(10) We have not forsaken him.--Comp. 1Kings 15:3. "he walked in all the sins of his father," "his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God." But that passage is by no means incompatible with the present as some have asserted. What Abijah here states is surely true--viz.,that Judah had maintained the Levitical priesthood, and its associated worship. And the following words prove this to be his meaning: "and the priests which minister unto the Lord are the sons of Aaron; and the Levites wait upon their business," (literally, are in the work). The work of the service of Jehovah could be duly performed by none but Levites.

Verses 10, 11. - The professions summarized in these two verses were confessedly formally true of the king and priests and nation, although Abijah and kingdom certainly did not carry a clean conscience in them (Matthew 15:8; Mark 12:33; 1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:11, 16, 19). They were, moreover, beyond a doubt really true of multitudes of individuals in the kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. And these were "the salt of the" kingdom (Matthew 5:13). They burnt... sweet incense (so our 2 Chronicles 2:4; Exodus 30:7; Revelation 8:3, 4). The pure table... the candlestick. Although ten of each of these were made, only one was used, or only one at the time (see our note on 2 Chronicles 4:8, compared with 2 Chronicles 29:18; 1 Kings 7:48). We have not forsaken him... ye have forsaken him. If all the difference that these words have it in them to express could have been put to the credit of Abijsh, what tremendous strength would have now belonged to his position and to his heart!

13:1-22 Abijah overcomes Jeroboam. - Jeroboam and his people, by apostacy and idolatry, merited the severe punishment Abijah was permitted to execute upon them. It appears from the character of Abijah, 1Ki 15:3, that he was not himself truly religious, yet he encouraged himself from the religion of his people. It is common for those that deny the power of godliness, to boast of the form of it. Many that have little religion themselves, value it in others. But it was true that there were numbers of pious worshippers in Judah, and that theirs was the more righteous cause. In their distress, when danger was on every side, which way should they look for deliverance unless upward? It is an unspeakable comfort, that our way thither is always open. They cried unto the Lord. Earnest prayer is crying. To the cry of prayer they added the shout of faith, and became more than conquerors. Jeroboam escaped the sword of Abijah, but God struck him; there is no escaping his sword.But as for us, the Lord is our God,.... The Word of the Lord, as the Targum; we know and acknowledge no other; not the calves at Dan and Bethel, nor any other idols, only the one living and true God:

and we have not forsaken him; his laws, statutes, ordinances, and worship; for though Abijah was not a religious man, yet it seems the form of religion was kept up, and temple service was observed, in his days:

and the priests which minister unto the Lord; by offering sacrifices, and burning incense:

are the sons of Aaron; and they only:

and the Levites wait upon their business; some in singing songs of praise, vocally and instrumentally, others in keeping the doors of the temple and the treasures of the house of God, and others in assisting the priests at the altar.