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by Charlie Wolcott

Abijam, son of Rehoboam, was the first of the short-lived kings of either kingdom. His reign only lasted three years. We do not know how old he was when he became king but based on the surrounding contexts, we can surmise a range, which helps us understand how he grew up. His father Rehoboam grew up his entire life in the palace. Rehoboam was 41 when he became king and only 20 years passed between Rehoboam’s ascension to his grandson Asa’s ascension to the throne. Asa ruled for six years when his son Jehoshaphat was born, thus giving a 26-year difference between Rehoboam becoming king and the birth of Jehoshaphat. Abijam was in the middle of this and had to be old enough to father Asa, so Asa could be old enough to have children early in his reign. I am going to speculate that Abijam was born about halfway into Solomon’s 40-year reign (when Rehoboam was in his early 20s) and that Asa was born near the end of Solomon’s reign. As Abijam and Asa are the only two kings of Judah where the age of the king is not listed upon coronation, such speculation is required, as long as we stay within the framework that is given.

Abijam’s three-year reign is known for two things: his lack of departure from idolatry and his war with Jeroboam where at least for a moment, he expressed some faith in God. We do not know how Abijam died, whether it be by natural causes, an illness, an injury, or whatever; we just know he passed away after only three years on the throne. You can get the details from Katie Erickson’s post about Abijam here. So, what is Abijam’s backstory?

I will presume that Abijam lived his childhood in Solomon’s court. He needed to be nearing his 40s during his reign, if not being a bit older, so Asa would be old enough to father Jehoshaphat early in his own reign. This has led me to wonder if Abijam or Asa was the intended recipient of Proverbs 1-9. I am hesitant on Asa being the one because he would not be old enough to understand the dangers of false peers or adultery while Solomon was alive. Abijam would be of age to receive it if Solomon gave it late in life. If Rehoboam was the recipient, we can tell he didn’t do a very good job at listening because he didn’t make it a year before going directly against such warnings. Abijam was an adult when that happened, and he directly witnessed Jeroboam’s rebellion and would have been directly involved in fortifying the cities of Judah. There was war between Jeroboam and Rehoboam through most of their respective reigns, though not immediately because God revealed that the split was God’s will.

Abijam knew all the political context, and when it was his turn to go to battle with Jeroboam, he was outnumbered 2-1: 400k for Abijam and 800k for Jeroboam. Abijam knew his history. He knew the promises made to David and Solomon. He was alive to witness Jeroboam’s rebellion. He also knew his father Rehoboam’s weaknesses as a young ruler, even though Rehoboam was 41 years old. Despite his age, Rehoboam was still a child in many ways and Abijam noticed this, having seen both his father and grandfather rule. He could clearly see a difference in the maturity of Solomon with his God-given wisdom and Rehoboam who lived his entire life in the palace with spoiled peers.

Abijam knew that as king, he would need to be much stronger than his father was. To be stronger, he needed to rely on the Lord. For this battle, Abijam did trust in the Lord, despite doing evil by engaging in idolatry and allowing the high places for idol worship to continue. Because he trusted in the Lord and because he remembered his training in the days of his grandfather Solomon, even just that one time, Abijam won a victory slaying 500k of the 800k-man army of Jeroboam. It was a loss Jeroboam never recovered from, and it bought Abijam’s successor, Asa, ten years of peace to establish his throne.

Abijam was known for idolatry, and this can be traced easily to his wife Maacah, daughter of Absalom. She built an Asherah pole, an idol explicitly known for its sexual activity rituals. Maacah was one of many wives of Abijam but the one who gave birth to Asa, who would be the next ruler. Maacah plays a bigger role in Asa’s life.

There really isn’t a whole lot to say about Abijam’s reign. It was extremely short and the only notable thing he did was win a battle against Jeroboam. However, behind the scenes, we can see that Solomon still left some impression on his grandson. We can learn something here. There are times when someone raised in the faith departs the faith as an adult, but in a moment of crisis, that childhood faith can come back and blossom. Now we do not know if this was a one-time event or if Abijam walked faithfully with God for the rest of his life, which was not very long after this battle. The Bible does not say. What we do know is that he was marked for wickedness and had one moment of faith and trust in the Lord.

We can see that a deeply planted seed can still sprout, but one thing we will see later on is that not all the kings would have their seed blossom. Just because a seed is planted does not mean it will produce salvation-bearing fruit. Don’t forget the Parable of the Sower, where of the four types of soil, three took root but only one bore fruit. There is no evidence that Abijam eventually became good soil as Samson did, though our hearts would like to think he did. There is hope and a warning here. There is hope that a seed can still sprout, but there is a warning that it may get choked out in the end. Which is the case for Abijam? We don’t know.

Next week, we will look at Asa who came to the throne at the end of Jeroboam’s reign and ruled all the way into Ahab’s reign, seven kings of Israel later.

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