“But 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: And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread 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.” — 2 Chronicles 13:10-11
The summer before I started sixth grade, the Lord baptized me with the Holy Spirit. Looking back and considering how young I was, that seems truly amazing. But God knew I needed it, and I sincerely had surrendered my young heart to Him. I’d told Him I’d do whatever He wanted with my life. Of course, at eleven years old I had no idea what that would mean, but I meant it with all my heart. And that prepared me for the battle that was ahead.
I believe now that the moment I walked into my sixth-grade homeroom class, my teacher was reminded of the faith of her childhood and the upbringing she had resoundingly rejected. Later, she directly told my parents she “was raised that way.” That entire year Mrs. Smith seemed set on convincing me to turn from the faith. It was a multitude of little things. One time we were creating self-portraits and she used me as an example to show the class that they could add jewelry to their picture—in essence pointing out to my classmates how odd it was that I didn’t wear jewelry, one of the many ways I didn’t fit in with most of my peers. Another time when my parents had me excused from a classroom activity, she flat-out told me I was old enough to make my own decisions, to which I replied that I had made my choice: that was why I was following their request!
As a very shy girl who would have preferred not to have any attention on me, that year was challenging. Yet, I remember feeling bold and almost defiant as I went to school each day wondering, What will she try today?
One might say I was “outnumbered.” My teacher was an adult; I was a child. She was educated and persuasive; I was still learning basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. She had the crowd on her side; I was essentially alone. But like the people of Judah who won their battle when they “shouted” (verse 15), I had confidence because I was doing what God wanted. Abijah basically told Jeroboam in our focus verses that Judah had continued following God’s instructions while Israel had turned to idols. I had the same testimony. I was doing my best to follow God while my teacher had turned away from the truth she had been taught.
There is a special confidence that comes from being consecrated to God. The people of Judah were outnumbered two to one (800,000 to 400,000), but they won the battle because they had God on their side. That’s what makes the difference every time—in events as big as national war and as small as a sixth grader standing up to an ungodly teacher.
Following the death of Rehoboam, his son Abijah succeeded him on the throne of Judah. (Abijah is referred to as Abijam in the parallel account in 1 Kings 15.) Chapter 13 describes a battle that took place between the armies of Abijah and those of Jeroboam, ruler of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The reason for the battle is not given, but seemingly Abijah felt that the flagrant idolatry being practiced in Israel deserved judgment. While God had instructed Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 11:4 not to fight against his brethren, in this case warfare was permitted.
When the two armies assembled, verse 3 indicates there was a clear numerical advantage for the Northern Kingdom. Verses 4-12 record Abijah’s forceful appeal to Jeroboam and the army of Israel. While 1 Kings 15:3 indicates that Abijah was not a righteous king, he did try to induce the northern tribes to reunite with Judah.
Mount Zemaraim, mentioned in verse 4, was located in the territory of Benjamin between the two kingdoms. Standing upon that mountain, Abijah rebuked Jeroboam and Israel for three specific sins against God.
• Israel had broken the “covenant of salt” (indicating an everlasting commitment) in which God had decreed that David and his sons would rule over Israel forever. Abijah asserted that the dynasty of David was the only legitimate ruler over the tribes of Israel, including these ten northern tribes that had rebelled and separated themselves from the two southern tribes (verses 5-7).
• Israel had brought the golden calves, the manmade objects of their idolatry, with them into battle—an indicator that they had forsaken the true God (verse 8).
• Israel had substituted non-Levites for the true priests that God had chosen to be Israel’s religious leaders (verse 9).
In verses 10-12, Abijah concluded his appeal to Jeroboam and Israel by stating that in contrast to their actions, Judah had maintained the true priests and sacrifices as commanded by God. He warned Israel that they should not fight against the God of their fathers, because if they did so, they would not prosper.
Verses 13-20 describe the battle in which God fought for Abijah and the armies of Judah. Although greatly outnumbered by Israel, Judah won the conflict and Israel suffered a tremendous loss of life. In addition, Judah took control of three cities: Beth-el, Jeshanah, and Ephrain. Jeroboam’s death is briefly mentioned in verse 20, although details explaining the phrase “the Lord struck him” are not given.
The concluding verses of the chapter record the family of Abijah. In verse 22, the “story” (in Hebrew, midrash) of the prophet Iddo is a reference to an ancient rabbinic interpretation of Scripture.
III. The history of the kings of Judah
B. The reign of Abijah (13:1-22)
1. Abijah’s war against Jeroboam (13:1-20)
a. The battle array (13:1-3)
b. The words of Abijah to Jeroboam (13:4-12)
c. The defeat of Jeroboam (13:13-20)
2. Abijah’s acts and death (13:21-22)
If you find yourself in a situation where you’re outnumbered, take courage! You can be confident of victory when God is on your side.
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