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2nd Chronicles 15

KING JAMES BIBLE

1 AND the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
2 And 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.
3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
5 And 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.
6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
8 And 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.
9 And 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.
10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
11 And they offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
13 That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
14 And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
15 And 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.
16 And 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.
17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
18 And 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.
19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

KING JAMES 1611

1And the Spirit of God came vpon Azariah the sonne of Oded.

2And he went out to meet Asa, and said vnto him, Heare ye me, Asa, and all Iudah, and Beniamin, The Lord is with you, while yee be with him: and if yee seeke him, he will be found of you: but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

3Now for a long season Israel hath bene without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

4But when they in their trouble did turne vnto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, hee 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 vpon all the inhabitants of the countreys.

6And nation was destroyed of nation, and citie of citie: for God did vexe them with all aduersitie.

7Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands bee weake: for your worke shall be rewarded.

8And when Asa heard these words, and the prophesie of Oded the prophet, he tooke courage, and put away the abominable idoles out of all the lande of Iudah and Beniamin, and out of the cities which hee had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the Altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.

9And he gathered all Iudah and Beniamin, 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 themselues together at Ierusalem, in the third moneth, in the fifteenth yeere of the reigne of Asa.

11And they offered vnto the Lord the same time, of the spoile which they had brought, seuen hundred oxen, and seuen thousand sheepe.

12And they entred into a couenant to seeke the Lord God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soule:

13That whosoeuer would not seeke the Lord God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14And they sware vnto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

15And all Iudah reioyced at the oath: for they had sworne with all their heart, & sought him with their whole desire, and he was found of them: and the Lord gaue them rest round about.

16 And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he remooued her from beeing Queene, because she had made an idole in a groue: and Asa cut downe her idole, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brooke Kidron.

17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: neuerthelesse the heart of Asa was perfect all his dayes.

18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himselfe had dedicated, siluer, and gold, and vessels.

19And there was no more warre vnto the fiue and thirtieth yeere of the reigne of Asa.

Compare Verse to Verse

I == Num 24:2 ; Judg 3:10 ; 2nd chr 20:14 ; 24:20

 

II == 1st Chr 26:9 ; 2nd Chr 15:4 , 15 ; 33:12-13 ; 24:20 ; Jer 29:13 ; Matt 7:7 ; James 4:8

 

III == Lev 10:11 ; Hos 3:4

IV == Deut 4:29

V == Judg 5:6

 

VI == Matt 24:7

 

 

 

VIII == 2nd Chr 13:19

 

 

 

 

 

IX == 2nd Chr 11:16

 

 

 

 

 

 

XI == 2nd Chr 14:13 , 15

 

XII == 2nd Kings 23:3 ; 2nd Chr 34:31 ; Neh 10:29

XIII == Ex 22:20 ; Deut 13:5 , 9 , 15

 

 

 

XV == 2nd Chr 15:2

 

 

XVI == 1st Kings 15:2 , 10 , 13

 

 

XVII == 1st Kings 15:14 ; 2nd Chr 14:3 , 5

THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE

1.Upon Azariah, son of Oded, came the spirit of God.

2 He went forth to meet Asa and said to him: "Hear me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you when you are with him, and if you seek him he will be present to you; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.

3 For a long time Israel had no true God, no priest-teacher and no law,

4 but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was present to them.

5 In that former time there was no peace for anyone to go or come, but there were many terrors upon the inhabitants of the lands.

6 Nation crushed nation and city crushed city, for God destroyed them by every kind of adversity.

7 But as for you, be strong and do not relax, for your work shall be rewarded."

8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy (Oded the prophet), he was encouraged to remove the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had taken in the highlands of Ephraim, and to restore the altar of the LORD which was before the vestibule of the LORD.

9 Then he convened all Judah and Benjamin, together with those of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who sojourned with them; for many had fled to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD, his God, was with him.

10 They gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign,

11 and sacrificed to the LORD at that time seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep of the booty they had brought.

12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul;

13 and everyone who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14 They swore to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.

15 All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and sought him with complete desire, so that he was present to them. And the LORD gave them rest on every side.

16 Maacah, the mother of King Asa, he deposed as queen mother because she had made an outrageous object for Asherah; Asa cut this down, smashed it, and burnt it in the Kidron Valley.

17 Although the high places did not disappear from Israel, yet Asa's heart was undivided as long as he lived.

18 He brought into the house of God his father's votive offerings and his own: silver, gold, and various utensils.

19 There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.

COMMENTARIE

Jeroboam reigned over Israel 18 years when Abijah followed Rehoboam over Judah. For family information read 2 Chr. 11:18-23. Maacah, the granddaughter of David’s son Absalom, was Rehoboam’s favorite among 18 wives and 60 concubines, so he prepared her son, Abijah to be king. Rehoboam had 28 sons and 60 daughters and  provided for all his sons as leaders in fortified cities and sought wives for them. Abijah sinned like Rehoboam had done much of the time, but God set up his son after him and established Jerusalem for David’s sake, in spite of David’s sin regarding Uriah, 2 Sam. 11.

