In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah reigned over Judah in the south from 913-911 B.C., 1 Kings 15:1-2 / 2 Chronicles 13:1-2. Some translations have his name as Abijam.
His mother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom, 1 Kings 15:2 / 2 Chronicles 13:2. He just like Rehoboam, continued to lead God’s people in idolatry, 1 Kings 15:3, and it’s clear that he simply wanted to please the people around him because his heart wasn’t devoted to God.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘He was an idolater, or did not support the worship of the true God. This appears to be the general meaning of the heart not being perfect with God.’
For David’s sake, 1 Kings 15:4 / 1 Kings 11:36 / 1 Samuel 13:14 / Acts 13:22, Abijah’s son, Asa was given the right to rule as king in Jerusalem by God. God did this in order that the seed promise of the Messiah would be fulfilled, Genesis 12:3.
David had done what was right in the eyes of God and hadn’t failed to keep any of God’s commands all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite, 1 Kings 15:5 / 2 Samuel 11-12. Once again we read about war, 1 Kings 15:6 / 1 Kings 15:8 / 2 Chronicles 13:2. This war was between the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, this is brother against brother.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was mentioned in 1 Kings 14:30, and it can mean no more than this: there was a continual spirit of hostility kept up between the two kingdoms, and no doubt frequent skirmishing between bordering parties but it never broke out into open war, for this was particularly forbidden, 1 Kings 12:24. Hostility did exist, and no doubt frequent skirmishes but open war and pitched battles there were none.’
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, 2 Chronicles 13:3. Abijah stands on Mount Zemaraim, and asks Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to him, 2 Chronicles 13:4.
The covenant of salt, 2 Chronicles 13:5 / Numbers 18:19, was a continuous covenant between God and Israel, Leviticus 2:13. As far as Abijah was concerned, he thought the northern tribes no longer honoured this covenant, because of the division of Israel.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The use of salt in connection with sacrifice, Leviticus 2:13, probably arose from its association with a meal and ’there is salt between us’ is said to be a phrase still employed to denote the bond which secures, for anyone who has partaken of an Arab’s hospitality, protection and in case of need, assistance.’
Abijah accused Jeroboam of rebellion and with the help of some scoundrels, Jeroboam took advantage of the young Rehoboam because he wasn’t strong enough to resist, 2 Chronicles 13:6-7. Jeroboam rebelled against his lord, 2 Chronicles 13:8, that is, the house of David because God had given him the right to reign over the northern ten tribes.
If anyone came with a bull and seven rams, he could be a priest, 2 Chronicles 13:9 / Exodus 29:1 / Leviticus 8:2. In other words, Jeroboam was selling the office of a priest. He basically accused them of rejecting the covenant and hiring priests who weren’t Levites. Although God had given the ten northern tribes to Jeroboam, Jeroboam took them into idol worship.
Abijah says that the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him and the priests who serve the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them, 2 Chronicles 13:10. Abijah goes on to speak of how the Levitical priests go about their daily duties.
Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to God, 2 Chronicles 13:11. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening, 2 Chronicles 13:11.
Abijah tells Jeroboam that they are observing the requirements of the LORD our God, but Jeroboam has forsaken him, 2 Chronicles 13:11. Abijah says that God is with us and He is their leader and His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against Jeroboam, 2 Chronicles 13:12. Abijah speaks against the northern tribes and tells them they will not succeed, 2 Chronicles 13:12, because they have moved too far away from God’s will.
Jeroboam sets up an ambush to go around behind them, 2 Chronicles 13:13, however, when the battle lines unexpectedly changed, knew that a surprise attack from an army twice as large as them left them in a very dangerous place. The only thing they could do was cry out to God, 2 Chronicles 13:14. They cried out to God and God struck the army of Israel and Judah won, simply because they relied on God, 2 Chronicles 13:18.
