The man of God came up to the king of Israel again. He told him,“ The Lord says,‘ The men of Aram think the Lord is a god of the hills. They do not think he is a god of the valleys. So I, the Lord, will hand their huge army over to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”For seven days the two armies camped across from each other. On the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites wounded or killed 100,000 Aramean soldiers who were on foot. That happened in a single day.The rest of the men of Aram escaped to the city of Aphek. Its wall fell down on 27,000 of them. Ben- Hadad ran to the city. He hid in a secret room.
The junior officers marched out of the city. The army was right behind them.Each man struck down the one fighting against him. When that happened, the army of Aram ran away. The Israelites chased them. But Ben- Hadad, the king of Aram, escaped on a horse. Some of his horsemen escaped with him.The king of Israel attacked them. He overpowered the horses and chariots. Large numbers of the men of Aram were wounded or killed.
The Lord is the God of Israel. Don’t you know that he has placed David and his sons after him on Israel’s throne forever? The Lord made a covenant of salt with David. The salt means the covenant will last for all time to come.Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was an official of David’s son Solomon. But he refused to obey his master.Some worthless and evil men gathered around him. They opposed Solomon’s son Rehoboam. At that time Rehoboam was young. He couldn’t make up his mind. He wasn’t strong enough to stand up against those men.“ Now you plan to stand up against the kingdom of the Lord. His kingdom is in the hands of men in David’s family line. It’s true that you have a huge army. You have the statues of the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.But you drove out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron. You also drove out the Levites. You appointed your own priests. That’s what the people of other nations do. Anyone can come and set himself apart. All he has to do is sacrifice a young bull and seven rams. Then he becomes a priest of gods that aren’t really gods at all!“ But the Lord is our God. We haven’t deserted him. The priests who serve the Lord belong to the family line of Aaron. The Levites help them.Every morning and evening the priests bring burnt offerings and sweet- smelling incense to the Lord. They set out the holy bread on the table. That table is‘ clean.’ They light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We always do what the Lord our God requires in his law. But you have deserted him.God is with us. He’s our leader. His priests will blow their trumpets. They will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord. He’s the God of your people who lived long ago. You can’t possibly succeed.”Jeroboam had sent some troops behind Judah’s battle lines. He told them to hide and wait there. He and his men stayed in front of Judah’s lines.Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked from the front and from the back. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets.The men of Judah shouted the battle cry. When they did, God drove Jeroboam and all the Israelites away from Abijah and Judah.The Israelites ran away from them. God handed Israel over to Judah.
Why are your soldiers lying on the ground? They can’t stand, because I bring them down.They will trip again and again. They will fall over one another. They will say,‘ Get up. Let’s go back home. Let’s return to our own people and our own lands. Let’s get away from the swords that will bring us great harm.’
During that time a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel. He announced,“ The Lord says,‘ Do you see this huge army? I will hand it over to you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
