When The Lord God Is On Your Side

Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam

13 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned in Jerusalem for three years; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah began the battle with an army of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men who were valiant warriors.

Civil War

⁴ Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Do you not know that the LordGod of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David 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 master, ⁷ and worthless men gathered to him, wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when he was young and timid and could not hold his own against them.

⁸ “So now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lordthrough the sons of David, being a great multitude and having with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of things that are not gods.¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priests, and the Levites attend to their work. ¹¹ Every morning and evening they burn to the Lord burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and the showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we perform our duty to the Lord our God, but you have abandoned Him. ¹² Now behold, God is with us at our head, and His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the war cry against you. Sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

¹³ But Jeroboam had set an ambush to come from behind, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When Judah turned around, behold, they were attacked both from front and rear; so they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ When the sons of Israel fled from Judah, God handed them over to them. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ The sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah conquered because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages.

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰ Jeroboam did not again recover strength in the days of Abijah; and the Lordstruck him and he died.

²¹ But Abijah became powerful, and he took fourteen wives for himself, and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in the treatise of Iddo the prophet.

Asa Succeeds Abijah in Judah

14 So Abijah lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place. The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days.

² And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God, ³ for he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the memorial stones, cut down the Asherim, ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to comply with 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 undisturbed under him. ⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the Lord had given him rest. ⁷ For he said to Judah, “Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours 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 Now Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah, carrying large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, carrying shields and wielding bows; all of them were valiant warriors.

⁹ Now Zerah the Ethiopian went out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up in battle formation in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.¹¹ Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; help us, Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You.” ¹² So the Lord routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that they could not recover, for they were shattered before the Lord and before His army. And they carried away a very large amount ofplunder. ¹⁴ They destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the Lordhad fallen on them; and they pillaged all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ They also fatally struck those who owned livestock, and they led away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.