Study Desk

When the people saw that the king would not listen to them, they shouted, "Down with David and his family! What have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself!" So the people of Israel rebelled,

Rehoboam remained in Jerusalem and had fortifications built for the following cities of Judah and Benjamin:

He had them strongly fortified and appointed a commander for each of them, and in each one he placed supplies of food, olive oil, and wine,

This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they supported Rehoboam son of Solomon and lived as they had under the rule of King David and King Solomon.

Rehoboam wisely assigned responsibilities to his sons and stationed them throughout Judah and Benjamin in the fortified cities. He provided generously for them and also secured many wives for them.

To replace them, Rehoboam made bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates.

Because he submitted to the Lord , the Lord 's anger did not completely destroy him, and things went well for Judah.

Rehoboam ruled in Jerusalem and increased his power as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah, from the land of Ammon.

The Judeans looked around and saw that they were surrounded. They cried to the Lord for help, and the priests blew the trumpets.

King Abijah died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City. His son Asa succeeded him as king, and under Asa the land enjoyed peace for ten years.

He built fortifications for the cities of Judah during this time, and for several years there was no war, because the Lord gave him peace.

and he went to meet King Asa. He called out, "Listen to me, King Asa, and all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you as long as you are with him. If you look for him, he will let you find him, but if you turn away, he will abandon you.

For a long time Israel lived without the true God, without priests to teach them, and without a law.

But when trouble came, they turned to the Lord , the God of Israel. They searched for him and found him.

"Let us be allies, as our fathers were. This silver and gold is a present for you. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel so that he will have to pull his troops out of my territory."

In the thirty-ninth year that Asa was king, he was crippled by a severe foot disease; but even then he did not turn to the Lord for help, but to doctors.

and was buried in the rock tomb which he had carved out for himself in David's City. They used spices and perfumed oils to prepare his body for burial, and they built a huge bonfire to mourn his death.

His second in command was Jehozabad with 180,000 men, well-equipped for battle.

A number of years later Jehoshaphat went to the city of Samaria to visit Ahab. To honor Jehoshaphat and those with him, Ahab had a large number of sheep and cattle slaughtered for a feast. He tried to persuade Jehoshaphat to join him in attacking the city of Ramoth in Gilead.

Ahab answered, "There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad." "You shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied.