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2 Chronicles 15

Life Application Study Bible2 ChroniclesChapter 15

2 Chronicles 15

New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 684, 685, 686

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152 Chronicles 15

1Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, 2and he went out to meet 1S oo-14: 24:20 King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, 46. _ all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The LORD will stay with you as long as you stay with 2 Chr 15:4, 15 him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and 15:3 Lev 10:8-11 without the Law to instruct them. 4But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the 7"Kg¢j2:28-33 LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him out, they found him. 2 Chr 17:9 5“During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the people of 18:4 4:29 every land. 6Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troublingthem j,. — with every kind of problem. 7But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will Judg 5:6 be rewarded.” 15:6 Matt 24:7 8When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet,* he took courage and removed |,. all the detestable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had cap- Josh 1:7, 9 tured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the Lor, which stood in front of the entry room of the LORD’s Temple.

God's Spirit, and you will earn God's counsel. Spend regular timein discussion and prayer with those who can help explain andapply God's message.

9Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. For many from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa’s reign when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. 10The people gathered at Jerusalem in jate spring,* during the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 1On that day they sacrificed to the LORD 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep and goats from the plunder they had taken in the battle. '? Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death—whether young or old, man or woman. ‘They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the Lor with trumpets blaring and rams’ horns sounding. ‘SAll in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the LORD gave them rest from their enemies on every side. 16King Asa even deposed his grandmother* Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17Although the pagan shrines were not removed from Israel, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful throughout his life. 18He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated. 19So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’ Ss Treign.

Textual footnotes

  1. thousands.
  2. Syriac version and Latin Vulgate (see also 15:1); Hebrew reads from Oded the prophet.
  3. a Te
  4. 15:8
  5. out the true God.” Eight kings reigned in Israel during the 41-year
  6. rule of Asa in Judah, and all eight were evil. Jeraboam, the first
  7. ruler of Israel, began this wicked trend by setting up idols and
  8. expelling God's priests (11:13-15). Azariah used Israel’s prob-
  9. lems as an example of the evil that would come to the people of
  10. Judah if they turned away from God as their northern brothers
  11. and sisters had.
  12. work, “for your work will be rewarded.” This is an inspiration for
  13. us, too. Recognition and reward are great motivators that have
  14. two dimensions: (1) The temporal dimension. Living by God’s
  15. standards may result in acclaim here on earth. (2) The eternal
  16. dimension. Permanent recognition and reward will be given in
  17. the next life. Don’t be discouraged if you feel your faith in God
  18. is going unrewarded here on earth. The best rewards are not in
  19. this life but in the life to come.
  20. of May and June.
  21. 15:2 Chr 4:1; 8:12
  22. 15:3 Azariah said that (srael, the northern kingdom, was “with-
  23. 15:7 Azariah encouraged the men of Judah to keep up the good
  24. 15:8 As in
  25. 15:9a Hebrew a Cushile.
  26. 15:10 Hebrew in the third month. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months
  27. 15:16 Hebrew his mother.

Life Application Notes 3 notes

15:1,2Asa wisely welcomed people who had a close relationship with God, and he listened to their messages. Azariah gave the armies an important warning and encouraged them to stay close to God. Keep in contact with people who are filled with

15:14,15Many people find it difficutt to commit themselves to anything. They are tentative, indecisive, and afraid of responsibility. Asa and his people were different—they had clearly declared themselves for God. Their oath of allegiance was punctuated with shouts and trumpet blasts! This decisive and wholehearted commitment pleased God and resulted in peace for the nation. If you want peace, check to see if there is some area where you lack total commitment to God. Peace comes as a by-product of giving your life wholeheartedly to God.

15:16The Ten Commandments tell us to honor our fathers and mothers, and yet Asa removed his grandmother from the throne. While honoring parents is God’s command, maintaining loyalty to God is an even higher priority. Jesus warned that respect for parents should never keep us from following him (Luke 14:26). If you have unbelieving parents, you must respect and honor them, but you must make devotion to God an even higher priority.

Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages

Personality profile · page 685

Profile: Asa

God does not condone the idea that “the end justifies the means.” He is just and perfect in all his ways. People, on the other hand, are far from perfect. That a bond can exist between a loving and merciful Creator and his rebellious creation is as great a miracle as creation itself! As aking, Asa came very close to being good. He traveled a long way with God before getting off track. His sin was not so much deliberate disobedience as choosing the easy way rather than the right way. When the odds seemed impossible in the battle with the Ethiopians, Asa recognized his need to depend on God. Following that victory, God’s promise of peace based on obedience spurred the king and people to many years of right living. But Asa was to face a tougher test. Years of animosity between Asa and Israel's king Baasha took an ugly turn. Baasha, king of the rival northern kingdom, was building a fort that threatened both the peace and the economy of Judah. Asa thought he saw a way out—he bribed King Ben-hadad of Aram to break his alliance with King Baasha. The plan worked brilliantly, but it wasn’t God’s way. When Asa was confronted by God’s prophet Hanani, he flew into a rage, jailed Hanani, and took out his anger on his people. Asa rejected correction and refused to admit his error to God. His greatest failure was missing what God could have done with his life if he had been willing to be humble. His pride ruined the health of his reign. He stubbornly held on to his failure until his death. Does this attitude sound familiar? Can you identify failures in your life that you have continued to rationalize rather than admit to God and accept his forgiveness for? The end does not justify the means. Such a belief leads to sin and failure. The stubborn refusal to admit a failure due to sin can become a big problem because it makes you spend time rationalizing rather than learning from your mistakes and moving on.

Strengths and accomplishments

• Obeyed God during the first 10 years of his reign

• Carried out a partially successful effort to abolish idolatry

• Deposed his idolatrous grandmother, Maacah

• Defeated Ethiopia’s mighty army

Weaknesses and mistakes

• Responded with rage when confronted about his sin

• Made alliances with foreign nations and evil people

Lessons from his life

© God not only reinforces good, he confronts evil

• Efforts to follow God’s plans and rules yield positive results

• How well a plan works is no measure of its rightness or approval by God

Vital statistics

• Where: Jerusalem

• Occupation: King of Judah

• Relatives: Grandmother: Maacah. Father: Abijah. Son: Jehoshaphat

• Contemporaries: Hanani, Ben-hadad, Zerah, Azariah, Baasha

Key verse

“The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Asa’s story is told in 1 Kings 15:8-24 and 2 Chronicles 14—16. He is also mentioned in Jeremiah 41:9; Matthew 1:7.

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