Abijah was the next king of Judah (both Rehoboam and Jeroboam had sons called Abijah). Abijah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Sadly it is a common refrain in 1 and 2 Kings that such and such a king did evil and was not like David, and the nation invariably followed the same road. The overriding message of Kings is the sinfulness of the people and the consequences of this sin. A point I have made several times before is, "if this book was purely man-made do you think Israel would really have written this book about herself?" For this book clearly shows, justifiably, Israel in a bad light.
The Bible makes reference to David's faithfulness, and also points out his sin against Uriah.
There was continual war between Judah and Israel. The results are not mentioned here, largely because they are immaterial. The sin within each nation and the disunity between them were the fruit of their behaviour.
We then get a welcome break, Asa one of the better kings. He also reigned for a more substantial period, forty one years. Asa got rid of the temple prostitutes and cleared many of the idols away. He also deposed his grandmother from her position as queen mother. However, Asa did not get rid of the high places, though Kings speaks well of Asa's heart.
There was was war between Judah and Israel and it seems that Israel was the stronger. So Asa used silver and gold from the temple to get help from Damascus. So Israel was thwarted, and Asa built up some of the towns of Judah.
Meanwhile Nadab became king of Israel and did evil in the eyes of the Lord. There was strife within the kingdom and much bloodshed and Baasha succeeded Nadab. However, he just committed the same sins.
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