Great Battles of the
Bible:
CIVIL WAR
By Michael
K. Farrar, O.D.
© August
15, 2006
“Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies
on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance.”
Psalms
3:7-8
Civil wars
are always traumatic, emotional and physically draining. They involve battles
and war amongst those that are either related to one another or in the past
have bonded intimately in some fashion. A civil war involves a struggle for
power between forces in conflict. The conflict may be over a moral issue,
economic dominance or a desire for independence. Civil wars can take place
between nations, tribes and individuals. A civil war can even rage within a
Christian as they struggle with the sinful flesh.
In 2 Chronicles
13 we find a civil war taking place between God’s chosen people. Following King
Solomon’s death the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two nations. Rehoboam
succeeded Solomon and became harsh in his use of forced labor and high taxation
of the people. In response, the ten tribes living north of Bethel declared
their independence and split off from the other tribes. Under the leadership of
Jeroboam they became known as the Northern Kingdom or Israel. Those tribes who
remained in the Southern Kingdom were known as Judah.
Rehoboam
rebelled against God and therefore God used Shishak the King of Egypt to
discipline him. In this battle Judah was greatly weakened but not utterly
destroyed due to God’s mercy. Upon Rehoboam’s death Abijah became King of
Judah. Abijah felt that God wished to have all of the chosen people united
under one ruler so he proceeded to do battle against Jeroboam and Israel to the
north.
So we see
here a civil war between members of God’s chosen people. Abijah’s forces were
large at 400,000 men, but Rehoboam’s were even larger at 800,000. Even though
outnumbered, Abijah felt that God was on his side and his declaration before
the battle reflects this mindset. Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill
country of Ephraim, and shouted, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me!
Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of
Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam
son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master.
Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of
Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.
And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of
David's descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden
calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.”
The golden calves that Abijah was
referring to were the representations of false gods that Jeroboam had made to
prevent those in his Northern Kingdom of Israel from going to Jerusalem to
sacrifice in the temple. He was afraid that if members of his kingdom traveled
to Jerusalem to worship God that they would eventually be drawn back into the
Southern Kingdom of Judah. Not only did Jeroboam make idols for the people to
worship he also drove out the priests of the Lord and appointed religious
leaders to lead the people in worship of the false gods. Basically, Jeroboam
made up his own religion to protect his kingship and manipulate and control the
people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
But let us
return to this confrontation between the kings of the Northern and Southern
Kingdoms. Abijah continues with his proclamation, “As for us, the LORD is
our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the LORD are sons
of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. Every morning and evening they present
burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the bread on the
ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every
evening. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have
forsaken him. 12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their
trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, do not fight
against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”
Here we see a
conflict between those who are willing to follow the Lord and those who are
rebelling for selfish reasons. It reminds me of the battle we fight as
Christians in our lives. In a sense we have a civil war raging within us
between the guidance we receive from God’s Holy Spirit and our flesh. Our flesh
desires to worship the idols of the world, seek after worldly pleasures and
draw us away from worshiping our Heavenly Father. Our love for the Lord and the
Holy Spirit within us strives to honor God, obey His commandments and transform
us into the image of Christ. These forces wage against each other as we live
for our Savior.
In a sense here, Abijah represents
our desire to serve God and remain faithful to Him. Jeroboam represents the
selfish flesh and the desire to follow the ways of the world. The civil war
within men and women is often manifested externally when nations war against
each other as in this case.
We see here a
prime example of what to do when we are facing a spiritual battle and feel we
are overwhelmed with either temptation or the forces of evil. Jeroboam had sent
a portion of his troops around to the rear of Abijah’s forces, which was a
flanking maneuver. This set the stage for the annihilation of the army of Judah
under Abijah’s command. What was Abijah to do? The same thing we should do when
temptation seems beyond resistance or when we feel demonic forces are in the
process of flanking our defenses. We should cry out to the Lord.
This is
exactly what Abijah and his forces did. We read, “Then they cried out to the
LORD. The priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle
cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel
before Abijah and Judah. The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered
them into their hands. Abijah and his men inflicted heavy losses on them, so
that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel's able men. The
men of Israel were subdued on that occasion, and the men of Judah were
victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.”
The victory
was given to Judah in this case because they relied upon the Lord for strength
and guidance. Even though they were outnumbered two to one and even though they
were surrounded in an impossible-to-win flanking maneuver, God allowed them to
triumph. We should remember this example of deliverance the next time we face
struggles with the world, the flesh or the devil in our own Christian lives.
While God
gave the victory to Abijah and Judah, we must also remember it did not come
easy. The men of Judah had to make a commitment to follow the Lord into battle
against a superior force. There was the responsible action of putting on armor
and taking up swords and shields to face the enemy. There was the necessity of
trusting that God would deliver them from a superior force. Blood was spilled
on both sides and men died. God could have struck down all of those opposing
Judah with just a thought, but He chose to work through the situation and the
men involved bringing victory.
God desires
us to win every spiritual battle we face, but we must remember that He will,
more often than not, want to work through natural means and our own commitment
to win such battles. He gives us
instruction in scripture to put on our spiritual armor to face the enemy
(Ephesians 6:11-18). He gives us the Holy Spirit to guide, comfort and convict.
(John 16:7-8, John 14:16-17). He has established His church on earth to provide
for fellowship, support and wise counsel (Proverbs 15:22). This also provides
us with accountability so that we remain in fellowship with God. Finally He has
given us a most precious tool in the form of prayer to allow us to communicate
directly with Him. We are to seek this avenue of communication continually (I
Thessalonians 5:17).
The question
each of us must ask is are we an Abijah or a Jeroboam? Are we following after
worldly idols and our fleshly desires or are we committed to our Lord and King
Jesus? Are we willing to take up arms against the world, the flesh and the
devil? Are we willing to trust in God even though we are facing overwhelming
struggles and difficulties? We can learn from this battle recorded in scripture
that God is faithful to stand behind and deliver those that belong to Him as
long as they commit to show Him glory and honor and trust in Him and Him alone.
“Do not
let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”
John 14:1