2 Chronicles 13:1 - Meaning and Application

Abijah’s mother was called Maachah, the daughter of Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:20). Here she is called Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel. Most likely, she was Absalom’s granddaughter through his daughter Tamar (2 Samuel 14:27), and Uriel was her father. But here we are to follow Abijah into battle with Jeroboam, king of Israel.

First, God allowed Abijah to fight Jeroboam, and supported him in the conflict, even though he would not allow Rehoboam to do so (2 Chronicles 11:4). Jeroboam, it seems, was now the one attacking, and Abijah was acting in self-defense. Jeroboam may have outlived Rehoboam and then claimed Judah’s throne by right of survival, or at least hoped to take it from this young king when he came to power. Abijah was brave to resist such shameless claims, and God stood with him.

When Rehoboam tried to win back the ten tribes, Jeroboam was still being tested. But now Jeroboam had shown what kind of man he was by setting up the calves and casting off the priests, and Abijah is allowed to punish him. It does not appear that Abijah meant anything more than that. Rehoboam, by contrast, aimed at nothing less than bringing the ten tribes fully under his rule, which was against God’s plan.

Second, Jeroboam’s army was twice as large as Abijah’s (2 Chronicles 13:3). Jeroboam had ten tribes to draw from, while Abijah had only two. Both armies are described as mighty men, chosen men, and brave men. Judah had 400,000 soldiers, while Jeroboam’s army had 800,000. Yet the smaller force won, because battle is not always decided by strength or by numbers.

Third, before Abijah fought them, he reasoned with them. He did not try to persuade them to return to the house of David, since that had already been settled by God’s decision and he accepted it. But he did urge them to stop fighting against the house of David. He would not have them resist the kingdom of the Lord in the hands of David’s sons (2 Chronicles 13:8), but at least to be satisfied with what they had. It is wise to use reason before force. If a matter can be settled by argument, that is better than by the sword. We should never turn to violence until every peaceful effort has failed. War should be the last resort of kings. Good reasoning can do a great deal of good and prevent a great deal of harm. “How powerful are right words!”

Abijah had moved his army into the heart of their territory, for he made this speech on a hill in Mount Ephraim, where Jeroboam and his chief officers could hear him. It seems likely that Abijah wanted a treaty, and they agreed to hear him. Great generals often speak to their soldiers to stir them up, and Abijah’s speech may have helped his own men, but it was aimed mainly at Jeroboam and all Israel. He tried to prove two things, for the good of his own people and to convince the enemy.

First, he said that he had the right on his side, a divine right. “You know, or should know, that God gave the kingdom to David and his sons forever” (2 Chronicles 13:5). This was not a rule made by ordinary providence, the usual way God orders kingdoms, but by a covenant of salt, a lasting covenant made by sacrifice, which was always salted, as Bishop Patrick notes. All Israel had once admitted that David was a king made by God, and that God had fixed the crown on his family. So Jeroboam’s first taking of the crown of Israel was not justifiable. Still, Abijah was not mainly talking about that, since Jeroboam had also received a grant from God over the ten tribes. But Jeroboam’s effort to disturb the peace and possession of the king of Judah was clearly wrong, because when the ten tribes were given to him, two tribes were still reserved for the house of David.

Abijah shows, first, how dishonest Jeroboam was in setting himself up as king. “He rebelled against his lord” (2 Chronicles 13:6), the one who had promoted him (1 Kings 11:28). He took advantage of Rehoboam’s weakness at a critical moment. Gratitude toward his former master, and justice toward Rehoboam’s claim, should have led him to support him and help keep the people loyal. Instead, he led a rebellion and made himself a target of judgment. Those who supported him are called worthless men, a phrase perhaps borrowed from Judges 11:3. They were men without firm principle, quick to change, and men of Belial, meaning men who wanted to throw off all rule and choose leaders who would simply do their will.

Second, Abijah shows the great sin in Jeroboam’s present attack. In fighting against the house of David, he was fighting against the kingdom of the Lord. Those who oppose what is right are opposing the righteous God, who sits on the throne and judges justly. They cannot expect success in such a fight. Right may seem to lose for a while, but in the end it will prevail.

Second, Abijah argued that God was on his side. He strongly pressed this point, saying that Jeroboam and his army served false worship and idols, while he and the men of Judah had the pure worship of the true and living God among them. From the account of Abijah in 1 Kings 15:3, it seems he was not himself mainly moved in this war by religion. For whatever else may be said of him, he does not appear to have been an idolater, and though he may have tolerated the high places and images (2 Chronicles 14:3, 5), he did keep the temple service going. Also, whatever sins were in Judah, their religion was still better than Israel’s, and that was the kingdom they were now fighting.

It is common for people who deny true godliness to boast about its outward form. Abijah was also speaking for the cause of his own kingdom. And though he was not as good as he should have been, he hoped that for the sake of the good people and good things in Judah, God would now act for them. Many people have little religion themselves, yet still have enough sense to value it in others.

See how he describes Israel’s turning away from God. “You are a great multitude,” he says, “far stronger than we are in number, but you do not need to fear us, because you already have enough within yourselves to bring ruin on yourselves.” First, “You have calves for your gods” (2 Chronicles 13:8), and they cannot protect or help you. Instead, they will surely bring the true and living God against you. They will be like Achan, a troublemaker in your camp. Second, “You have low men for your priests” (2 Chronicles 13:9).

You have rejected the tribes of Levi and the house of Aaron, whom God chose to serve in holy things. Instead, following the custom of idolatrous nations, you make any man a priest if he wants the office and can pay the cost of ordination, even if he brings shame on the office.

Yet people like that, though very unfit to be priests, were the best priests they could find. What better fit for gods that are not gods than priests who are not really priests? It is a case of like for like, with both the gods and the priests being mere pretenders and usurpers.

As for Judah, it has not abandoned God. The Lord is our God, the God of our fathers, the God of Israel, the one able to protect us and give us success. He is with us, because we are with him.

First, he is with us at home in his temple. We keep his charge (2 Chronicles 13:10, 2 Chronicles 13:11). We worship no images, have no priests except those he appointed, and follow no rules of worship except those he gave. Both the temple service and the temple furniture came from his own hand. We stand by his command and do not add to it or take from it. These are our comfort, and these are what we now defend. So we have the better case, both in religion and in civil rule.

Second, he is with us here in the camp. He is our commander, so we can be sure he is with us, because we are with him (2 Chronicles 13:12). As a sign of his presence, we have his priests here with us, sounding the trumpets as the law requires, a witness against you and a promise to us that, in the day of battle, we will be remembered before the Lord our God and saved from our enemies. That is the meaning of this holy signal (Numbers 10:9).

Nothing strengthens people more, or gives them more courage, than knowing God is with them and fights for them. He ends with a clear warning to his enemies: do not fight against the God of your fathers. It is foolish to fight against almighty God, and it is treacherous and ungrateful to fight against your fathers’ God. You cannot expect to succeed.