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Matthew Henry |
S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E S
CHAP. XIII.
We have here a much fuller account of the reign of Abijah, the son of
Rehoboam, than we had in the Kings. There we found that his character
was no better than his father’s–he “walked in the sins of his father,
and his heart was not right with God,”
But here we find him more brave and successful in war than his father
was. He reigned but three years, and was chiefly famous for a glorious
victory he obtained over the forces of Jeroboam. Here we have,
I. The armies brought into the field on both sides,
The remonstrance which Abijah made before the battle, setting forth the
justice of his cause,
III. The distress which Judah was brought into by the policy of
Jeroboam,
IV. The victory they obtained notwithstanding, by the power of God,
V. The conclusion of Abijah’s reign,
| Abijah’s Reign over Judah. | B. C. 957. |
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1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to
reign over Judah.
2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also
was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war
between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3 And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant
men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam
also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred
thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
4 And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount
Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;
5 Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the
kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his
sons by a covenant of salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son
of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.
7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of
Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son
of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could
not withstand them.
8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the
hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and
there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for
gods.
9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of
Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the
manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh
to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the
same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
10 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not
forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD,
are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their
business:
11 And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening
burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they
in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with
the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge
of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.
12 And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and
his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O
children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your
fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
Abijah’s mother was called Maachah, the daughter of Absalom,
here she is called Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel. It is most
probable that she was a grand-daughter of Absalom, by his daughter
Tamar
and that her immediate father was this Uriel. But we are here to attend
Abijah into the field of battle with Jeroboam king of Israel.
I. God gave him leave to engage with Jeroboam, and owned him in the
conflict, though he would not permit Rehoboam to do it,
1. Jeroboam, it is probable, was now the aggressor, and what Abijah did
was in his own necessary defence. Jeroboam, it may be, happening to
survive Rehoboam, claimed the crown of Judah be survivorship, at least
hoped to get it from this young king, upon his accession to the throne.
Against these impudent pretensions it was brave in Abijah to take up
arms, and God stood by him.
2. When Rehoboam attempted to recover his ten tribes Jeroboam was upon
his good behaviour, and there must be some trial of him; but now that
he had discovered what manner of man he was, by setting up the calves
and casting off the priests, Abijah is allowed to chastise him, and it
does not appear that he intended any more; whereas Rehoboam aimed at no
less than the utter reduction of the ten tribes, which was contrary to
the counsel of God.
II. Jeroboam’s army was double in number to that of Abijah
(v. 3),
for he had ten tribes to raise an army out of, while Abijah had but
two. Of the army on both sides it is said, they were mighty men,
chosen men, and valiant; but the army of Judah consisted
only of 400,000, while Jeroboam’s army amounted to 800,000. The
inferior number however proved victorious; for the battle is not always
to the strong nor the cause to the majority.
III. Abijah, before he fought them, reasoned with them, to persuade
them, though not to return to the house of David (that matter was
settled by the divine determination and he acquiesced), yet to desist
from fighting against the house of David. He would not have them
withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hands of the sons of
David
(v. 8),
but at least to be content with what they had. Note, It is good to try
reason before we use force. If the point may be gained by dint of
argument, better so than by dint of sword. We must never fly to violent
methods till all the arts of persuasion have been tried in vain. War
must be the ultima ratio regum—the last resort of kings.
Fair reasoning may do a great deal of good and prevent a good deal of
mischief. How forcible are right words! Abijah had got with his
army into the heart of their country; for he made this speech upon a
hill in Mount Ephraim, where he might be heard by Jeroboam and the
principal officers, with whom it is probable he desired to have a
treaty, to which they consented. It has been usual for great generals
to make speeches to their soldiers to animate them, and this speech of
Abijah had some tendency to do this, but was directed to Jeroboam and
all Israel. Two things Abijah undertakes to make out, for the
satisfaction of his own men and the conviction of the enemy:–
1. That he had right on his side, a jus divinum—a divine
right: “You know, or ought to know, that God gave the kingdom to
David and his sons for ever”
(v. 5),
not by common providence, his usual way of disposing of kingdoms, but
by a covenant of salt, a lasting covenant, a covenant made by
sacrifice, which was always salted; so bishop Patrick. All Israel had
owned that David was a king of God’s making, and that God had entailed
the crown upon his family; so that Jeroboam’s taking the crown of
Israel at first was not justifiable: yet it is not certain that Abijah
referred chiefly to that, for he knew that Jeroboam had a grant from
God of the ten tribes. His attempt, however, to disturb the peace and
possession of the king of Judah was by no means excusable; for when the
ten tribes were given to him two were reserved for the house of David.
