |
I Kings 15:11-13 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. I Kings 15:14b Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days. II Chronicles 14:3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: II Chronicles 15:8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD. II Chronicles 15:16 And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. In II Chronicles 15:12-19, Asa enters into an oath with the people of Judah to stop making those idols and stop worshipping those gods. |
I Kings 15:14 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days. II Chronicles 15:17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. (Apparently the high places were built back during his reign, but not under Asa's direction.) King Asa solicited the King of Syria's assistance in fighting against the Northern Kingdom, for which he was rebuked by God's prophet in II Chronicles 16:7-9. He put the prophet, Hanani, in prison and oppressed some of his people in the aftermath. |