Chapter 15
Abijam becomes King in Judah. Abijam was earlier called Abijah (per MSB note referencing 2Chr 13:1,2). Abijah means "my father is the Lord", Abijam means "father of the sea". Maybe God changed his name because of his sin. Though he does the wrong things, as his father Solomon did, still God tolerates him because of David and the promise to him. He is only King for three years. 1 Kings does not tell us how he died. All we know is that he warred with Jeroboam, and his acts are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. So perhaps more there.
2024 - Note the comparison between Abijam, great-grandson of the David, who had been first in his line, and Jeroboam, who was first in his line, in these verses:
4 Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, 5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. [1Ki 15:4-5 ESV]; and then
10 therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. [1Ki 14:10 ESV].
Just wow! Both these kings were failures in the eyes of God. One was severely punished, including the horrible deaths of all his male children and male servants, who would lie dead and unburied stinking up the countryside, to preempt the continuation of that royal line. The other, arguably just as bad as the first, has his son follow him on the throne, because of the faithfulness of an ancestor. God probably sent both these men to hell for their sins, but not for their father's sins. Their punishment or reward in this world though, was highly influenced by the behavior of their fathers.
These two things are often confused - worldly consequences can be the opposite of what we might see as just, but reflect God's longer term, wiser, and more knowledgeable plans. But eternal consequences are always based on one thing - faith in Jesus Christ.
Long FB post, but possible.
There is this interesting verse:
5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. [1Ki 15:5 ESV]
A good one to know should anyone claim that God blessed David and gave him a blank check to sin if he wanted to do so. Not the case at all. God remembers David's sin very well, and there are all those Psalms where David pleads with God to let his punishment for that sin come to an end. 2021 - And I also note that Uriah the Hittite is called the exception. The only exception in David's life. So those other things David did that we might question today were not considered unrighteous by God.
Asa becomes King when Abijam dies. Asa had the same mother and father as Abijam. This makes sense as Abijam would not really have had an heir after only three years. Could also be that there was some palace intrigue that resulted in Abijam's brother ruling in his place. MSB notes that in some translations Maacah, mother of Abijam, is called the Grandmother of Asa. So hard to tell so far.
Asa is a good King, doing as David did with respect to the Lord. He removed the "male cult prostitutes" and the idols that his fathers had made. Further, he removed Maacah as Queen Mother because of a detestable idol she had made to Asherah. (This is the verse that sometimes calls Maacah Asa's Grandmother.) This would have been difficult, and an example to all Judah. Asa burns the idol that she made. Still, Asa did not take away the high places. They are allowed to stay. Asa rules from 911-870 BC per MSB.
Asa is at war with Baasha King of Israel for the whole 41 years. Baasha builds Ramah, about 5 miles north of Jerusalem on the main N/S highway. This effectively blockades Jerusalem, especially from the north. Asa makes a treaty with Ben-hadad of Syria, and sends him gold and silver, and asks Ben-hadad to break his treaty with Baasha. Ben-hadad does so, and invades Israel, forcing Baasha to stop work on Ramah and abandon it, and see to his own lands. Then Asa gathered up all the building materials used in Ramah and built other cities with them.
Asa rules 41 years. In his old age, he is diseased in his feet. He dies and his son Jehoshaphat becomes King.
Nadab takes over for Jeroboam in Israel the second year of Asa. Nadab only rules for two years. Nadab is basically assassinated. Nadab and the army of Israel are at war against the Philistine town of Gebbethon, and Baasha kills Nadab.
2025 - Baasha kills Nadab in wartime, on the field, as Israel is besieging Gibbethon. He killed the leader of the country in the middle of a battle. What circumstances could have led to such a thing? And why did Nadab's bodyguards not protect him, and not immediately avenge him? Unless...God brought it all about so that the prophecy against the house of Jereboam could be fulfilled. One might imagine that pretty much all of Jereboam's descendants, slaves, and friends would have been present at such a siege. A high percentage of the MEN who had been cursed may well have been there. Dispatching them would have been much easier under these circumstances. Easier than tracking them all down if they were scattered throughout the country!
Baasha then declares himself the new king. Note that this breaks the line of Kings from Jeroboam. First thing Baasha does is kill every single descendant of the house of Jeroboam. Every single one, just as God had told Jeroboam when Jeroboam built the golden calves in Israel. Here is the verse:
29 And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. [1Ki 15:29 ESV]
Baasha reigns 24 years, and does evil for the entire time.
All this in just one chapter...