–Save This Page as a PDF–  
 

Abijah King of Judah
First Kings 15:1-8 and Second Chronicles 13:1 to 14:1

Abijah king of Judah DIG: What kind of leader was Abijah? Why are the King’s and Chronicle’s accounts so different? Why was Abijah so confident in that battle? How does Abijah mock Isra’el’s new non-gods? What would the covenant of salt mean to Abijah? Besides the battle, what did Jeroboam lose? What did Abijah gain? How was Abijah’s leadership rewarded?

REFLECT: Many Bible stories tell that ADONAI routed enemies when His people were outnumbered. What do these stories say about God’s strategy, opposed to human strategy? About risk taking? What worldly non-gods compete for people’s adoration today? Why do they have such appeal? What worldly things tend to compete for your attention? What can you do?

Knowing godly ways, and choosing to act godly, are two different things.

The background of the king: It was in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat that Abijam began his reign over Judah. He ruled three years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Ma’acah the daughter of Abishalom (First Kings 15:1-2; Second Chronicles 13:1-2a). The Hebrew text of Kings spells the name of this king Abijam (My father is Yam, referring to the Western Semitic god of the sea). Apparently, the writer of Kings had no problem with using that name because he viewed Abijah (Abijam) negatively. The Chronicler, however, focused on the positive side of the king’s reign and therefore called him Abijah (My father is YHVH), referring to the LORD of Isra’el. I will be using Abijah.

The significance of his reign: He committed all the sins his father had committed before him; he was not wholehearted with ADONAI his God, as David his forefather had been. Unfortunately, this was a case of “like father, like son.” Nevertheless, for David’s sake, ADONAI his God gave him a lamp burning in Jerusalem by establishing his son after him and making Jerusalem secure. For David had done what was right from ADONAI’s perspective; he had not turned away from anything he had ordered him to do, as long as he lived, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite (First Kings 15:3-5). Kings dismisses Abijah as evil and explain that he reigned only because of God’s promise to David. And the LORD will continue to David’s dynasty and protect Jerusalem because of David’s faithfulness. Certainly, David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, yet he never turned to idols as Solomon, Rehoboam, and now Abijah did. YHVH keeps His promises even when David’s descendants did not. The Chronicler, however, omitted this material in order to portray the positive side of Abijah’s reign. He greatly expanded First King 15:7b, “But there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam,” into a full-scale account of the battle between Abijah and Jeroboam. In this battle, Abijah received a tremendous victory because of his faithfulness to ADONAI.358

The battle between Abijah and Jeroboam: There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah joined the battle with an army of valiant soldiers, 400,000 select troops; while Jeroboam took the field against him with 800,000 select troops who were valiant, strong men. The story begins with a description of the number of men facing each other. These numbers are very large. The Hebrew word translated thousand may be a technical term referring to considerably less than 1,000. If this were the case, Abijah may have had 40,000 and Jeroboam 80,000. This does not mitigate against the historical fact that Jeroboam had twice as many soldiers as Abijah.359

Abijah’s speech based on David’s throne: This speech halts the battle narrative for nine verses and provides an indispensable theological analysis of the events about to take place. In the ancient world, it was not uncommon for a king, prophet, or priest to make a proclamation just before battle (Deuteronomy 20:1-4; Second Chronicles 20:5-17). Abijah, standing on Mount Zemaraim, in the hills of Ephraim, cried, “Jeroboam and all Isra’el! Listen to me! The location of Mount Zemariam is not certain, but seems to be in the vicinity of Bethel near the border with Benjamin. First, he reminded the northern tribes that God made a covenant of salt with David. Don’t you know that ADONAI, the God of Isra’el, gave rulership over Isra’el to David forever, to him and his descendants, by a covenant of salt (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19), which is unbreakable? Salt was connected with the sealing of treaties and covenants in many cultures of the biblical world. Moreover, salt was an important element in the ancient world for preservation, and its use here would underscore God’s commitment to preserve the house of David (Second Chronicles 13:4-5).360

