2 Ch. 13: Abijah...not so Bad?

2 Chronicles 13:10 "As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them."

Well, this description of Abijah is a little more in depth than the one in 1 Kings 15 (entry). Not only that, Abijah doesn't appear really to be the villain described in that previous passage. The war he wages against Jeroboam is described in a little finer detail. It doesn't really say why they went to war, probably just a boiling over of tensions between the two factions in the divided kingdom, if I had to guess.

Abijah claims to take the high road, the side of the LORD in his speech to Jeroboam and Israel. In what seems like a typical propaganda fashion, he rips Jeroboam and his people, and talks about how Abijah hasn't abandoned God. But it's not just propaganda, because when Jeroboam's army, outnumbering that of Abijah's 2-to-1, God hear's the cries of Abijah's army, and delivers them, routing Jeroboam.

In the speech, Abijah talks about a covenant of salt. I'm not sure what that means, as this is the first time I have read about a covenant of salt. So I guess this may be some sort of an allegory, as with the original covenant, there was nothing regarding literal salt. What is salt? Salt preserves. Salt makes the bland palatable. Salt enhances flavor. Lot's wife became a pillar of salt through her disobedience. Pretty fair description of what God's covenant with Abraham was like. Abraham's line was preserved. By obedience. I suppose that will have to work for me for now.

If you read 2 Chronicles 13, and not 1 Kings 15, one would think Abijah did a great job, and did what was pleasing to the LORD. So it would be easy to think this was a contradiction, or we're talking about two different people. So I took a closer look at 1 Kings 15, and it talks about how Abijah's heart was not "fully devoted" to the LORD. So maybe this was one episode in a life that quickly turned away from God after starting strong. Quickly, because Abijah only reigned for three years.

So I wonder what would cause Abijah to turn away so quickly, after what God so obviously and gloriously did. We already have seen that idolatry and polytheism were the most likely culprits.