BIBLE READING: 1Kings
13-15
“In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the
son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. He reigned three years in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of
Abishalom. 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.” (1
Kings 15:1-3)
The line of kings over Israel
began with Saul, but he disqualified himself, so the dynasty of Saul ended with
Saul – he was a one-king-dynasty. Then came David, who was perhaps Israel’s
greatest ancient king. Next was Solomon, the son of David and the one who built
the glorious temple. Yet after Solomon
came a disaster in the name of Rehoboam. He sunk the kingdom into carnality and
civil war, and because of the division soon there were two kingdoms from the
twelve tribes of Israel. The king described in 1 Kings 15:1-3 was the son of
Rehoboam and he sat on the throne of the southern kingdom, called Judah. That
is why we read “Abijam became king over Judah .” This son of Rehoboam
only reigned three years , showing that God did not bless his reign.
From the comparing this account with 2 Chronicles 13 we learn that Abijam knew
something of the Lord, and he knew how to preach – but he did not uproot the
idolatry and sexual immorality that was introduced by Rehoboam. The successor
of Abijam (Asa) removed the centers of the sexually-charged idolatry that were
so common in the land (1 Kings 15:12-13). “His heart was not loyal to the
Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David .” This was the real
problem with Abijam’s reign – his lack of a real life or relationship with God.
King David sinned during his reign, but his heart stayed “loyal to the Lord
his God .” The same could not be said of Abijam.
2 Chronicles 13 fills in more
interesting details about the reign of Abijam (called Abijah in 2 Chronicles).
It tells us how there was war between Jeroboam of Israel and Abijam of Judah,
and how Abijam challenged Jeroboam on the basis of righteousness and
faithfulness to God. Jeroboam responded with a surprise attack, and victory
seemed certain for Israel over Judah – but Abjiam cried out to the Lord, and
God won a victory for Judah that day. 2 Chronicles 13:18 says of that war, “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. ” God
blessed Abijam’s reign even when it seemed that he didn’t deserve it.
Yet Chronicles also tells us his
standing at the end of his brief reign: “But Abijah grew mighty, married
fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters ” (2
Chronicles 13:21). In the midst of his victory and good leadership for Judah,
he never had the relationship with the Lord he should have had. We could say
that Abijam is a classic example of something more and more common today: the
successful failure. He both succeeded and failed at the same time. You might
say that he climbed the ladder of success and got to the top – only to find
that that ladder leaned against the wrong building. Abijam thought that the
most important thing in life was being a good king; he missed what really
mattered most: his personal life with God. Don’t make the same mistake in your
own life
-David
Guzik