1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom. 3 He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. 4 Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 6 There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam throughout Abijah’s lifetime. 7 As for the other events of Abijah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 8 And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king.
Abijah, one of the sons of Rehoboam, did not follow the Lord fully. This is a sad pattern throughout the entire book of Kings, one which is broken up by good kings. In fact, the trend in Israel is that all the kings are bad kings. In Judah, we see that they are mostly good at first, then throughout the long reign of the kings we see that the trend reverses and most of the kings are bad, occasionally broken up by a good king. This shows the erosion of morality in Judah most profoundly. In Abijah’s case, his role model, Rehoboam, takes him down the same road. In 2 Chronicles 13, we see that Abijah knew something of God. He could rally his troops for the Lord, but he didn’t remove the sexual immorality that Rehoboam had allowed. Because he showed no definitive loyalty to God, his reign was not blessed. In this book we will see that those who follow God generally have long peace-filled reigns, while those who do not have short ones. Abijah’s reign was a mere three years.
It is also important to note that the covenant God made with David secured the covenant. It had little to do with Abijah’s behavior and everything to to do with David’s unflinching faith. As we will see, God’s covenant persists because of David, not because of the quality of the individual kings.
Asa King of Judah 9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.
In our first introduction to Asa we see that he isn’t like his father. He is a great grandson of Solomon and cut from a different cloth. His reign, in contrast to his father, is a long one. He is measured here against David, not his father, which is usually the case with the subsequent kings.
12 He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made. 13 He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
Part of what made Asa a man who followed God was his devotion to purging the land of the idols that had run rampant during Rehoboam’s time. First, he cleansed the temple of the male shrine prostitutes, which shows that the influences of the surrounding pagan religions had infiltrated the temple. Next, he went through the land and helped the people get back in alignment with the true God. This flushing of the bad from his community extended even to his inner circle. He deposed his own grandmother because of her idol-influence. Asa burned these images and idols in the valley of Kidron, which was the main garage dump for the city.
14 Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 15 He brought into the temple of the Lord the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
This seems like a contradiction. If his heart was fully for the Lord, then Asa would have removed ALL of the high places. 2 Chronicles 14:3 gives us a little clarification. It appears that Asa removed the altars that were reserved for the “strange” or false gods, but not those dedicated to the Lord. He restored silver and gold articles dedicated to the temple, replacing those which had been stolen by Shishak during the reign of Rehoboam.
16 There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. 17 Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah. 18 Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 19 “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.” 20 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah. 23 As for all the other events of Asa’s reign, all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became diseased. 24 Then Asa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king.
Baasha, an evil king from Israel, waged war against Asa during both of their reigns. This underlines the problem with Israel. The tribes, a collective unit of God’s people, were tragically broken into pieces. They fought over the very lands that God had given to them during their flight from Egypt.
Asa then takes the treasures of the temple and his palace and secures the favor of Ben-Hadad. It appears that Baasha needed Syria’s help if they were overthrow Judah, and the securing of Syria would strike a blow to them. But God doesn’t like this idea. In fact, 2 Chronicles 16:7-10 gives us more detail:
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.
Asa’s response to the word of God is troubling. It is a chance for his to humble himself, but instead he imprisons the seer and begins to brutalize the people. It seems that for 36 years Asa followed God, but in the last 5 his bitterness becomes a snare. He seems to not want to take God’s correction. When his feet become diseased, we see another chance for Asa to humble himself, but he does not. 2 Chronicles 16:12 says this:
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians.
King Asa does not rely on the Lord but on his doctors. Asa turns away from God in the final days of his reign, his bitterness apparent. Perhaps he followed God well for so long he expected a reward. Or maybe he thought he was above correction. Either way, Asa was a good king until his bitterness got the best of him. Asa did not finish well.
Nadab King of Israel 25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit. 27 Baasha son of Ahijah from the tribe of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. 28 Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king. 29 As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the Lord given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. 30 This happened because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel. 31 As for the other events of Nadab’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 32 There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.
Nabad, the son of Jeroboam, follows in his father’s footsteps. His reign was two years. Again, looking at the reigns of the kings, the shorter the reign shows us the lack of blessing God had on him. 2 Chronicles 11:14 tells us that Jeroboam and his sons had a hand in destroying Israel’s religious roots by driving the priests to Judah. In 1 Kings 11:38 God promised Jeroboam a dynasty equal to the covenant of David, yet with Nabad’s murder, Jeroboam’s dynasty ends. 1 Kings 14: 10-16 tells of Abijah’s prophecy on the house of Jeroboam.
Baasha King of Israel 33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
Baasha, as we have seen in the story of both Asa and Nabad, was an evil man who killed his way into power. He followed in the ways of Jeroboam in a spiritual sense, although he wasn’t part of Jeroboam’s physical lineage. As we can see in the first few kings of Israel (Jeroboam, Nabad and Baasha), Israel (the 10 northern tribes) are in deep spiritual trouble.