Since Jeroboam had taken the northern tribes further away from God and since he became king over the northern tribes, God fought for Abijah, 2 Chronicles 13:15-16. This resulted in the death of five-hundred-thousand Israelites, 2 Chronicles 13:17, and the defeat was so great that the north under the rule of Jeroboam was never able to regain military strength, 1 Kings 14:20 / 1 Kings 15:9.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It has been proposed to change the numbers, here and in 2 Chronicles 13:17, into 40,000, 80,000, and 50,000 respectively, partly because these smaller numbers are found in many early editions of the Vulgate, but mainly because the larger ones are thought to be incredible. The numbers accord well, however, with the census of the people taken in the reign of David 1 Chronicles 21:5, joined to the fact which the writer has related 2 Chronicles 11:13-17, of a considerable subsequent emigration from the northern kingdom into the southern one. The total adult male population at the time of the census was 1,570, 000. The total of the fighting men now is 1,200,000. This would allow for the aged and infirm 370, 000, or nearly a fourth of the whole. And in 2 Chronicles 13:17, our author may be understood to mean that this was the entire Israelite loss in the course of the war, which probably continued through the whole reign of Abijah.’
They cried out to God and God struck the army of Israel and Judah won, simply because they relied on God, 2 Chronicles 13:18. Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him three towns and their surrounding villages, 2 Chronicles 13:19. We are told that that Jeroboam didn’t regain power during the time of Abijah, 2 Chronicles 13:20. Notice God struck Jeroboam down and killed him, 2 Chronicles 13:20. In other words, God used the army of Judah to judge the northern tribes because they followed Jeroboam.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Jeroboam’s death was a judgment upon him for his sins. Chronologically speaking, his death is here out of place, for he outlived Abijah at least two years, compared to the marginal reference and 1 Kings 15:9, but the writer, not intending to recur to his history, is naturally led to carry it on to its termination.’
Abijah grew in strength, married fourteen wives, and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters, 2 Chronicles 13:21. 1 Kings 15:7, tells us that everything he did is written in the book of annals of the kings of Judah.
2 Chronicles 13:22, tells us that everything he did is recorded in the annotations of the prophet Iddo. Abijah dies and his son Asa now becomes king of Judah, 1 Kings 15:8 / 1 Chronicles 14:1, and we are told that there was peace for ten years, 1 Chronicles 14:1.
In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa reigned as king of Judah from 911-870 B.C. 1 Kings 15:9-10 / 2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14. Maakah was the grandmother of Asa, 1 Kings 15:2 / 2 Chronicles 13:2 / 2 Chronicles 15:16 / 2 Kings 15:10 / 2 Kings 15:13.
She was the favourite wife of Rehoboam, 2 Chronicles 11:21, and, as may be inferred from the statement in 1 Kings 15:9-10, she held the important post of queen-mother, a very distinctive office in the Jewish government. The name Abishalom, 1 Kings 15:10, is the same as the name Absalom, but as Absalom only had one daughter, Tamar, 2 Samuel 14:27, Maacah was probably his granddaughter. It’s important to note that the Jews called any female ancestor mother and any male ancestor father.
Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, 1 Kings 15:11 / 2 Chronicles 14:2, he was obedient to God because he rejected the idolatrous practices and everything related to those practices, 1 Kings 15:12 / 2 Chronicles 14:3 / 1 Kings 14:24. Maakah as may be inferred from the statement here, she held the important post of queen-mother, 1 Kings 15:13, a very distinctive office in the Jewish government.
He removed his mother from her political position, 1 Kings 15:11-15, because she had the audacity of making an image of the Canaanite goddess Asherah. Asa destroyed all these images as God commanded, 2 Chronicles 14:4-5 / Deuteronomy 16:21-22 / Deuteronomy 7:5 / Deuteronomy 12:3.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘2 Chronicles 14:3, would seem at first sight to imply that he entirely put down the worship. But idolatry, if at one time put down, crept back afterward; or while Asa endeavoured to sweep it wholly away, his subjects would not be controlled, but found a means of maintaining it in some places, not perhaps in the cities, 2 Chronicles 14:5, but in remote country districts, where the royal authority was weaker, and secrecy more practicable.’
He removed his grandmother from her political position because she had the audacity of making an image of the Canaanite goddess Asherah, Exodus 34:13, and placing it in the Kidron Valley near Jerusalem, 1 Kings 15:13. Although he didn’t remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to God all his life, 1 Kings 15:14.
