23/12/2012 - When there’s no way out

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And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets.

II Chronicles 13: 14

We don’t know what motivated the King of Judah to fiercely declare war on Israel. The number of soldiers of the latter was much greater than that of the former, for the kingdom of the North commanded by Jeroboam who years before had split the nation left after David, had 800 thousand men – all of whom were brave warriors. Abijah, King of Judah and Salomon’s grandson, set out to face Jeroboam’s army troops twice his size. 

Therefore, before the battle took place Abijah proved to be a real servant of The Lord. He tried to persuade Jeroboam to respect The Word of God with a quite fervent speech as he tried to bring him to his senses, yet that effort was in vain. That proves that those people dominated by sin have the false idea that they’ll always be victorious because they consider themselves people endowed with special gifts. It’s not an easy job to make the ungodly – those who are used to taking the wrong way – bent before The Truth.

Jeroboam had divided Rehoboam’s kingdom when he was still young and indecisive; yet his son, Abijah, whose character was not that of his father’s, was ruling now in his place. Abijah strived trying to make Jeroboam see the riches of The Word of The Lord so perhaps he’d turn to repentance and, thus, war between the two kingdoms could have been avoided but that proved to be useless in the end. The King of the North was apparently wiser than that of The South but, surprisingly, the opposite proved to be true considering that Abijah knew how to cry out to The Almighty One to be heard.

Jeroboam’s shaky confidence made him put his trust in his human strategies instead of surrendering to The Word of God. He was certain that he would be able to defeat the people of God because he considered himself unbeatable. Yet, the truth is that human strategies don’t always work. On the other hand, every time The Lord makes a promise, provided one goes for it with faith, it will ultimately take place. Thus, on that day, a presumptuous Jeroboam saw the hands of The Most High operating against his plans.

In the battle, as the children of Judah realized they were in real trouble, they cried out to The Lord, the priests blew their trumpets and horns, and men and women cried out for help from the Heavens. What came next was tremendous for Judah and awfully humiliating for the Kingdom of The North considering that God went into war on behalf of Abijah and his people; when that happened Jeroboam and his soldiers ended up being injured before the children of Judah’s eyes.

The Most High always listens whenever His people turn to Him for help and if their cause is fair enough He does answer them – those who truly love Him. God Himself hurt the soldiers of The Northern Kingdom; thus, the brave men of Israel fell before those of Judah’s. That was quite a meaningful battle in which two brotherly people fought against each other with all their strength; yet, it was those who were helped by The Almighty who came out victorious though the other contingent of troops was twice their size.

Almost five hundred thousand men of Israel fell in that fight. A lesson to learn here is that those who are warned and yet won’t pay heed to their error will ultimately be greatly harmed and they will, by all means, end up going downhill. You must remember that wisdom is a virtue given by The Lord only for those who are obedient to Him.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares