Historical

11 Upon arrival at Jerusalem, Rehoboam mobilized the armies of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 strong, and declared war against the rest of Israel in an attempt to reunite the kingdom.

² But the Lord told Shemaiah the prophet,

³ “Go and say to King Rehoboam of Judah, Solomon’s son, and to the people of Judah and of Benjamin:

⁴ “‘The Lord says, Do not fight against your brothers. Go home, for I am behind their rebellion.’” So they obeyed the Lord and refused to fight against Jeroboam.

^5-10 Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem and fortified these cities of Judah with walls and gates to protect himself: Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron.

¹¹ He also rebuilt and strengthened the forts, and manned them with companies of soldiers under their officers, and stored them with food, olive oil, and wine. ¹² Shields and spears were placed in armories in every city as a further safety measure. For only Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to him.

^13-14 However, the priests and Levites from the other tribes now abandoned their homes and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, for King Jeroboam had fired them, telling them to stop being priests of the Lord. ¹⁵ He had appointed other priests instead who encouraged the people to worship idols instead of God and to sacrifice to carved statues of goats and calves, which he placed on the hills. ¹⁶ Laymen, too, from all over Israel began moving to Jerusalem where they could freely worship the Lord God of their fathers and sacrifice to him. ¹⁷ This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, so King Rehoboam survived for three years without difficulty; for during those years there was an earnest effort to obey the Lord as King David and King Solomon had done.^[a]

¹⁸ Rehoboam married his cousin^[b] Mahalath. She was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of David’s brother Eliab. ¹⁹ Three sons were born from this marriage—Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰ Later he married Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. The children she bore him were Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ He loved Maacah more than any of his other wives and concubines (he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines—with twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). ²² Maacah’s son Abijah was his favorite, and he intended to make him the next king. ²³ He very wisely scattered his other sons in the fortified cities throughout the land of Judah and Benjamin, and gave them large allowances and arranged for them to have several wives apiece.

12 But just when Rehoboam was at the height of his popularity and power he abandoned the Lord, and the people followed him in this sin. ² As a result, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign ³ with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen and an unnumbered host of infantrymen—Egyptians, Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴ He quickly conquered Judah’s fortified cities and soon arrived at Jerusalem.

⁵ The prophet Shemaiah now met with Rehoboam and the Judean leaders from every part of the nation (they had fled to Jerusalem for safety) and told them, “The Lord says, ‘You have forsaken me, so I have forsaken you and abandoned you to Shishak.’”

⁶ Then the king and the leaders of Israel confessed their sins and exclaimed, “The Lord is right in doing this to us!”

⁷ And when the Lord saw them humble themselves, he sent Shemaiah to tell them, “Because you have humbled yourselves, I will not completely destroy you; some will escape. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger upon Jerusalem. ⁸ But you must pay annual tribute to him. Then you will realize how much better it is to serve me than to serve him!”

⁹ So King Shishak of Egypt conquered Jerusalem and took away all the treasures of the Temple and of the palace, also all of Solomon’s gold shields. ¹⁰ King Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields and committed them to the care of the captain of his bodyguard. ¹¹ Whenever the king went to the Temple, the guards would carry them and afterwards return them to the armory. ¹² When the king humbled himself, the Lord’s anger was turned aside and he didn’t send total destruction; in fact, even after Shishak’s invasion, the economy of Judah remained strong.

¹³ King Rehoboam reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city God had chosen as his residence after considering all the other cities of Israel. He had become king at the age of forty-one, and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ But he was an evil king, for he never did decide really to please the Lord. ¹⁵ The complete biography of Rehoboam is recorded in the histories written by Shemaiah the prophet and by Iddo the seer and in The Genealogical Register.

There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ When Rehoboam died he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Abijah became the new king.

13 ^1-2 Abijah became the new king of Judah in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel. He lasted three years. His mother’s name was Micaiah (daughter of Uriel of Gibeah).

