II Chronicles
Chapter 7
Lessons from the Reign of King Abijah
2 Chronicles 13
King Abijah (Abijam-1 Kings 15:1) reigned three years (2 Chronicles 13:2)
God's comment on his life and work is not in 2 Chroniclesbut is found in 1 Kings. – 1 Kings 15:3 "And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father."
King Abijah only reigned for three years. He accomplished a lot in 3 years. One of the lessons to be learned is that you don't know how long you will be in leadership so you must get busy right away.
Notice that immediately upon being promoted to leadership, there is a war going on between his kingdom and Jeroboam's kingdom. Judah against Israel. Brother against brother.
There are a couple of things not revealed here. One is that it doesn't say who started it. Many times, wars are the results of misunderstandings, covetousness, and pride. Don't ever forget, but be warned by James 4:1
"From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?"
A good leader prepares for war but doesn't start wars. A good leader seeks God and when God blesses, others want to experience the blessings without pleasing God. When a good leader needs something, he doesn't just take it. He asks God for what he needs:
James 4:2,3 "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Wars are always costly but are often necessary. Rehoboam, Abijah's father was told not to attack Jeroboam's kingdom that the resulting split was from God. However, Jeroboam did not follow God and caused that whole northern kingdom to go into idolatry.
Here it is important to note two things about Jeroboam that are significant. One is that God comments on his actions 25 times when discussing the kings that followed him with this phrase or one like it: 2 Kings 15:28 "And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." The most revealing is in 2 Kings 17:21"For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin."
Jeroboam's great leadership mistake and sin was to create a false form of worship that plagued the northern kingdom the whole time. Each succeeding king did nothing to bring the people back to God and as a result produced nothing but ruin, destruction, death, and disaster!
The second thing about Jeroboam that is taught here is that after the war he did not recover. His rebellion led to the destruction of his kingdom and his home. Leadership mistakes can be costly!
2 Chronicles 13:20 "Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died."
It appears that the whole purpose of Abijah's leadership was to win this war. He didn't have any special ability as a great leader. He actually made a horrible mistake in that he was outnumbered, and he wasn't prepared for the ambush that was laid against him. His greatest weapon was that he called upon God and God overcame his frailties and bad decisions. What God was doing was setting up the stage for the next king. King Asa, who was a good king. His life gives us many good attributes of leadership.
Maybe the only reason you are here is to set things up for the next generation. So, fight the wars that God has for you, depending on Him and prepare the next generation for the peace that follows. However, it may not be peace that follows your leadership. It may be a great time of war! The purpose of learning these good leadership skills is to help this generation and to prepare the next generation to face the successes and problems that they will surely face!
Learn these lessons and make it a priority to seek God and His will, pleasure, and blessing! When you do that first, God will give you the ability to make the right decisions at the right time.
