Nadab and Baasha, Kings of Israel and Abijam and Asa, Kings of Judah: 1 Kings 15

From: Meditations on 1 Kings By: Henri L. Rossier

1 Kings 15 • 7 min. read • grade level: 10

Abijam or Abijah (2 Chron. 13), the son of Rehoboam, began to reign over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel. His mother was Maachah, the daughter of Absalom. Absalom’s mother was named Maachah (2 Sam. 3:3³And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; (2 Samuel 3:3)); it was natural that this name should be perpetuated in the family. This Maachah the mother of Abijam must herself have been the granddaughter of Absalom according to the evidence of 2 Chronicles 13:2²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. (2 Chronicles 13:2). Here in 1 Kings 15:10¹⁰And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. (1 Kings 15:10) Maachah is called the mother of Asa, Abijam’s son, according to the Jewish custom, although she was his grandmother. This woman was a worthy counterpart of Naamah, the mother of Rehoboam, an Ammonitess. Throughout the course of these books we shall see how the character of their mothers and where they came from had its influence upon their children. A pious mother sees her sons prospering round about her. The apostle Paul reminds Timothy of his blessed ancestry: “The unfeigned faith... which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also” (2 Tim. 1:5⁵When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. (2 Timothy 1:5)). The children of the “elect lady” walked in the truth (2 John. 4). We shall notice other similar things as we go through Kings and Chronicles.

Here we find the other side of what we have just been saying. A profane or worldly mother is all the more dangerous for the moral development of her children, as according to divine order, both in nature and in relationship, the responsibility of guiding their youthful years is naturally entrusted to her. Thus it was that during the three years of his reign Abijam walked in all the sins of his father. “Nevertheless,” it is said, “for David’s sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem” (1 Kings 15:4⁴Nevertheless for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem: (1 Kings 15:4)). God remembers David and his obedience, even though he had turned aside from uprightness in the matter of Urijah; but after the bitter discipline this had necessitated, his restored soul had again found fellowship with his God. The Lord did not forget these things; thus we see Abijam’s success and son, Asa, for David’s sake raised up as a true witness for God in Judah. Only the grace of God could do this, not the merits of man, and so much the more so as Asa was placed under the same female influence as had been his father. His grandmother Maachah sought to promote the practice of idolatry under his reign, but Asa’s faith fought this influence, reproved it, and destroyed it in order that the rights of the Lord might be known again in Judah. Maachah occupied the position of queen, perhaps of regent mother, at Asa’s court. He stripped her of her dignity and prestige, she who in face of her grandson’s zeal to abolish idolatry had ventured and had wished to reestablish it in its most corrupt forms.

Asa’s reign was a long one and singularly blessed; it lasted for forty-one years, thus being longer than the reigns of David and of Solomon. Chronicles gives us the detailed account of all the faithfulness which he demonstrated. Here the Word considers him more from the standpoint of responsibility. The close of his reign is marked by a very sad lack of faith. Baasha, the king of Israel, comes up against Judah and begins to build Ramah with the goal of shutting up Asa in his kingdom so that he might not be able to go out (1 Kings 15:17¹⁷And 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. (1 Kings 15:17)). In order to oppose this project Asa relies upon BenHadad, the king of Syria, sends him presents, courts his alliance, and uses him to make Baasha depart. This plan was successful to all appearance: the king of Israel abandoned Ramah, the building materials for which were then dispersed. But what unfaithfulness in this pious king who had vanquished Zerah the Ethiopian with his army of a million men (2 Chron. 14:9⁹And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. (2 Chronicles 14:9)) to fail to commit his interests to the Lord. A league with the world at first may bring us advantages, but afterward we taste its bitter fruits. Asa’s conduct is not severely condemned here as it is in Chronicles, because the kings of Judah are not the special object with which the Spirit of God is occupied. But how sad to hear these words in the mouth of a godly king: “There is a league between me and thee, as between my father and thy father!” (1 Kings 15:19¹⁹There 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 depart from me. (1 Kings 15:19)). Abijam had walked “in all the sins of his father,” and lo, Asa identifies himself with him. His father had allied himself with the enemies of God’s people; Asa acknowledges and seeks after this alliance!

“Asa slept with his fathers” (1 Kings 15:24²⁴And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead. (1 Kings 15:24))—the same words that are said of Jeroboam, of Rehoboam, and of so many others. It may be a special favor, for the opposite is said of certain wicked kings and of their posterity (cf. 1 Kings 14:11¹¹Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it. (1 Kings 14:11)), but this favor is far from indicating that the Lord took pleasure in them or that they had found beyond the tomb the happiness their hearts had sought in vain in the world. It is still so everywhere here below. The sons are buried beside their fathers; they die, if one may so say, a natural death, without letting us draw a comforting conclusion as to their eternal future.

“In the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet” (1 Kings 15:23²³The 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. (1 Kings 15:23)), and there again Asa manifests his lack of confidence in God: “Yet in his disease he did not seek Jehovah, but the physicians” (2 Chron. 16:12¹²And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. (2 Chronicles 16:12)). One unjudged act of independence (cf. 2 Chron. 16:9, 10⁹For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. ¹⁰Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. (2 Chronicles 16:9‑10)) necessarily leads to another; at the same time the judgment of God falls upon those who instead of bearing his testimony, have preferred to seek the alliance, support, and help of the world.

In order not to interrupt the account of the events of Asa’s reign, Baasha’s attack, though much later, had been mentioned in 1 Kings 15:17¹⁷And 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. (1 Kings 15:17). The Word turns back in 1 Kings 15:25²⁵And 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. (1 Kings 15:25) and tells us of Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, who began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa. His reign lasted two years; this short period of time was sufficient to prove his iniquity. -The Lord’s word against Jeroboam is fulfilled with regard to his son and all his family (cf. 1 Kings 14:14¹⁴Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now. (1 Kings 14:14)). Baasha conspires against him, smites him, and slays him at Gibbethon and reigns in his stead in the third year of Asa, king of Judah. “And it came to pass when he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left to Jeroboam none that breathed; until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin; by his provocation with which he provoked Jehovah the God of Israel to anger” (1 Kings 15:29-30²⁹And 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: ³⁰Because 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. (1 Kings 15:29‑30)). Baasha reigned twenty-four years and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

This whole account, filled with wars and cruelty, follows Solomon’s reign of peace which ended so quickly on account of the unfaithfulness of the king and of his people. “And there had been war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life” (1 Kings 15:6⁶And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. (1 Kings 15:6)). “And there was war between Asa and

Baasha king of Israel all their days” (1 Kings 15:16¹⁶And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. (1 Kings 15:16)), and 1 Kings 15:32³²And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. (1 Kings 15:32) repeats the very same thing. This is one of the principal symptoms of decline. War is declared, implacable war between people of the same race. Rehoboam had been at the point of attempting war, but, warned by the Lord, he had desisted. Next the kings of Israel are authors of warfare, for they feel their position jeopardized by the maintenance of God’s testimony in Judah. A nation which has turned idolatrous after having known the true God cannot endure God’s testimony so near by. It hates this and wages desperate warfare against it.

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