2 Chron 14 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 2 Chron 14:1-15

1 And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. 5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. 6 He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.

7 ‘Let us build up these towns,’ he said to Judah, ‘and put walls round them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.’ So they built and prospered.

8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.

9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

11 Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, ‘Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.’

12 The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 13 and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. 14 They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. 15 They also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

A. Find Out:

1. List the good things Asa did? v.2-5
2. What was he also able to do and why? v.6,7
3. Who came against Asa so what did he do? v.9-11
4. So what happened? v.12-15

B. Think:

1. How did Asa begin his reign and why did it please the Lord?
2. What was the fruit attributed to that?
3. How further did he show his reliance upon the Lord?

C. Comment:

       Although Asa’s reign did not end gloriously, as we’ll see in a later study, it certainly started well. Asa worked to restore Israel to a good place with the Lord by a) taking away what was wrong and b) putting back into place what was right. Taking away what was wrong was removing all aspects of idol worship and putting back what was right was commanding the people to seek the Lord and obey the Law. Now immediately he did that peace came. There was a cessation of conflicts with their neighbours. This almost became a universal observable law with Israel . When they were not right with God there was conflict with surrounding nations, but as soon as they re-established their relationship with the Lord, peace came.

       Now you may think the battle that followed contradicts that but there will always be exceptions to the rule as the Lord allows such things to strengthen His people. This was an opportunity for the king and his people to show the reality of their relationship with the Lord, and this they did as they cried out to Him. The result was an overwhelming victory. It may be this victory that ensured subsequent peace. Sometimes we have to deal with the enemy positively before we can have ongoing peace. In our case it is spiritual battles but it’s still the same: there are times when we have to give a death blow to the enemy’s particular activity before we can have ongoing peace. It’s not a case of self-effort but calling on the Lord and letting Him lead the way to victory.

D. Application:

1. Is the enemy still troubling you? Is there an underlying cause
2. Is trust in the Lord at the heart of your life?