When Rehoboam died, his son Abijah became king
of Judah. Soon afterward, Israel invaded Judah.
Jeroboam was still king of Israel at the time.
When the two armies faced one another,
Israel’s army was twice as big. Still, Abijah stood
and yelled over at the men of Israel. He told them
how he trusted the Lord. He compared how
Judah worshiped the Lord at the Temple to how
Israel worshiped the two golden calves.
While he was talking, Jeroboam sent half of
his men around to the back of Abijah’s army.
When the battle started, Judah suddenly realized
they were surrounded. They cried out to the Lord
and the priests blew the trumpets. God fought
against Israel and they ran from the battlefield.
Many of their soldiers died that day.
Jeroboam never recovered from this massive
defeat, and he died soon afterwards. Abijah
became stronger because he trusted the Lord.
After Abijah died, his son Asa became king
of...