Reading the Bible in Historical Sequence Part 6Prøve

In 958 BC Rehoboam’s son, Abijah, rules Judah for three years and wins wars against the Northern Kingdom. Then Abijah’s son, godly Asa, becomes king and has a long reign. From 954 BC in the Northern Kingdom Nadab, Jeroboam’s son, rules until Baasha murders him and his family. In 941 BC God helps Asa to rout a huge army from Ethiopia. Asa then removes idols and commands the Southern Kingdom to worship the Lord God of Israel.

Note 2 Chronicles 15:19: ‘The thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign’ can also be rendered ‘the thirty-fifth year of the divided kingdom’. This latter rendering gives a date of 941 BC rather than 921 BC. Perhaps the text should read: ‘And there was no more war in the reign of Asa until the thirty-fifth year (of the nation)’. This seems to be confirmed by 2 Chronicles 14:1, which states ‘the land was quiet for ten years’. Ussher records this ten-year period as 951–942 BC.