Study Desk

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

Also, Rehoboam put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. Rehoboam kept the people of Judah and Benjamin under his control.

The Levites even left their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons refused to let them serve as priests to the Lord .

Jeroboam chose his own priests for the places of worship and for the goat and calf idols he had made.

Rehoboam loved Maacah more than his other wives and slave women. Rehoboam had eighteen wives and sixty slave women and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

Rehoboam chose Abijah son of Maacah to be the leader of his own brothers, because he planned to make Abijah king.

Rehoboam acted wisely. He spread his sons through all the areas of Judah and Benjamin, sending them to every strong, walled city. He gave plenty of supplies to his sons, and he also found wives for them.

When the Lord saw they were sorry for what they had done, the Lord spoke his word to Shemaiah, saying, "The king and the leaders are sorry. So I will not destroy them but will save them soon. I will not use Shishak to punish Jerusalem in my anger.

When Rehoboam was sorry for what he had done, the Lord held his anger back and did not fully destroy Rehoboam. There was some good in Judah.

Rehoboam died and was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Abijah became king in his place.

Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel from the town of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

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 Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of the officers of Solomon, David's son, turned against his master.

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."

Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. His son Asa became king in his place, and there was peace in the country for ten years during Asa's time.

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 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."

Asa's army chased them as far as the town of Gerar. So many Cushites were killed that the army could not fight again; they were crushed by the Lord and his army. Asa and his army carried many valuable things away from the enemy.

King Asa also removed Maacah, his grandmother, from being queen mother, because she had made a terrible Asherah idol. Asa cut down that idol, smashed it into pieces, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.