Study Desk

People will answer, ‘This happened because they left the Lord , the God of their ancestors, the God who brought them out of Egypt. They decided to follow other gods and worshiped and served them, so he brought all this disaster on them.'"

Solomon followed his father David's instructions and chose the groups of priests for their service and the Levites to lead the praise and to help the priests do their daily work. And he chose the gatekeepers by their groups to serve at each gate, as David, the man of God, had commanded.

Praise the Lord your God who was pleased to make you king. He has put you on his throne to rule for the Lord your God, because your God loves the people of Israel and supports them forever. He has made you king over them to keep justice and to rule fairly."

All the kings of the earth wanted to see Solomon and listen to the wisdom God had given him.

So the king did not listen to the people. God caused this to happen so that the Lord could keep the promise he had made to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh.

But the Lord spoke his word to Shemaiah, a man of God, saying,

There were people from all the tribes of Israel who wanted to obey the Lord , the God of Israel. So they went to Jerusalem with the Levites to sacrifice to the Lord , the God of their ancestors.

You should know that the Lord , the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to rule Israel forever by an agreement of salt.

"But as for us, the Lord is our God; we have not left him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron's sons, and the Levites help them.

They offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They put the bread on the special table in the Temple. And they light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We obey the command of the Lord our God, but you have left him.

God himself is with us as our ruler. His priests blow the trumpet to call us to war against you. Men of Israel, don't fight against the Lord , the God of your ancestors, because you won't succeed."

Then the men of Judah gave a battle cry. When they shouted, God caused Jeroboam and the army of Israel to run away from Abijah and the army of Judah.

When the army of Israel ran away from the men of Judah, God handed them over to Judah.

So at that time the people of Israel were defeated. And the people of Judah won, because they depended on the Lord , the God of their ancestors.

Asa did what the Lord his God said was good and right.

Asa commanded the people of Judah to follow the Lord , the God of their ancestors, and to obey his teachings and commandments.

Asa said to the people of Judah, "Let's build up these towns and put walls around them. Let's make towers, gates, and bars in the gates. This country is ours, because we have obeyed the Lord our God. We have followed him, and he has given us peace all around." So they built and had success.

Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, " Lord , only you can help weak people against the strong. Help us, Lord our God, because we depend on you. We fight against this enormous army in your name. Lord , you are our God. Don't let anyone win against you."

The Spirit of God entered Azariah son of Oded.

For a long time Israel was without the true God and without a priest to teach them and without the teachings.