The big picture
Abijam succeeds his father as king of Judah, the southern kingdom. His short reign gives way to Asa, his son, who removes much forbidden worship. In Israel, the northern kingdom, a violent change ends the first royal line. War links the two kingdoms even as their rulers change. The account weighs these kings by their conduct towards God, while also recording alliances, building work, family ties, and the costs of keeping power.
In this chapter
- Abijam Repeats His Father's Sins 1 Kings 15:1-8
Abijam rules Judah for three years and continues his father's sins.
- Asa Removes Forbidden Worship 1 Kings 15:9-15
Asa reigns in Judah for forty-one years.
- Asa Buys Help Against Baasha 1 Kings 15:16-24
Baasha, king of Israel, fortifies Ramah to block travel into and out of Judah.
- Baasha Destroys Jeroboam's Family 1 Kings 15:25-34
Nadab, Jeroboam's son, rules Israel for two years and follows his father's sins.
Central truth
Asa turns Judah towards God, while war continues and Israel's new royal line repeats the sins of the old one.
Scripture beside the summary
1 Kings · King James Version · 341 Kings 15:1-8
Abijam Repeats His Father's Sins
Abijam rules Judah for three years and continues his father's sins. His heart is not wholly faithful to God. Yet God keeps David's family ruling in Jerusalem for David's sake. This continuing line is pictured as a lamp. David's loyalty is praised, with the grave wrong involving Uriah the Hittite named as an exception. War with Jeroboam continues during Abijam's reign. After his death he is buried in the old royal district, and his son Asa takes the throne.
In everyday life
A lighthouse keeper trims the lamp in the tower her grandfather maintained, though the present owner neglects his duties. An older commitment keeps the light burning through a poor successor's tenure. Continuity does not make the current owner's conduct sound. God preserves David's royal line because of his own promise.
Notice
1 Kings 15:4 The lamp means that David's family still has a future on the throne. It is a gift preserved despite Abijam's failure, not earned by him.
1 Kings 15:1-8
King James Version1Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
2Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
4Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:
5Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
1 Kings 15:9-15
Asa Removes Forbidden Worship
Asa reigns in Judah for forty-one years. He does what God approves, unlike his father. He removes male shrine prostitutes and idols left by earlier rulers. He even takes away Maachah's rank as queen because she has made an idol. She is an older woman of the royal family. He destroys and burns the object beside the Kidron stream. The hilltop shrines remain, but his heart is described as faithful. He also brings dedicated silver, gold, and vessels into the temple.
In everyday life
A sports ground trustee removes a relative from an honorary post after she installs an unauthorised betting booth beside the pitch. He closes it despite the family pressure. His duty reaches people he knows well, not only strangers. Asa's action concerns idols and loyalty to God rather than rules for a sports ground.
Notice
1 Kings 15:13 Asa removes rank from a member of his own family. His effort against idols is not limited to people with little power to resist him.
1 Kings 15:9-15
King James Version9And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
10And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
12And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
13And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
14But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.
15And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.
1 Kings 15:16-24
Asa Buys Help Against Baasha
Baasha, king of Israel, fortifies Ramah to block travel into and out of Judah. Asa sends temple and palace treasure to Ben-hadad, king of Syria. He asks him to break his alliance with Baasha and attack northern towns. The plan works. Baasha stops building, and Asa summons all Judah to carry away his stone and timber. He uses them to strengthen two other towns. Later Asa suffers disease in his feet. When he dies, his son Jehoshaphat succeeds him.
In everyday life
A freight yard manager pays a rival carrier to stop serving the company blocking her access road. Once the pressure shifts, she removes the abandoned barriers and uses the material at her own gate. Her relief comes through a costly deal. Asa pays with sacred treasure and triggers attacks on towns.
Notice
1 Kings 15:22 Asa makes everyone help dismantle the unfinished fort. The materials intended to restrict Judah instead become part of its own defences under his command.
1 Kings 15:16-24
King James Version16And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
19There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
20So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
22Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
24And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
1 Kings 15:25-34
Baasha Destroys Jeroboam's Family
Nadab, Jeroboam's son, rules Israel for two years and follows his father's sins. During a siege of a Philistine town, Baasha kills him and takes the throne. Baasha then kills every member of Jeroboam's royal house. This fulfils the warning spoken through Ahijah because Jeroboam led Israel into sin. Yet the new ruler follows the same sinful course. He rules for twenty-four years from Tirzah and remains at war with Asa. A change of family does not bring a change in worship.
In everyday life
A records keeper folds away a family's files after news that none of them has survived a violent purge. Outside, officials announce a fresh start under a new ruler. Her silent desk holds the cost hidden by that claim. Baasha's killings fulfil a warning, yet he repeats the condemned king's sins.
Notice
1 Kings 15:34 Baasha follows Jeroboam's sinful way after wiping out his house. Removing the old rulers does not mean he rejects the conduct that brought their fall.
1 Kings 15:25-34
King James Version25And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
26And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
27And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
28Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.
29And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
30Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
31Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
32And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
34And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
1 Kings 15:1 begins with “Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.”
Where the chapter turns
1 Kings 15:18 forms a natural hinge: “Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered…”
The final note
1 Kings 15:34 leaves the reader with “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Israel, king, LORD, Baasha, Judah, Jeroboam help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- league
- An agreement between rulers to support or protect each other.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
