Dr Paul Allen

2 Chronicles 13: 12 “Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed." Not long after the division of the united kingdom of Israel into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, war nearly broke out between the two nations. King Rehoboam of Judah gathered an army to fight King Jeroboam I of Israel, but the intervention of the prophet Shemaiah prevented military conflict (1 Kings 12:21–24). Yet, that would not be the end of fighting between Israel and Judah. First Kings 15:6–7 reports that war took place between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Rehoboam’s reign, and even Rehoboam’s son and successor, King Abijam of Judah, fought against Jeroboam. 2 Chronicles tell us about one fight between Jeroboam and Abijam. We are in the Chronicler’s account of Abijam’s reign and note th...

Torah inside of the former Glockengasse Synagogue in Cologne (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." ( Ezra  7:10 )   It does not come naturally into our hearts to seek, obey, and then teach others the words of God as found in the Scriptures. Therefore, like Ezra, we must prepare our hearts.   The Hebrew word for "prepare" means to "stand erect," and thus takes special effort. One's natural "heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" ( Jeremiah 17:9 ), not at all inclined to "stand up" for the Word of God.   But Ezra did, even in the court of a pagan king and in the midst of the enemies of God's people in a far country, and even among the backslidden people of his own nation. He prepared his heart, fixing it in firm faith on the laws and promises of God. And because he did, he could te...

English: Ahias-silonites was a prophet of Shiloh (1 Kings 11:29; 14:2) in the days of Rehoboam. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) By the time Rehoboam became king, the northern tribes had grown weary of Solomon 's oppressive forced labor policy (see 1 Kings 5:13-18 ; 12:4 ). They asked Rehoboam to lighten their burden; but rather than following the wise counsel of the elders who had served under Solomon, Rehoboam listened to his young peers and pledged to intensify the burden of labor (see 1 Kings 12:6-14 ). This prompted the ten northern tribes to secede (see 1 Kings 12:16 ). Their new leader was Jeroboam , himself a former overseer of forced labor for the "tribes of Joseph," the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (see 1 Kings 11:28 ). In a final effort to resolve the crisis, Rehoboam dispatched Adoniram , the official in charge of forced labor, to broker a settlement. Adoniram was experienced in these matters, having served as national overseer of forced labor under both Da...

The United Kingdom of Solomon breaks up, with Jeroboam ruling over the Northern Kingdom of Israel (in green on the map). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Bible says that Solomon was the wisest man in the world , and, because of that, he understood the value of seeking counsel . His son, on the other hand, was not so smart. We can read about Solomon’s son, King Rehoboam , in I Kings 12 and II Chronicles 10. As Rehoboam transitioned into power, he needed to determine how he was going to rule his people. Initially, he sought the advice of his elders. The older, more-experienced advisers told the king to be kind to the people. If so, the people would remain faithful and would always be the king’s servants. Then Rehoboam sought the counsel of a different group of advisers. They wer...

Image via Wikipedia We need wisdom when applying scriptures. Take tender-heartedness, for example. I think one of the most practical and important passages in the whole Bible is Ephesians 4:31–32. God put that there for me. It is one of the most important mandates in my life. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. There are dozens of situations where I should be more tenderhearted than I am. But what about 2 Chronicles 13:7? Jeroboam and “certain worthless scoundrels” — this is already not sounding tenderhearted — defied Solomon ’s son Rehoboam and broke the kingdom in half.  Why did that rebellion succeed? Multiple reasons. Here’s one. “Rehoboam was young and  tenderhearted , and could not withstand them” (2 Chronicles 13:7, KJV ). That’s a good literal translation. Image via Wikipedia So there is a...