Chapter Fifteen

 1Ki 15:1  And in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam reigned over Judah. 

1Ki 15:2  He reigned three years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. 

1Ki 15:3  And he walked in all the sins of his father, those that he did before him, and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of his father David. 

1Ki 15:4  But for David's sake Jehovah his God gave to him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem. 

1Ki 15:5  For David did that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah, and did not turn aside from all that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 

1Ki 15:6  And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 

1Ki 15:7  And the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 

1Ki 15:8  And Abijam lay with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And his son Asa reigned in his place. 

1Ki 15:9  And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel Asa reigned over Judah. 

1Ki 15:10  And he reigned forty one years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. 

1Ki 15:11  And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, like his father David. 

1Ki 15:12  And he removed the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers made. 

1Ki 15:13  And he also removed his mother Maachah from being queen, in that she made a horrid thing for Asherah. And Asa cut down her horrid thing and burned it by the torrent Kidron. 

1Ki 15:14  But they did not remove the high places. Only the heart of Asa was perfect with Jehovah all the days. 

1Ki 15:15  And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated and his holy things, into the house of Jehovah, silver and gold and vessels. 

1Ki 15:16  And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 

1Ki 15:17  And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, to keep anyone from going out and coming in to Asa the king of Judah. 

1Ki 15:18  And Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house, and gave them into his servants' hand; and King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, the king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying, 

1Ki 15:19  A treaty between you and me, between my father and your father! Behold, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha the king of Israel, that he go up from me. 

1Ki 15:20  And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and sent his army commanders against the cities of Israel. And he struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 

1Ki 15:21  And it happened, when Baasha heard, he ceased building Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah. 

1Ki 15:22  And King Asa proclaimed to all Judah (no one was exempt) and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber with which Baasha had built. And King Asa built with it Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. 

1Ki 15:23  And the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah? Only, at the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 

1Ki 15:24  And Asa lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. And his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place. 

1Ki 15:25  And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa the king of Judah. And he reigned over Israel two years. 

1Ki 15:26  And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin. 

1Ki 15:27  And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him And Baasha struck him at Gibbethon which belonged to the Philistines. For Nadab and all Israel had laid siege to Gibbethon. 

1Ki 15:28  And in the third year of Asa the king of Judah, Baasha killed him, and reigned in his place. 

1Ki 15:29  And it happened when he reigned, he struck all the house of Jeroboam; he did not leave Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him according to the saying of Jehovah which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the man of Shiloh; 

1Ki 15:30  because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin by his provocation with which he provoked Jehovah the God of Israel to anger. 

1Ki 15:31  And the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel? 

1Ki 15:32  And there was war between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel all their days. 

1Ki 15:33  In the third year of Asa the king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah reigned over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty four years. 

1Ki 15:34  And he did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin. 

Verses 1-8 Summary: (Compare with 2 Chronicles 13)

After Rehoboam's death, Abijam becomes king. His reign is limited to three years before he dies. He continues in the sin started by Rehoboam.

(What great victory did God give to Abijam over Jeroboam?) In 2 Chronicles 13 we see Judah go up against Israel 4000 vs. 8000 respectively. Before the battle, Abijam declares that Jehovah is the God of Judah and that Israel has forsaken Jehovah by practicing idolatry instituted by Jeroboam. Jeroboam surrounds Judah (attacking also from the rear flank). Judah's army calls on God, and God gives them the victory. 5000 of Israel's soldiers die. Judah takes some cities at this time. Jeroboam never regains the power he wielded before this. 

Why would Abijam think God would do anything for him is he was a practicing idolator? 
This conundrum addresses the arrogance that all humans can fall into if we are not careful. Abijam KNOWS Jehovah is the true God to gain victory, yet makes compromises to please himself and others to practice an insulting religion against Jehovah. He should have known better. He has God's word to inform him, but he chooses to insult God anyway.

God is not rewarding or penalizing Abijam in this battle. If not for Abijam's declarations it might have ended differently. Jehovah was ok with enforcing the message, and that was the limit of His acceptance of Abijam. 

NOTE: 1Kings names him Abijam: father of (the) sea (that is, seaman)

             2Chro. names him Abijah: father (that is worshipper) of Jah

Abijam had learned to compartmentalize God within his life (as opposed to loving with ALL his heart).

Does that happen today?

Verses 9-24 Summary: (Compare with 2Chron. 14-16)
Asa becomes king in Judah. He is a good king, removing the idols from the land. He left the high places intact, yet walked "perfect" before Jehovah. Israel's king Baasha wars with Asa.Baasha begins to build a fortified city to block alliances with Asa. Asa makes an alliance with northern Syrian king Ben-hadad (pays him). Ben-hadad defeats Baasha and the fortified city is stopped. Asa takes the resources and builds his own cities.

Note the determination it took for Asa to go against all the compromises before him, including his own mother! Verse thirteen says Maacah was "queen." I assume she is the same mother of Abijam. Does that mean that she was queen even then? What kind of power/influence did she have over the nation?
How could Asa 

*2Chronicles 14-16
14: Asa has ten years of peace. He removes all idols, even the high places. 
15: In Asa's 15th year, Judah needs to return to relying on Jehovah. (suggests a falling away)

      This chapter includes a second cleansing of idols. In this instance, the high places are not removed.

      This chapter also includes the removal of Maacah as "queen" because of her idolatry.

16: This chapter tells the story of Asa's decision to make the alliance with Ben-hadad. God passes judgment over Asa for his lack of faith. Asa becomes bitter/diseased, and his last five years include no peace.

10. IKings tells us that Asa did not remove the high places while 2Chronicles 14:3 tells us he did. Why are there different narratives?  See *above. There are two instances of idol removal. What do we learn from this? Humans are weak and forgetful. The Christian paradigm addresses this issue.

11. What was Asa's sins? How did he die?
Asa did not remove the high places, but I'm not sure this was held against him as part of the judgement. When we read that he did not remove the high places, the writer adds "nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days." This was an issue for God to handle. It seems he made the compromise, but was not an idolator himself.  It was most certainly the alliance with ben-hadad that pushed God over the edge. The name Ben-hadad invokes the name of a false God. The alliance showed a moral misstep on Asa's behalf. He lacked the faith in that moment to do the right thing. He frittered away treasure secured by God to a false god. Even worse, the action was against fellow Israelites. Yes, they were enemies, but they were supposed to be united and the action could never accomplish that.

Asa was diseased in his feet for about two years when he died. Even in this state, he did not seek God's help.

Verses 25-34 Summary:

Nadab, son of Jeroboam becomes king over Israel. He reigns two years. While he is attacking Philistines, Baasha of Issachar attacks Nadab, kills him and moves on to kill ALL the house of Jeroboam as prophesied. Baasha reigns twenty-four years, constantly wars with Asa and is an evil king, basically performing the same fake religion and idolatry from those before him.