Bible Talks

2 Chronicles 14:3-16:143For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: 4And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest. 7Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. 8And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valor. 9And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. 10Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. 12So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil. 14And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the Lord came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them. 15They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem. 1And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: 2And he went out to meet 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. 3Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5And 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. 6And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. 7Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. 8And 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. 9And 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. 10So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11And they offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. 15And 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. 16And also concerning Maachah the mother 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. 17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18And 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. 19And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa. 1In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, 3There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 4And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease. 6Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah. 7And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. 9For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. 10Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. 11And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. 13And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. 14And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him. (2 Chronicles 14:3‑16:14).
WE READ that king Asa also cut down the groves that were in the land. It was a heathen custom to plant trees around their idols, and in some countries today you may see at the end of a fine garden a little arbor in which there is an image. Those who worship an image like that surely do not know the wonderful story of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is a living Saviour, and of how He came down here a living Person. Though He died upon the cross, death could not hold Him; He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, where He is now at God's right hand. His work upon the cross is a finished work, and there is nothing left for anyone to do. Even many who know about these things are taught that Jesus did only part of the work of our salvation and that they must do the rest themselves. How sad this is when Scripture is so clear on this point: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."
Also we read that king Asa built fenced cities, and the Lord gave him rest so that there was no war for ten years. Then the Ethiopians came up against Judah. Asa cried to the Lord and the Lord helped them. God sent a message to Asa by His prophet telling him that He would be with them as long as he sought Him. Asa, encouraged by the Lord's goodness to him, was more diligent in searching out every evil that might be put away out of his kingdom. Then he called all the people to come up to Jerusalem, and not only those of Judah and Benjamin came, but a great many came out of Israel. They offered to the Lord together and made a covenant to seek the Lord with all their heart and with all their soul.
Then they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and with trumpets and with music. Judah rejoiced with the oath, for they sought the Lord with their whole desire. Even the king's mother was put away from being queen, because she had an idol which Asa burned.
After this there were no more wars in Asa's reign for thirty-five years. Then the king of Israel came up against Judah and built the city of Ramah to prevent the children of Israel from going up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and to seek king Asa. And now we read something very sad about Asa. He seemed to forget how the Lord had helped him in the past, for he made a league with the idolatrous king of Syria, and he gave him treasures out of the Lord's house to get him to go and fight against the king of Israel.
God was very displeased with Asa for his unbelief and He sent Hanani the seer to tell Asa that since he had relied upon the king of Syria and not upon the Lord, he had lost the opportunity of conquering the king of Syria. God would have helped Asa against Syria, as He had helped him before, for "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." From then on the rest God had given to Asa was gone and he had wars instead. Sad to say, Asa did not bow to the word of the Lord, but instead he flew into a rage and put the prophet in prison; also he oppressed some of the people. However, the Lord did not take His hand off him for he became diseased in his feet. Even then Asa did not ask help from the Lord but turned to the doctors. He died two years later. They buried him with great honors in the city of David, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
Messages of the Love of God 7/27/1958