Maacah

King Rehoboam married eighteen wives and sixty concubines, but of all his wives and concubines, he loved Maacah the most. Though she was not his first, she was his favorite.

Rehoboam fathered twenty eight sons and sixty daughters. He decided that Maachah’s son Abijam should be his successor, even though Abijam was not the firstborn. Rehoboam appointed Abijam as chief prince among his brothers. 

Abijam reigned as king of Judah for three years. In 1 Kings 15:2-3, we’re told that his mother’s name was Maacah, “and he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.”

If we continue reading, however, we learn that when Abijam died, his son Asa took over the kingdom. King Asa reigned for forty-one years. Verse 10 says that Asa’s mother’s name was Maacah. Bible scholars conclude that his mother must have died at a young age, so his grandmother Maacah raised him and took the role of queen mother. 

Maacah’s influence on Asa, however, was limited. King Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He got rid of the male cult prostitutes and removed the idols his father had made. He also removed Maacah from being queen mother because she’d made an abominable imager for Asherah.

Though Asa didn’t remove the high places, still, he was true to the Lord all of his days.

What an interesting woman Maacah must have been. Loved by her evil husband, followed by her wicked son, rejected by her godly grandson. 

Read about Maacah in Scripture: 1 Kings 15:2-11, 2 Chronicles 11:20-22

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