2 Chronicles 13:13

THE BATTLE; JEROBOAM'S DEFEAT; AND ABIJAH'S DEATH

"But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them; so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them; and when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried unto Jehovah, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled : before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand men. Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon Jehovah, the God of their fathers. And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Ephron with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and Jehovah smote him, and he died. But Abijah waxed mighty, and took unto himself fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters. And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo."

Regarding the huge numbers of the troops engaged in this battle, Curtis (Madsen) characterized them as `Midrash,'[1] which is a critcal code-word for `false.' However the same writers admitted that, "The number of Jeroboam's warriors is exactly the same as the number credited to Israel in the census taken by Joab."[2] To this writer it appears to be an altogether gratuitous and unfounded allegation that, "These numbers are utterly unhistorical."[3] Oh yes, there are unexplained discrepancies here; but, so what? one may read conflicting biographies of John F. Kennedy! The Chronicler was merely quoting the public records, in this case, the commentary of the prophet Iddo; and there is no dependable authority today for setting aside as "unhistorical" any of this material. This IS the history, as it has come down to us. It is of no importance that some do not believe it. Neither do they believe that God created heaven and earth.

A little reflection will support the proposition so eloquently propounded in this chapter that Judah's victory was of God. They were fighting two tribes against ten! They were surrounded! Jeroboam was a conceited, mad killer determined to take the whole world if he had been able to do so. Why did he fail? This chapter has the correct answer.

Furthermore, Abijah was not the reason for God's intervention upon behalf of Judah. He was an evil king. "He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah ... Nevertheless for David's sake ... God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him" (1 Kings 15:3-4). This was vitally related to God's purpose of eventually bringing in the Messiah to provide an opportunity for all mankind to be saved. It was that fundamental truth that required the intervention of God Himself in the events of this chapter.