Study Desk

^(C1)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

But the word of the LORD came to ^(C1)Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

"Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

'This is what the LORD says: "You shall not go up nor fight against ^(C1)your relatives; return, every man, to his house, ^(C2)for this ^(F1)event is from Me."'" So they listened to the words of the LORD and returned from going against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^(C1)built cities for defense in Judah.

He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,

Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.

He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and supplies of food, oil, and wine.

He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel also stood with him from all their districts.

For ^(C1)the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because ^(C2)Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the LORD.

^(C1)He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and the calves which he had made.

^(C1)Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel ^(F1)followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers.

^(C1)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Then Rehoboam married Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^(C1)Eliab the son of Jesse,

and she bore to him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

After her he married ^(C1)Maacah the daughter of ^(F1)Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^(C1)he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

^(C1)Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.

He acted wisely and distributed ^(F1)some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them plenty of provisions. And he sought many wives for them.

^(C1)When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ^(C2)he and all Israel with him abandoned the Law of the LORD.

^(C1)And it came about in King Rehoboam's fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, that ^(C2)Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem

with 1,200 chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were innumerable: ^(C1)the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.

And he captured ^(C1)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

Then ^(C1)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, "This is what the LORD says: '^(C2)You have abandoned Me, so I also have abandoned you ^(F1)to Shishak.'"

So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The ^(C1)LORD is righteous."

When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "^(C1)They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them; and I will grant them a little deliverance, and ^(C2)My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak.

"But they will become his slaves, so ^(C1)that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

^(C1)So Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's palace. He took everything; ^(C2)he even took the gold shields which Solomon had made.

Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the ^(F1)care of the commanders of the ^(F2)guards who guarded the entrance of the king's house.

As often as the king entered the house of the LORD, the ^(F1)guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the ^(F1)guards' room.

And ^(C1)when he humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and conditions ^(C2)were also good in Judah.

^(C1)So King Rehoboam became powerful in Jerusalem and reigned there. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

But he did evil ^(C1)because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

^(C1)Now the acts of Rehoboam, from the first to the last, are they not written in the ^(F1)records of ^(C2)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(C3)Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

And Rehoboam ^(F1)lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and his son ^(C1)Abijah became king in his place.

^(C1)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.

He reigned in Jerusalem for three years; and his mother's name was ^(F1)Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. ^(C1)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

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Abijah began the battle with an army of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men who were valiant warriors.

Then Abijah stood on Mount ^(C1)Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, "Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel:

"Do you not know that ^(C1)the LORD God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David ^(F1)and his sons by ^(C2)a covenant of salt?

"Yet ^(C1)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his ^(F1)master,

and worthless men gathered to him, wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when ^(F1)(C1)he was young and timid and could not hold his own against them.

"So now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the LORD ^(F1)through the sons of David, ^(F2)being a great multitude and having with you ^(C1)the golden calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods.

"^(C1)Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(C2)to consecrate himself with a bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of things that are ^(C3)not gods.

"But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not abandoned Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the LORD as priests, and the Levites ^(F1)attend to their work.

"Every morning and evening ^(C1)they ^(F1)burn to the LORD burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and ^(C2)the showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we perform our duty to the LORD our God, but you have abandoned Him.

"Now behold, God is with us at our head, and ^(C1)His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the war cry against you. Sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you will not succeed."

But Jeroboam ^(C1)had set an ambush to come from behind, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them.

When Judah turned around, behold, ^(F1)they were attacked both from front and rear; so ^(C1)they cried out to the LORD, and the priests blew the trumpets.

Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, God ^(F1)(C1)defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

When the sons of Israel fled from Judah, ^(C1)God handed them over to them.

Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell slain.

The sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah ^(F1)conquered ^(C1)because they trusted in the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and ^(F1)Ephron with its villages.

Jeroboam did not again recover strength in the days of Abijah; and the ^(C1)LORD struck him and ^(C2)he died.

But Abijah became powerful, and he took fourteen wives for himself, and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in ^(C1)the ^(F1)treatise of ^(C2)Iddo the prophet.

^(F1)(C1)So Abijah ^(F2)lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place. The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days.

^(F1)And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the LORD his God,

for he removed ^(C1)the foreign altars and ^(C2)high places, tore down the memorial stones, cut down the ^(F1)(C3)Asherim,

and commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers and to ^(F1)comply with the Law and the commandment.

He also removed the high places and the ^(C1)incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was undisturbed under him.

^(C1)He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and ^(F1)there was no one at war with him during those years, ^(C2)because the LORD had given him rest.

For he said to Judah, "^(C1)Let's build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ^(F1)ours because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.

Now Asa had an army of ^(C1)three hundred thousand from Judah, carrying large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, carrying shields and wielding bows; all of them were valiant warriors.

Now Zerah the Ethiopian ^(C1)went out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to ^(C2)Mareshah.

So Asa went out ^(F1)to meet him, and they drew up in battle formation in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

Then Asa ^(C1)called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; help us, LORD our God, ^(C2)for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You."

So ^(C1)the LORD ^(F1)routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(C1)Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that ^(F1)they could not recover, for they were shattered before the LORD and before His army. And they carried away a very large amount of plunder.

They ^(F1)destroyed all the cities around Gerar, ^(C1)for the dread of the LORD had fallen on them; and they pillaged all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.

They also fatally struck ^(F1)those who owned livestock, and they led away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Now ^(C1)the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded,

and he went out ^(F1)to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(C1)the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And ^(C2)if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.

"^(C1)For many days Israel was without the true God and without ^(C2)a teaching priest and without the Law.

"But ^(C1)in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.

"^(C1)In those times there was no peace for him who went out or him who came in, because many disturbances ^(F1)afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.

"^(C1)Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.

"But you, ^(C1)be strong and do not ^(F1)lose courage, for there is a ^(C2)reward for your work."

Now when Asa heard these words and the ^(F1)prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from ^(C1)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. ^(C2)He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon ^(C1)who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.

^(C1)They sacrificed to the LORD on that day seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from the spoils they had brought.

^(C1)They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul;

and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel ^(C1)was to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.

Moreover, they made an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, trumpets, and with horns.

All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him ^(F1)earnestly, and He let them find Him. So ^(C1)the LORD gave them rest on every side.

^(C1)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made an abominable image ^(F1)as ^(C2)an Asherah, and ^(C3)Asa cut down her abominable image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron.

But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa's heart was blameless all his days.

He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver, gold, and utensils.

And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.