1 Kings 15

1 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.

2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

4 Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem.

5 Because David had done that which was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from any thing that he had commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah, the Hittite.

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

7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam 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.

8 And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead.

9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah.

10 And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.

12 For he took away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

13 And he also removed Maachah, his mother, from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

14 But the high places were not removed; nevertheless, Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

15 And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated and the things which he himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver and gold and vessels.

16 And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

17 And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might not allow any to go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah.

18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house and delivered them into the hand of his slaves, and King Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

19 There is a covenant between me and thee and between my father and thy father; behold, I have sent unto thee a bribe of silver and gold; come and break thy covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

20 So Benhadad hearkened unto King Asa and sent the princes of the hosts, which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon and Dan and Abelbethmaachah and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

21 And when Baasha heard this, he left off building of Ramah and dwelt in Tirzah.

22 Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; no one was exempted; and they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, with which Baasha had been building; and King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

23 The rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless, in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

24 And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father; and Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his stead.

25 And Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.

26 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in his sins with which he made Israel sin.

27 And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel had laid siege to Gibbethon.

28 Even in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, did Baasha slay him and reigned in his stead.

29 And when he came into the kingdom, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not a living soul of those of Jeroboam, until he had destroyed him, according unto the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his slave Ahijah, the Shilonite,

30 because of the sins of Jeroboam with which he sinned and with which he made Israel sin and because of his provocation with which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

33 In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah; and he reigned twenty-four years.

34 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin with which he caused Israel to sin.

1 Kings 15 Commentary

Chapter 15

Wicked reign of Abijam, king of Judah. (1-8) Good reign of Asa, king of Judah. (9-24) The evil reigns of Nadab and Baasha in Israel. (25-34)

Verses 1-8 Abijam's heart was not perfect with the Lord his God; he wanted sincerity; he began well, but he fell off, and walked in all the sins of his father, following his bad example, though he had seen the bad consequences of it. David's family was continued as a lamp in Jerusalem, to maintain the true worship of God there, when the light of Divine truth was extinguished in all other places. The Lord has still taken care of his cause, while those who ought to have been serviceable thereto have lived and perished in their sins. The Son of David will still continue a light to his church, to establish it in truth and righteousness to the end of time. There are two kinds of fulfilling the law, one legal, the other by the gospel. Legal is, when men do all things required in the law, and that by themselves. None ever thus fulfilled the law but Christ, and Adam before his fall. The gospel manner of fulfilling the law is, to believe in Christ who fulfilled the law for us, and to endeavour in the whole man to obey God in all his precepts. And this is accepted of God, as to all those that are in Christ. Thus David and others are said to fulfil the law.

Verses 9-24 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. That is right indeed which is so in God's eyes. Asa's times were times of reformation. He removed that which was evil; there reformation begins, and a great deal he found to do. When Asa found idolatry in the court, he rooted it out thence. Reformation must begin at home. Asa honours and respects his mother; he loves her well, but he loves God better. Those that have power are happy when thus they have hearts to use it well. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well; not only cast away the idols of our iniquity, but dedicate ourselves and our all to God's honour and glory. Asa was cordially devoted to the service of God, his sins not arising from presumption. But his league with Benhadad arose from unbelief. Even true believers find it hard, in times of urgent danger, to trust in the Lord with all their heart. Unbelief makes way for carnal policy, and thus for one sin after another. Unbelief has often led Christians to call in the help of the Lord's enemies in their contests with their brethren; and some who once shone brightly, have thus been covered with a dark cloud towards the end of their days.

Verses 25-34 During the single reign of Asa in Judah, the government of Israel was in six or seven different hands. Observe the ruin of the family of Jeroboam; no word of God shall fall to the ground. Divine threatenings are not designed merely to terrify. Ungodly men execute the just judgments of God upon each other. But in the midst of dreadful sins and this apparent confusion, the Lord carries on his own plan: when it is fully completed, the glorious justice, wisdom, truth, and mercy therein displayed, shall be admired and adored through all the ages of eternity.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 15

In this chapter we have a short history of the reign of Abijam, 1Ki 15:1-8 and of Asa, 1Ki 14:9-24, both kings of Judah; and of the reigns of Nadab the son of Jeroboam, and of Baasha, who destroyed his family, both kings of Israel, 1Ki 15:25-34.