Great Battles of the Bible

CIVIL WAR

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

“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