About this sermon
First Kings 15 gives a short, unflattering account of Abijam, Rehoboam’s son: he walked in his father’s sins, and the Lord kept a lamp in Jerusalem only for David’s sake. Second Chronicles 13 adds that when Judah was outnumbered in battle, Abijah and his men cried out to the Lord and he gave them victory. Matthew includes him in Jesus’ genealogy. His name means “my father is the Lord,” a picture of grace, and it points to the one at the end of the list who is the Father’s own Son.
Sermon transcript
Hear now the Word of God. The record of the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. Now verse 7, Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. Now let us turn to 1 Kings 15.
Now in the 18th year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abisham became king over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem and his mother’s name was Ma’aka, the father of the daughter of Abshalom or Abishalom. He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had committed before him, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David. But for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem. because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord and had not turned aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. Now the rest of the acts of Abisham and all that he did Are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David and Asa. His son became king in his place. So ends the reading of God’s holy word. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Without your spirit, this is just sound and fury. It’s just a cacophony of syllables.
Won’t you, O Lord, give us the ability to bring all of these things together, that we might know Christ in our minds. We ask that you would build up those who our downcast, we ask that you would challenge the apathetic, and we ask that you would show your love to all of your people by this holy practice given to us from the apostles. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Our study in God’s Word by way of Matthew’s genealogy finds us going into some areas that for some may be deep waters. David, Abraham, Solomon.
I feel somewhat comfortable with those people, but sometimes for some of us it gets a little bit blurry as we go deeper into the Book of Kings. It just seems like a number of strange names thrown together. May it not be that way. Today we come to look at the story of Abijah or Abijam. You may notice that I tend to emphasize the latter syllable. I think it’s more faithful to the ways of Hebrew names. I tend to do that unless there is a a standardized English pronunciation. Not David, but David.
Well, we come to this then, this piece of the Word of God, and Matthew talks about Abijah. And Abijah is the great-grandson of David, the grandson of Solomon, and the son of Rehoboam, with whom we became a little bit more acquainted just two weeks ago. I’d have you notice, though, the difference in the names. Matthew says Abijah or Abijah. We turn to the Book of First Kings and it is Abijam. I wonder if there’s something going on there with the names. Our passage that we read about Abisham in 1 Kings 15 is not very positive, you might have noticed.
Just simply by way of biography, we see that he comes to reign in the 18th year of Jeroboam. Remember the context. Jeroboam has taken over the ten tribes in the north. He’s ruling over those, and he has done so, he began that in an underhanded way, somewhat by trickery. Now, Abizham is only going to reign for three years. It seems that the Lord is not fully pleased with the reign of Abijah.
What happened was David received a promise that you will have a son to sit on the throne forever and ever. And Solomon was that son in a typological manner, just a picture of what Christ was going to be. But at the end of Solomon’s reign, things begin to fall apart. His life begins to fall apart because he goes after strange gods, strange gods of the women that he had married.
He begins to compromise, but the Lord will not go back on his promise. He will not take the kingdom away from Solomon. So Solomon has a son, and Rehoboam is his name. And Rehoboam is unfaithful by not trusting and following the advice of his elders and of those who had gone before him. And so because of some rookie mistakes, he splits the kingdom. That’s where Jeroboam comes in. Jeroboam, again as I said, takes over 10 tribes in the north. That leaves Rehoboam with just the southern tribes.
Now, we must see in this that God is still being faithful to his promises. A son of David still sits on the throne in Jerusalem and he is ruling, but His kingdom has been substantially reduced. It has not been cut away. It has almost been cut fully away, but He still rules over Judah. God is true to His promises, often despite the sin of His people.
As I said, the narrative here is not very positive because the Lord is not fully pleased with what Abijam had, the ways that he lived. Now, we are not told the specifics of the ways that he failed. We can imagine them. It may have had to do with compromising. It may have had to do with beginning to worship other gods, but we ought not to speculate very much because the Word of God doesn’t tell us. It doesn’t display for us Abijam’s dirty laundry. For some reason it doesn’t. Many of the people in God’s Word, even people we think highly of, their dirty laundry is set out for us on display. But not the case with this one Abijam.
We are just told that his heart was not wholly faithful like David’s heart was. But it does display for us just a little bit of David’s dirty laundry, does it not? It says, David was fully faithful to the Lord his God in his heart, except for that one thing that he did, that one minor issue, just a little bit of murder, just a little bit of adultery. Other than that, his heart is fully devoted to the Lord We could say, though, that the writer of 1 Kings does not idealize the life of David. It doesn’t set him up as a hero. He had faith, but he was a man with feet of clay.
He was a sinner who receives grace. To that, We must say, hallelujah. God is gracious. God is showing kindness. Jerusalem was to be a city set on a hill. A light, we are told, shines in Jerusalem. What is that light? That light is Habisham, this son of David. Jerusalem was to be a city set on a hill for all of the rest of the nations to see the greatness of God. How would they see the greatness of God? They would look and see the promises to David, even in Abizham.