Early in his reign war broke out between Judah and Israel. ³ Judah, led by King Abijah, fielded 400,000 seasoned warriors against twice as many Israeli troops—strong, courageous men led by King Jeroboam. ⁴ When the army of Judah arrived at Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, King Abijah shouted to King Jeroboam and the Israeli army:

⁵ “Listen! Don’t you realize that the Lord God of Israel swore that David’s descendants would always be the kings of Israel? ⁶ Your King Jeroboam is a mere servant of David’s son and was a traitor to his master. ⁷ Then a whole gang of worthless rebels joined him, defying Solomon’s son Rehoboam, for he was young and frightened and couldn’t stand up to them. ⁸ Do you really think you can defeat the kingdom of the Lord that is led by a descendant of David? Your army is twice as large as mine, but you are cursed with those gold calves you have with you that Jeroboam made for you—he calls them your gods! ⁹ And you have driven away the priests of the Lord and the Levites and have appointed heathen priests instead. Just like the people of other lands, you accept as priests anybody who comes along with a young bullock and seven rams for consecration. Anyone at all can be a priest of these no-gods of yours!

¹⁰ “But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not forsaken him. Only the descendants of Aaron are our priests, and the Levites alone may help them in their work. ¹¹ They burn sacrifices to the Lord every morning and evening—burnt offerings and sweet incense; and they place the Bread of the Presence upon the holy table. The gold lampstand is lighted every night, for we are careful to follow the instructions of the Lord our God; but you have forsaken him. ¹² So you see, God is with us; he is our leader. His priests, trumpeting as they go, will lead us into battle against you. O people of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed!”

^13-14 Meanwhile, Jeroboam had secretly sent part of his army around behind the men of Judah to ambush them; so Judah was surrounded, with the enemy before and behind them. Then they cried out to the Lord for mercy, and the priests blew the trumpets. ^15-16 The men of Judah began to shout. And as they shouted, God used King Abijah and the men of Judah to turn the tide of battle against King Jeroboam and the army of Israel, ¹⁷ and they slaughtered 500,000 elite troops of Israel that day.

^18-19 So Judah, depending upon the Lord God of their fathers, defeated Israel, and chased King Jeroboam’s troops, and captured some of his cities—Bethel, Jeshanah, Ephron, and their suburbs. ²⁰ King Jeroboam of Israel never regained his power during Abijah’s lifetime, and eventually the Lord struck him and he died.

²¹ Meanwhile, King Abijah of Judah became very strong. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² His complete biography and speeches are recorded in the prophet Iddo’s History of Judah.

14 King Abijah was buried in Jerusalem. Then his son Asa became the new king of Judah, and there was peace in the land for the first ten years of his reign, ² for Asa was careful to obey the Lord his God. ³ He demolished the heathen altars on the hills, and broke down the obelisks, and chopped down the shameful Asherim idols, ⁴ and demanded that the entire nation obey the commandments of the Lord God of their ancestors. ⁵ Also, he removed the sun images from the hills and the incense altars from every one of Judah’s cities. That is why God gave his kingdom peace. ⁶ This made it possible for him to build walled cities throughout Judah.

⁷ “Now is the time to do it, while the Lord is blessing us with peace because of our obedience to him,” he told his people. “Let us build and fortify cities now, with walls, towers, gates, and bars.” So they went ahead with these projects very successfully.

⁸ King Asa’s Judean army was 300,000 strong, equipped with light shields and spears. His army of Benjaminites numbered 280,000, armed with large shields and bows. Both armies were composed of well-trained, brave men.

^9-10 But now he was attacked by an army of 1,000,000 troops from Ethiopia with 300 chariots, under the leadership of General Zerah. They advanced to the city of Mareshah, in the valley of Zephathah, and King Asa sent his troops to battle with them there.

¹¹ “O Lord,” he cried out to God, “no one else can help us! Here we are, powerless against this mighty army. Oh, help us, Lord our God! For we trust in you alone to rescue us, and in your name we attack this vast horde. Don’t let mere men defeat you!”

¹² Then the Lord defeated the Ethiopians, and Asa and the army of Judah triumphed as the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ They chased them as far as Gerar, and the entire Ethiopian army was wiped out so that not one man remained; for the Lord and his army destroyed them all. Then the army of Judah carried off vast quantities of plunder. ¹⁴ While they were at Gerar they attacked all the cities in that area, and terror from the Lord came upon the residents. As a result, additional vast quantities of plunder were collected from these cities too. ¹⁵ They not only plundered the cities but destroyed the cattle tents and captured great herds of sheep and camels before finally returning to Jerusalem.