SERIES L --- THE NATION DIVIDES --- LESSON 20

ASA OF JUDAH

KING ASA OF JUDAH

From 1 Kings 15:8-24; 2 Chronicles 14:1-15:19

After the death of King Abijah his son Asa became the new king of Judah. His mother was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. Asa became king during the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel and ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. During the next ten years, the land was peaceful. Asa tried to please Adonai, destroying the heathen altars and high places, breaking down the obelisks and cutting down the Asherim gods. He issued orders for the people of Judah to follow Adonai and to obey Adonai’s Commandments and Laws. Without the heathen idols, high places and sun images, the land became much more peaceful. During this time of peace, Asa entered into a building program to construct walled cities in Judah. [Now that we have peace and Adonai is with us, let’s build these cities with walls, towers, gates and bars,] he said. [We have invited Adonai to be with us and He has brought us peace with our enemies.] Asa continued to build and his work prospered. Asa formed an army of three hundred thousand men of Judah, who carried light shields and spears and two hundred and eighty thousand men of Benjamin who carried large shields and bows. All these men were courageous and well trained. But an Ethiopian army, under the leadership of a commander named Zerah, marched into Israel to fight against Asa’s forces. There was a vast number of Ethiopians, about a million troops with three hundred chariots. When they reached Maresha in the valley of Zephathah, King Asa met them in battle with his much smaller army. Then Asa prayed. [Adonai, no one can help us against this mighty army except You,] he said. [As we depend on You to help us, for we trust in You and we go into battle in Your Name. O Adonai, You are our YHVH, so do not let these men defeat You with their strength.] Adonai heard Asa’s prayer and defeated the Ethiopians, giving Asa and his army a great victory. The Ethiopians fled and Asa’s army pursued them as far as Gerar, destroying every man in the entire Ethiopian army. They were utterly defeated before Adonai and the army of Judah gathered much plunder from the Ethiopians. While Asa and his army were in the area of Gerar, they attacked and defeated the surrounding cities. The fear of Adonai swept the area. Asa and his men gathered large amounts of plunder attacked the tents of those who raised cattle, taking their sheep and camels and then at last they returned to Jerusalem. As king Asa and his men returned from battle, the Spirit of Adonai came upon the prophet Azariah and he went out to meet them. [Listen to me, king Asa and your armies of Judah and Benjamin,] Azariah shouted. [Stay loyal to YHVH and He will continue to help you. But if you turn against Him, He will turn against you. Remember what happened to the tribes of Israel in years gone by. For a long time, they had turned away from YHVH and did not even have a priest who could teach them. They had even turned against the Law of YHVH. But whenever they asked YHVH for help, He gave it to them. As long as they rebelled against YHVH, they had no peace or security, but had troubles from every direction, with wars and crimes pitting tribe against tribe and city against city. You must remember this and be strong and courageous. Then YHVH will continue to reward you.] When king Asa heard what Azariah said he was further encouraged to destroy the idols of the land throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He also rebuilt Adonai’s altar which was before the temple. Asa called a convocation of the people of Judah and Benjamin and the people of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had migrated from Israel to live in the land of Judah. These people had gone to live there because they saw that Asa was trying to please YHVH and to encourage his people to do likewise. The convocation was held in Jerusalem in the third month, about June, the fifteenth year of King Asa’s reign. About seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep were sacrificed that day, part of the plunder Asa’s army had captured. The people also made a covenant to seek Adonai and worship Him alone and to punish anyone who did not worship Him by putting that person to death, whether the person was young or old, man or woman. The people pledged this to Adonai with great shouting and blowing of trumpets. They were glad of the oath and took it with great delight, for they had searched for Adonai with all their hearts. Because of their loyalty Adonai gave their portion of the nation a time of peace. King Asa’s mother Maachah had made an Asherah idol for the people to worship. In his effort to clean the land of such things, Asa removed his mother Maachah from her position as queen mother. He cut down the idol, broke it in pieces and burned it at the Kidron Brook. Even though the northern tribes of Israel kept their high places of heathen worship, Asa remained faithful to Adonai during his lifetime. He also returned to the temple the gold and silver bowls which he and his father Abijah had dedicated to Adonai. With this devotion to Adonai there was peace until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

COMMENTARY

MILITARY ALLIANCES

Many alliances in the ancient world were formed out of desperate need, such as the one king Asa made with Syria. Rulers too weak to defeat a foe called on others for help, often uniting kings who had been bitter enemies. The confederations of Canaanite kings grew from this kind of predicament. Before the Israelite conquest threatened their survival, rulers of the city-kingdoms continually fought with one another. Faced with a common enemy, they joined forces in huge battles such as the one at the Waters of Merom. Later alliances resulted from similar crisis situations. One of the most famous included the Syrian king of Damascus, King Ahab of Israel and rulers of several Phoenician city-states. For generations following David’s reign, Damascus had been Israel’s most bitter enemy. On several occasions the Syrian kings had aided Israel’s enemies or marched directly against Israel. Yet, in 853 B.C., the enemy kingdoms joined forces to stop Assyrian invasion which threatened to destroy them all. Less frequent were alliances that grew from friendship or mutual interest other than war. The long fruitful relationship between the Phoenicians and the Israelites was one of these. David established the bond and king Hiram of Tyre extended it to Solomon. From this grew trade and an exchange of skills beneficial to both nations. Such strong ties later united them against common enemies. Marriages like the one between Solomon and the pharaoh’s daughter were another means of making a political alliance. Such an alliance however, held no more guarantee of permanence than others. In the following years, a pharaoh named Shishak invaded Israelite land in an attempt to regain trade control.