Abijah shows,
(1.) That there was a great deal of dishonesty and disingenuousness in
Jeroboam’s first setting himself up: He rebelled against his
lord
(v. 6)
who had preferred him
and basely took advantage of Rehoboam’s weakness in a critical
juncture, when, in gratitude to his old master and in justice to his
title, he ought rather to have stood by him, and helped to secure the
people in their allegiance to him, than to head a party against him and
make a prey of him, which was unworthily done and what he could not
expect to prosper in. Those that supported him are here called vain
men (a character perhaps borrowed from
men that did not act from any steady principle, but were given to
change, and men of Belial, that were for shaking off the yoke of
government and setting those over them that would do just as they would
have them do.
(2.) That there was a great deal of impiety in his present attempt;
for, in fighting against the house of David, he fought against the
kingdom of the Lord. Those who oppose right oppose the righteous
God who sits in the throne judging right, and cannot promise themselves
success in so doing. Right may indeed go by the worst for a time, but
it will prevail at last.
2. That he had God on his side. This he insisted much upon, that the
religion of Jeroboam and his army was false and idolatrous, but that he
and his people, the men of Judah, had the pure worship of the true and
living God among them. It appears from the character given of Abijah
that he was not himself in this war chiefly from the religion of his
kingdom. For,
(1.) Whatever he was otherwise, it should seem that he was no idolator,
or, if he connived at the high places and images
yet he constantly kept up the temple-service.
(2.) Whatever corruptions there were in the kingdom of Judah, the state
of religion among them was better than in the kingdom of Israel, with
which they were now contending.
(3.) It is common for those that deny the power of godliness to boast
of the form of it.
(4.) It was the cause of his kingdom that he was pleading; and, though
he was not himself so good as he should have been, yet he hoped that,
for the sake of the good men and good things that were in Judah, God
would now appear for them. Many that have little religion themselves
yet have so much sense and grace as to value it in others. See how he
describes,
[1.] The apostasy of Israel from God. “You are a great
multitude,” said he, “far superior to us in number; but we need not
fear you, for you have that among yourselves which is enough to ruin
you. For,” First, “You have calves for your gods
(v. 8),
that are unable to protect and help you and will certainly cause the
true and living God to oppose you. Those will be Achans, troublers of
your camp.” Secondly, “You have base men for your priests,
v. 9.
You have cast off the tribes of Levi, and the house of Aaron, whom God
appointed to minister in holy things; and, in conformity to the custom
of the idolatrous nations, make any man a priest that has a mind to the
office and will be at the charge of the consecration, though ever so
much a scandal to the office.” Yet such, though very unfit to be
priests, were fittest of all to be their priests; for what more
agreeable to gods that were no gods than priests that were no priests?
Like to like, both pretenders and usurpers.
[2.] The adherence of Judah to God: “But as for us
(v. 10)
we have not forsaken God. Jehovah is our God, the God of our
fathers, the God of Israel, who is able to protect us, and give us
success. He is with us, for we are with him.” First, “At home in
his temple: We keep his charge,
v. 10, 11.
We worship no images, have no priests but what he has ordained, no
rites of worship but what he has prescribed. Both the temple service
and the temple furniture are of his appointing. His appointment we
abide by, and neither add nor diminish. These we have the comfort of,
these we now stand up in the defence of: so that upon a religious as
well as a civil account we have the better cause. Secondly,
Here in the camp; he is our captain, and we may therefore be sure that
he is with us, because we are with him,
And, as a token of his presence, we have here with us his priests,
sounding his trumpets according to the law, as a testimony against you,
and an assurance to us that in the day of battle we shall be
remembered before the Lord our God and saved from our
enemies;” for so this sacred signal is explained,
Nothing is more effectual to embolden men, and put spirit into them,
than to be sure that God is with them and fights for them. He
concludes with fair warning to his enemies. “Fight not against the
God of your fathers. It is folly to fight against the God of
almighty power; but it is treachery and base ingratitude to fight
against your fathers’ God, and you cannot expect to prosper.”
| Jeroboam Defeated by Abijah. | B. C. 957. |
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13 But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them:
so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.
14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before
and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded
with the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah
shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel
before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God
delivered them into their hand.
17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter:
so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen
men.
18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time,
and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the
LORD God of their fathers.
19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him,
Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns
thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.
20 Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of
Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.
21 But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and
begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his
sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
We do not find that Jeroboam offered to make any answer at all to
Abijah’s speech. Though it was much to the purpose, he resolved not to
heed it, and therefore he heard it as though he heard it not. He came
to fight, not to dispute. The longest sword, he thought, would
determine the matter, not the better cause. Let us therefore see the
issue, whether right and religion carried the day or no.
