In battles, nothing helps more than faith and persistence, except seeing the Commander’s face.
In spite of his failures, Rehoboam did a wise thing early in his reign. “Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king” (2 Chron 11:22). Recall that Maachah, granddaughter of Absalom, was his favorite wife. By doing this, the king was spared various sons vying for the position, as was the case with David. Another plus for Rehoboam? His son feared the Lord. The account of his young life has no shadows. For three years, he ruled in peace in Jerusalem (13:2), and then Jeroboam decided to engage the young king with overwhelming force. “Abijah set the battle in order with…four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men” (v 3). But before a shot was fired, Abijah ascended Mount Zemaraim in the center of the country and preached the sermon of his life. He amended the soldier count on his side—by one. “Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?” (v 5). He continued, “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods” (v 8). Ohhh, golden calves—very scary! “But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him” (v 10). “God Himself is with us as our head…O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” (v 12). Yes, He’s the ONE who makes all the difference in life’s battles. And, yes, Jeroboam won’t listen. The battle’s coming, as in all our lives, but the battle is the Lord’s!