Second, Abijah focused on Isra’el’s initial rebellion against Judah (see Dc – A House Divided). Yet Jeroboam, servant to Solomon the son of David, rose in rebellion against his master. Rehoboam was rightly Jeroboam’s master, one against whom rebellion should not take place lightly. If this statement were all that Abijah said, then we might think his words contradict the Chronicler’s view that the rebellion of the North was, in some measure, justified. Nevertheless, Abijah qualified his reference to Isra’el’s initial rebellion by commenting on Rehoboam’s superior position to Jeroboam at the time of the crisis. In addition, there rallied some worthless brutes around Rehoboam, and Jeroboam rebelled against Rehoboam son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young, inexperienced, and not strong enough to follow the wise advice of his fathers’ elders (First Kings 12:6-7).

Third, Abijah’s appeal turned to the very day on which he spoke. But now, draws a contrast between the initial succession of the North and current events. Although Jeroboam’s initial rebellion was understandable, the northern tribes were violating the will of ADONAI by continuing to resist Judah. But now you expect to withstand the kingdom of ADONAI in the hands of the descendants of David. The kingdom of David and his sons was an earthly expression of the divine heavenly reign. Therefore, to continue resisting David’s house was to resist YHVH Himself (Second Chronicles 13:6-8a).

Abijah’s speech based on Temple service: The second part of Abijah’s speech turned attention toward the Jerusalem Temple and the security it provided for Judah. First, Abijah acknowledged that Jeroboam had a vast army. Yes, there are a great number of you, and you have with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made as gods for you. He let them know that he was well aware that their hope for victory was in their army and idols.

Second, Abijah followed his acknowledgement with another accusation. As Jeroboam formed his counterfeit religion (see Di – Rehoboam King of Judah), he drove out the priests of ADONAI, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites from their rightful place and he made himself priests as do the peoples in other countries, so that anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of those non-gods. In effect, Abijah warned them that they had violated their relationship with God. They had spurned divinely ordained leaders of worship and served dead idols instead of the living God. Therefore, YHVH wouldn’t come to their aid in this battle.

Third, Abijah boldly contrasted Judah with Isra’el, in this regard. But we are different, he said. ADONAI is our God, and we have not abandoned Him. Abijah didn’t claim that Judah had no failures. The reign of his father proved that point well. However, we have priests performing the service for ADONAI, descendants of Aaron. With the Levites doing their work, they burn to ADONAI every morning and evening burnt offerings and sweet incense; they arrange the showbread on the pure table, and they prepare the gold menorah with its lamps to burn every evening. For we observe the order of ADONAI our God. But you have abandoned Him. As a result, Abijah boldly announced: So look here! God is with us, leading us and His priests with the battle trumpets to sound an alarm against you. People of Isra’el! Don’t fight against ADONAI, the God of your ancestors; because you will not succeed (Second Chronicles 13:8b-12)!

The attack: With Abijah’s speech completed, the Chronicler moved back to the main action of his battle narrative. Perhaps, while Abijah was delivering his speech, Jeroboam attacked. Jeroboam prepared to ambush them from behind, so that the main body of his troops were ahead of Judah, while the ambush was behind them. Thus, when Judah looked back, the battle had to be fought in front of them and behind them. Jeroboam seemed to have a great battle plan and the victory well within his reach (Second Chronicles 13:13).361

Abijah’s reaction and divine intervention: The turning point of this battle was Abijah’s reaction to God’s intervention. The Chronicler already supplied the framework in terms of how the story is to be interpreted. On the one hand, this divine intervention recalled the prayer of Solomon (see Bn – Solomon’s Prayer of Intercession), and Asa (2 Chron 14:11) and Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 20:6-12) after him. Abijah depended upon the hopes of Solomon and received God’s deliverance from his enemies through prayer. On the other hand, Abijah’s preceding speech explained that YHVH would be faithful to the covenant He had made with David and his descendants. Therefore, Judah cried out to ADONAI.

