2 Chronicles · chapter 14 of 36
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2 Chronicles 14 introduces Asa, king of Judah, who does what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord, removes the foreign altars and high places, and commands the people to seek God. For ten years the kingdom enjoys peace and Asa fortifies cities. When Zerah the Cushite attacks with an army of a million men, Asa cries out to the Lord and God defeats the invaders.
With Asa begins a long series of kings of Judah whom Chronicles evaluates by one central question: did they seek the Lord? Asa's early reign is one of the best positive examples in the book. The chapter joins religious reform, peace and military victory to show that faithfulness and the tranquility of the kingdom are related.
Abijah dies and his son Asa reigns in his place. In his days the land has rest for ten years. Asa does what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He removes the foreign altars and the high places, breaks down the pillars and cuts down the Asherim. He commands Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to obey the law and the commandment. He also removes from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars, and the kingdom has peace under him.
Asa builds fortified cities in Judah, because the land has rest and there is no war against him in those years, for the Lord gives him rest. He tells Judah to build walls, towers, gates and bars while the land is still before them, because they have sought the Lord their God and he has given them rest on every side. They build and prosper. Asa has an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah armed with large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand from Benjamin with small shields and bows.
Zerah the Cushite marches out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and comes as far as Mareshah. Asa goes out to meet him, and they draw up in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah. Asa cries out to the Lord, saying that for him there is no difference between helping the mighty and those who have no strength, and asks for help because they rely on him and in his name have come against this multitude. The Lord defeats the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and they flee. Asa and his army pursue them as far as Gerar, and so many Cushites fall that they cannot recover. Judah takes great plunder from the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord had fallen on them, and also tents of livestock and many camels and sheep, and they return to Jerusalem.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. The chronicler gives the measure of his reign from the beginning and sets the standard by which he judges the kings of Judah.
Asa commands Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep his law and commandments. The reform is not limited to removing idols: it calls for a life directed toward obeying God.
Asa reminds the people that the land is still before them because they have sought the Lord, and he has given them rest. Peace is interpreted as a gift of God and is used to build, not simply to relax.
Asa prays that for God there is no difference between helping the strong or the weak, and asks for help because they rely on him. It is a prayer of dependence that acknowledges that victory does not rest on weapons.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Ten years. — 2 Chronicles 14:1
Answer: The foreign altars, the high places, the pillars and the Asherim. — 2 Chronicles 14:3
Answer: To seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep his law and commandment. — 2 Chronicles 14:4
Answer: Three hundred thousand men from Judah with large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand from Benjamin with small shields and bows. — 2 Chronicles 14:8
Answer: Zerah the Cushite, with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots. — 2 Chronicles 14:9
Answer: He cried out to the Lord and asked for help, saying they relied on him. — 2 Chronicles 14:11
Asa reminds us that reform begins by removing what takes God's place and that peace is an opportunity to strengthen, not to grow careless. In a small group we can talk about what takes a place today that belongs only to God, and which habits let us use quiet seasons to build up our faith and family.
His prayer before a huge army is a brief and honest model. He admits his weakness, trusts in the name of the Lord and asks for help. When we face problems beyond our strength, we too can pray simply and wait for the Lord's answer.
2 Chronicles 14 ends with Asa returning to Jerusalem with great plunder after a victory God gave. In 2 Chronicles 15 a prophet goes out to meet him with a message about seeking the Lord, and Asa continues the reform with even more courage.
The text presents him as the leader of a great army that attacked Judah. Cush usually refers to the region south of Egypt, although some scholars think it could refer to a people in the Arabian region. His exact identity is uncertain; what matters in the account is that the threat was enormous and God gave the victory.
They were sacred poles or trees connected with the worship of the goddess Asherah, whom many Canaanites worshiped. The law of Moses commanded that they be destroyed. Removing them was an essential part of Asa's reform.
The text gives the number as it stands, and many versions keep it. Some scholars think the large numbers in Chronicles may have a special use or express a very large army. In any case, the message is clear: it was an overwhelming force facing Judah.