2 Chron 13 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 2 Chron 13:1-12

1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he reigned in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 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.

4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, ‘Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! 5 Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants for ever by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master. 7 Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.

8 ‘And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. 9 But didn’t you drive out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

10 ‘As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. 12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.’

A. Find Out:

1. Who became king of Judah , when & what happened? v.1,2
2. What did Abijah declare to the opposing army? v.3-5
3. What did he say had happened? v.6,7
4. What did he say they were now doing? v.8
5. What had they also done? v.9
6. What did he say about Judah ? v.10-12

B. Think:

1. What were the natural odds for this battle?
2. How was Abijah showing Israel were in the wrong?
3. How was he showing that Judah were in the right?

C. Comment:

     Time has passed and Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, has died and is succeeded by his son, Abijah. In the north Jeroboam has been reigning for eighteen years. We’re probably told this simply to present the fact that he is well and truly established there. Indeed when it comes to war, he can muster and army of 800,000 men, twice the size of that of Judah .

      The two parts of the nation are not happy to co-exist next to each other, there is war and the two armies come to face each other. It is at this point that Abijah shows himself to be a leader, for he stands on a high point overlooking the battlefield and shouts out to the opposing army facing him. He makes 3 declarations.

      First he reminds them that God had promised David and his descendants, kingship. True. He omits to say that God had semi-annulled that because of Solomon’s disobedience (1 Kings 11:11 -13). Next he challenges them with their rebellion (v.6,7) and subsequent setting up of a false religion (v.9). Finally he points out that his people are still faithfully maintaining their relationship with the Lord in the ways that the Lord had laid down. All of what he says is true and is designed to undermine the confidence of the army of Israel that outnumbers them 2 to 1. We’ll see next how the Lord honoured Abijah’s stand and his relying upon the Lord.

D. Application:

1. Faithfulness. In the face of the world’s unfaithfulness, do we remain faithful?

2. Alone or… can we say, like Abijah, the Lord is with us?

Passage: 2 Chron 13:13 – 14:1

13 Now Jeroboam had sent troops round to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. 14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets 15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. 17 Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. 18 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.

19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. 20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died.

21 But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

22 The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.

14:1 And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

A. Find Out:

1. How did Israel come against Judah? v.13,14a
2. What did Judah do, and what did the Lord do? v.14b-16
3. How great was the victory and why was it? v.17,18
4. What happened to Israel? v.19,20
5. What happened to Abijah? v.21a
6. Who succeeded Abijah as king? 14:1

B. Think:

1. From a human standpoint, why was this such an amazing victory?
2. What is declared again and again to be the reason for the victory?
3. To get a spiritual perspective of this king read 1 Kings 15:1-8

C. Comment:

     When we read 1 Kings 15 we find a different assessment of Abijah than we might arrive at here – he wasn’t wholehearted in his devotion to the Lord, and he still sinned. That makes this account even more amazing, showing the grace of God.

     The armies of Judah and Israel face each other and Judah are outnumbered 2 to 1. It should be a slaughter by Israel, but in fact it is the opposite. Judah devastate Israel, and that even after a clever ambush strategy by Israel (v.13). In some cases that would melt the hearts of the army and make them an easy prey, but in Judah’s case it makes them cry out to the Lord even more – and the Lord routs Israel. How did He do this? We aren’t told. Perhaps He simply spoke fear into every heart in the army of Israel and courage into the heart of the army of Judah. Speaking into people is the Lord’s specialty. Anyway, the outcome is clear – Israel are defeated, and Judah take back some of the southern towns. Eventually Jeroboam dies – we’re told the Lord struck him down.

     When we consider the 1 Kings assessment of Abijah, it makes this account all the more remarkable. It tells us that whatever the present or future state of someone, if they will cry out to the Lord whole heartedly, the Lord will come to their aid. People can never say the Lord didn’t give this king a chance for great renown. He just didn’t take it!

D. Application:

1. God’s grace and mercy. Do I realise that God’s grace and mercy are there for us again and again.
2. Learning from God’s grace and mercy. Do we squander it or respond to it, learn and change?