1 Kings 15:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a short account of Abijam, the son of Rehoboam, king of Judah, whose reign was brief. He looks better in 2 Chronicles 13, where we read about his war with Jeroboam, the speech he gave before the armies fought, and the great victory God gave him. There he is called Abijah, which means, “My father is the Lord,” because nothing evil is recorded against him there. But here, where his faults are mentioned, the divine name “Jah” is, as a mark of disgrace, dropped from his name, and he is called Abijam. Compare Jeremiah 22:24.

Very few details are given about him. He began to reign in the first part of Jeroboam’s eighteenth year, because Rehoboam reigned only seventeen years (1 Kings 14:21). Jeroboam outlived Rehoboam, but Rehoboam’s Abijah lived long enough to succeed him and trouble Jeroboam, while Jeroboam’s Abijah, mentioned in 1 Kings 14:1, died before his father. Abijam reigned for less than three years, dying before the end of Jeroboam’s twentieth year (1 Kings 15:9). God cut him off after he grew proud and careless from his great victory over Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:21), making room for his son Asa, who would be a better man.

His mother was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom, that is, Absalom, David’s son. I am inclined to think this is the same Absalom, because two other of Rehoboam’s wives were close relatives of David’s family (2 Chronicles 11:18), one the daughter of Jerimoth, David’s son, and another the daughter of Eliab, David’s brother. He had learned from his father not to marry foreign women, yet he still thought it beneath him to marry ordinary subjects unless they were from the royal line.

He also carried on his father’s wars with Jeroboam. As there had been continual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, though not formal set battles, because those were forbidden (1 Kings 12:24), so there were frequent clashes between Abijam and Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:7). Jeroboam then invaded him with a large army, and Abijam, not being forbidden to defend himself, defeated him and weakened him so badly that Jeroboam was forced to stay quiet for the rest of his reign (2 Chronicles 13:20).

In general, though, we are told that Abijam was not like David. He did not have a sincere love for God’s commands, even if, to strengthen his case against Jeroboam, he claimed the temple and the priesthood as his own and took pride in them (2 Chronicles 13:10-12). Many people boast about being religious while knowing nothing of true godliness. They defend the truth of their religion, yet are not loyal to it themselves. His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God. He seemed zealous, but he lacked sincerity. He started fairly well, but then turned aside and walked in all the sins of his father, following a bad example even after seeing its sad results.

A man who spent his whole life in war should have been wise enough to keep peace with God, not make God his enemy, especially after finding Him such a good friend in the war against Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:18). “When favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:10).

Yet it was for David’s sake that Abijam was raised up and kept on the throne (1 Kings 15:4-5). It was not for his own sake, nor for the sake of his father, whose steps he followed, but for David’s sake, whose example he refused to follow. This makes the sin of a faithless family even worse. They enjoy the benefits of their ancestors’ godliness, and owe their blessings to it, yet they will not imitate that godliness. They stand on that ground, but despise it, trample on it, and foolishly mock and oppose the very thing they live from.

The kingdom of Judah was upheld for two reasons. First, David was to have a lamp, according to God’s promise of a lamp for His anointed (Psalm 132:17). Second, Jerusalem was to be established, not only so the honor given it in David’s and Solomon’s days would remain, but also so it might be kept for the greater honor God intended for it later.

The praise given to David here is very great, that he did what was right in the Lord’s eyes. But there is one striking exception, “except in the matter of Uriah.” That includes both Uriah’s murder and David’s sin with Uriah’s wife. It was a serious stain on his name, a shame that stayed on his record, though the guilt itself was forgiven. David had other faults, but none compared with that one. Yet even that sin, once repented of, did not drive him out of the covenant or break the promise to his family. It was mentioned as a warning to others, but it did not cancel God’s covenant with David’s seed.