A war of words, sneaky betrayals, and common gossip happens when God’s church divides into cliques who seek their own arrogant powers of influence while holding tightly to religious traditions—as if traditions are what saved them for eternity.  Yes, read that again.  Our traditions in the church we call “our home church” does not save us from our sins—only Jesus saves us and sets us free! Our one and only job given to us following our redemption and removal of our sins is to go and teach others this Good News of salvation! All the rest is merely activities that lead to the mission—or not.

For example, years ago, in a new pastorate, we soon discovered a very angry couple who would not talk to us during the Easter season and a few months afterward.  After prodding we learned that there was a cross stored in the basement that was “always brought out” and placed near the organ during the Easter season—but it wasn’t that year—because no one told us!  We were gossiped about with a bit of slander over the wooden cross that was not put into place as a holy tradition in the eyes of the people. The cross itself, as a sign of redemption of Jesus sacrifice, did not save people from their sins!  Only Jesus saves.  In that same season, people came forward to be saved by in the Name of Jesus; but the emphasis was on more on their tradition that was not accomplished.  How God must sigh in grief over the silliness of His people.

The way we “do church” with programs or no programs with order of worship; hymns with chorus or no hymns with only praise songs; worship teams that raise their hands or quiet teams who simply sing the song; those who feed those in need but following guidelines or no requirements at all become traditions. Traditions form within the Body of Christ; but they are not the answer for our internal sin problem we keep hidden so others will not know how addicted we are to them.  Some addictions are wanting our own way like a toddler who demand the attention of others.  More emphasis needs to be made on being the church in unity with God.  May God’s Kingdom thinking come and reside in our hearts, minds and souls.  “Not my will, but His be done”—another prayer lesson from Jesus. These are the prayers and behaviors of those seeking unity while avoiding division within the Body of Christ who is the Head and Cornerstone of His church.

This son of Rehoboam was handpicked by his father because of his proven ability (11:22), but he was not a godly man (1 Kings 15:3). He reigned only three years. He was from David’s line through both parents because David’s infamous son, Absalom, was Abijah’s maternal grandfather or great-grandfather. (1 Kings 15:2; 2 Chronicles 13:2). Abijah may have had David’s blood flowing in his veins, but he didn’t have David’s heart beating in his breast!

Abijah’s father, Rehoboam, had kept up a running war with Jeroboam, and Abijah carried on the tradition. 

2 Chronicles 13

Abijah King of Judah

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, ² and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵ Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master. ⁷ Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.

⁸ “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. ⁹ But didn’t you drive out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

¹⁰ “As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. ¹¹ Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. ¹² God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

¹³ Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets ¹⁵ and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. ¹⁷ Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. ¹⁸ The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

War become a way of life for the divided nation of Israel.  But a divided church is not God’s design in the New Covenant that includes whoever believes!  This truth is expressed by the prayer of Jesus for all believers to come after His days on earth. Jesus compassionately prayed asking God that all who believe be One in unity. Jesus uttered these powerful, loving words to God before going to the cross to redeem us by paying the debt of all the sins of the world with His own life!

Jesus prayed before dying to save us;

“My prayer is not for them (His present disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”—Jesus, John 17:20-23

BECAUSE of God’s Love, the same love demonstrated and defined as giving His One and Only Son to save whoever believes is real and eternal, relentless and unchanging.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Jesus and God—united and unbreakable—until that moment in time when Jesus took all the sins of the world upon His shoulders and willing laid down His life to rid the world of sin once and for all!  Our Perfect and Holy God turned His face on the sins of the world that Jesus carried to the cross.  For God and sin cannot occupy the same place.  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” was the passionate cry of One separated for that moment from His Father to complete the mission to die for our sins to save us for eternity. Jesus then gave up his last human breath and died a human death on earth.  The holy sacrifice willingly and obediently finished to remove sin. 

Jesus, without sin before the cross carried the sins of the world to the cross for you and for me.  Sigh, let that sink in.

So, when we repent in Jesus Name of our sins; the only One who can, removes our sins— “as far as the east is from the west” to be “remembered no more.”  (Psalm 103:12) Nobody but Jesus could do this for us.  It is God’s gift to us.  We cannot do it for ourselves.  We don’t deserve it and we certainly cannot earn, no matter how hard we try. This is God’s gift given His Way so that no human would have right or reason to boast!  Only Jesus is the Way to God.  Only Jesus removes all our sins so we can be one with Him.  Accept Him.

SO THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW—

Jesus prays that his followers may be united in the same way he and the Father are one. He asks that believers be united “as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” and “that they may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me”. This unity is a spiritual and relational oneness, meant to be a testimony to the world of God’s love and the truth of the Gospel. 

Interestingly, Abijah knew his history and had faith in what God had said to Moses and David. He had the courage to preach a sermon to Jeroboam and his army of 800,000 men (twice as large as Judah’s army), reminding them of the true foundation for the Jewish faith. Abijah opened his sermon by reminding Jeroboam that David’s line was the true royal dynasty as stated in God’s unchanging covenant with David. (See also 2 Samuel 7).

Abijah reminded Jeroboam that only the sons of Aaron could serve in the temple. Judah worshiped the one true and living God, while Israel worshiped two golden calves. Israel’s priests were hired by their king; not divinely appointed servants of the Lord. In Judah, the people honored the Lord God Jehovah— “God is with us!” If Israel were to attack Judah, therefore, Israel would be fighting against the Lord!

In division, God has not left the building nor has He given up His Authority—

“The Lord acted as He did for the glory of His own name. Abijah isn’t marked out as a godly ruler, but we commend him for his understanding of God’s truth and his faith in God’s power. Abijah was no Joshua, but the God of Joshua was still the God of His people, proving Himself faithful. Abijah became more and more powerful, fathered many children, and helped to continue the dynasty of David. God uses imperfect people to do His will, if only they will trust Him.”—Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible

God’s Truth can get lost or be put aside in the busyness and business of maintaining human traditions.  As the “Word made flesh moved into the neighborhood” (John 1, MSG) of humanity; Jesus first reprimands the religious community as those who should know better but “their hearts were far from God.”

As the Body of Christ, let us strive with our hearts, minds and souls to be aligned and attached to Truth.  May we avoid war with each other as a way of life. May our desire be all God desires us to be—so that the lost world around us sees the Light and Love of God in us like a high beam that does not blind but guides the lost to Jesus Christ, “God with us, who saves us from our sins.” 

Jesus saves. We do not.

Lord,

Traditions are fruitless if they only define us as a club with similar tastes in doing church.  Let us fully set our hearts on you for your direction and guidance.  May your Kingdom come; Your Will be done.  Help us to BE the church united because we are united with you!

In Jesus Name, for our good and most of all for your glory, Amen