by Gary W. Summers<\/p>\n
What war tactic has usually proven successful? The ambush. Joshua had used it, at God’s instruction, with great success in the second attack on Ai. Once the men of that city were lured out into the open, by what they undoubtedly considered would be another route of Israel, they were hemmed in on both sides. All the people of Ai were killed (Joshua 8:26).<\/p>\n
In II Chronicles 13, Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, was facing the experienced king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. He does not seem worried, however; in fact, he is confident of victory. No, he is neither an optimist nor someone who is depending on his feelings or a hunch.<\/p>\n
The basis for his assurance of victory is something liberals and “grace only” advocates would never understand – obedient faith. Abijah tells Jeroboam in advance why Israel will be defeated:<\/p>\n
“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, … and made for yourselves priests, … of things that are not gods? But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the LORD are the sons of Aaron<\/em>” (II Chronicles 13.8-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
He also added: “Now look, God Himself is with us as our head<\/em>” (II Chronicles 13:12). Jeroboam, however, tried an ambush, but even with 400,000 in front of Abijah’s 400,000 and 400,000 behind them, he could not win; he suffered the loss of 500,000 men in the battle.<\/p>\n
Abijah’s trust in God was more than sufficient to conquer an army of superior numbers. The king’s faith was not misplaced, nor did it go unrewarded. Abijah knew that God would be with them in the battle.<\/p>\n
We face an enemy that outnumbers us, too. The devil and his emissaries know several excellent strategies. But when we fight the Lord’s battles (whether large or small), we too can be confident of victory. Those on the side of God and Truth always win.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Gary W. Summers What war tactic has usually proven successful? The ambush. Joshua had used it, at God’s instruction, with great success in the second attack on Ai. Once the men of that city were lured out into the open, by what they undoubtedly considered would be another route of Israel, they were hemmed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,54],"class_list":["post-54969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49974,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/abijahs-brief-reign\/","url_meta":{"origin":54969,"position":0},"title":"Abijah’s Brief Reign","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Chronicles 13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Abijah succeed Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as king of Judah - II Chronicles 13:1-2 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This same king is call Abijam in I Kings 15:1-8. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not much is mentioned of him I Kings other than there was constant war between Abijah\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20830,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-wrote-ii-kings\/","url_meta":{"origin":54969,"position":1},"title":"Who wrote II Kings?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who wrote II Kings? Answer: I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, and II Kings are actually one long book that became divided into four parts. Scrolls can only hold so much before they become unwieldy. The books are thought to be the work of a series of prophets. Such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1600,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-the-passage-that-says-dying-young-spares-the-person-from-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":54969,"position":2},"title":"Where is the passage that says dying young spares the person from evil?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the Old Testament, I can't remember the book, there was a passage where God was answering a question from the prophet, and God said the reason why the righteous die young or is taken is to spare them from the evil that is up ahead. Where in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87740,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jeroboams-golden-calves\/","url_meta":{"origin":54969,"position":3},"title":"Jeroboam\u2019s Golden Calves","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry Imagine God handing you immense power, a kingdom, and a divine promise of an enduring legacy. What would you do to keep it? Would you trust His word, or would you take matters into your own hands, even if it meant compromising the truth? This isn't a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54245,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-problem-with-jeroboam-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":54969,"position":4},"title":"The Problem with Jeroboam II","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford In any secular history book, Jeroboam II would look like a successful king. He reigned for 41 years in an age when the length of a reign correlated with political power. Militarily, he was one of the greatest commanders among the monarchs of Israel. During his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38147,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/because-of-the-sins-of-jeroboam\/","url_meta":{"origin":54969,"position":5},"title":"Because of the Sins of Jeroboam","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 5:13-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Few credit the influence we have on the lives of those around us. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The things we do and say impact the lives of those we come in contact. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes our influence spreads to people we may not have seen. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The example of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54969\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}