141 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick . 2 Jeroboam said to his wife , "Arise now , and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam , and go to Shiloh ; behold , Ahijah the prophet is there , who spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people . 3 " Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey , and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy ." 4 Jeroboam's wife did so , and arose and went to Shiloh , and came to the house of Ahijah . Now Ahijah could not see , for his eyes were dim because of his age . 5 Now the Lord had said to Ahijah , "Behold , the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son , for he is sick . You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that she will pretend to be another woman ." 6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway , he said , "Come in, wife of Jeroboam , why do you pretend to be another woman ? For I am sent to you with a harsh message.
7 "Go , say to Jeroboam , 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel , " Because e I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel , 8 and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you- yet you have not been like My servant David , who kept My commandments and who followed e Me with all his heart , to do only that which was right in My sight ; 9 you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger , and have cast Me behind your back - 10 therefore behold , I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam , and will cut off from Jeroboam every male e person, both bond and free in Israel , and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam , as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone . 11 " Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat . And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat ; for the Lord has spoken it."' 12 "Now you, arise , go to your house . When your feet enter the city the child will die . 13 "All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam's family will come to the grave , because in him something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam . 14 "Moreover, the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day and from now on. 15 "For the Lord will strike Israel , as a reed is shaken in the water ; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers , and will scatter them beyond e the Euphrates River , because e they have made their Asherim , provoking the Lord to anger . 16 "He will give up Israel on account of the sins of Jeroboam , which he committed and with which he made Israel to sin ." 17 Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah . As she was entering the threshold of the house , the child died . 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet . 19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam , how he made war and how he reigned , behold , they are written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Israel . 20 The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two e years ; and he slept with his fathers , and Nadab his son reigned in his place .
21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah . Rehoboam was forty-one e years old when he became king , and he reigned seventeen e years in Jerusalem , the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there . And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess . 22 Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord , and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done , with the sins which they committed . 23 For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree . 24 There were also male cult prostitutes in the land . They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before e the sons of Israel . 25 Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam , that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem . 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house , and he took everything , even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made . 27 So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place , and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the doorway of the king's house . 28 Then it happened as often as the king entered the house of the Lord , that the guards would carry them and would bring them back into the guards' room . 29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Judah ? 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually e . 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David ; and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess . And Abijam his son became king in his place .
151 Now in the eighteenth e year of King Jeroboam , the son of Nebat , Abijam became king over Judah . 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom . 3 He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God , like the heart of his father David . 4 But for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem , to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem ; 5 because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord , and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life , except in the case of Uriah the Hittite . 6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life . 7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Judah ? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam . 8 And Abijam slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David ; and Asa his son became king in his place .
9 So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel , Asa began to reign as king of Judah . 10 He reigned forty-one e years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom . 11 Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord , like David his father . 12 He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made . 13 He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother , because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah ; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it at the brook Kidron . 14 But the high places were not taken away ; nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the Lord all his days . 15 He brought into the house of the Lord the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things : silver and gold and utensils .
16 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days . 17 Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent e anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah . 18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king's house , and delivered them into the hand of his servants . And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon , the son of Hezion , king of Aram , who lived in Damascus , saying , 19 "Let there be a treaty between you and me, as between my father and your father . Behold , I have sent you a present of silver and gold ; go , break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me." 20 So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel , and conquered Ijon , Dan , Abel-beth-maacah and all Chinneroth , besides all the land of Naphtali . 21 When Baasha heard of it, he ceased fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah . 22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah -none was exempt -and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built . And King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah . 23 Now the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities which he built , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Judah ? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet . 24 And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father ; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place .
25 Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah , and he reigned over Israel two years . 26 He did evil in the sight of the Lord , and walked in the way of his father and in his sin which he made Israel sin . 27 Then Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon , which belonged to the Philistines , while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon . 28 So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place . 29 It came about as soon as he was king , he struck down all the household of Jeroboam . He did not leave to Jeroboam any persons alive , until he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord , which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite , 30 and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned , and which he made Israel sin , because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger . 31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Israel ? 32 There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days .
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah , Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah , and reigned twenty-four e years . 34 He did evil in the sight of the Lord , and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin .
31 "Simon , Simon , behold , Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat ; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail ; and you, when once you have turned again , strengthen your brothers ." 33 But he said to Him, "Lord , with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death !" 34 And He said , "I say to you, Peter , the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me."
35 And He said to them, " When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals , you did not lack anything , did you?" They said , "No, nothing ." 36 And He said to them, "But now , whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag , and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. 37 "For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ' AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS '; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment ." 38 They said , "Lord , look , here are two swords ." And He said to them, "It is enough ."
39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives ; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place , He said to them, " Pray that you may not enter into temptation ." 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw , and He knelt e down e and began to pray , 42 saying , "Father , if You are willing , remove this cup from Me; yet not My will , but Yours be done ." 43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently ; and His sweat became like drops of blood , falling down upon the ground . 45 When He rose from prayer , He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow , 46 and said to them, "Why are you sleeping ? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation ."
(Read Luke 22:21-38)
How unbecoming is the worldly ambition of being the greatest, to the character of a follower of Jesus, who took upon him the form of a servant, and humbled himself to the death of the cross! In the way to eternal happiness, we must expect to be assaulted and sifted by Satan. If he cannot destroy, he will try to disgrace or distress us. Nothing more certainly forebodes a fall, in a professed follower of Christ, than self-confidence, with disregard to warnings, and contempt of danger. Unless we watch and pray always, we may be drawn in the course of the day into those sins which we were in the morning most resolved against. If believers were left to themselves, they would fall; but they are kept by the power of God, and the prayer of Christ. Our Lord gave notice of a very great change of circumstances now approaching. The disciples must not expect that their friends would be kind to them as they had been. Therefore, he that has a purse, let him take it, for he may need it. They must now expect that their enemies would be more fierce than they had been, and they would need weapons. At the time the apostles understood Christ to mean real weapons, but he spake only of the weapons of the spiritual warfare. The sword of the Spirit is the sword with which the disciples of Christ must furnish themselves.
(Read Luke 22:39-46)
Every description which the evangelists give of the state of mind in which our Lord entered upon this conflict, proves the tremendous nature of the assault, and the perfect foreknowledge of its terrors possessed by the meek and lowly Jesus. Here are three things not in the other evangelists. 1. When Christ was in his agony, there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. It was a part of his humiliation that he was thus strengthened by a ministering spirit. 2. Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Prayer, though never out of season, is in a special manner seasonable when we are in an agony. 3. In this agony his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down. This showed the travail of his soul. We should pray also to be enabled to resist unto the shedding of our blood, striving against sin, if ever called to it. When next you dwell in imagination upon the delights of some favourite sin, think of its effects as you behold them here! See its fearful effects in the garden of Gethsemane, and desire, by the help of God, deeply to hate and to forsake that enemy, to ransom sinners from whom the Redeemer prayed, agonized, and bled.
