Abijah vs. Jeroboam at Mount Zemaraim

Outnumbered two to one and caught in an ambush, Judah cried out to the LORD and shouted. God struck Jeroboam's army, and Judah won because they relied on Him.

Abijah king of Judah faced Jeroboam king of Israel with four hundred thousand men against eight hundred thousand. Standing on mount Zemaraim, Abijah called out to Israel that the LORD had given the kingdom to David's line by a covenant of salt, that Jeroboam had rebelled and set up golden calves and false priests, and that Judah still served the LORD with the sons of Aaron and the Levites. 'God himself is with us for our captain,' he warned; 'fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers.' Meanwhile Jeroboam had set an ambush behind Judah. Surrounded, Judah cried to the LORD, the priests sounded the trumpets, and the men shouted. Then God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Judah. Judah prevailed 'because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers', and Abijah took Bethel and other towns.

0:00

Details

Era: Divided Kingdom
Category: Divided Kingdom
Participants: Judah (Abijah, 400,000) vs. Israel (Jeroboam, 800,000)
Outcome: Judah victorious, Bethel taken from Israel
Divine Intervention: Yes

Key Chapters

2 Chronicles 13 Abijah King of Judah 4 min read Before the battle Abijah reminds Israel of God's covenant with David and warns t...

Key Passages

Abijah's Appeal

2 Chronicles 13:3-12

Before the battle Abijah reminds Israel of God's covenant with David and warns them not to fight against the LORD.

A³nd Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.

⁴ And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; ⁵ Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. ⁷ And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. ⁸ And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. ⁹ Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: ¹¹ And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him. ¹² And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

God Smote Jeroboam

2 Chronicles 13:13-20

Trapped front and back, Judah cries to the LORD and prevails because they rely on Him.

B¹³ut Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.

¹⁴ And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷ And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. ¹⁸ Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers. ¹⁹ And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof. ²⁰ Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.