Historical

(1 Kings 12:21-24)

11 When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand specially chosen^[a] soldiers, to wage war against Israel in order to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

² But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the man of God: ³ “Say the following to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin: ⁴ This is what the Lord says. Do not attack and do not fight against your brother Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this turn of events is from me.”

They listened to the words of the Lord and refrained from going against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Builds Cities for Defense

⁵ Rehoboam resided in Jerusalem. He built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soko, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹ He built up their fortifications. He placed commanders in them and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹² In each and every city he placed shields and spears and made the cities very strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

Faithful Priests and People Come to Rehoboam

¹³ The priests and Levites who were living in Israel left the land allotted to them and took their stand with Rehoboam. ¹⁴ The Levites left their pasturelands and their holdings. They came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had removed them from their ministry as priests of the Lord.

¹⁵ Jeroboam had appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goats and calves he had made.

¹⁶ From all the tribes of Israel, those people who set their hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the priests and Levites and came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷ They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam son of Solomon secure for three years, because for those three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

The Family of Rehoboam

¹⁸ Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath, who was the daughter^[b] of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. ¹⁹ She gave birth to these sons for him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰ In addition to her, he took Ma’akah, the granddaughter^[c] of Absalom. She gave birth for him to Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹ Rehoboam loved Ma’akah, the granddaughter of Absalom, more than any of his other wives and concubines. He took eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah, the son of Ma’akah, as crown prince among his brothers, because he was going to make him king. ²³ Rehoboam acted wisely and dispersed his sons throughout all the areas of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities. He provided them with abundant provisions and obtained many wives for them.

Shishak Attacks Jerusalem

12 When Rehoboam had established his rule as king and had become strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord. All Israel went along with him.

² In the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because Israel had been unfaithful to the Lord. ³ He came with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand charioteers.^[d] The forces that came with him from Egypt, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites, could not be counted. ⁴ He captured the fortified cities of Judah and advanced as far as Jerusalem.

⁵ Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the officials of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the Lord says. You abandoned me, so now I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.”

⁶ Then the officials of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”

⁷ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying: “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will give them deliverance in a little while. My anger will not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ However, they will become his servants. They will learn what it is to serve me and to serve the kingdoms of the foreign lands.”

⁹ Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures from the house of the Lord and the treasures from the house of the king. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made. ¹⁰ King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and he entrusted them to the captains of the guard who were keeping watch at the entrance of the king’s palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king went to the House of the Lord, the guards would go along and carry the shields. Then they would return them to the guardroom.^[e]

¹² Because he humbled himself, the anger of the Lord turned from him. He did not completely destroy them, so conditions were good in Judah.^[f]

The Closing Summary of Rehoboam’s Reign

¹³ King Rehoboam strengthened his position in Jerusalem and ruled as king. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and for seventeen years he ruled as king in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen from among all the tribes of Israel to put his Name there. Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Na’amah the Ammonite.

¹⁴ He did evil, because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

¹⁵ The acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the annals of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer, which deal with genealogy? Rehoboam and Jeroboam waged war with each other throughout all their days.

¹⁶ Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah ruled as king in his place.

Abijah King of Judah

13 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah,^[g] the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah.^[h]

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah got ready for battle with an army of four hundred thousand strong warriors, each man specially chosen.^[i] Jeroboam lined up for battle against him with eight hundred thousand strong warriors, each man specially chosen.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and said this to them:

¹³ However, Jeroboam had set up an ambush to come around them from behind. So the main enemy forces were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When Judah turned and saw that the battle line was in front of them and behind them, they cried out to the Lord while the priests kept blowing the trumpets.

¹⁵ The men of Judah raised a battle cry. When they raised the battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel fled from Judah, and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people inflicted very heavy casualties on them. Five hundred thousand specially chosen men of Israel fell in battle.

¹⁸ So the men of Israel were subdued at that time. The men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took these cities from him: Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam never recovered his power during the days of Abijah. Then the Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew strong. He took for himself fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his words, are written in the notes of the prophet Iddo.

14 Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became king in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.^[j]

Asa King of Judah

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He removed the foreign altars and the high places. He demolished the sacred memorial stones and chopped down the Asherah poles. ⁴ He told Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to obey his law and command. ⁵ He removed the high places and the sun pillars^[k] from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom enjoyed peace and quiet under him.

⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah because the land was quiet. He had no wars in those years because the Lord gave him rest.

⁷ Asa said to Judah, “We will build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, and barred gates. The land before us is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We sought him, and he has given us peace all around.”

So they built and prospered.

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, who carried large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin, who carried shields and were armed with bows. These were all strong, powerful warriors.

⁹ Zerah the Cushite^[l] came out against them with an army of a million^[m] men and three hundred chariots and advanced as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰ Asa went out to confront him, and they formed battle lines in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹ Asa cried to the Lord his God, “Lord, there is no one except you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord our God, because we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this horde.^[n] Lord, you are our God. Men will not prevail against you.”

¹² The Lord defeated the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until none of them were left alive, because they were broken before the Lord and before his army, who carried away a large amount of plunder. ¹⁴ They struck all the cities around Gerar, because the dread of the Lord was upon them. They looted all the cities because there was a great deal of plunder in them. ¹⁵ Also they struck the tents of the herdsmen and carried off very many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.