1 Kings 15:1-24

1 Kings 15:1-24

After the death of Rehoboam, which happened before Jeroboam’s death, his son, Abijam took the throne. Like his father before him, Abijam chose not to follow God’s commands. He did what was evil in God’s sight, and as a result, he did not experience peace in the land of Israel as his grandfather Solomon had. Like his father, Abijam had to deal with the constant problems from the north, Israel. Rehoboam’s reign was full of strife between the Northern and Southern kingdoms, and Abijam inherited all of those problems when he took the throne. He had to deal with Jeroboam, and during his 3 short years as king, they were in constant battle. After his death, his son, Asa, took the throne in Judah.


Now God remembered the covenant He had made with David (that the kingdom of Judah would always be in the hands of his descendants), and that is why He did not take it away from Rehoboam and Abijam (although they deserved it). But when Asa took the throne, he turned the nation back to God. He understood the importance of following God and did away with all of the idols and other objects of worship that were scattered throughout his kingdom. He was truly devoted to God and began to lead Judah into that way as well.

At the beginning of Asa’s reign, Jeroboam was still the king in Judah. You may have already noticed that there are time gaps in this book. Remember that the kings did not rise and fall in both kingdoms at the same time. So the different kings overlap each other, which can make the reading of this book somewhat confusing. It constantly shifts back and forth between Israel and Judah. So as for Jeroboam, he was king in Israel while Rehoboam, Abijam, and Asa reigned in Judah. Then, Asa was king in Israel while Jeroboam, Nadab, and Baasha reigned in Israel.

One of these time gaps occurs in the middle of 1 Kings 15. It immediately jumps to when Baasha reigned in Israel, but we have not yet heard what happened with his father Nadab. Instead, we see that Baasha had come against Judah, building a city on the boarder to prevent travel in and out of Judah. When Asa heard what he was up to, he sent men out to fight against Baasha, ultimately pushing him out of their land. He gained victory that day and continued to follow God for the rest of the time that he was king. After his death, Jehoshaphat, his son took the throne in Judah.

I am afraid that this summary of the first part of 1 Kings 15 is choppy. I feel like I have jumped from story to story just mentioning the high points and moving on. But Scripture really does not tell us much about the reigns of Abijam, Asa, and Nadab. They only get a small section of the story. However, there is one theme that should already be evident. As was true with the various leaders and judges of Israel, these kings were faced with a choice. They could choose life by choosing to follow God or they could choose death by choosing to follow after false gods and idols. God had promised back in Deuteronomy 30 that if they chose to follow Him, then He would continue to bless them, as He did for David and Solomon, and most recently Asa. But if they chose to create other gods and turn their back on Him, then He would send trouble their way. Rehoboam, Jeroboam, and Abijam experienced this in the form of constant war and plagues. One of the themes we saw back in the Books of the Law was the importance of obeying God’s Law, and in the midst of what can be some confusing time lines, hard names to pronounce, and odd situations, that theme stands out here as well. We must decide which option we are going to choose. We must decide if we are going to follow God’s Law.

Matt