Certainly, this one light does not shine as brightly as it could have. It does not shine as brightly as in the days of David. But it shines bright for all of the nations to see, even though this man is a sinner, and though the Lord is not always grateful for his lackluster service.
We are told in verse 6, and we’re told at the end, that during the whole life of Abijan, there was war. And during all of his reign, there was war between himself and Jeroboam. Jeroboam, you remember, was an idolatrous king. He set up rival religion in the north. You have Hebrew men and women being led to false gods by Jeroboam, the idolatrous king. So there you have our text. Not very positive.
God, insofar as God seems to show any faithfulness to Abijam, it is only because of David, and his kindness to David, and the faith of David. It’s interesting though, as we look in other places in God’s Word, we have two different accounts of the life of Abijam. Understand that the book of Kings tells the story of the kings of Israel and Judah, but the book of 1st and 2nd Chronicles does the same thing. But there is a different flavor to each one of those. If you were to read 2 Chronicles 13, which I thought we might be best to keep things brief, we have an expanded discussion of the life of Abijam.
It’s interesting, as we go there, it’s not as negative. It doesn’t seem to cast such a dark light upon the life of Abijam. We have a different picture. Not only that, we have different names. 1 Kings, his name is Abijah. In 2 Chronicles, his name is Abijah. Very different. Why could that be? May we wonder about that. In 2 Chronicles, we have a really riveting story, 2 Chronicles 13, where it talks about the war between Jeroboam and their, as he’s called, Abijah. And there Abijah goes to war against Jeroboam and we’re told one of the speeches that he makes there.
It’s a very courageous speech and a powerful speech. They’re about to go into war. Now understand the context, the words that Abijah is saying when he is overmatched. He is going to war with 400,000 men. It sounds like a good number. 400,000 men. Until you see that Rehoboam, the idolatrous northern king, has 800,000 men. So it’s two to one. And Abijah does not cower and say, how will we win this?
He makes a courageous speech going up before the war, and he really preaches to the idolatrous northern tribes. And this is the way he begins in 2 Chronicles 13, 4 and 5. I’ll just read the first verse and a half. He says, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel. Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and to his sons as a covenant of salt? That’s the way he begins. He’s not shaking in his boots. He seems to be trusting in the Lord here.
What is this language of a covenant of salt? That doesn’t seem very strong for us. God made a covenant of salt. You might think of something, you know, salt is just something you might throw over your shoulder or something for bad luck, not that we believe in luck. Salt is something that doesn’t seem to last, does it? What does he mean? God has given the kingdom to David and his sons as a covenant of salt. Let me explain what he means by this. It doesn’t mean something that lasts as long as a meal. You put a little salt on food and then the salt is gone.
In the old covenant God gave the Levites, and especially the sons of Aaron, to be the priestly tribe. And in Numbers chapter 18, we have God explaining to the Levites that all that you will need will come from the offerings of the people. Listen to what he says there. numbers in 1819, all the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual due. For a definition of that, it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you. God is saying that the Levites are going to receive that and it’s going to be perpetual. Even it’s going to be eternal in some sense.
And so David, excuse me, so Abijah comes and he says, do you understand that the covenant that God made to David is still manifested in me? and by opposing me and my army, you are opposing God himself. He goes on in that speech, and it would be worth it for you to meditate upon it in the rest of your Lord’s Day, 2 Chronicles 13. He goes on in that speech to explain to those who would oppose him. that we have David’s son reigning in me, but we also have the sacrifices.
We have the true worship. We have the priests. We have the temple. We have all the things that God has given as a gift. And what do you have over there? You have things that are rival to all of those. You have a king who is falsely anointed as the king. You have false worship that is idolatrous.
It doesn’t sound like one who is not trusting in God in some sense. What Abijah is saying is that God has given David the throne forever and ever. Well, it didn’t do anything. Abijah’s Speech as preaching did not win him any converts, at least not from the opposing side.
So war commences. The cavalry comes. The horns are blown. War begins. And it’s not long after they have begun that war that Abijaz men begin to be outnumbered. Jeroboam, being a skilled general, not only sends people against Abijah’s front, but he sends some around the back. You see, he has men to spare. He has twice as many. And in the thick of the battle, Abijah and his men realize that things aren’t going well.
And they call out to the Lord their God. What are they doing? They’re demonstrating that they have faith in Him. And it really is not about numbers. It’s not about trusting in horses and in chariots and in swords. It’s about trusting in the Lord their God. And that is what they do. Because of their crying out to the Lord, the Lord blesses that, and He gives them victory. In fact, He wins the victory against Jeroboam and the idolatrous northern tribes, and they send them packing What ought we to think of this?
Two testimonies of one man. Ought we to privilege one and think that that’s the true one, and the other one’s just a myth, something that came along later? Are they both wrong? And they’re both just ways of writing your own history. We ought not to take it that way either. Both are true, but you certainly can look at things from a different perspective. Both are true. We have the same thing going on in our Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They don’t contradict one another. But each one is the word of God and they can certainly be reconciled, but they have worth and merit on their own to read on their own.