Then the priests sounded trumpets that were specially constructed for military signaling in battle (Numbers 10:1-9 and 31:1-6). Then the men of Judah gave forth a shout, and as they shouted, God responded to the cry and struck Jeroboam and all Isra’el before Abijah and Judah. The people of Isra’el fled before Judah, and God handed them over to them. Abijah and his army inflicted a great slaughter on them – 500,000 of Isra’el’s select soldiers fell dead (Second Chronicles 13:14-17). It was a decisive victory for Abijah. The king’s victory illustrated a vital principle for the Chronicler’s readers. If they hoped to have victory in the conflicts they faced, they must follow Abijah’s example. If they were loyal to the Davidic monarchy and relied on the LORD through prayers, in and toward the Temple, ADONAI would fight for them as well.

The aftermath of the battle: Thus, the people of Isra’el were subdued that time, and the people of Judah won the victory. And to make the point perfectly clear, the Chronicler added the comment . . . because they relied on ADONAI, the God of their ancestors. But the defeat in battle was only the beginning of Jeroboam’s losses. Abijah pursued Jeroboam, taking from him the towns of Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron with its villages. Jeroboam did not recover his strength during the time of Abijah. The Chronicler emphasized the final severity of God’s judgment against Jeroboam’s aggression by stating that ADONAI struck him, and he died (Second Chronicles 13:18-20). Jeroboam actually outlived Abijah (First Kings 15:6-10), but from the Chronicler’s point of view, nothing else significant ever happened in Jeroboam’s life. Moreover, he made it clear Jeroboam’s death was not from natural causes.362

The summary of his reign: Abijah had inherited his father’s continued friction with Jeroboam and the northern kingdom, only now it took the form of open warfare between the two Hebrew states. Fortunately for Judah, Abijah’s underlying faith rose to the surface during that time of crisis.363 But the contrast between Abijah and Jeroboam could hardly have been greater. Jeroboam lost territories and died by God’s hand but Abijah enjoyed God’s blessings. The Chronicler mentioned two great blessings. First, Abijah grew in strength. Instead of losing territories, he expanded and consolidated his kingdom. Second, he married fourteen wives and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. Other activities of Abijah and all his accomplishments and sayings are recorded in the commentary of the prophet ‘Iddo and the Annals of the Kings of Judah (First Kings 15:6-7; Second Chronicles 13:21-22). With these words, the Chronicler encouraged the post-exilic readers. He and his readers wanted to strengthen the nation and to receive more blessings from ADONAI. The Chronicler made their choices very clear. To be like Jeroboam meant loss and death, but to be like Abijah meant tremendous blessing.364

The death of the king: Abijah slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the City of David. The king was given the honor of being buried in the royal cemetery. Then Asa his son became king in his place, during his time the Land was quiet for ten years (First Kings 15:8; Second Chronicles 14:1). The backdrop of peace at this time frame began with the victory ADONAI gave Abijah over Jeroboam and the subsequent internal turmoil in the northern kingdom. Asa succeeded his father Abijah as ruler in the southern kingdom and enjoyed a season of peace and stability lasting around one decade of his forty-one year reign, while the northern kingdom continued to face internal and external turmoil.365

First Kings 15:3 gives the background of the king and says that Abijah committed all the sins his father Rehoboam had committed before him (see Di – Rehoboam King of Judah) and was not wholehearted with ADONAI his God, as David his forefather had been. Consequently, like his father, Abijah is not considered a godly king (see Dh – The Kings of Judah). But when push-came-to-shove, Abijah had great faith in the battle with Jeroboam. Hopelessly outnumbered and facing certain death, Abijah’s speech was a model of godly faith. That begs the question – who was the real Abijah? Was he the faithless king who committed all the sins his father Rehoboam had committed before him, or the man of faith who stared death in the face and declared: So look here! God is with us, leading us and His priests with the battle trumpets to sound an alarm against you. People of Isra’el! Don’t fight against ADONAI, the God of your ancestors; because you will not succeed (Second Chronicles 13:8b-12)? It seems that for the vast majority of his life, Abijah chose to rebel against YHVH, but had one shining moment of faith during the battle against his nemesis from the north, Jeroboam. But overall, looking at his entire life, Ha’Shem viewed him as unfaithful. What can we learn from this? We are faced with a choice every day of our lives. No matter how faithful we have been in the past, we need to choose to act in godly ways today. Knowing what God desires, and choosing to act on it, are two different things. Do we choose to follow Torah and be blessed, or rebel against God’s Word and suffer the consequences in our lives? Torah is our blueprint for living.

