Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 13:13-18 (New International Version)

¹³ Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets ¹⁵ and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. ¹⁷ Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. ¹⁸ The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

This is the (hi)story of one of the many battles between the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Jeroboam is leading Israel; Abijah is leading Judah.

The men of Judah find themselves in a losing position as they are attacked from both the front and the rear. Instead of dying, they cried out to the Lord. The result was

God routed Jeroboam and all Israel

The tally was horrific – 500,000 casualties among Israel. Half a million men were either killed or injured in one battle on one day. Medical practice of the day was limited and that bode ill for someone with a puncture wound from a sword or spear.

Please note – these are all cousins. The men of Judah and Israel all descended from Jacob. This is family massacring family.

As we look back on this about 3,000 years later, we wonder. God allowed half a million men to suffer. How could he do that? How could reliance on the Lord bring about such a disaster for one big family? I find no soothing answers. I find one ugly answer: sin. Many of those involved on that day – on both sides – were  not obeying the Lord in their daily lives. They had forsaken the Lord’s instructions for life. Horrible? Yes.

I thank God for His grace that allows me to live as I do given my sin.