But what really is in a name after all? Why is it that one would give the name Abijah, first Kings, and the other would give the name Abijah? What does Abidjan mean, after all? Abidjan means, my father is the sea. Seems a bit strange. I’m not even sure what’s meant by that. My father is the sea. I don’t think that he is saying that his father is Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek and Latin mythology. Not at all. I don’t know what to do with that. My father is the sea. His father is not the sea. His father is Rehoboam. I don’t get any help there.
Rehoboam, the best that I can uh… figure out by looking at the meaning of the word because uh… hebrew names have meanings it’s really just the pride of the people not exactly sure but if we look at the name Abijah we get a little bit more there my father is Yah Yah Just a shortened form of Jehovah.
A shortened form of the Lord. So when you say hallelujah, you’re saying praise Yah. Praise God. It’s really praise a hallelujah-hovah. But it’s praise Yah. And that’s what His name is saying. My Father is Yah. This is a man who, like any of us, did good things, but did unrighteous things.
Things that were detrimental to his kingdom, but things that were helpful to his kingdom. It may be the case that Abijah is a man who can just talk a big game, and he does that. but the Lord seems to reward it. He seems to have, in some sense, a bit of faith. Even if God was not wholly pleased with his reign, it seems that God was just a little bit so pleased with the reign of Abijah.
It may be the case that because of the wrong things that he did, The writer of 1 Kings doesn’t want to dignify this one of old with a name that says, my father is God. And so he comes up with another name. My father is God. It may be the case that here we have one who is saved by grace.
Though he did not do good things in his kingdom, he may have been saved himself.” Certainly there is redemptive history in all the things that go on in there. And what happens in redemptive history is more than not a difference. There’s a difference between redemptive history and the individual and particular salvation of a particular man. Will Adam be saved? We don’t know. Adam cast the whole world into the mess that it is in. It may be the case that he is saved. In redemptive history, he destroyed the world. But it may be the case that God applies the redemption of Christ to Adam.
And I’ll put forward to you God and His grace, that that may be what He does with Abijah as well, though not fully pleased with his reign. He’s dignified, at least in some sense, to be given the name, My Father is God. For he looked to God the Father and found respite and he found deliverance from God. But look at the name that Matthew chooses. The name that he chooses is not Abisham, It is Abijah.
My father is God. Now don’t think that Matthew did not have both Chronicles and Kings at his disposal. He would have had access to all of them. The Old Testament canon was settled. For whatever reason, he goes with Abijah. And I do believe that by the Holy Spirit and by Matthew, we have a picture of grace.
One who, though he was not perfect as a king and God is not pleased with his kingdom and his rule, one who is truly able to say, my father is God. And it ought to point to the one who is at the bottom of the list of the genealogy. The one who, in a far greater and a far truer sense, is able to say, my father is God. My Father is Yah, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because Jesus is eternally begotten of the Father before all worlds. When Jesus was resurrected, He went and talked to Mary Magdalene. And what does He say to her? He says, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Truly Jesus understands my God is Yah, my Father is God. And so, as we read and as we sang, we have the book of Psalms 45, The Father is saying, My Son is God. And Jesus understands, My Father is God. Jesus receives that, what the Father says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
Before Christ the Lord was enthroned upon the throne which is in heaven, the Lord Jesus was enthroned upon the cross. Enthroned upon the cross as King of sorrows and as King of pain. And we are told by the gospel writers that Jesus has seven sayings from the cross, and I’ll read two of them back to back before you this day.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Upon the cross, Jesus understands, My Father is God. And the same One who forsakes Him is the same One into which He would commit His spirit. Because there is none greater for the Lord Jesus Christ to entrust and to commit His Spirit than in the one who is His Father and is His God. the one who He entrusts His Spirit to, is also the one who forsakes Him and pours out wrath upon Him so that we might be the recipients of eternal life by grace alone, by faith alone, not by works of any way, of any shape, or any form. and He does not forsake you. The reason is because He forsook His Son. But there is none greater for you in whom you would commit your spirit.
But it is not only Abijah, I think, who can truly be called Abijah. For that certainly is the name of Christ. But it is a name that by grace you are able to take as well. And you are able to say, with Jesus, My Father. And you are able to pray to Him, praying to Him with Jesus. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. by grace, through faith, in union with Christ, you are those who can be found to be able to say, my Father is God. The significance of that must not miss you.
We do not believe in the fatherhood of God and the sonship or the brotherhood of all mankind in Christianity. We’re all related in some sense, born of Adam. But God is not father to everyone. And to those he is not the father to, Abraham is their father. And the death and destruction and punishment which was deserving of Adam is to fall upon all those who are found in Adam who can at best say, Adam is my father. And as Jesus would tell the Pharisees, Satan is your father. We are born in sin with Adam as our father. We can really say we are born in sin with Satan as our father, and Adam as well, both of them. But in Christ, we are able to say, Abijah. And to that, how can we say anything other than hallelujah? Let us pray.
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