2 Chron 15 – 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 15:1-19

1 The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.’

8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

9 Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

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

A. Find Out:

1. Who prophesied what to Asa? v.1,2
2. Of what did he remind them and then command? v.3-7
3. How did Asa respond to this? v.8
4. Who gathered to him and why? v.9
5. What did they do, and with what result? v.10-15
6. What further did Asa do with what result? v.16-19

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise verses 1 to 7?
2. How would you summarise Asa’s activity?
3. How would you summarise the people’s response?

C. Comment:

     Asa has started cleaning up the land (v.3,4) – assuming chapters 14 and 15 are in chronological order – and now the Spirit of God comes and encourages Asa to persevere with what he has started. (It is possible that v.3,4 are simply summary verses of what later occurred but these prophetic words seem to indicate a continuation of what he has started.) Whether this is an initiating prophecy or a further encouraging word, Asa responds well and goes about/continues cleaning up the land and clearing out idol worship and restoring godly worship.

      We then come to an intriguing part of the passage. He gathered the people in Jerusalem to worship the Lord. Now this is not only the people of the two tribes, but also people from three of the other tribes who heard that the Lord was with Asa. There is a gathering of those whose hearts are yearning after the Lord, a mini revival!

     The extent of their worship is worth noting. They not only move into a major renewal of the sacrificial aspects of their faith, but they firmly commit themselves to seek after the Lord with all their heart and soul! Powerful stuff! They even make a solemn oath to confirm this. Asa goes on to deal with ungodly remnants of his family and the reference in verse 17 to Israel probably is in contrast to Judah (still seen as part of the covenant people). Peace follows as we noted previously.

D. Application:

1. The old life has to be removed if the new is to be effective.
2. God brings the blessing of peace where there is obedience.