2 Chronicles 14:1-15--Asa Reigns in Judah

2 Chronicles 14
English Standard Version

Asa Reigns in Judah
14  Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2  And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5 He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the LORD gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

​9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil. 14 And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15 And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

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Asa appears to be one of Judah's good kings because he destroyed the places that people worshiped false gods and goddesses in Jerusalem and all of Judah as well as the high places where people burned incense--sometimes to other gods, or sometimes to the LORD, but the LORD prescribed that only the priests burn a certain kind of incense to Him, and they only did that on the Golden Altar in the Temple in Jerusalem.  At this time, the priesthood was necessary to mediate for the people, but some people wanted to try to come to God their own way on their own terms without coming through the blood of the sin and guilt offerings offered on the LORD's altar in the courtyard of the Temple.  We face much the same issue today only maybe it doesn't look as obvious to us because true worshipers can worship the LORD in Spirit and in Truth anywhere, but they must still come to Him through the blood of the Lamb--Jesus, the Lamb of God, the propitiation for our sins.  Asa removed this sinful practice from among the people so that they went to the Temple to worship the LORD.

Asa also built up a large army of 580,000 fighting men--300,000 from Judah and 280,000 from Benjamin.  Then men from Judah were spearmen and those from Benjamin were archers.  Zerah of Ethiopia came out to make war with them with his 300 chariots (think mechanized infantry like tanks that simple foot soldiers shouldn't stand a chance against), and they drew up their battle lines and called out to the LORD for help saying that there was no one else that could help them.  They fully relied on Him to save them and the victory that day belonged solely to the LORD.  Asa and his men pursued the army of Zerah until they were all dead.  The LORD had delivered them into the hands of Judah, and Judah carried away much spoil from that battle as they not only plundered the army of Zerah but also the towns that had been under his control.  They carried away their livestock and sheep and camels and returned to Jerusalem.