II Chronicles 15, Asa's Renewal

Asa, son of Abijah, son of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, is now king of Israel. The date is about 900 BC. Asa has been successful in defeating an army that invaded from the southwest, possibly from Egypt.

2 Chronicles 15: 1-7, The message of Azariah, son of Oded

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 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. 

"For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."

A prophet named Azariah reviews the covenantal promise with Asa and encourages him to stay faithful to YHWH as he rules Judah. The prophet recalls previous times of chaos, most likely the time of the judges when "everyone did what they saw fit" (Judges 21:25.)

2 Chronicles 15: 8-10, Repairs and renewal

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He 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 repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD's temple. 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. They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.
 

Encouraged by the prophet's words, Asa seeks a renewal in Jerusalem, repairing the temple and removing idols from the land. During the breakup between the northern and southern tribes there had apparently been refugees from the northern tribes who had moved to Judah to continue worshiping near the Jerusalem temple. Asa held an assembly at the temple that included these refugees.

Payne says that the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign is most likely May/June 895 BC.

2 Chronicles 15: 11-15, Large sacrifice

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. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.

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.

At the assembly Asa has hundreds of cattle and thousands of sheep and goats sacrificed. (The Hebrew word here translated "sheep and goats" is tson, roughly "small cattle." It is often translated "sheep" or "flocks".) The people renew their commitment to YHWH (at the point of the sword, if necessary.)

2 Chronicles 15: 16-19, Asherah poles

King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa's heart was fully committed [to the LORD] all his life. He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.

Maacah was a daughter of Absalom, David's rebellious son, and was Rehoboam's favorite wife (2 Chronicles 11:20-21.) Here Maacah is responsible for worship of Asherah and so Asa removes her and destroys the Asherah pole used to worship Asherah. In 2 Chronicles 12:13-14, the writer identifies the mother of Rehoboam as an Ammonite and follows that identification with a statement about Rehoboam's apostasy. Here we have a concern about Asa's grandmother. The women, the mothers and grandmothers, in the palace were apparently influential in the spiritual life of the king.

After his removal of the idols, the text, as translated, says that there is peace through Asa's thirty-fifth year. There is some dispute over this last line, as there is warfare between Baasha and Asa around the twenty-sixth year of Asa's reign (see the next chapter) and Baasha died before the thirty-fifth year (2 Kings 15:33.) One option, says Payne, is to conclude that there is a copy error that turned 25 into 35 in this last verse. Another option is to count years from the breakup of the kingdom and to suggest that the 35 years in this last verse are counting from that time. Either solution places the coming war with Baasha at about 895 BC.

We will read of the warfare with Baasha in the next chapter.