ABIJAH—GOOD OR BAD?
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Opening Prayer
As I anticipate the unfolding of this day, thank you, Father, that I am your handiwork, created in Christ Jesus. Help me to do what you have prepared for me.1
Read 2 CHRONICLES 13:1—14:1
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 13
1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah,
2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3 Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.
4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me!
5 Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master.
7 Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.
8 “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.
9 But didn’t you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.
10 “As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them.
11 Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken him.
12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”
13 Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them.
14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets
15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.
17 Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men.
18 The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their ancestors.
19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages.
20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the LORD struck him down and he died.
21 But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
22 The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.
2 Chronicles 14
1 And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.
Reflect
‘My goal is … that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’2
Reading the account of Abijah’s reign in 1 Kings 15:1—8 alongside this section, it is hard to believe they are talking about the same person! The Kings account is entirely negative; this one seems entirely positive. The perspectives of the two writers are undoubtedly different, but it may not be as clear-cut as it first appears. If we read today’s passage more closely, it raises several questions and provides a number of clues as to how the chronicler is thinking, which may help us in understanding later sections. Did you notice that although the chronicler does tell readers that there was a military conflict between Israel and Judah, in which Judah was, through God’s help, the winner, he gives no assessment at all of Abijah himself? We learn of Abijah’s dedication to God only from his own words. It reminded me of a colleague’s somewhat cynical assessment of a well-known personage: ‘He is a really great and godly Christian leader. I know that because I read it in his autobiography!’
Abijah’s conclusion that Jeroboam’s sin would cause his defeat is confirmed, but there is no confirmation of Abijah’s spirituality. His son and grandson (Asa and Jehoshaphat) are later described as ‘righteous,’ but Abijah is not. That his growing in strength is described only in terms of multiple wives and children (v .21) seems deliberately ironic. Perhaps, so does the implication that Jeroboam died because of Abijah’s actions when both writer and readers would have known that Abijah died first, his reign lasting only three years as opposed to Jeroboam’s twenty-two.
The writers of Kings and Chronicles believed that trusting God would ultimately lead to success, whereas abandoning God would ultimately lead to failure.
Apply
Proclaiming allegiance to God does not prove we speak for him. When I use spiritual language to persuade others, am I presenting God’s perspective and not my own?
Closing prayer
Lord God, help me to be sure that what I say and do is motivated by my heart’s allegiance and dependence on you.
1 Ephesians 2:10 2 Col 2:2, 3.
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