Abijah reigned as king of Judah after his father Rehoboam. We learn in Kings that Abijah was guilty of engaging in the sins of his culture and was far from the godly man of King David. 2 Chronicles gives us the most information about King Abijah’s reign. The narrative focuses primarily on Abijah’s war with King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom. While Abijah may not have walked in godliness he demonstrated faith prior to this battle, exclaiming “12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.” (2 Chron. 13:12). 

Jeroboam ignored Abijah’s warning and the LORD brought victory for a very imperfect, ungodly Abijah and his kingdom: 

“[14] And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the LORD, and the priests blew the trumpets. [15] Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah . . . . [18] Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers” (2 Chronicles 13:14–15, 18).

There is one important lesson to draw from this narrative: God's promises are conditioned only on his sovereign will revealing the depth of his mercy and grace.

God has promised David a kingdom: “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam. 7:16). That was a revelation of God's sovereign will that David should have someone on the throne. Abijah clearly was not a man after David's own heart. God would have been justified to sway the battle another way. However, God's sovereign plan was otherwise. As a result, Abijah, and Judah, were the recipients of his mercy and grace.

God made a similar promise when he said that he would build his church out of people. The Bible, and our own experience, tell us that people are just as sinful as Abijah. Hence, we don't deserve to be his building blocks that unfold the mystery of his wisdom the building of his church. In fact, the Bible says that we “were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3). If anything says we are unworthy building material it is these verses.

Yet, despite who we are at our core, it was His will to build his beautiful Church out of broken sinners like us “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4-6).

God's promises in the Bible are conditioned upon his sovereign will and his sovereign will alone. In light of what we have just read from scripture that should bring us great comfort because we realize as he unfolds this sovereign will unfettered by human sin, will, or scheming, his mercy and Grace glow as unworthy sinners like you and I, and Abijah reap the benefits.