It appears that the reforms that Asa made at the beginning of his reign weren’t effective in ridding Judah of all the places of worship where people went to pay homage to false gods, 2 Chronicles 15:17. When Asa initially reigned, it was a time of prosperity for Judah, and because it was a time of peace they could easily develop economically, 1 Kings 15:14 / 2 Chronicles 14:5-7.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The great blow struck by Abijah, 2 Chronicles 13:15-19, his alliance with Syria, 1 Kings 15:19, and the rapid succession of sovereigns in Israel during the earlier part of Asa’s reign, 1 Kings 15:25-33, would naturally prevent disturbance on the part of the northern kingdom. The tender age of Asa himself would be a bar to warlike enterprises on the part of Judah.’
The men of Judah served as heavy-armed troops, while the Benjamites were light-armed, 2 Chronicles 14:8. Their numbers accord well with those of 2 Chronicles 13:3. As the boundaries of Judah had been enlarged, 2 Chronicles 13:19, and as for ten years at least there had been no war, 2 Chronicles 14:1, the effective force had naturally increased.
Cook, in his commentary, says the following, the vast number in the army.
‘This is the largest collected army of which we read in Scripture but it does not exceed the known numbers of other Oriental armies of ancient times. Darius Codomannus brought into the field of Abela a force of 1,040,000 and Xerxes crossed the Hellespont with more than a million combatants.’
He brought into the temple the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated, 1 Kings 15:15. Asa’s dedications were probably those which he pledged following his victory over the Cushites in the eleventh year of his reign, 2 Chronicles 14:9 / 2 Chronicles 15:10 / 2 Chronicles 15:18. Sadly, because Judah felt politically insecure, he made an unwise coalition with Syria, 2 Chronicles 16:7-12.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Baasha became king of Israel in the third year of Asa, 1 Kings 15:33. The petty warfare which ordinarily prevailed on the borders of the two kingdoms continued ‘all the days’ of Asa and Baasha. During the first ten years of Asa’s reign he was little molested, 2 Chronicles 14:1 / 2 Chronicles 14:6.’
The United Kingdom of Israel has truly become the Divided Kingdoms of Israel. Here we read about the continued hostility between the two kingdoms, 1 Kings 15:16 / 2 Chronicles 15:16-16:6 / 2 Chronicles 14:2-3. The only person that could unite them again was God, but sadly that wasn’t going to happen until after their captivity.
Ramah, 1 Kings 15:17 / 2 Chronicles 16:1, wasn’t very far from Jerusalem and in the heart of Benjamin. This shows us just how aggressive Baasha was as he wanted to trap Asa and take the southern kingdom of Judah. When the Cushites had invaded Judah, Asa asked God for help and guidance, 2 Chronicles 14:9-15, but now, he asked for help from the king of Syria in Damascus, 2 Chronicles 16:2-3.
Ben-Hadad was the son of Hezion, 1 Kings 15:18 / 2 Chronicles 16:2, or Rezon, who was an enemy of Solomon, 1 Kings 11:23-25. In order to break the treaty between Baasha and Syria, Asa sacrificed the remainder of the riches of the temple in order to establish an alliance with Ben-Hadad of Syria, 1 Kings 15:18-19 / 2 Chronicles 16:2-3.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There was no reason why Asa should have emptied his treasures at this time to procure the aid of the Syrian king; as it does not appear that there was any danger which himself could not have turned aside. He probably wished to destroy the kingdom of Israel; and to effect this purpose, even robbed the house of the Lord.’
Ben Hadad accepted the payment and then broke his alliance with Baasha king of Israel, 1 Kings 15:20 / 2 Chronicles 16:4 / 2 Chronicles 13:17-20. Because the alliance with Israel was now broken, Baasha focused on defending his northern borders, 1 Kings 15:20, which actually brought about some relief from the aggression of the northern kingdom.
It’s at this point that Asa tears down Ramah and used the materials to construct other cities, 1 Kings 15:21-22 / 2 Chronicles 16:5-6. Asa’s big mistake in all of this, was he didn’t put his faith in God to help him, he put his faith in a foreign king.
We don’t know much about Hanani the seer, except what he says here to Asa, 2 Chronicles 16:7, and that he was also a prophet who spoke to Baasha the king of Israel, 1 Kings 16:1 /1 Kings 16:7, and to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 2 Chronicles 19:2.
