2 Chronicles 13:1-22

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah

2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 13

Judah and *Israel fight a war – 2 Chronicles 13:1-19

v1 In the 18th year of the rule of Jeroboam, Abijah began to rule over Judah. v2 He ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah, daughter of Uriel from the town called Gibeah.

Abijah and Jeroboam fought a war. v3 Abijah went into battle with an army of 400 000 strong, brave soldiers. Jeroboam prepared to fight against him. Jeroboam had 800 000 strong, brave soldiers that he had chosen.

v4 Abijah stood up on *Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hills of the country of Ephraim. And he said, ‘Listen to me, Jeroboam and all *Israel. v5 The *LORD, the God of *Israel, gave the *kingdom called *Israel to David and his sons. The *LORD made a promise by salt that would last for all time. You should know about this. v6 Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a servant of David’s son Solomon. But this Jeroboam *turned against his master. v7 Then vain and wicked men joined up with him. They were strong and they opposed Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Rehoboam was young. And he did not know what to do. He was not strong enough to oppose them.

v8 Now you plot to fight against the *LORD’s *kingdom, which belongs to David’s sons. You are a very large crowd. And you have the gold *calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. v9 You removed the priests of the *LORD. You sent away the *descendants of Aaron and the *Levites. You have appointed your own priests. This is what the people in other countries do. Anyone who comes with a young *bull and 7 male sheep can become a priest. They become priests of gods that do not exist.

v10 But the *LORD is our God. We have not left him, as you have done. The priests who serve the *LORD are Aaron’s *descendants. And the *Levites assist these priests. v11 Every morning and evening, the priests give *sacrifices by fire to the *LORD. They give to the *LORD *incense that has a sweet smell. They put the bread on the special table. And each evening they light the lamps that are on the gold *lampstands. We are doing what the *LORD our God told us to do. But you have *turned away from him. v12 God is with us and he is our leader. His priests will sound their *trumpets to call us to war against you. Men from *Israel, do not fight against the *LORD, the God of your *ancestors. If you do fight against him, you will not win.’

v13 Jeroboam had sent some of his army to go behind the army of Judah. With his main army, he was in front of Judah’s soldiers but he had men ready behind them. v14 The soldiers of Judah turned round. They saw Jeroboam’s army as it attacked them from the front and from behind them. Then the men of Judah cried out to the *LORD. And the priests sounded their *trumpets. v15 Then Judah’s soldiers shouted. When they shouted, God attacked Jeroboam and all *Israel in front of Abijah and Judah. v16 The *Israelite army ran away from Judah’s soldiers. And God gave the *Israelites to Judah’s soldiers. v17 Abijah and his men attacked the *Israelites. They killed 500 000 of the best men in *Israel’s army. v18 So, at that time *Israel realised that Judah had beaten them. Judah’s people had won because they trusted the *LORD the God of their *ancestors.

v19 Abijah chased Jeroboam. And he *captured from Jeroboam the towns called Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron. Also, he *captured the villages that were near those towns.

Verses 1-2 Abijah became king of Judah in the 18th year of Jeroboam’s rule. He ruled for three years. The main event of his rule was the war with Jeroboam.

Verses 3-4a Jeroboam’s army was twice the size of Abijah’s army. Abijah’s army consisted of 400 000 men. The army of Jeroboam consisted of 800 000 men. There has been some doubt about these large numbers of soldiers. But the numbers seem to be reasonable. David counted 1 100 000 men ready for war when he was king.

Jeroboam had brought his army almost to the border with Judah. So, Abijah led his army into *Israel’s territory. *Mount Zemaraim was in the hill country of Ephraim. The town called Zemaraim was in the territory of Benjamin (Joshua 18:22). We think that *Mount Zemaraim was near the border between Judah and *Israel.

Abijah stood on a high place where he could see Jeroboam’s army. He called out to Jeroboam and the *Israelite army.

Verses 4b-5 He told the *Israelites that their king should be from David’s family. The *LORD had made David the king of all *Israel. And the *LORD had made a promise to David. He promised that David’s *descendants would be kings (1 Chronicles 17:14). So, to refuse David was in effect to refuse the *LORD. He reminded them that they should know about this.

The *LORD made a promise to David by salt. The use of salt was to show that the promise was for all time (Numbers 18:19). *Jewish tradition says that salt water never loses its taste of salt. So, salt was a sign of something that lasts for all time.

Abijah tried to persuade the *Israelites. He blamed Jeroboam for the fact that the *kingdom split into two.

Perhaps he hoped that in reaction to his speech they would not fight.

Verses 6-7 Abijah talks about Jeroboam. Jeroboam was not loyal to his master Solomon. He had *turned against the king that God had chosen. After the death of Solomon, Jeroboam came with some wicked men. And they used the fact that Rehoboam was young and weak. Abijah seems to suggest that he, Abijah, was both strong and the right king of all *Israel.

Verses 8-9 The *kingdom called Judah belongs to the family of David. It is the *LORD’s *kingdom. To fight against the *LORD’s *kingdom is to fight against the *LORD.

The *Israelites were proud of their large army. And they had their gods to help them. Jeroboam had made the gold *calves to be gods (1 Kings 12:28). They had sent away the priests and the *Levites who served the *LORD. They had appointed their own priests for their new gods. But they would not get any help from their gods. Their gods were not real. They were just images with no power.

Abijah suggests that because of this the *LORD would be against them. And God was against *Israel partly because of these *calves (Hosea 8:5-6).

