2 Chronicles 13:7
And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.
The verse belongs to the history of the kings of Judah after Solomon and the division of the kingdom, specifically to the history of Abijah's reign which followed the reign of Rehoboam. More particularly it belongs to the account of Jeroboam's reign in Israel, which overlapped the reign of Rehoboam and part of the reign of Abijah, and to the war between Israel and the northern tribes under Jeroboam on one side and Judah on the other. In that war Judah conquered and Israel was defeated. That history stands amid Israel's early turn from God under Jeroboam and disregard for the appeals of the prophets.
In that conflict Abijah reminded the northern kingdom that God had given the kingdom to David and his sons forever by a covenant of salt. He warned Israel not to fight against God because it would not prosper, and the ensuing battle ended in Israel's defeat. The conflict was held to parallel the American Civil War, with Jeroboam's revolt corresponding to the secession of the Southern States and his attempt to subdue Judah corresponding to Jeff Davis's attempt to establish that secessionist government over the North.
Rehoboam's being young and tenderhearted meant an undue susceptibility to influence and imposition rather than a gracious meekness receptive to good. For that reason he could not withstand the vain men, the children of Belial, who gathered against him and strengthened themselves against him.