The prophet Hanani condemned Asa for this lack of faith in God and severely rebuked him, 2 Chronicles 16:7-9, and Asa responded by placing the prophet in prison, 1 Kings 15:16-24 / 2 Chronicles 16:10 / Hebrews 11:32-40.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The rebuke of Hanani and his imprisonment by Asa, omitted by the writer of Kings, are among the most important of the additions to Asa’s history for which we are indebted to the author of Chronicles.’
Notice that Asa not only went against Hanani but also against others who were committed to God and could see the king was going wrong, 2 Chronicles 16:10.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘One thing that the Chronicler most certainly had in mind here was to show the colossal failure of the whole institution of the monarchy. Even a good king like Asa could not remain uncorrupted while wielding the scepter of unchallenged power. The constant pressure of the flattering sycophants that surround every ruler, and the constantly nourished and promoted conceit of any natural man have the power eventually to break down the strongest heart.’
Asa’s reign lasted longer than the reign of Nadab, who was the king of Israel, the northern kingdom, 2 Chronicles 16:11-17:1. All his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, 2 Chronicles 14:6-7, and other activities, 2 Chronicles 15:9-15 / 2 Chronicles 16:7-10, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah and Israel, 1 Kings 15:23 / 2 Chronicles 16:11.
In his old age, Asa had some kind of foot disease, 1 Kings 15:23 / 2 Chronicles 16:11, which actually began in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, 2 Chronicles 16:12-13. Whilst he had this foot disease, he once again didn’t ask God for help but asked the local doctors to help him, 2 Chronicles 16:12. Asa did nothing wrong in seeking to be healed by the physicians, Colossians 4:14 / Acts 28:9 / James 5:14-15 / 1 Timothy 5:23, however, when healing power was available from God, he should have sought God’s healing before consulting the physicians.
Asa dies and is buried with his ancestors, 1 Kings 15:24 / 2 Chronicles 16:13. Asa had in his later years turned from the zeal that he had for the Lord in his early days when he led a reformation in Judah. Nevertheless, the good of his reign was greater than his shortcomings.
When he died, great honour was given to him. The huge fire was the burning of many fragrant spices in honour of the king, Jeremiah 34:5 / 2 Chronicles 21:19. Jehoshaphat his son now succeeded him as king, 1 Kings 15:24 / 2 Chronicles 17:1.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘If it has been rightly supposed that Rehoboam was a young man of 21 or 22 at his accession, 1 Kings 12:8, Asa’s age at this time must have been less than 50. It may seem strange to speak of ‘old age’ in such a case but Solomon was regarded as ‘old’ at about 50, 1 Kings 11:4.’
In these verses, we have an account of Nadab’s reign and the history of the northern kingdom of Israel. Nadab reigned over Israel two years and it’s very clear that he continued in the sins his father, Jeroboam was involved in, 1 Kings 15:25-26.
Baasha from the tribe of Issachar plotted against him, and struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it, 1 Kings 15:27. Gibbethon is believed to be around sixteen miles southeast of Joppa, but at this point in time, it belonged to the Philistines. During the days of Joshua, Gibbethon was given to the Levites, Joshua 21:23.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is curious to find Issachar furnishing a king. Tola, its one very undistinguished Judge, Judges 10:1, on obtaining office had at once settled himself in the territory of Ephraim. The tribe was as little famous as any that could be named. The ‘ass crouching between two burthens’ was a true symbol of the patient, plodding cultivators of the plain of Esdraelon, Genesis 49:14-15. Baasha probably owed his rise neither to his tribe nor to his social position, but simply to his audacity, and his known valour and skill as a soldier, 1 Kings 16:2.’
Baasha killed Nadab, 1 Kings 15:28, and so, Nadab only reigned from 910-909 B.C., which is a relatively short period of time. Notice that Baasha ‘killed Jeroboam’s whole family’, 1 Kings 15:29-30. This was the fulfilment of the prophecy given by the Ahijah, 1 Kings 14:10 / 1 Kings 14:14. Nadab’s reign, and all he did, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel, 1 Kings 15:31, and once again the war continued between the two kingdoms, 1 Kings 15:32 / 1 Kings 15:16.
Baasha reigned from 909-886 B.C. and he reigned twenty-four years, 1 Kings 15:33. To begin with, things were looking promising for him as king but as time went on, he too, just like Jeroboam started listening to the people and gave in to their idolatrous behaviour and worship, 1 Kings 15:34. We will read more about Baasha in the next chapter.