Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 13:1-22
Helpful thoughts:
- On the day of this battle, Abijah chose to lead Judah to serve the Lord and the Lord gave Abijah the victory.
- At the beginning of this battle, Israel had 800,000 men and a tactical advantage to Judah’s 400,000 men.
- More Israelite men died that day than Judah had even brought to the battle field! God gave them this victory. (Verse 18)
- The “young and inexperienced” Rehoboam was 41 when he began to reign.
- Abijah’s short reign was not all that righteous, as depicted in 1 Kings 15:1-4. But God used this day to continue His faithfulness to His promise to David.
Questions to consider:
- In what way was the account of this battle a cause for rejoicing in victory for Judah? In what way was the account of this battle a cause for mourning for the whole of Israel? Whom did Judah defeat on this day?
- What is the striking rebuke of verse 9? What had Jeroboam and Israel done to form their own religion? Where do false religions come from?
- What victory was the greatest of all time, has been promised to us, and was won for us by one who died in our place? (1 Corinthians 15:54-58) Sometimes passages like this give us reason to think God guarantees for us smaller victories in life over difficult situations, struggles, sicknesses, etc. (God CAN give us smaller victories, but we would be wrong to take up an offense because we thought those victories had been guaranteed.) Why is the victory we have in Jesus the biggest victory of all?