I. THE SLIGHTNESS AND VALUELESSNESS OF HUMAN FAME. He was a descendant of David, and a king reigning at Jerusalem, and he gained a somewhat brilliant victory over his rival at Mount Ephraim—"the rest of his acts and his ways and sayings are written in the story of the Prophet Iddo;" but who reads them there, or who can tell us anything of what is there contained? In the Book of the Kings (1 Kings 5:7) we are referred to our text for the details of his career. But how scanty we find them to be! How little do we know of this once proud and "mighty" monarch; and how content we are that we know so little! And of what entire valuelessness to him would any fuller knowledge on our part be! We need not be concerned that our name and fame will traverse so small a part of this globe, and travel so short a space of time; that we shall be so soon forgotten. Kings and statesmen, whose chances of fame were far greater than ours, have found how ephemeral and how worthless a thing is fame. To be loved by those whom we have blessed, to be esteemed by the good and true, to be honoured of God to take some part in the promotion of his glorious kingdom,—that is the heritage to be coveted and to be gained.
II. THE BRITTLENESS OF EARTHLY FORTUNE. When Abijah ascended the throne of Judah, he had, probably, good reason for expecting a long period of honour and enjoyment. But three short years brought his hopes down to the ground. Some disease showed itself in his frame, or some accident befell him, or some treacherous blow struck him, and he went down to the grave with his early hopes unfulfilled. And who shall say that the young man of our acquaintance, of our connection, of our affection, who has such bright prospects before him, will not find, by a sad disillusion, that the term of his happiness and his honour is a very brief one; that a few years, or even months, will bring him to his grave? "Love not the world, neither the things which are in the world The world passeth away … but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
III. THE DANGER OF GREAT SUCCESS. We read in the preceding verse (2 Chronicles 13:20) that Jeroboam never "recovered strength again" after his humiliating defeat at Mount Ephraim. We might with equal truth say of Abijah that he never recovered from his success. He was apparently elated by it, and, in the perilous mood of complacency, he gave himself up to culpable domestic licence (2 Chronicles 13:21). His latter days were spent in home luxuries and (it is only too likely) in revelries and follies. His success was too much for him; as, indeed, success very often proves to be. Many men can stand misfortune; comparatively few can stand prosperity. It is a "slippery place," where the unguarded human spirit falls, and is badly bruised, if not broken. If the tide of success should set in, whether of wealth, or honour, or power, or affection, let there be unusual watchfulness and multiplied devotion; for the hour of prosperity is that hour when the archers of the enemy will be busy with their arrows.
IV. THE VALUE OF WHOLE-HEARTEDNESS IN THE SERVICE OF THE SUPREME. Where shall we look to find the fatal flaw that accounts for this royal failure? We find it here (1 Kings 15:3). Abijah's heart was "not perfect with the Lord his God;" that is to say, his heart was "divided," and therefore he was "found faulty" (Hosea 10:2). He did not seek God "with his whole heart." He was willing enough to try and charm with the Divine Name and the Divine will and Law (see 2 Chronicles 13:5-10), but he was not prepared to walk uprightly and faithfully, as "the heart of David his father," before the Lord his God. If our devotion be nothing more than a desire to have God on our side in the day of battle, we shall show small consistency of conduct and little excellence of character. The religious character that will stand the test both of sunshine and shadow is that of the man who realizes the supreme claims of God, his Father and his Saviour, and who solemnly and determinately dedicates himself, heart and life, to "the Lord his God." It is only whole-heartedness in the service of Christ that will ensure us against the perils of adversity and prosperity.—C.
HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW
2 Chronicles 13:1, 2 Chronicles 13:2, 2 Chronicles 13:21, 2 Chronicles 13:22
The successor of Rehoboam.
I. HIS NAME. Abijah, "whose father is Jehovah" (1 Kings 14:1); Abijam, "father of the sea," i.e. a maritime man (1 Kings 14:31; 1 Kings 15:1); or Abia (LXX.). If Abijam be not a clerical mistake, then the hypothesis is at least interesting that the Chronicler adopted the form Abijah because he did not intend to describe this king's reign as wicked, while the writer of the Kings, having this intention, frequently selected the form Abijam (Kitto).
II. HIS MOTHER. Micaiah, or Maacha (2 Chronicles 11:20), the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, and the daughter (equivalent to granddaughter by the mother's side) of Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:20), or Abishalom (1 Kings 15:2). The notion (Bahr) that Abijah's wife, the mother of Asa, was also called Maacah (2 Chronicles 15:10) is not necessary, and still less the hypothesis (Bertheau) that in this place the name of Abijah's wife has been substituted for that of his mother.
III. HIS WIVES. Fourteen in number, of whom one was (on the supposition just named) Maacah, the names of the others being unknown. Like his father Rehoboam, grandfather Solomon, and great-grandfather David, Abijah practised polygamy. A parent's vices are considerably easier to copy than his virtues. Those also are likelier than these to be transmitted by heredity.
IV. HIS OFFSPRING. Twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. Of the former only one is known, Asa his successor, the rest having disappeared from the stage of history as from that of time. Obscurity, the common lot of men; yet not always a disadvantage in itself, or a proof of inferior merit. Some of the world's greatest men have been unknown to their contemporaries; and Abijah's unnamed sons may have been superior persons to Asa.
V. HIS REIGN.
1. Its sphere. Judah, the southern kingdom, Jeroboam still exercising sovereignty over the northern.
2. Its seat. Jerusalem, the capital of Israel being Samaria.
3. Its duration. Three years, beginning in the eighteenth and ending in the twentieth year of Jeroboam.
4. Its character. Troubled. "There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam."
VI. HIS END.
1. His death. "He slept with his fathers" (2 Chronicles 14:1).
2. His burial. "He was laid in the city of David."
3. His biography. The story of his life, of his acts, ways, and sayings, was written by the Prophet Iddo.
VII. HIS CHARACTER.
1. His ability. Undoubted.
2. His piety. Decided. Notwithstanding his polygamy, he was
LESSONS.
1. Jehovah in the heart is better than Jehovah in the name.
2. A weak and wicked father may have a capable and good son.
3. The value of a man's life is not determined by the length of his days.
4. One may have faults and yet be religious.
5. Every one should strive to live so as to be remembered for good after death.—W.
2 Chronicles 13:3-19
A great war in a short reign.
I. THE CONTENDING ARMIES. (2 Chronicles 13:3.)
1. Their leaders. Of the army of Judah, Abijah; of the host of Israel, Jeroboam—both capable generals, and each the inspiring spirit of his troops.
2. Their numbers. Of Judah, four hundred thousand men—one hundred thousand fewer than Joab numbered to Judah; of Israel, eight hundred thousand—exactly the number Joab counted to Israel (2 Samuel 24:9).
3. Their quality.
(a) heroes of war, veterans experienced in former campaigns under Rehoboam, and
(b) chosen or picked men, literally, "men of youth," whose powers were at their best (Jeremiah 18:1-23:31).
(a) chosen men and
(b) mighty men of valour. Thus both armies were well matched.
4. Their position. Over against each other, in the vicinity of Mount Zemaraim, near Bethel (Joshua 18:22)—"probably the large ruin Samrah, north of Jericho", and perhaps at that time the northern limit of Abijah's territory (Ewald); obviously so close to one another that to them the words of Shakespeare ('King Henry V.,' act
4. chorus) may be fitly applied—
"From camp to camp, thro' the foul womb of night,
The hum of either army stilly sounds,
That the fix'd sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers of each other's watch:
Fire answers fire: and through their paly flames
Each battle sees the other's umber'd face:
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs
Piercing the night's dull ear; and from the tents,
The armourers, accomplishing the knights,
With busy hammers closing rivets up,
Give dreadful note of preparation."
II. THE SPEECH OF ABIJAH. (2 Chronicles 13:4-12.)
1. Whence spoken, From Mount Zemaraim, in Ephraim, as Jotham had formerly spoken to the Shechemites from Mount Gerizim ( 9:7).
2. To whom addressed. To Jeroboam and all Israel. Generals commonly harangue their troops before going into action (1 Samuel 4:9; 2 Samuel 10:11, 2 Samuel 10:12; 2 Chronicles 18:30; cf. 'King Henry V.,' act 4. sc. 3); Abijah directs his speech to his foes, as David did to Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45), and Rabshakeh to the envoys of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:28-35; cf. 'Richard II.,' act 3. sc. 3).
