15:1-8

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Rehoboam’s policies continued (1Ki 15:1-8)

Both Rehoboam and his son Abijam (Abijah) who succeeded him were unfaithful to God, though not to the extent that Jeroboam was.

False religion had official recognition in the north through the new system that Jeroboam had established, but in the south it was rather a corruption that existed alongside the orthodox worship of God (1Ki 15:1-5).

Abijam thought that, because the kingdom of Judah still practised the ancient religion that God had given Israel through Moses, this would guarantee God’s help in giving him victory in a war with Jeroboam.

He did, in fact, defeat Jeroboam, but this was because his soldiers fought in genuine reliance on God, not because God was in any way obliged to help him (1Ki 15:6-8; 2 Chron 13:1-22).