FRAMEWORKS:
2 Chronicles 15: More
on Asa's reforms
[Introductory
Notes: Although we have been told about the start of
Asa's reforms [14:2-5] we are now told of how the Lord spoke to
Asa, how Asa responded, and how his kingdom flourished.]
v.1,2
The Lord speaks to Asa
v.1
The Spirit
of God came on Azariah son of Oded.
v.2
He
went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Listen
to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord
is with you
when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you,
but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
v.3-7
He faces him with the recent poor spiritual state of the land
v.3
For
a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest
to teach and without the law.
v.4
But
in their distress they turned to the Lord,
the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.
v.5
In
those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants
of the lands were in great turmoil.
v.6
One
nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because
God was troubling them with every kind of distress.
v.7
But
as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be
rewarded.'
v.8
Asa responds with action
v.8
When
Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded
the prophet, he took courage. He [i]
removed the detestable idols from
the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had
captured in the hills of Ephraim. He [ii] repaired
the altar of the Lord
that was in
front of the portico of the Lord's
temple.
v.9,10
He also gathered all the people at Jerusalem
v.9
Then
he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim,
Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers
had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord
his God was
with him.
v.10
They
assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year
of Asa's reign.
v.11
They sacrificed to the Lord...
v.11
At
that time they sacrificed to the Lord
seven hundred
head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder
they had brought back.
v.12-15
...and entered into a frsh covenant with the Lord
v.12
They
entered into a covenant to seek the Lord,
the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.
v.13
All
who would not seek the Lord,
the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great,
man or woman.
v.14
They
took an oath to the Lord
with loud
acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.
v.15
All
Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly.
They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord
gave them
rest on every side.
v.16
Asa removed his grandmother for her unfaithfulness to the Lord
v.16
King
Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen
mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship
of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the
Kidron Valley.
v.17-19
His further works and the peace they experienced
v.17
Although
he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa's heart was
fully committed to the Lord
all his life.
v.18
He
brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles
that he and his father had dedicated.
v.19
There
was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.
Continue
to Ch.16