King Asa

How He Became King: After the death of his father Abijam
When He Began Reigning: Uncertain
Reign Length: 41 years
Ruled Over: Judah
Type of King: Started out good, but went bad in the end
Prophet: Oded, Hanani
Death: Disease
Burial: Buried in Jerusalem

After Abijam died, Asa his son became king over Judah. He was a good king and did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. His father had been a wicked king and allowed a lot of evil to enter the land. Asa cleaned up the nation by removing the sodomites and the idols:

1 Kings 15:9: “And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father.
12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.”

Asa commanded the people to serve the Lord (2 Chronicles 14:4). Because of this God brought peace to Judah. Asa used that time to strengthen the land and defend it:

1 Kings 15:6: “And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest.
7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.”

However, this time of peace did not last forever. One day an army of a million Ethiopians came against him. When this happened Asa cried out to God for deliverance:

2 Chronicles 14:9: “And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.
10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
11 And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.
12 So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.”

God delivered the Ethiopians into his hand, and Judah utterly defeated them and carried away a great deal of spoil. After this the spirit of God came upon Azariah and he challenged the nation to serve God:

2 Chronicles 15:1: “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.”

When Asa heard this, he gathered the nation together and made a covenant with them to serve God. The entire nation swore with all their hearts to serve the Lord:

2 Chronicles 15:8: “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.”

Because Judah sought the Lord with all of their desire, God blessed them and gave them rest. Asa’s zeal was so great that he even removed his own mother from power because she had made an idol:

1 Kings 15:13: “And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
14 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.”

However, there came a time when God tested Asa. In the 36th year of his reign, Baasha king of Israel came against him:

2 Chronicles 16:1: “In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.”

When the Ethiopian army had come against him, Asa cried out to God and the Lord delivered the nation. However, this time Asa didn’t do that. Instead of trusting in God, he took money from the palace and from the Temple and used it to hire the Syrians to attack Baasha. The Syrians listened to Asa and attacked several cities in Israel. When Baasha found out about this, he left Judah. Asa then brought all of Judah to Ramah and they carried away its stones and timber.

However, the Lord was not pleased. God sent Hanani the prophet to rebuke the king for what he had done:

2 Chronicles 16:7: “And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.
8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand.
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.”

When Asa heard this, he became extremely angry and had Hanani thrown in prison. The king refused to repent and refused to allow anyone to correct him.

Asa’s reign only lasted five more years. When the king was old he became diseased in his feet, but he refused to go to God for help no matter how severe the disease became:

2 Chronicles 16:12: “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.”

When he died, he was buried in Jerusalem in a tomb he had created for himself:

2 Chronicles 16:14: “And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.”

His son Jehoshaphat then reigned in his stead.