There continued to be war with Jeroboam through the three years of Abijah. For more on Abijah, read 2 Chr. 13:1-19. When his 400,000 men were faced with Jeroboam’s 800,000, he took a stanAsa is Judah’s first really good king, and starting in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, he reigned 41 years. Maacah was actually his grandmother, but he did not show partiality. He destroyed the idol she she had made in a grove and removed her from being queen, 2 Chr. 15:16. The groves were Ashera poles set up with fertility symbols (private parts) carved on them. Apparently it was in his early years that he removed the homosexuals and idols from the land. In keeping with Lev. 26:30, he removed the high places, according to 2 Chr. 14:2-5, but there were many and he did not get them all removed, v 14 and 2 Chr. 15:16. He was able to bring in dedicated items from the war Abijah won over Jeroboam and from his own victory over the Ethiopians, read 2 Chr. 14:6-15. God had given Asa rest after his early reforms, so he built fortified cities, a 580,000 man army and prospered. Zerah, an Ethiopian came against him with a million men and 300 chariots. Asa called upon the Lord in trust with a well known verse, 2 Chr. 14:11, the Lord can help with many or with the weak. God aided him in practically destroying the enemy, so Asa smote all the cities round about and brought back an abundance of spoils.
At this point 2 Chr. 15:1-7 takes place.  The Prophet Azariah met Asa, perhaps as he was returning from the battle, and gave him an admonition that if he sought the Lord, the Lord would be with him, but if he forsook the Lord, the Lord would forsake him. Azariah pointed out that this had been the case with Israel in the past, so if Asa would strengthen himself in the Lord, he would be rewarded. (Gal. 6:9)
Jeroboam’s death after 22 years is recorded 14:19, 20 and 2 Chr. 13:20. For more information on him see 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chr. 17-20.
Nadab succeeded Jeroboam, 14:20 in the 2nd year of Asa, king of Judah. He was sinful like his father, who had made Israel sin by setting up a corrupt religious system. He only reigned two years and was slain by Baasha who took his place. He slew every one that breathed of the house of Jeroboam, 14:20, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord to the prophet Ahijah, 14:10-14.
After ruthlessly slaying all of the Jeroboam family, Baasha continuously warred against Asa, king of Judah. He constituted a threat by setting up Ramah on the border of Judah to prevent any communication between the two countries. Instead of trusting the Lord for help as he had before, Asa emptied his treasuries to hire the king of Syria, Ben-hadad, to break his treaty with Israel and help him. Ben-hadad smote some of the cities in northern Israel, so Baasha left off building Ramah, and returned to his capitol,Tirzah, north of Shechem. Asa took the building materials to build fortified border cities of his own, Mizpah in the disputed area and Geba along the border of Benjamin. This portion is repeated in 2 Chr. 16:1-6 with the addition in 7-10 of a rebuke from the Lord through Hanani the seer. Asa had relied on the Lord in the battle with the Ethiopians, but here he relied on the power of Syria. He had done foolishly so from now on he would have wars. (2 Chr,15:19, There had been no more war after that with the Ethiopians  until his 35th  year.) Asa was angry with the message of Hanani so he threw him in prison and apparently took his anger out on some other people by oppressing them.
. Read 2 Chr. 16:11-17:1 for better detail than here. Throughout Asa’s life he had trusted the Lord until the treaty with Syria, and again in his old age, in the 39th year of his reign, he became diseased in his feet and tried to rely on physicians to help him instead of calling upon the Lord. He died in his 40th year and had an elaborate funeral, befitting one who had followed the Lord most of his life.
He was laid on a bed of spices but placed in the tomb he had prepared. Some say the “Great burning” in 2 Chron. 16:14 refers to the burning of the spices. because cremation was not practiced by the Jews. It is pointed out that at Herod’s funeral five hundred men bearing spices.
Others say royal cremation was prevalent at the time of the kings, among Jews
Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son reigned in his place, after a co-regency of 2 or 3 years.
For the beginning of the reign of Jehoshaphat, see notes in 2 Chr. 17. The reign of Ahab and the major part of Elijah’s ministry are in 1 Ki. 16:28 -21:29 and we pick up on Jehoshaphat again in 1 Ki 22 and 2 Chr. 18.
The sad part of the commentary on Baasha’s 24 year reign is that he did evil, walking after the manner of wicked Jeroboam. d for the Lord. He rebuked Jeroboam for taking advantage of Rehoboam when he was young, for the golden calves, for ousting the priests and setting up common men as priests and perverting commanded worship. Furthermore, Judah was trusting God for it’s captain. When Abijah realized Jeroboam had set an ambush, all Judah called upon God, gave a shout and God delivered them and they killed 500,000 of the enemy soldiers. So Judah prevailed and captured many of the cities of Israel because they had relied on God.   Read 2 Chr. 13: 21 22 for record that Abijah had 14 wives, 22 sons and 16 daughters.