2 Chronicles 13

The story of Abijah, the son of Rehoboam and the grandson of Solomon, is told much more briefly in 1 Kings 15 than in 2 Chronicles 13. There we found out that Abijah “walked in all the sins that his father did before him.” Here he is presented in contrast to Jeroboam, the king of Israel to the north. Compared to Jeroboam, Abijah was righteous.

The best details of Abijah's three-year reign came forth in the midst of great strife between north and south. When Judah in the south was vastly outnumbered by an invading army from Israel in the north, Abijah took the northern tribes to task for their rebellion against the line of David and the Law of the Lord.

Things were far from perfect during the years of Abijah, but the Chronicler had a point to make in this retelling of history. Open idolatry and the abandonment of the worship system of the Old Covenant by Israel had only led to the judgment of God. Even when they outnumbered their brothers to the south by a substantial margin, God brought thousands to their graves in a stunning defeat.

All seemed lost for Abijah and Judah for a moment. Even as he was delivering a faithful oration against idolatry and lawlessness, the northern king, Jeroboam, had sent soldiers around to his rear flank in order to surround him with an ambush. Yet the Lord was able to deliver Abijah from the hands of his enemies that day.

Abijah called on the armies of the northern kingdom to end their attack and return to their territory. He believed that an assault against Judah and Judah's king was a hopeless attack against God. “O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.” The Chronicler agreed with this point. Israel was defeated and the reason was plainly given. “God gave them into their hand.... Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers.” God was on Judah's side.

The point for the Chronicler's generation as they returned from the exile in Babylon was plain. They needed to rely on the Lord their God, even when it might seem that all hope was lost. This is also true for the New Testament church under the Lordship of Christ. We have a Resurrection King. The battle that we fight may be different in many ways from the troubles faced by Judah in the days of Abijah. But the warfare against the church in every generation is very real. We seek to see the victory of the love of the cross throughout the earth. Our trust is in the Lord. He will win the battle.