1 Kings 15:1 – 24 “In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. (Absalom)
And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his forefather had been. Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.
As for the rest of the acts of Abijam, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.
In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. (Other sources say his mother was Micaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.)
And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done. He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days. And he brought into the house of the LORD the silver and gold and other articles that he and his father had dedicated.
Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days. Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus: “Let there be a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.
When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.
Now the rest of the acts of Asa, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? In his old age, however, he became diseased in his feet. And Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.”
This passage says practically nothing about the character of Abijah. For a better look at Abijah, you have to go to 2 Chronicles 13. When Jeroboam attacked Jerusalem, Abijah counter – attacked in the Battle of Mount Zemaraim. Abijah testified against Jeroboam for driving out the priests of the Lord and making golden calves. When Jeroboam attempted to ambush the men of Judah, they cried out to the Lord, and “God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.” Abijah and Judah slaughtered a total of 500,000 of Jeroboam’s men. But rabbinic sources indicate that Abijah was actually quite corrupt, taking over the golden calves from Jeroboam rather than destroying them as he should have. When God defeated Jeroboam, Abijah evidently did not allow the corpses to be buried until they had begun to putrefy, a violation of Jewish law. Abijah also falsely accused all of Israel of turning away from God. The results of Abijah’s sins limited his reign as king to 3 short years.
This passage only gives a brief description of Asa, Abijah’s son. “The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.” Asa only followed the Lord up to a point. 2 Chronicles 14 tells of a time when an enormous army from Ethiopia attacked Asa at the Valley of Zephathath, and God gave him victory. Yet later on, Asa’s faith failed and he sent a huge sum of money to Ben Hadad to attack Israel. Unfortunately, God had selected Asa to defeat Ben Hadad, and Asa frustrated that plan with his faithlessness. When Asa was old and developed diseases in his feet, 2 Chronicles 16:12 says that “he did not seek the Lord, but relied upon the physicians.”
APPLICATION: What can we learn from the stories of Abijah and Asa? Abijah called on God when it was expedient, but he did not follow God faithfully, nor did he know God’s Law. Once more, we have a king who failed to copy the Law or to study it for himself. Asa did far better, removing his own grandmother from her position as Queen Mother and burning her Asherah pole in the Kidron Valley where refuse was burnt. But Asa’s faith failed him on several occasions, and he ended his reign unable to walk because he refused to ask God for help.
Abijah called on God when he wanted help, but did not really believe in God. For Abijah, the God of Israel was just one more deity, perhaps a little more powerful than the rest. Abijah was good at making stirring speeches, but his heart wasn’t in it. Asa trusted God, but only up to a point. Even though Asa had the power to wipe out every high place and to truly bring revival to Judah, he drew back and failed to accomplish everything God wanted him to do.
It’s easy for us to criticize these men, but how well do we do in our own lives? When confronted with evil on a massive scale, do we seek God’s help, or do we attempt to fix things somehow by political manipulations? Are we really following hard after God, or are we behaving like Asa – sometimes fervent and sometimes timorous? May God help us to follow Him steadily and faithfully all the days of our lives, and may we continue to seek God’s help even in our old age!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow you steadily and whole -heartedly for all of our lives, not drawing back when things become difficult. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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