God appointed the sons of Aaron to be priests. At that time, he required the *sacrifice of a young *bull and two male sheep (Exodus 29:1; Leviticus 8:2). Jeroboam required a young *bull and 7 male sheep for his priests. But he made priests of anyone who could provide for their own *sacrifices.

*Israel had *turned from God’s ways and they had followed the ways of other nations.

Verses 10-12 Abijah goes on to show the difference between Judah and *Israel (the northern *kingdom).

The *LORD is our God. Judah has no other gods. Judah has remained loyal to the *LORD. Still the priests and the *Levites carry out their duties in the *temple. They and the people in Judah do what the *LORD had told them to do. But the people in *Israel (the northern *kingdom) have *turned away from the *LORD.

This is Abijah’s opinion. But Judah had not been loyal to the *LORD in the past. Abijah himself was quite as bad as his father had been (1 Kings 15:3). He was not as loyal to the *LORD as he pretended.

The two *kingdoms were in the plan of God (1 Kings 11:31). So, Abijah used these arguments about religion for his own political purposes. But as the northern *kingdom had *turned from the *LORD, his argument was good.

Abijah said that the *LORD was the leader of Judah. The *LORD’s priests sounded their *trumpets (Numbers 10:9). And by this, the *LORD had called them to defend their *kingdom. So, the *LORD would defeat *Israel and Judah would win the battle.

He was right. The *LORD would cause Judah to win. But it was because of his promise to David (1 Kings 15:4-5). It was not because Abijah and Judah were loyal to the *LORD.

Abijah warned the *Israelites not to fight against Judah. If they did, they would fight against the *LORD God of their *ancestors. And they could not win the fight against him.

Verses 13-18 Jeroboam and *Israel did not listen to Abijah. While Abijah spoke, Jeroboam sent some soldiers round the base of the hill. They went behind the army of Judah. Jeroboam’s main army was in front of the army of Judah. But now he had some of his army behind the army of Judah. The army of Judah found that the enemy had surrounded them.

The soldiers of Judah turned round. They saw the army of *Israel in front and behind them. They would not be able to escape from the larger *Israel army. Jeroboam’s army attacked from the front and from the back. But Judah’s soldiers cried out to the *LORD for help. The priests sounded their *trumpets.

The sound of the *trumpets gave courage to Judah’s soldiers (Numbers 10:9). And they shouted loud war cries. Then they attacked the enemy.

With the sound of the *trumpets and the shout of the army, the *LORD helped Judah. The *LORD defeated the *Israel army. 800 000 soldiers came with Jeroboam but the army of Judah killed 500 000 of them. More *Israelites died than the whole number of Judah’s army. We do not know how many soldiers of Judah died in the battle. But the *Israel army had to realise that Judah had beaten them.

As Abijah had said, the *LORD God of their *ancestors was with Judah and against *Israel. Judah depended on the help of the *LORD their God. The size and strength of the enemy does not matter if the *LORD is with his people.

Verse 19 Abijah *captured three towns from the northern *kingdom. One of these was Bethel. Jeroboam had set up one of the two gold *calves there. Bethel was the centre of *worship in the south part of Jeroboam’s *kingdom (1 Kings 12:28-29).

Abijah’s death – 2 Chronicles 13:20-14:1a

v20 Jeroboam did not become strong again when Abijah was alive. The *LORD punished Jeroboam, and he died.

v21 But Abijah became more powerful. He married 14 wives and they had 22 sons and 16 daughters.

v22 The *prophet Iddo wrote down all the events of Abijah’s life. He recorded what Abijah said. And he recorded what Abijah did.

v1a Abijah died and they buried him with his *ancestors in David’s city.

13:20-14:1a Jeroboam did not become strong again after the defeat. Also, Abijah made an agreement with the king of Aram (see 1 Kings 15:19). Aram was a nation to the north of *Israel. So, Jeroboam had strong enemies to the north and to the south. But Abijah became more powerful after Judah had won the battle with *Israel.

Jeroboam lived for two years after the death of Abijah. The *LORD punished Jeroboam and so he died. We do not know how he died. But the *LORD had given a *prophecy to Ahijah. Jeroboam had *turned away from the *LORD and he caused *Israel to *sin. Therefore, the *LORD would cause all the family of Jeroboam to die. There would be nobody left of his family (1 Kings 14:10-11).

Abijah was as bad as his father was (1 Kings 15:3). He married 14 wives, which was against the word of God (Deuteronomy 17:17). After he had been king for just three years, he died. They buried him with his *ancestors in Jerusalem (David’s city)

There was a record of his life, which Iddo the *prophet wrote.

kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
mount ~ a short word for mountain; small mountain.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or of a nation.
Levite ~ a person who belongs to the tribe of Levi.
tribe ~ the *Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of *Israel.
bull ~ the male animal that mates with a cow.
sacrifice ~ something that people give to God. If it was an animal, the priests would burn all or part of it on an altar. That was to say thank you to God, or to ask him to forgive. God made Jesus to be a sacrifice because of our sins. To sacrifice is to give a sacrifice.
altar ~ the special table that someone made out of stone or wood or metal; on it they burnt animals or they offered other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
incense ~ something that gives a sweet smell when it burns. The priests burned it when they praised God in the temple.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
lampstand ~ a special thing that holds lamps. There were 7 lamps on it. The lamps burnt oil.
trumpet ~ a musical instrument; it makes a sound when a person blows into it.
ancestors ~ people in history that your family has come from.
capture ~ to fight for something and to make it yours as a result; or, to make somebody a prisoner.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to a Jew.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit. But sometimes false prophets tried to speak a prophecy.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.