2 Chronicles 13:13

2 Chronicles 13:13 says, But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.  Instead of accepting peace, Jeroboam set up an ambush of the people of Judah.  People of the world will often still attempt to ambush and destroy Christians before they will accept peace with us,  Verse fourteen adds, And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.  When the people of Judah found themselves surrounded, they cried out to God and the priests sounded the trumpets.  If we are overwhelmed by life today as followers of Christ, we need to cry out to Him, and He may not sound the trumpet yet, but we will be secure spiritually until He does.  Verse fifteen continues, Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.  The men of Judah then gave a shout, and God took care of their enemies.  We as the church and s individual Christians need to always cry out to God in times of crisis and He will deal with the situation.  Verse sixteen states, And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.  The people of Israel might have had the people of Judah outnumbered and surrounded, but they fled when God got involved.  The people of the world may have us outnumbered and surrounded, but if we keep our faith in God, we will have the ultimate victory.  Verse seventeen adds, And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.  Abijah and his forces killed five hundred thousand of the men of Israel, so they no longer had the advantage in numbers.  As long as we are on God's side, we will always have the advantage, no matter how many people oppose us.  Verse eighteen continues, Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.  It states very plainly that the people of Judah prevailed because they relied on God.  This is the only way we can be sure of success today as Christians.  We must rely on the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit.  Verse nineteen says, And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim with the towns thereof.  Not only did Jeroboam and Israel lose a lot of troops, but they also lost some cities.  What we need to acknowledge is that those who oppose God are going to lose everything when the trumpet sounds and Jesus Christ returns.  Verse twenty adds, Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord struck him, and he died.  Jeroboam never did recover his strength as a king after this, and we are told that God struck him, and he died.  If we don't put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are going to be spiritually dead, and one day we will be sent away to everlasting punishment.  Verse twenty continues, But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.  Abijah became stronger in his position, but like many other kings of Israel and Judah, he failed to follow God's law, at least concerning marriage, having fourteen wives.  We cannot allow our success in the world lead us away from God's commandments. and laws.  Verse twenty-two concludes, And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.  We are told that the rest of the acts of Abijah were written in the story of the prophet Iddo, which we do not have.  Not everything written by people concerning the kings of Israel and Judah was preserved by God, but we have what He considered important.