I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     After the Northern Tribes chose Jeroboam as their king rather than Solomon’s son Rehoboam, Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem and prepared to make war against them to gain control over them. The prophet Shemaiah received a word from the Lord that they should not fight against the rest of Israel and the warriors of Judah and Benjamin chose to listen to this advice. Instead of going to war against the Northern Tribes, Rehoboam fortified towns and strengthened the defenses throughout Judah. The priests and Levites that had been living among the Northern Tribes moved to the area controlled by Rehoboam because Jeroboam would not allow them to serve as priests. Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at shrines he created where they offered sacrifices to goat and calf idols Jeroboam had made. Jeroboam’s decision to create shrines to idols led many Israelites to move from among the Northern Tribes to the area controlled by Rehoboam.
     Rehoboam spent some time consolidating his control over the territory he still controlled. In addition to fortifying towns and stationing troops in them he gave his sons administrative authority and stationed them throughout in some of those towns. Unfortunately, once Rehoboam has firmly established himself, he stopped trusting in God and turned away from Him. When God brought the Egyptians up to attack Jerusalem, Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah turned back to God to save them from the Egyptians. We are told that the Egyptian Pharaoh ransacked the treasuries of Jerusalem, but left Rehoboam as king.
     Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah. Abijah and Jeroboam went to war against each other. Abijah mustered 400,000 troops and Jeroboam mustered 800,000. When the armies faced off against each other, Abijah told Jeroboam’s forces that Judah continued the practices of worshiping God, while Jeroboam had driven off the priests of God and replaced them with priests to pagan gods. Abijah told Jeroboam’s army that they were fighting not just against the army of Judah but against God Himself. Jeroboam outflanked Abijah’s army and attacked from the front and the rear. The army of Judah called on God and was victorious.

     Paul writes that the Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness. We do not know what to pray for, but the Spirit will intercede for us as we lay before God our concerns. God will search our hearts and the Spirit will intercede for us so that our needs and wants become aligned with God’s will. Paul tells us that all things work together for good for those who love God. Paul goes on to say that if God is for us, who can stand against us? If we fully rely on God, there is no reason to fear any power on earth or in supernatural realms because none of them can stand against God. Even when we face trouble, calamity and/or persecution we should know that God will still work to bring about good for us. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. He will continue to love us no matter what our circumstance and we should strive to return that love. We must always strive to remember these two things no matter what our circumstance. First, God will work in all things for the good of those who love Him. Second, nothing is able to stand against God and separate us from His love. No matter what hardship or trial we face we can have confidence that God is using it to bring about good for us.

     The Lord lives and He will pay back those who seek to harm us. He will hold us safe from our enemies. We can trust in Him.

     We are never too old to learn. There should never come a time in our lives when we are unwilling to take instruction from those who know things that we do not.