Abijam's Reign in Jerusalem
- Begins his reign in Jeroboam's 18th year, and reigns for 3 years.
- Son of Maacah, [grand]daughter of Abishalom, the daughter of Uriel (2 Chr. 13:2)
- He continues in the sins of Rehoboam, but for David's sake, God does not remove his family from power.
- He is at war with Jeroboam for his entire reign.
- When he dies, he is buried in Jerusalem and is succeeded by his son Asa.
- Takes place in Ephraim, Abijah with 400,000 men and Rehoboam with 800,000
- Abijah stands on the slope of Mt. Zimarain and tries to convince Israel's soldiers to give up, because God is on the side of Judah, David's descendants.
- Besides that, Israel has driven out the Levitical priests, but Judah has not abandoned God
- In the meantime, Jeroboam sneaks troops in to ambush Judah from behind.
- When Judah discovers it, the priests blow the trumpets, and "God defeats Jeroboam."
- 500,000 men of Israel fall, and Judah prevails, "because they relied on the LORD, the God of their ancestors."
- Abijah takes the cities of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron from Jeroboam
- Jeroboam never recovers his power in the days of Abijah
- Abijah grows strong, takes 14 wives and becomes the father of 22 sons and 16 daughters.
- The rest of his acts are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
Asa Reigns over Judah
- Reign begins in the 20th year of Jeroboam, reigns 41 years in Jerusalem.
- His (grand)mother's name is Maacah (grand)daughter of Abishalom (Absalom)
- Asa does what is "right in the sight of the LORD, as his father David had done."
- He removes the male temple prostitutes, idols, and also Maacah from being queen mother because of her idolatrous practices, cutting down an image of Asherah Maacah made
- He does not take away the high places, but he brings his and his father's votive gifts into the temple.
- The land has rest for 10 years, during which time he builds fortified cities.
- He has an army of 300,000 mighty warriors from Judah and 280,000 from Benjamin.
Asa Repulses Ethiopian Invasion
- Zerah the Ethiopian comes out with a million men and 300 chariots.
- Asa cries to God, "O LORD, there is no difference for you between helping the mighty and the weak...."
- The LORD defeats the Ethiopians, and the army pursues them to Gerar, carrying away a large amount of booty.
- Azariah son of Oded encourages Asa to keep following God, for if he depends on God, God will take care of him.
- Asa puts away all the idols from Judah and Benjamin, rebuilds the altar, and on the 3rd month of his 15th year, gathers the people to worship.
- They sacrifice 700 oxen and 7000 sheep and enter into a covenant to seek God "with all their heart and all their soul."
- Anyone not seeking the LORD will be put to death. This would seem to me to lend itself to exterior manifestations of worship -- out of fear, not love.
Alliance with Aram against Israel
- Asa and King Baasha of Israel fight against each other during their entire reigns.
- Baasha builds Ramah (just south of the border between the kingdoms) to prevent people from defecting to Asa.
- In Asa's 36th year, he takes treasures out of the temple and his own house and sends them to King Benhadad in Damascus.
- He offers the gifts in exchange for Benhadad breaking his alliance with Baasha and fighting against him.
- Benhadad does so and conquers 5 provinces, including Dan and Naphtali.
- Baasha stops building Ramah and moves to Tirzah.
- Asa orders Ramah dismantled and carried away in pieces, building Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah with the timber and stones.
- Hanani the seer comes to King Asa and chastises him for relying on the King of Aram rather than on God, and tells him that from then on he would have wars.
- Asa is angry with the message and puts Hanani in prison, and inflicts cruelty on other people as well.
- In his 39th year, he becomes diseased in his feet, yet does not seek God even in his illness.
- When Asa dies, he is buried in Jerusalem in a tomb he has hewn out for himself, laid on a bier filled with spices; the people make a great fire in his honor.
- He is succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat.
- The rest of his acts are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah.
Nadab Reigns over Israel
- Son of Jeroboam; begins reigning in 2nd year of Asa of Judah, for only 2 years.
- Baasha son of Ahijah, of Issachar's house, kills Nadab at Gibbethon (Philistine) while Nadab is laying siege to the city.
- As soon as Baasha becomes king, he murders all of Jeroboam's family -- not one survives -- just as prophesied by Ahijah (14:10)
- Begins reigning in Asa's 3rd year, reigns 24 years
- Walks in the way of Jeroboam and in his sins.
Baasha's Reign over Israel
- Through Jehu, God tells Baasha his house will be like that of Jeroboam, because he walks in the sins of Jeroboam.
- If his descendants die in the city, dogs will eat them; if they die in the field, the birds will eat their flesh.
- When he dies, he is buried at Tirzah, succeeded by his son Elah.
Elah's Reign over Israel
- Son of Baasha, begins reigning in Asa's 26th year, reigning only 2 years.
- His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, kills Elah and becomes king.
3rd Dynasty - Zimri
- Zimri becomes king in Asa's 27th year, reigning only 7 days.
- He kills all Baasha's house -- every male -- as prophesied by Jehu, because of his sins and for causing Israel to sin.
- Troops encamped against Gibbethon (still, or again?) hear that Zimri has killed Elah, so they appoint Omri as king.
- They go to Tirzah and besiege it.
- Zimri goes to the citadel of the king's house and burns it down around him, dying because he has walked in the way of Jeroboam.
4th Dynasty - Omri
- Israel divided: Half for Tibni son of Ginath, and half for Omri.
- People for Omri overcome Tibni's followers, and Tibni dies.
- Omri becomes king in Asa's 31st year, reigns 12 years, 6 of them in Tirzah.
- Omri buys the hill of Samaria for 2 talents of silver from Shemer, fortifies it, and names it Samaria, for Shemer.
- Omri is more evil than all those before him, walking in the way of Jeroboam, son of Nebat.
- When he dies, he is buried in Samaria, succeeded by Ahab.
Ahab Reigns over Israel
- Son of Omri, becomes king in Asa's 38th year, and reigns for 22 years in Samaria.
- More evil than all those before him.
- To make matters worse, he marries Jezebel, daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, which leads Ahab to Baal worship.
- He erects a temple for Baal, an altar, and a sacred pole.
- During this time Hiel of Bethel builds Jericho, laying its foundation "at the cost" of his firstborn Abiram and youngest son Segub, according to the word spoken by Joshua son of Nun. See Joshua 6:26, where Joshua declares that whoever tries to rebuild the walls of Jericho will lose both his oldest and youngest sons.
No comments:
Post a Comment