3. Of what composed. Of a long, earnest argument, dissuasive, and appeal, for the purpose of inducing Jeroboam and his warriors to desist from their mad enterprise of attempting to conquer Judah. According to Abijah they could not succeed, for a variety of reasons.
III. THE AMBUSHMENT OF JEROBOAM. (2 Chronicles 13:13, 2 Chronicles 13:14.)
1. Skilfully prepared.
2. Courageously met. Though surprised, the men of Judah were not thrown into panic. Realizing their danger, they confronted it:
IV. THE VICTORY OF JUDAH. (2 Chronicles 13:15-18.)
1. The source of it. God. Not Abijah or Judah, but Eiohim smote Jeroboam and all Israel. "Safety ['victory,' Revised Version] is of the Lord" (Proverbs 21:13), and "it is he that giveth salvation [or, 'deliverance '] unto kings" (Psalms 144:10). "Jehovah is a Man of war," sang Miriam (Exodus 15:3); while David owned, "He teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight" (Psalms 18:34; Psalms 144:1).
2. The time of it. "As the men of Judah shouted." So "the Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him" (Psalms 145:18); and "whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be delivered" (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13), even while they are calling (Isaiah 65:24). Cf. the rescue of Jehoshaphat at Ramoth-Gilead (2 Chronicles 18:31).
3. The ground of it. "Because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers' (2 Chronicles 13:18). That Jehovah should prove a Buckler to them that trusted in him accorded exactly with the representations of the Divine character furnished by Scripture (Genesis 15:1; Deuteronomy 20:1; Joshua 1:9; Psalms 17:7; Psalms 115:9), and had frequently Been verified in the experience of both sections of the kingdom-Joshua's soldiers at Jericho (Joshua 6:12, etc.), and Gideon's at the well of Harod ( 7:1, 7:21), because they trusted in the sword of Jehovah more than in their own weapons. So David prevailed over the Philistine (1 Samuel 17:45), Hezekiah over the Assyrian king, and the Philistines (2 Kings 18:5, 2 Kings 18:8) and the Reubenites over the Hagarites (1 Chronicles 5:20). Confidence in God the strongest guarantee a Christian can have of emerging triumphantly from any moral or spiritual conflict (Psalms 26:1; Psalms 33:20, Psalms 33:21; Isaiah 12:2; 2 Corinthians 1:10; Romans 8:38).
4. The extent of it.
LESSONS.
1. The sinfulness of unjustifiable rebellion.
2. The horrors of war.
3. The political value of religion.
4. The power of faith.
5. The reward of sin.—W.
2 Chronicles 13:20
The career of Jeroboam.
I. AN EXAMPLE OF DISAPPOINTED AMBITION. A striking illustration of how "vaulting ambition overleaps itself, and falls on the other side." Its stages reveal the insatiable character of that "fire and motion of the soul which will not dwell in its own narrow being, but aspires beyond the fitting medium of desire" (Byron).
1. Promoted to a position of trust. Originally a servant of Solomon, he was appointed master of works for the house of Judah, 1.e, superintendent of the Ephraimite contingent of workmen (1 Kings 11:28).
2. Plotting sedition. Invested with "brief authority," he began to meditate ambitious thoughts, which probably the Shilonite with his prophetic glance discerned (1 Kings 11:37).
3. Married to a princess. Compelled to flee from Palestine, he found in Egypt, at the court of Shishak, both a harbour of refuge and a balm for his wounds—he became the husband of a princess and the brother-in-law of Pharaoh (1 Kings 11:40).
4. Further promotion,. Recalled to Palestine, he was first elected a spokesman of the northern tribes in their diplomatic dealings with Rehoboam, and ultimately chosen to be their sovereign (1 Kings 12:20).
5. More sedition. Barely was he seated on the throne of Israel, than he adopted measures to render permanent the separation of the two kingdoms; turning his back upon Jehovah, and setting up a new and rival religion to the Jehovah-cultus in Judah (1 Kings 12:28).
