Dk – Asa’s Reforms First Kings 15:9-15 and Second Chronicles 14:2 to 15:19

Asa’s Reforms
First Kings 15:9-15 and Second Chronicles 14:2 to 15:19

Asa’s reforms DIG: The kings of Judah and Isra’el had lots of influence over the people’s ideas about God. How did Asa witness his faith in ADONAI? Azariah delivered a dynamic message and got results. What was the impact on Asa? On the people? What political changes took place in the life of the nation as a result of “finding” the LORD? What was their reward?

REFLECT: Asa relied on ADONAI to fight his battle. What battle are you fighting right now? How can you rely on the LORD to fight it? Has a message ever changed your life and behavior? How so? How was Asa’s response to the message a model for people today? In what ways can you “take courage” after a message? What would it mean for God to “be found” by your nation?

Wholehearted, eager pursuit of God is expressed in terms of seeking Him.

The background of the king: It was in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Isra’el that Asa began his reign over Judah. He ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem; his grandmother’s name was Ma’acah the daughter of Abishalom, and the granddaughter of Absalom, who continued as the queen mother during the reign of Asa until she was deposed (First Kings 15:9-10). The account begins with the first thirty-five years of blessing in Asa’s reign. Asa’s positive achievements and the resulting prosperity during that time are emphasized. Asa’s forty-one year reign probably included a three-year coregency with his son Jehoshaphat, perhaps made necessary by Asa’s illness mentioned in First Kings 5:23. The author presents Asa in a positive light, even commenting that Asa did what was good and right in God’s eyes, as his ancestor David had done. This meant that he had no use for idols. Only that he didn’t totally remove the high places mars the author’s assessment of Asa’s reign.³⁶⁶

The significance of his reign: Humanly speaking, there was little reason to expect that Asa would be faithful to God. But the Chronicler began with a general characterization of Asa as one who did what was good and right from the perspective of ADONAI his God, as David his ancestor had done. Only two other kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, receive higher praise than Asa. It was possible to do good and right from the view of ADONAI once again. Purity of worship could be protected. Times of hope and reform can appear within a people plummeting to disaster.³⁶⁷ Besides serving YHVH Himself, Asa attempted to end the pagan practices Rehoboam and Abijah had allowed, even encouraged. For he expelled the male prostitute from the Land, removed the foreign altars and the high places from the major cities, smashing the standing-stones and chopping down the sacred poles that his ancestors had made. The description of Asa’s efforts closely follows the mitzvot of Deut 12:1-3. The Chronicler used the king’s reforms in this traditional language to present him as an example of what the kings of Judah were always expected to do (First Kings 15:11-12).

In other words, Asa was a spiritual success in exactly the areas where his father Abijah and grandfather Rehoboam had failed. Rehoboam had introduced many pagan practices into Judah’s worship: goddess worship, ritual prostitution, and the like. Rehoboam’s son Abijah repeated the sins of his father. But Asa was a reformer. Like his great-grandfather David, he had a heart for the worship of the one true God. Therefore, Asa put an end to the worship of false deities  and the depraved practices of Canaanite religion. Asa brought spiritual reformation to the people of God. The only explanation for this surprising turn of events is the grace of God. ADONAI did not abandon this family to their sins, but raised a generation that was faithful to Him.

This gives us hope for the gracious work of God in our own lives and families. Humanly speaking, we may not seem very promising. Sometimes we fear that we are doomed to repeat the sins of our fathers and mothers, or that our children may not have the heart for God that they need to make a difference in the world for Messiah. But the God of Asa is a God of gracious intervention who has the power to bring new spiritual life. He is the God of the empty tomb, who raised Yeshua from the grave. Now the rising power of Messiah is available to everyone who believes: the power to heal, the power to save, and the power to transform. 

Reforms and prosperity: He ordered Judah to seek ADONAI, the God of their ancestors, and to obey the Torah and the mitzvah. As a result, the kingdom was peaceful under his reign. Peace is an important goal of the Chronicler set before his readers. As elsewhere in the TaNaKh, it is implied not only the absence of war, but economic prosperity and social well being. This portion of Asa’s reign depicted the benefits of loyalty to the covenant for God’s people – it brought peace. Asa was able to concentrate on building fortified cities since the Land was at peace. “Let’s build these cities,” he said to Judah; “we’ll surround them with walls, towers, gates and bars.” The Chronicler paused to make his theological perspective on these events plain. Why did Asa enjoy this period of peace? The Land is there for us to use, because we have sought ADONAI our God; we have sought him, and He has given us peace on every side.” Many times the Chronicler pointed to divine activity as the ultimate cause of events in Isra’el’s history. This period of prosperity was not the result of human effort; it was the divine response to Asa’s faithfulness. So they built and prospered (2 Chron 14:4-7). As the Chronicler’s readers heard these descriptions of Asa’s time, they yearned to see those same blessings in their own day. Rebuilding and prosperity were their goals as well. The Chronicler left no room for misunderstanding the way that would lead to these results. Seeking God as Asa had done was the key to their desires.³⁶⁸

Asa’s victory over Zerah: Asa had an extraordinarily large army of 300,000 men from Judah, equipped with shields and spears, and another 280,000 from Benjamin, with shields and bows; all were brave, strong men. In many respects this verse bridges the gap between the preceding conquest of Asa’s blessing and this battle. The size and quality of the king’s army was another example of Asa’s prosperity.

