Asa's Religious Reforms

2 Chronicles 15

1 Now a the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out 1 to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. b The LORD is with you while you are with Him. c If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but d if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 e "For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a f teaching priest, and without g law; 4 "but h when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. 5 "And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 i "So nation was 2 destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 7 "But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!"

8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of 3 Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities j which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD. 9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and k those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. 10 So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 l And they offered to the LORD 4 at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the 5 spoil they had brought. 12 Then they m entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 n and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel o was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 Then they took an oath before the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams' horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and p sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them q rest all around.

16 Also he removed r Maachah, the 6 mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of 7 Asherah; 7 and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. 17 But s the 9 high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. 18 He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. 19 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 24:2
    And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
    Judges 3:10
    The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered CushanRishatha'im king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over CushanRishatha'im.
    2 Chronicles 20:14
    Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
    2 Chronicles 24:20
    Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.'
  2. Cross References
    James 4:8
    Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
  3. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 28:9
    As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of you...
    2 Chronicles 14:4
    He commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of thei...
    2 Chronicles 33:12
    Now when he was in affliction, he implored the ...
    2 Chronicles 13:1
    In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah...
    Jeremiah 29:13
    And you will seek Me and find Me, when you sear...
    Matthew 7:7
    Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you...
  4. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 24:20
    Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.
  5. Cross References
    Hosea 3:4
    For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
  6. Cross References
    2 Kings 12:2
    Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
  7. Cross References
    Leviticus 10:11
    "and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."
    2 Chronicles 17:8
    And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah - the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.
    2 Chronicles 17:9
    So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:29
    But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
  9. Cross References
    Matthew 24:7
    For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
  10. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 13:19
    And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephrain with its villages.
  11. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 11:16
    And after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the LORD God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers.
  12. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 14:13 - 15
    And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the LORD and His army. And they carried away very much spoil.
  13. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:3
    Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.
    2 Chronicles 23:16
    Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the LORD's people.
    2 Chronicles 34:31
    Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
    Nehemiah 10:29
    These joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes:
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 22:20
    He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
  15. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:5 - 15
    But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
  16. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 15:2
    And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
  17. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 14:7
    Therefore he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities and make walls around them, 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 has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.
  18. Cross References
    1 Kings 15:2
    He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom.
    1 Kings 15:10
    And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother's name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom.
    1 Kings 15:13
    Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
  19. Cross References
    1 Kings 15:14
    But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa's heart was loyal to the LORD all his days.
    2 Chronicles 14:3
    For he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images.
    2 Chronicles 14:5
    He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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