Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I don’t need to remind you that this is an election year in America. Last year the world was amazed as we watched the death of Queen Elizabeth and installation of Charles as King in England. Come with me again back to ancient Israel and let’s see how they handled leadership transitions and what we can learn from it today.
In recent days in “Walking with Jesus” we’ve watched the united Kingdom of Israel, under the reigns of King David and then King Solomon, divide into two rival kingdoms. “Judah” was the name of the “southern kingdom” with its capital Jerusalem and “Israel” was the name of the “northern kingdom” with its capital Samaria. This division occurred at the death of King Solomon, when his son King Rehoboam assumed the throne of “Judah“; and his rival, King Jeroboam set up his throne over “Israel” in Samaria.
Yesterday and Thursday we looked at how God dealt with the spiritual rebellion of both kings. Both men and their nations received God’s painful discipline. After 17 years King Rehoboam died and his son, crown prince Abijah assumed the throne in Jerusalem. It’s important for us to understand that from the day King David assumed the throne of Israel, at the death of King Saul in about 1010bc, as anointed by the prophet Samuel to be God’s choice as king over His people Israel, until the final judgement of God when King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem 430 years later (586bc), the throne in Jerusalem was always occupied by a direct descendant of King David, with only one brief exception. Prince Abijah was the great-grandson of King David, grandson of King Solomon and son of King Rehoboam.
We have no record of the funeral for King Rehoboam nor the installation ceremony for crown prince Abijah to be king over Judah, only this brief summary: “In the 18th year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem 3 years… He committed all the sins his father Rehoboam had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been… For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:1-5)
Now isn’t that an interesting way to summarize the reign of a king? You’ll remember I told you that 1 & 2 Kings is the story of this season of history of the kings in Israel primarily from the perspective of the ‘northern kingdom’ Israel. Thus in 1 & 2 Kings, normally, little detail is given about the life and reign of a king of Judah, and usually the analysis is moral & spiritual in comparison to King David. You remember, of course, that Uriah the Hittite was a faithful soldier of King David and was husband to Bathsheba with whom David had an affair. Pause for a few seconds. What would be the summary statement you would make of the moral & spiritual reputation of the recent leaders of your nation?
One of the very interesting things about this section of the Bible is the opportunity to look at a person or an event from two very different perspectives: 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles. Remember I told you the other day, this is very similar to the 4 Gospel accounts which look at the life and ministry of Jesus from 4 different perspectives. 1 Kings 15:6 makes one very brief statement about the military activity during the 3 year reign of King Abijah of Judah: “There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam through Abijah’s reign.” Now that’s interesting isn’t it?
As in any divided nation in our day, like the Korea’s or the Sudan’s or the Ireland’s, both sides are watching carefully to see if the other side is planning any military activity. But in 2 Chronicles 13 we get the other side of the story which is quite remarkable! Perhaps you think this was only a little skirmish, oh no my friends. Here’s what it looked like from the kingdom of Judah point of view: “King Abijah went into battle with an army of 400,000 able fighting men and King Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with 800,000 able troops!” That’s more than 1 million men, all of them Israelites, lined up ready to fight each other!!
But this was more than simply a military battle. At the very root of everything involving the people of Israel is the issue of their IDENTITY and their PURPOSE as a nation! Remember friends, from the days of Abraham, this people Israel were a people created by God to reflect God’s holy majesty to the world. Their IDENTITY was simply this: Israel was a miracle nation, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s 12 sons, all chosen by God to be HIS people. And His desire was to be honored by their lives and to live among them as His Presence was at the Temple.
God’s PURPOSE was to show the world how wonderful it can be for a person, a family, a tribe and a nation to live in relationship with Almighty, Holy God, following His guidance and experiencing His protection and His blessing. But here they are, 1 million Israelites, lined up in battle formation, ready to actually kill each other! Oh my how far Israel had drifted from God’s design for them, His people.
This was not only a military showdown, this was a conflict of IDENTITY and SPIRITUALITY! 2 Chronicles 13 details the remarkable military and spiritual events of that famous day in Israel’s history. King Abijah evidently stood on a hilltop and shouted to King Jeroboam’s huge army: “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever… You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods… As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken Him… God is with us, He is our leader… People of Israel, do not fight against the LORD the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed!” (2 Chron. 13:4-12)
If you like military strategies and campaigns you’ll love reading the following verses which explain that while King Abijah was making that speech, King Jeroboam sent some of his huge army around behind Abijah’s army, ready to ambush them into a pincer, front & back attack.
Even though vastly outnumbered, the war record says: “The army of Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked both front and rear. They cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets… God routed Jeroboam and the army of Israel. The Israelites fled… Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy casualties. 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.“ (2 Chron. 13:13-18) Now that is a remarkable victory, for remember Jeroboam had 800,000 fighting men with him that day, and they fled in military defeat! What do you see in this my friends? And what do you suppose might happen in the current crisis in Israel if the leaders of modern Israel would do as King Abijah did?
One final statement in the war record: “Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the LORD struck down Jeroboam and he died.” (2 Chronicles 13:19,20) Do you see my friends that the story of Israel, all the way back to the days of Jacob, is that God is directly involved in all that happens in Israel! Do you see God involved Himself on this battlefield that day and rebellious Israel suffered great losses. But do you also see God Himself ended Jeroboam’s life, although we have no record of how. God’s patience with King Jeroboam ran out. 1 Kings 15:25 tells us Nadab, Jeroboam’s son succeeded him on the throne of Israel but only for 2 years.
As we reflect on the lives of these first kings of the divided kingdom of Israel, how they led their people and how God responded to their leadership, I wonder what lessons you and I should learn from this time in Israel’s history my friends? What do you think God might be planning even now as He watches the leadership of Israel today, as well as your nation and mine? Here’s a worship song to help us reflect on all this…
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 13.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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