It would be interesting to know how often we are delivered from painful consequences for the sake of someone else. How often has God honored the prayers of our parents to watch over us even while we were acting foolishly or even sinfully?
How often has God stopped us from speaking wrongly toward our kids because He was sparing them from the hurt that our words would cause? Abijah was spared the worst of consequences for his sins—removal from the throne—because God chose to honor the covenant He made with David many years before.
Abijah was the son of Rehoboam, who was the son of Solomon. The Bible makes it clear that Abijah “committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God” (1 Kings 15:3). These sins included the idolatry that caused the Lord to drive out the pagan nations from Canaan centuries earlier (1 Kings 14:23–24).
Despite Abijah’s wickedness, however, the Lord remained faithful to His covenant with David to build up a lasting dynasty. Because of this, Abijah was allowed to continue to reign as king—and his son was allowed to carry on the Davidic dynasty after him.
The Bible records a battle between Abijah and Jeroboam to determine the boundary line between their two nations. Abijah captured three towns, pushing the boundary line deep into the former territory of the northern kingdom (2 Chronicles 13:3–20).
Eventually the boundary line would move farther south again and be firmly settled during the reign of Abijah’s son Asa (1 Kings 15:9– 22).