Jehovah is my Father
Contemporary Prophets: Iddo
Abijah’s reign was a brief one. He outlived his father Rehoboam by only three short years. His mother Maachah was a daughter or granddaughter of Absalom. (We should remember that family relations are not so scrupulously mentioned in Scripture as it is our custom now to do. Thus blood relations are often mentioned as “brother” and ancestors as “father” or “mother.”) Abijah (Abijam in Kings) was thus descended from David on both his father’s and his mother’s side. His mother however turned out to be an idolatress (1 Kings 15:1313And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. (1 Kings 15:13)).The form of her name Maachah, which means “oppressor:” is altered in Chronicles to Michaiah—“Who is like God?” She is said here, too, to be a daughter of Uriel, meaning “light” or “fire of God.” The reason for this will be understood by referring to the Author’s Introduction. There is also no account of Abijah’s wickedness in Chronicles. In Kings, on the other hand, there is nothing recorded of him but his sin. “He walked,” it says there, “in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 15:33And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. (1 Kings 15:3)).
A wonderful battle ensued, and it was preceded by a very wonderful speech from Abijah. He stood on the top of Mount Zemaraim, in Mount Ephraim, somewhere along the northern border of his kingdom. For terseness, accusation, warning, and appeal the address is unsurpassed by anything in any literature of any time (2 Chron. 13:4-124And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; 5Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? 6Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. 7And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. 8And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. 10But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: 11And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. 12And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper. (2 Chronicles 13:4‑12)). Its merit was recognized even in his own day, for the prophet Iddo did not neglect to record the eloquent king’s sayings. We shall not attempt to analyze it. Nor does it require any analysis for it is simple as it is weighty and powerful. Though true in all its statements, it lacks frankness. He said,
Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord (4-6).
The gathered hosts who listened to him knew well the truth of this. But, either intentionally or unconsciously, he ignored the root of all this strife—his grandfather’s sins. He also ignored the fact that God had forbidden his father Rehoboam to make war on the separated tribes, saying, “This thing [the schism] is from me.” He knew how to make his own position appear right and good, but he completely ignored the judgment of God on his own tribes and on the house of David because of its own sins; how unlike the humble and confessing spirit of his father David. His speech reflected wisdom, but a cold wisdom apart from the spirit of grace.
But he continued: “And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon.” Strong words these, spoken before an army of valiant men twice the size of his own! He was determined to make them realize that however strong they are, their origin in separation from his own tribes is not of God. This, of course, would also greatly strengthen his own adherents, and he was doubtless speaking for their ears as well as for those of his enemies. Ignoring the judgment of God on the nation, he made the plea that his father Rehoboam “was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David.” He seemed to say, You might deter my fainthearted father from punishing you and reducing you to submission, but you have a different man to deal with now.
Then follows that which, together with Jehovah’s love for the house of David, secured Abijah’s victory and Jeroboam’s awful defeat:
And ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? So that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. But as for us, [Jehovah] is our God, and we have not forsaken him. [However true this might be outwardly, we have seen already the Spirit’s testimony as to the inward or real condition in Judah as declared in 1 Kings 14:22-2522And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. 23For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. 24And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. 25And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: (1 Kings 14:22‑25).] And the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: And they burn unto [Jehovah] every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also they set in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of [Jehovah] our God; but ye have forsaken him. And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests, with sounding trumpets to cry a alarm against you. [Then he closed with a brief but eloquent appeal:] Children of Israel, fight ye not against [Jehovah] the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper! (2 Chron. 13:8-128And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. 10But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: 11And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. 12And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper. (2 Chronicles 13:8‑12))
On the one hand, all this is inspiring; on the other, had it been true in their heart-relations with Jehovah as it was true in the outward sense, they would not have been found facing their brethren for battle and about to be engaged in dreadful carnage. But while God could not have put His seal on the state of Abijah’s soul and the tribes with him, He must vindicate the righteousness of all that is said against Jeroboam and his followers. So though “orthodoxy” be away from God in heart, yet its battle against antichrists must for the time being be acknowledged and helped. The house of David is loved, and must be sustained—Christ is dear to God, and all who fight for Him must be upheld, though God may have something against them too. So Abijah won a great victory, and Israel suffered a most humiliating defeat. More than half their army is slain, and it was more than sixteen years before they again attempted to make war on the house of David. “Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD the God of their fathers” (18). God acknowledges whatever good He can find among His people.
Abijah also took three cities, Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron with their dependent villages from Israel. Neither did Jeroboam ever recover from the effects of his defeat and soon after he was struck by Jehovah and died.
When not more than forty years old, Abijah died. Like his father before him, he was unfortunate in not having a good mother. He is called Abijam in Kings. God would not let His name be called upon him there, because there it is only the dark side of his life which is told. God is jealous of His name. It is a holy name, and He would not have it dishonored by the sins of those who are called by that name. May all His people everywhere give heed to this. The holy name of Christ (Christian) is given us. May we never by any act of ours bring a stain of reproach on it!