But despite the size and quality of Asa’s army, his enemy was even greater. Zerah the Ethiopian came out to attack them with an army of a thousand thousands. The Hebrew word translated thousand may be a technical term referring to considerably less than 1,000. If this were the case, Asa may have had 290,000 soldiers and Zerah 500,000. However one handles this calculation, Asa was greatly outnumbered. As in Abijah’s conflict with Jeroboam (to see link click Dj – Abijah King of Judah), the enemy of Judah was nearly twice their size. Moreover, Zerah had three hundred chariots at his command. The motif of Judah facing an enemy with a larger army appears a number of times in Chronicles. In each case, the apparent inadequacy of Judah’s army demonstrated that divine intervention was the cause of victory (Second Chronicles 14:8-9a).

When Zerah arrived at Mareshah, Asa went out to fight him, and the forces were arranged for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah. Even before it had begun, the faith of Asa was the turning point of the battle. Asa cried out to ADONAI his God, “ADONAI, there is no one besides Yourself, strong or weak, who can help. Help us, ADONAI our God, because we are relying on You, and we are coming against this vast throng in Your name. You are ADONAI our God; don’t let human beings stop you” (Second Chronicles 14:9b-11)!” Asa’s prayer of complete reliance of God as the protector of Isra’el aptly reflects his broader demonstration of covenantal faithfulness. As with Abijah’s earlier prayer at the outset of battle against Jeroboam, and Jehoshaphat’s later prayer (Second Chronicles 20:3-12), Asa’s prayer shows Solomon’s intercessory prayer in action (see Bn – Solomon’s Prayer of Intercession). Asa acknowledges in his prayer that he and the people of Judah are facing the army of Zerah in God’s name. The idea of the name (Ha’Shem) of YHVH is interwoven with aspects of God’s character as well as His covenantal relationship with Isra’el. As Proverbs 18:10 notes: The name of ADONAI is a strong tower; a righteous person runs to it and is raised high above danger.³⁶⁹

For the first time God becomes a major character in the story: So ADONAI struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. Three times the Chronicler mentioned that it was the LORD’s action that defeated the Ethiopians (14:12, 13 and 14). Asa and the army with him pursued them to Gerar, and the Ethiopians were defeated beyond recovery; they were shattered before ADONAI and His army, who carried off much spoil. The Israelites then attacked all the cities in the vicinity of Gerar, for a terror of ADONAI – not Asa – had overcome them. The Israelites plundered all the cities, for they were full of spoil. They also attacked the tents of those tending the livestock and carried off sheep and camels in abundance. Having shown the miraculous victory brought about through prayer and reliance on YHVH, the Chronicler closed this story with a simple note: Then they returned to Jerusalem (Second Chronicles 14:12-15).

Prophecy and response: The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded; he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! ADONAI is with you, as long as you are with him; if you seek him, you will find him; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you! God allied Himself with His people only when they allied themselves with Him. The words of the prophet reflected the words of Scripture (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Be – Discipline and Torah). Asa’s response and obedience had a significant impact on others, including Judah as a whole (Second Chronicles 15:15). For a long time, during the period of the Judges, Isra’el was without the true God, priests and Levites who were supposed to teach the Torah were themselves becoming corrupt. Thus, widespread apostasy characterized that period. Everyone did as they saw fit (Judges 21:25). But when, in their distress, they turned to ADONAI the God of Isra’el and sought Him, they found Him (Judges 3:9 and 15, 4:3, 6:6-7, 10:10 and 12, 15:18, 21:2-3). In order to strengthen his argument, the prophet described the distress of the period of the Judges. In those times people going about their business were insecure, and great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands; so that they were shattered to pieces, nation against nation and city against city, as God troubled them with every kind of distress (Second Chronicles 15:1-6).

The Prophet’s immediate concern in this passage becomes clear in his application to Asa. But you, be strong, and don’t give up. Similar exhortations occur elsewhere in Second Chronicles 32:7 and First Chronicles 19:13, 22:13, 28:10 and 20. Azariah didn’t rebuke Asa, but encouraged him to continue with the full assurance that his work would be rewarded (Second Chronicles 15:7). Throughout most of his reign, Asa was a faithful king. Yet, more needed to be done. As the verses that follow explain, idolatry had spread throughout the Land and the Temple had been neglected. Azariah encouraged Asa to go further. If he did, even more blessings would come his way. The prophet’s positive words to Asa easily applied to the Chronicler’s readers. Like Asa, they had received deliverance from their enemies. Yet, much remained to be done. The prophetic word to Asa encouraged post-exilic readers to move forward in their restoration efforts. Initial successes were not sufficient. They had to continue by faith as they hoped for more blessings from YHVH.³⁷⁰