I. Jeroboam, who trusted to his politics, was beaten. He was so far
from fair reasoning that he was not for fair fighting. We may suppose
that he felt a sovereign contempt for Abijah’s harangue. “One
stratagem,” thinks he, “is worth twenty such speeches; we will soon
give him an answer to all his arguments; he shall soon find himself
overpowered with numbers, surrounded on every side with the instruments
of death, and then let him boast of his religion and his title to the
crown.” A parley, it is probable, was agreed on, yet Jeroboam basely
takes the advantage of it, and, while he was treating, laid his
ambushment behind Judah, against all the laws of arms. What honour
could be expected in a servant when he reigned? Abijah was
for peace, but, when he spoke, they were for war,
Ps. cxx. 7.
II. Abijah and his people, who trusted in their God, came off
conquerors, notwithstanding the disproportion of their strength and
numbers.
1. They were brought into a great strait, put into a great fright, for
the battle was before and behind. A good cause, and one which is
designed to be victorious, may for a season be involved in
embarrassment and distress. It was David’s case. They compassed me
about like bees,
Ps. cxviii. 10-12.
2. In their distress, when danger was on every side, which way should
they look but upwards for deliverance? It is an unspeakable comfort
that no enemy (not the most powerful or politic), no stratagem or
ambushment, can cut off our communication with heaven; our way
thitherward is always open.
(1.) They cried unto the Lord,
v. 14.
We hope they did this before they engaged in this war, but the distress
they were in made them renew their prayers and quickened them to be
importunate. God brings his people into straits, that he may teach them
to cry unto him. Earnest praying is crying.
(2.) They relied on the God of their fathers, depended upon his
power to help them and committed themselves to him,
The prayer of faith is the prevailing prayer, and this is that by which
we overcome the world, even our faith,
1 John v. 4.
(3.) The priests sounded the trumpets to animate them by giving
them an assurance of God’s presence with them. It was not only a
martial but a sacred sound, and put life into their faith.
(4.) They shouted in confidence of victory: “The day is our own, for
God is with us.” To the cry of the prayer they added the shout of
faith, and so became more than conquerors.
3. Thus they obtained a complete victory: As the men of Judah
shouted for joy in God’s salvation, God smote Jeroboam and
his army with such terror and amazement that they could not strike a
stroke, but fled with the greatest precipitation imaginable, and the
conquerors gave no quarter, so that they put to the sword 500,000
chosen men
(v. 17),
more, it is said, than ever we read of in any history to have been
killed in one battle; but the battle was the Lord’s, who would thus
chastise the idolatry of Israel and own the house of David. But see the
sad effect of division: it was the blood of Israelites that was thus
shed like water by Israelites, while the heathen, their neighbours, to
whom the name of Israel had formerly been a terror, cried, Aha!
so would we have it.
4. The consequence of this was that the children of Israel, though they
were not brought back to the house of David (which by so great a blow
surely they would have been had not the determinate counsel of God been
otherwise), yet, for that time, were brought under,
v. 18.
Many cities were taken, and remained in the possession of the kings of
Judah; as Bethel particularly,
What became of the golden calf there, when it came into the hands of
the king of Judah, we are not told; perhaps it was removed to some
place of greater safety, and at length to Samaria
(Hos. viii. 5);
yet in Jehu’s time we find it at Bethel,
Perhaps Abijah, when it was in his power to demolish it, suffered it to
stand, for his heart was not perfect with God; and, not
improving what he had got for the honour of God, he soon lost it all
again.
Lastly, The death of both of the conquered and of the conqueror,
not long after.
1. Jeroboam never looked up after this defeat, though he survived it
two or three years. He could not recover strength again,
v. 20.
The Lord struck him either with some bodily disease, of which he
languished, or with melancholy and trouble of mind; his heart was
broken, and vexation at his loss brought his head, probably by this
time a hoary head, with sorrow to the grave. He escaped the sword of
Abijah, but God struck him: and there is no escaping his sword.
2. Abijah waxed mighty upon it. What number of wives and children he
had before does not appear; but now he multiplied his wives to fourteen
in all, by whom he had thirty-eight children,
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of those arrows. It seems,
he had ways peculiar to himself, and sayings of his own, which were
recorded with his acts in the history of those times,
But the number of his months was cut off in the midst, and, soon after
his triumphs, death conquered the conqueror. Perhaps he was too much
lifted up with his victories, and therefore God would not let him live
long to enjoy the honour of them.
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