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June 25th

The bible reading today is in 1 Kings 15 and 2 Chronicles 13,14,15,16.

Two kings in Judah and two kings of Israel...the rebellious ten tribes. The podcast today will focus on Abijam, who followed Rehoboam, his father, as King of the states of Judah and Benjamin for three years.

“Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.”

‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭15:1, 3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Abijam’s heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his great grandfather David. We know that David fell to temptation and sinning during his reign as King of the twelve tribes of Israel. His sinning included adultery and murder.

Question: “With those sins on David’s record, how could he be described as a man whose heart was wholly true to God?

Brokenness...brokenness over his sinning. David repented and forsook his sin. The Spirit of God upon him would not let him get away with a thing. I am reminded of the words of Jesus...”If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Jesus was describing a disciple’s heart, not his scorecard. Perfection? No! But committed, even unto death, to follow their Savior God!

The reading today shows, “at best”, that Abijam’s heart was divided, lukewarm toward God. No wonder. “Abijam walked in all the sins of his father”. That would include the sin of refusing to tear down the altars built for the worship of foreign gods. The sin of turning a blind eye to the unrepentant sin of God’s people and simply allowing it to continue without Godly confrontation. And the sin of arrogance that abandoned the counsel of the old men. No wonder his reign did not last but 3 years.

I was also intrigued by something God did on behalf of Abijam. “Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭13:15‬ ‭

Jereboam, king of the 10 tribes of Israel, listened to the preaching of Abijam, but instead of submitting to the word of God, Jereboam attacked Judah. Do you think Jereboam refused to take Abijam’s message seriously because of the seeming hypocrisy of the messenger? Preaching truth but not consistently living it? Maybe we will find that out in heaven one day.

800,000 to 400,000. That was the advantage that Jereboam had on Abijam. Abijam cried out to the Lord, and God won a victory for Judah that day.

Glory to God. Perhaps this was God blessing the “unworthy” for the sake of His name and the promise He gave to a man after God’s own heart.

Have a good day.