2 Chronicles 15:1-19
1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
2 And he went out to meeta Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
5 And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.
6 And nation was destroyedb of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.
9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
11 And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
14 And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.
16 And also concerning Maachah the motherc of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
A MESSAGE FROM GOD
(vv.1-7)
As Asa returned from his victory, the Lord sent a prophet, Azariah, son of Oded, to meet him with encouraging words, telling Asa, "The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you" (v.2).
Abijah reminded Asa that for a long time Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest and without law" (v.3). This refers especially to the time of the Judges, when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. In that book we are told that many times, when in trouble, if they turned to the Lord and He delivered them (v.4). But the general condition was so low that God troubled them because of their self-will. But Azariah urges Asa to show himself strong against such dangers (v.7).
ASA'S REFORMS
(vv.8-19)
In verse 8 the prophecy is said to be that of Oded, so that Azariah, Oded's son, was evidently only the messenger to deliver Oded's prophecy. This word from God had real effect on Asa to give him fresh courage to remove from Judah and Benjamin the abominable idols that had been entertained by his father. He also took such idols away from the cities he had captured from Ephraim.
When it is mentioned that he restored the altar of the Lord, this may mean that he restored the proper sacrifices to be offered on that altar, for there seems to be no evidence that the altar itself had been damaged.
Besides this, Asa was diligent to encourage all the people in the proper worship of the Lord. He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and others even from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon, who were willing to come when they learned of the Lord's blessing of Asa in contrast to the idolatry of the ten tribes. In this great gathering in the fifteenth year of Asa's reign, they offered to the Lord 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep which had been taken as plunder (vv.10-11). How good it was to draw the attention of the people to the value of the sacrifice, for every case of recovery in Israel was attended by sacrifice, a reminder of the importance of the sacrifice of Christ as being the source of all blessing for His people.
On this occasion they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul, specifying too that any who would not agree to this should be put to death (vv.12-13). As in the case of various other covenants being made, this was simply a renewing of the covenant of law as first given by Moses, and as in those cases, so in this case, it was not long before the covenant was broken. At this time, however, they took an oath before the Lord, with a great display accompanying it (v.14). They had sworn with all their heart and sought the Lord with all their soul. There is no doubt they meant it, but they did not suspect the treachery of their own hearts. Still, God respected the good intentions they had, and gave them rest all around for the time being (v.15), Only in the New Testament do we find the law set aside because it is ineffective, and the pure grace of God introduced as the only principle that can truly bring forth fruit for God. The epistle to the Galatians is a most valuable treatise on this subject.
Also, Asa showed no favouritism to his own close relative ¾ his grandmother ¾ who had made an idolatrous image of Asherah (v.16). He removed her from the place of Queen Mother. Not even her age would make any difference in this case. Such evil can not be excused, no matter who is guilty of it. Asa cut down and crushed her image, then burned it.
Though Asa removed the high places from, Judah, (ch.1-1:5), he did not remove these from the rest of Israel (v.17). Of course he did not have the same authority over the ten tribes as he did over Judah, though some from those tribes had chosen to recognise him. But in the main, Asa's heart remained faithful to the Lord. It is also reported that he brought into the house of the Lord silver and gold utensils that both His father and he had dedicated. It seems Abijah had not carried through his promise in dedicating these things, and Asa fulfilled this for him as well as adding his own contribution.