Study Desk

Say to them, ‘The Lord says that you must not go to war against your brothers. Everyone, go home! I made all this happen.'" So all the men in Rehoboam's army obeyed the Lord and went home. They did not attack Jeroboam.

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah. The leaders of Judah had gathered together in Jerusalem because they all were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, "This is what the Lord says: ‘Rehoboam, you and the people of Judah have left me and refused to obey my law. So now I will leave you to face Shishak without my help.'"

The Lord saw that the king and the leaders of Judah had humbled themselves. Then the message from the Lord came to Shemaiah. The Lord said, "The king and the leaders humbled themselves. So I will not destroy them, but I will save them soon. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem.

But the people of Jerusalem will become Shishak's servants. This will happen so that they may learn that serving me is different from serving the kings of other nations."

Rehoboam humbled himself, and the Lord stopped being angry with him. So he did not completely destroy Rehoboam. There was some good in Judah.

Then worthless, evil men became friends with Jeroboam. Then Jeroboam and the bad men turned against Rehoboam, Solomon's son. Rehoboam was young and did not have experience. So he could not stop Jeroboam and his bad friends.

"Now, you people have decided to defeat the Lord 's kingdom—the kingdom that is ruled by David's sons. You have so many people with you and you have the golden calves—the ‘gods' that Jeroboam made for you.

They offer burnt offerings and burn incense of spices to the Lord every morning and every evening. They put the bread in rows on the special table in the Temple. And they take care of the lamps on the golden lampstand so that it shines bright each and every evening. We very carefully serve the Lord our God, but you people have abandoned him.

So at that time the Israelites were defeated, and the people of Judah won. The army from Judah won because they depended on the Lord , the God of their ancestors.

He also removed all the high places and incense altars from all the towns in Judah. So the kingdom had peace when Asa was king.

Asa said to the people of Judah, "Let's build these towns and make walls around them. Let's make towers, gates, and bars in the gates. Let's do this while we still live in this country. This country is ours because we have followed the Lord our God. He has given us peace all around us." So they built and had success.

Asa's army chased the Ethiopian army all the way to the town of Gerar. So many Ethiopians were killed that they could not get together as an army to fight again. They were crushed by the Lord and his army. Asa and his army carried many valuable things away from the enemy.

All the people of Judah were happy about the oath, because they had promised with all their heart. They followed God with all their heart. They looked for God and found him, so the Lord gave them peace in all the country.

So Asa took gold and silver from the treasuries of the Lord 's Temple and the king's palace. He gave it to his officials and sent them to King Ben-Hadad of Aram. Ben-Hadad was the son of Tabrimmon. Tabrimmon was the son of Hezion. Damascus was Ben-Hadad's capital city.

The eyes of the Lord go around looking in all the earth for people who are faithful to him so that he can make them strong. Asa, you did a foolish thing. So from now on you will have wars."

Asa was angry with Hanani because of what he said. He was so mad that he put Hanani in prison. He was also very rough and cruel to some of the people then.

Asa's son Jehoshaphat became the new king after him. Jehoshaphat made Judah strong so that they could fight against Israel.

The Lord made Jehoshaphat a strong king over Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. So he had much wealth and honor.

The nations near Judah were afraid of the Lord , so they did not start a war against Jehoshaphat.

So Ahab called a meeting of the prophets. There were about 400 prophets at that time. Ahab asked the prophets, "Should we go and attack Ramoth Gilead or not?" The prophets answered Ahab, "Yes, because God will let you defeat Ramoth Gilead."