6. Renewed ambition. Not content with this, he aimed at the subjugation of the southern empire.
7. Final collapse. This point reached, he hastened rapidly towards an ignominious end. Byron says—
"One breast laid open were a school,
Which would unteach mankind the lust to shine or rule."
One may be permitted to doubt this!
II. AN INSTANCE OF MISAPPLIED ABILITY. That Jeroboam as youth and man, as private person and public official, as servant and sovereign, possessed high capacities, need not be questioned. Energy, industry, enthusiasm, ambition, faculty for organization, power of impressing, directing, leading, and ruling others—qualities needful for generalship, statesmanship, kingship—appear all to have belonged to him in more than ordinary measure; yet in every situation of life in which he was placed these powers were misapplied. The governing idea of his soul was to use all, in himself and others, for the advancement of his private interest. For this end he fomented sedition amongst his countrymen, encouraged disaffection amongst the subjects of Solomon, took advantage of Rehoboam's inexperience to raise the standard of revolt, perverted to wicked purposes the high position as a sovereign to which he in providence attained, did his utmost to propagate irreligion, diffuse idolatry, foster immorality, dissolve the fabric of social order, crush and annihilate the true worshippers of Jehovah. The annals of mankind afford many illustrations of the same phenomenon—magnificent powers of body and mind prostituted to ignoble ends, e.g. Samson, Saul, and Judas from sacred, Caesar (Julius), Mark Antony, and Napoleon from profane history.
III. AN ILLUSTRATION OF NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITIES.
1. When promoted by Solomon to be master of works for the house of Joseph, he might, with his commanding talent and great force of character, have done much to soothe the ruffled spirits of his countrymen, and so have nipped the poisonous flower of revolution in the bud. But he did not; rather he acted on a contrary hint.
2. When recalled by the northern tribes to be their spokesman, had he chosen, he might have poured oil upon the troubled waters, allayed the ferment of their passions, appealed to them to give the young king a trial, and remember the danger which would accrue to the empire from disunion—might have crushed down his own ambitious thoughts, and like Caesar ('Julius Caesar,' act 3. sc. 2)—not to speak of a greater (John 6:15)—put bravely from him the crown which in the people's eyes he saw preparing for him. But he did not; rather, in the popular disaffection, he beheld that "tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune," and launched himself upon its stream without delay.
3. When favoured by Providence so far as to secure the crown, had he carried out the trust committed to him, to erect a kingdom in which the worship of Jehovah should be faithfully and purely maintained, he should have been established on his throne beyond the possibility of overthrow, and the house of Jeroboam should have shone with a lustre as brilliant as, if not excelling, that of the house of David. But he did not; rather in him was verified the sentiment—
"That lowliness is young ambition's ladder
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the utmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend."
('Julius Caesar,' act 2. sc. 1.)
Jehovah had set Jeroboam on the throne of Israel; Jeroboam when on the throne cast Jehovah behind his back (1 Kings 14:7-9).
IV. A MONUMENT OF DESERVED RETRIBUTION. Jeroboam, who might have attained to undying honour, reaped for himself a harvest of eternal infamy. To such a pitch of wickedness did he proceed, both in himself and in his people, whom he corrupted by his example and commanded by his authority, that not only did "the sin of Jeroboam become ever afterwards proverbial as an expression for the highest possible impiety in an Israelitish ruler (1 Kings 15:34; 2 Kings' 2 Kings 10:31; 2 Kings 13:6; 2 Kings 14:24; 2 Kings 17:22),. but, it drew down upon him swift and appalling retribution. "The Lord smote him."
1. In his army with defeat. His troops were routed on the field of war, his fenced cities were captured, his military power was broken.
2. In his house with bereavement. The sudden death of his child Abijah was a sore stroke, to which was added a sorer in the curse that none other of the house of Jeroboam should come to his grave in peace (1 Kings 14:12, 1 Kings 14:13).
3. In himself with disease. To this the language of veres 20 is believed by some to point (Clarke, Jamieson).
V. A VICTIM OF ALL-DEVOURING DEATH. Jeroboam succumbed to the fatal malady two years after the death of Abijah, and in the twenty-second year of his reign. He expired at Tirzah, and was buried with his fathers.
"Sceptre and crown must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade."
W.
2 Chronicles
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