Second Chronicles 13:13

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 13:13-22, “But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.[14] And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.[15] Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.[16] And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.[17] And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.[18] Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers.[19] And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshnah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.[20] Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.[21] But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.[22] And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.” Why did King Abijah gain the victory over King Jeroboam? The answer is found in verse fourteen: “they cried unto the LORD.” Everyone should do that. Serving God is living a life of prayer. When you pray, you will see many wonderful answers to prayer. The first important prayer of your life will be when you pray to Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. It says in Romans 10:13, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Look at verse seventeen. How many Israelites were killed by other Israelites in this battle of their civil war: 500,000. Remember that all of this slaughter was caused by the foolish decision of the son of Solomon, King Rehoboam. The terrible consequences that can come when we do not have wisdom from God. The terrible consequences that can come on an entire nation when the leaders do not have wisdom from God.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 14:1-7, “So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.[2] And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:[3] For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:[4] And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.[5] Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.[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.” Now king Asa is also a good king. Two good kings in a row, and these kings ruled for many years. In spite of that, they were still heading towards their destruction. That means that we are in great trouble. We have a good leader maybe once every twenty or thirty years at best, and that for only a few years at a time. God have mercy on us.

Look at all the good things said about King Asa, and then compare our lives to his. The first thing said about King Asa is found in verse two, “Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.” That is one of the reasons to turn to Jesus and to become a true believer in Him: you want to start doing the right thing. As a matter of fact, anyone who wants to the right thing in life will come to Jesus. Anyone who does not want to do the right thing in life will not come to Jesus. Jesus said in John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.[20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.[21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Verse three says about King Asa that “he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves.” Asa got rid of the false religion. If you want to do what is right, you must get rid of the false and replace it with the true. There is a lot of false religion all around. The false religion is made up of the false ideas that people have of how to serve God and what is true about God. How do such things get corrected? Do what King Asa did. It says in verse four that he ”commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.” “the Law and the commandment” represent the Word of God. Get out the Bible and start reading it and studying it. Go to a good Bible-teaching church and listen to good teachings about the Bible. Replace the ideas that you once had with the truth from the Bible.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 14:8-15, “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.[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 not man prevail against thee.[12] So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.[13] And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.[14] And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.[15] They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.” A great army from Ethiopia came against King Asa. Every believer will have spiritual enemies. What did Asa do to face his enemies? He went immediately to the Lord in prayer. It says in verse eleven that “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 not man prevail against thee.” That is why Asa won a great victory: he relied upon the Lord instead of relying upon himself. Notice one of the words that Asa used in his prayer: “help.” That is a good prayer. “Help, Lord.” “I need your help again.” “I cannot do it without you, Lord.” God always answers that kind of prayer.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 15:1-7, “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.” Notice the prophet’s message in verse two, “if ye seek him, he will be found of you.” That is an extremely important message, and it is still true today. Jesus can reveal Himself to anyone, but He only does it for those who seek Him. You will seek what you want the most. It has to do with your will: your choice. Seek to know Him and to know Him better. Seek to walk with Him. Seek to be in fellowship with Him. Seek and ye shall find. Jesus said those very same words in Matthew 7:7. Those who do not seek the Lord and who go away from Him are in a terrible situation in life and they will suffer for it. But whenever they are ready to come back to Him, He is always ready and willing to forgive. How kind and compassionate and loving God is.

Just as a little reminder of how bad it can be for those who go away from God, it mentions in verse five, “no peace” and “great vexations.” And it says in verse six that “nation was destroyed of nation” and “God did vex them with all adversity.” What should believers do when they see all this craziness going on in the world around them? As it says in verse seven: “be strong” because God is in control. When it says, “let not your hands be weak,” it means to keep doing God’s work in spite of what is going on around us. And of course, there is the reminder that payday is coming. We will meet Jesus and be judged for what we did for Him: “for your work shall be rewarded.”

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 15:8-11, “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.” Verse eleven starts with the following phrase: “And when Asa heard these words…” This shows the value of good Bible preaching. It is important to hear the Word of God from someone who is gifted and called to preach the Word of God. That is an important part of God’s method for spreading His truth. It says in Ephesians 4:10-12, “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)[11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;[12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” What did the apostles and prophets do in the first century that was so important? They preached and taught the Word of God. What do evangelists and pastor/teachers do today that is so important? They preach and teach the Word of God. Paul wrote in Second Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

Notice the result of King Asa hearing the preaching of the Word of God: “he took courage.” Asa was built up, lifted up, and encouraged by the preaching of the Word. There is great power and benefit to the preaching of the Word. It is good to read the Word of God for yourself, but it is not enough. God Himself established the preaching of the Word so that Christians could be blessed by it. It says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

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