Abijah was up and down with his faithfulness to ADONAI. But we can’t base our salvation on a “sometime” king. We need a King that we can count on. And we have one in Yeshua Messiah who has a three-fold designation that describes Him as prophet, priest and king. First, He is the faithful witness and a prophet (1:5a). Standing before the Roman governor, Pilate said to Him, “You are a king, then!” Yeshua responded by saying: You are right in saying I am a King. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify, or bear witness, to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me (John 18:37). This is how He describes Himself to the church in Laodicea, saying: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness proclaiming God’s truth (3:14). The English word for witness here comes from the Greek word meaning martyr. He proved that He was a faithful witness in His earthly life, being obedient to ADONAI even to the point of death, and that would have had a particularly great significance to those first century believers who were also facing a martyr’s death. Jesus is the model of how to stand firm and never compromise the truth of God. So first, He is a prophet.

Secondly, He is a priest. He is called the firstborn from the dead (1:5b), literally the dead ones. The Greek word prototokos (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15 and 18; Hebrews 1:6), has a two-fold meaning. Here, the Greek word first has to do with first in time or first of its kind. The Bible tells us that Messiah was with God in the beginning (John 1:2), and Rabbi Sha’ul tells us He is the firstfruits of many other believers to come after Him (First Corinthians 15:23). But secondly, prototokos also has to do with eminence or first in importance, or a supreme authority over the dead (Rom 8:29; Col 1:15 and 18; Hebrews 1:6). The concept that Christ is the firstborn from the dead ones, always refers to the priesthood in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:15-17 and 23-25). The hope of the resurrection is always the background behind His priesthood. To those first century churches that lived under the threat of death, the fact that Jesus was able to save them completely would have been tremendously encouraging. We should be no less encouraged.

And thirdly, He is the ruler of the kings of the earth, His defeated enemies (1:5c). He is the ruler now and He will be the ruler when He returns (19:11-18). Christ is absolutely sovereign over the affairs of this world, to which He holds the title deed (5:5). He is the Prince of princes, He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (19:16), He is Lord, having the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9b). In fact, Christ’s ultimate authority is a theme that runs through the book of Revelation. It speaks of the sovereignty of ADONAI. When He returns He will be the only one ruling the whole world. Yeshua was even the ruler over Domitian. This reference to Jesus Christ gives way to the first of many doxologies in Revelation.

Therefore, the message of the revelation is about Jesus. He reminds us at the beginning of the book that everything He is going to say in the entire prophecy can be counted on because He is a prophet. Secondly, He is a priest, this is our hope and security. He is alive and risen from the dead. That means that you and I do not have to face the horror of the coming Great Tribulation because we have One who has lived forever and makes intercession for us. Thirdly, He is a King and He promises that we will share in His Kingdom.

To Him who loves us and has freed us, and bought us back from our sins by His blood (1:5d), and has made us to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5-6; First Peter 2:9, also see 5:10) to serve His God and Father – to Him be glory and power for ever and ever, literally, to the ages of the ages! Amen (1:6). When those first century believers were staring martyrdom in the face, I am sure they didn’t feel like they were a kingdom of priests, but John confronted them with their true spiritual reality. And there are many times that we don’t feel like we are a kingdom of priests. But we need to remember these words and see ourselves through our Father’s eyes. This is God’s love message to you.