1 Kings 15:1-34
1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
2 Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah,a the daughter of Abishalom.
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.
4 Nevertheless for David's sake did the LORD his God give him a lampb in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:
5 Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8 And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother'sc name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyedd her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
14 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.
15 And he brought in the thingse which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.
16 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17 And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
19 There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may departf from me.
20 So Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
22 Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted:g and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
24 And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphath his son reigned in his stead.
25 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
26 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
28 Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.
29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
30 Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
34 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
And he walked in the sins, which his father had done before him: his heart was not completely towards the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless for David's sake the LORD gave him the lamp in Jerusalem, to set his son after him, and establish Jerusalem: Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded in all the days of his life, [except in the case of Bathsheba,] the matter of Uriah the Hittite (1 Kings 15:3-5).
That's the place where David stumbled and fell badly.
Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, they also are in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah (1 Kings 15:6-7)?
So we'll get more on Abijam later.
And Abijam slept with his fathers; they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. Now in the twentieth year of Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:8-9)
So Abijam had a very short reign. And still in Judah.
Asa now reigned over Judah. Forty-one years he reigned in Judah. And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land (1 Kings 15:9-12),
And part of his reformation.
he removed all of the idols which his father had made. He also got rid of his mother from being the queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and he destroyed her idol, and burnt it there near the brook Kidron. And the high places, however, were not removed: however, Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all of his days. And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, gold, vessels. Now there was war between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel all of their days (1 Kings 15:12-16).
So the time of Asa, you remember he reigned forty-one days. And so Baasha became the king over Israel up in the northern tribes.
And Baasha the king of Israel came against Judah, and he started building the city of Ramah (1 Kings 15:17),
Which is the present-day city of Ramallah, which he intended to be a fortified city and he was going to cut off all of the supplies that were coming in to Jerusalem. So Asa took the silver and gold out of the temple, and he sent it up to Syria, to Benhadad, who at this time was ruling over Syria.
And he said, "We have a mutual defense pact and I'm asking you now to honor it. Take this silver and gold and I want you to attack Baasha, the king of Israel."
So the Syrians attacked up in the north part of the city of Dan, up around the Golan, began to take the cities. They actually invaded all the way down to Cinneroth, which is Galilee or the Sea of Galilee, the area of Naphtali and all. And when Baasha heard that they had been invaded from the north, he took his troops from the building of this fortified city of Ramah and they went to face the Syrians. And of course, then Asa came out with his men and they took all of the materials they had brought for this fortified city and they built a couple of cities with it. But Baasha did not return.
Now it seems like brilliant strategy and yet, as we get into Chronicles, we find that God rebuked Asa for this. And Chronicles does expand upon Asa's reign so much more and we find some very fascinating and interesting lessons concerning king Asa when we get to the Chronicles. Now in his later years, he became diseased in his feet and he died of this foot disease.
In Chronicles, there is an intimation that because he sought the aid of the physicians and inquired not of the Lord, he died of the disease. In other words, the intimation is that had he really just prayed and asked God, God would have healed him. But his heart was turned from the Lord in the later years.
So Asa slept with his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place (1 Kings 15:24).
Now shift gears, go back to Israel. Northern tribe again. We leave the southern tribe. We've had it, succession of kings, Rehoboam and then Abijam his son reigning for three years, Baasha taking over. I mean, not Baasha but Asa taking over. And then Jehoshaphat the son of Asa.
Now back in the Northern Kingdom.
Nadab the son of Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:25)
Jeroboam was the one that God had prophesied against.
began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa the king of Judah, and he reigned for only two years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, he walked in the way of his father, and in the sins wherein his father caused Israel to sin. And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him (1 Kings 15:25-27);
So here's the third Ahijah we have here.
and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon. In the third year of Asa the king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and he reigned in his stead. And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all of the house of Jeroboam; he not did not leave any that breathed, until he had destroyed the entire descendants, even as the word of the Lord had come to him by Ahijah the prophet from Shiloh: Because of the sins of Jeroboam whereby he sinned, made Israel to sin, and the provocation whereby he provoked the LORD to anger. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, are in [the books that we don't have] the books of chronicles of Israel? And there was war between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel all their days. And in the third year of Asa, Baasha began to reign over Israel and he reigned for twenty-four years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin (1 Kings 15:27-34). "