Study Desk

So Jeroboam of Israel never regained his power during Abijah's lifetime, and finally the Lord struck him down and he died.

The rest of the events of Abijah's reign, including his words and deeds, are recorded in The Commentary of Iddo the Prophet.

When Abijah died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king. There was peace in the land for ten years.

Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord his God.

He commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord , the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands.

During those peaceful years, he was able to build up the fortified towns throughout Judah. No one tried to make war against him at this time, for the Lord was giving him rest from his enemies.

so Asa deployed his armies for battle in the valley north of Mareshah.

Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, "O Lord , no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord , you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!"

Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar, and so many Ethiopians fell that they were unable to rally. They were destroyed by the Lord and his army, and the army of Judah carried off a vast amount of plunder.

Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. For many from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa's reign when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

Although the pagan shrines were not removed from Israel, Asa's heart remained completely faithful throughout his life.

He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.

Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa's request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the store cities in Naphtali.

As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and stopped all work on it.

Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison and put him in stocks. At that time Asa also began to oppress some of his people.

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord 's help but turned only to his physicians.

So he died in the forty-first year of his reign.

He was buried in the tomb he had carved out for himself in the City of David. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and fragrant ointments, and the people built a huge funeral fire in his honor.

He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father, Asa, had captured.