The Chronicler’s record of the majority of Asa’s reign continues with a series of reports on the king’s response to the prophet. When Asa heard these words prophesied by Azariah, he took them to heart and it gave him courage to throw the disgusting things out of the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and out of the cities he had captured in the hills of Ephraim (Second Chronicles 15:8). While the Chronicler presented Rehoboam and Abijah positively, Asa’s actions made it clear that neither of them stopped all idolatry. The first thing he did was to reform Judah’s worship practices. He repaired the bronze altar of ADONAI (see Bq – Solomon Builds His Palace) which was in front of the Sanctuary of ADONAI. Apparently, during the very first years of Asa’s reign, Temple maintenance had been neglected. The presence of idols and the disrepair of the bronze altar explain why Azariah encouraged the king to go further in righteousness. Many changes had to be accomplished and the work began with correcting the worship of Judah. The logical place to begin was the bronze altar where the sins of the people were atoned for. Once again, Asa’s actions were a model for the Chronicler’s post-exilic readers to follow. As the actions of several of the kings of Judah illustrate, worship was the place for them to begin their reforms as well.

Covenant renewal: Then the king gathered all Judah and Benjamin. As in other such assemblies, the actions taken here are a model for the post-exilic community. Asa led Judah in covenant renewal and the Chronicler’s readers should learn to do the same in their day. all Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem, but along with them were representatives from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon. The Chronicler noted that the northerners were from among those who were staying with him. As in the days of Rehoboam (see De – Rehoboam Received Many Blessings: Rehoboam received many defectors from the north) large numbers had defected to him upon seeing that ADONAI his God was with him (Second Chronicles 15:9). This brings to mind Asa’s victory over Zerah resulting from YHVH fighting on the side of Judah. This, and other migrations from the North, were very important to the Chronicler. They were foretastes of the Chronicler’s ideal reunification of all Isra’el under the reign of David’s family.

The renewal of the covenant forms the climax of Asa’s reforms. They assembled together at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. The date of the third month indicates that this assembly was probably part of the Festival of Shavu’ot (see the commentary on Leviticus Ec – Hag Shavu’ot). Unity was only possible when ADONAI was worshiped in the way that He had decreed, at His appointed time. The Chronicler specifically tied Asa’s covenant renewal to the preceeding context. That day they sacrificed to ADONAI 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoils they had brought back from their victory over Zerah. The highlight of the gathering was the people’s reaffirmation of the covenantal relationship with YHVH based on faithfulness and obedience. And they entered into a covenant to seek ADONAI, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their being. This revealed that the Chronicler viewed Asa’s assembly as the climax of his response to the prophet Azariah.

They also agreed that whoever refused to seek ADONAI the God of Isra’el should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman (Second Chronicles 15:10-13). The idea of death for unfaithfulness and covenantal sin is not without precedent in the TaNaKh (Exodus 22:20; Leviticus 17:2-14; Deuteronomy 13:60 and 17:27). As with all mitzvot regarding capital punishment, the motivation behind it was to rid Isra’el of evildoers who would lead others away from faithfulness to the covenant. In the Dispensation of Torah (see the commentary on Exodus Da – The Dispensation of Torah), religious and national policies were nearly inseparable. The judgments of the state of Isra’el, in compliance with the Torah, were the judgments of God Himself. As a result, one aspect of national covenantal renewal was the purification of the nation. These executions are comparable to the practice of excommunication in the B’rit Chadashah, which itself is a purification of the believing community (Matthew 18:17, First Chronicles 5:1-13; First Timothy 1:18-20; and Second Thessalonians 3:14).

The people were delighted with the even and swore this to ADONAI in a loud voice, with shouting and blowing of trumpets and shofars. Once again, the Chronicler’s interest in connecting music and joy is apparent. As in similar passages throughout his book, the Chronicler emphasized the joy and splendor of this event to motivate his readers toward imitation. Instead of threats of judgment, this scene of celebreation offered positive incentive for covenant renewal. The wonder of Asa’s joyous celebration would be theirs, if they would follow the example of Asa’s covenantal faithfulness. All Judah was full of joy at this oath. They had gone far beyond external religious requirements and offered their hearts to God. For they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him with all their will . . . and they found Him. Wholehearted, eager pursuit of covenant renewal is once again expressed in terms of seeking (Second Chronicles 14:4, 15:2 and 12-13, 16:12). Finally, the result of the assembly’s joyous and sincere devotion was that ADONAI gave them rest on every side (Second Chronicles 15:14-15). The encouragement of the Chronicler’s post-exilic readers is evident. The delightful experiences of this assembly should have motivated them to eagerly pursue covenant renewal in their day. They had to go beyond mere external conformity to wholehearted devotion. Only then would the joy exhibited in this passage be theirs. And no less should it be ours today!³⁷¹