An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 77: What does it mean for a nation to have God on its side? (2 Chronicles 11-15)

2 Chronicles 11-15
What does it mean for a nation to have God on its side?

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.
For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

2 Chronicles 11

“And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.”

Rehoboam gathers his forces, but then Shemiah the prophet tells him that Israel and Judah have split due to God’s will. Remarkably, Rehoboam doesn’t throw him in prison or kill him or anything, but listens to him (suggesting the power of God’s word?), and so abandons his plans for outright warfare.

Instead he fortifies all of his cities, and his kingdom of Judah is also bolstered by the fact that Jereboam has expelled the Levites from his kingdom of Israel, and instead turned to idol worship (or, as this chapter has it, “high places, devils and calves”, which suggests the various depictions of Baal worship with its sacred groves and golden calves). Because of this, anyone still loyal to Yahweh worship comes to Jerusalem, and this itself suggests a fairly porous border between the two kingdoms. Interestingly this means that neither side is entirely in the right or wrong – Rehoboam sticks to orthodox worship but taxes his people heavily, whilst Jereboam may be a more fair ruler but he instigates Baal worship (which may actually be a more equitable religion but we are given this from the point of view of the Yahweh worshippers).

The chapter ends with a list of Rehoboam’s many wives and children.

2 Chronicles 12

“And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.”

So, having noted above that Rehoboam’s saving grace from the point of view of the bible is that he allows proper Yawheh worship, he now turns away from othodoxy. Shishak king of Egypt invades Judah and plunders the temples – he steals the golden shields, Rehoboam has some brass ones made to replace them. Because the people of Judah then turn back to God to save them, He relents but still allows the Egyptians to plunder them as punishment for turning away from Him in the first place. At the end of the chapter, Rehoboam dies and his son Abijah inherits his reign.

This chapter is the first in a running theme in Kings, and I daresay we will get the same in Chronicles. Foreign invasions are put down to a punishment from God for Israel and/or Judah lapsing in their worship, but the response is not always immediate or measured. Sometimes the “punishment” skips a generation or two, sometimes the severity varies. By trying to impart a divine origin to geo-political events you can tie yourself in knots; probably best to avoid trying in the first place.

2 Chronicles 13

“And 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.”

Abijah goes to war against Jereboam and, although outnumbered, he gives a stirring speech that says that God is on the side of Judah because the people of Israel have turned to false gods. Jereboam’s forces outflank Abijah’s, but then a rousing shout causes them to flee (thanks to the power of God), and the Israelites are roundly defeated, losing several cities. Jereoboam is not killed in battle but dies some time shortly afterwards, it is implied.

Here we see a good example of what I was talking about in the last chapter – Judah wins because it has kept to the covenant and so God helps them in battle, but previously God had sent the Egyptians to defeat them because they had lapsed. I suppose in fairness they ultimately drive away the Egyptians “because” they return to the proper worship of God, so by the time of Abijah they are “right in the eyes of the Lord”, as the bible might put it.

2 Chronicles 14

“So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.”

Continuing the line of Judah, the rulership passes to Asa, son of Abijah. Now here, again, we go back and forth on the fortunes of a nation depending on divine favour; Asa makes it a point to tear down altars to other gods and so his reign is largely peaceful, except for an invasion by Zerah the Ethiopian which is defeated. However, were we not told in the last chapter that Abijah prevailed in battle against Jereboam because God favoured him? So therefore when did these altars come back? They were implied to have arisen in Rehoboam’s reign – did Abijah suspend worship but not destroy it? Was he just good enough for God to help? I don’t think looking back at the reign of a king and saying “his was peaceful, he must have done right by God” or “his was troubled, he must have done wrong by God” quite works. I’m pretty sure some kings who had outright idolatry during their rules did okay overall, whilst pious Yahweh monotheists could have been troubled by foreign invasions – it was just that kind of time.

2 Chronicles 15

“Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.”

Okay, now this chapter addresses some of my concerns that I’d expressed before. Azariah the prophet tells King Asa that, although God has helped his people when they asked, the reason that troubles keep besetting them is because there are too many foreign idols. So, I guess I missed the point that help is forthcoming if asked for, even for those who are not perfect, and this makes more sense.

Asa listens to this advice and burns the false idols, even one that his own mother worships. He also has anyone who doesn’t convert to the sole worship of Yahweh put to death, so maybe not the most merciful of kings, but apparently this works because his reign knows thirty years of peace. Also of note – many people from the tribes of Simeon and Manasseh have joined Judah because they are looking for a place of orthodox Yahweh worship.