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A King, a Mountain, and a Mic Drop from Heaven: Chapter 13
The Chronicler’s purpose in writing is to tell the exiles the story of their past so they can have hope for their future. As begin 2 Chronicles 13 he is telling stories of the first kings of Judah. He provides more detail than the author of the book of Kings, because each king is a character study packed with lessons for the Israelites (and us).
Abijah is now king after his father’s death in the last chapter. He’s the fourth king in the line of David, and he is David’s great grandson.
The poor guy must have been challenged by Jeroboam, the king of Israel, shortly after becoming king, because he is only king for three years. The showdown between Israel and Judah in 2 Chronicles 13:1-3 is massive with the odds two to one against Judah. Israel has 800,000 men compared to their 400,000.
In 2 Chronicles 13:4-12, Abijah, king of Judah, climbs Mount Zemaraim and delivers a fiery speech. First, he calls out Jeroboam for rebelling against God’s chosen line of David and for leading Israel into idolatry with golden calves.
Then he declares Judah’s faithfulness in worship and in following the law. Judah’s still worshiping the true God with proper priests while Israel has gone rogue.
Lastly, he appeals to the men of Israel to back down because they can’t win against God.
Surrounded but Not Defeated: God Fights for Judah
Abijah’s speech is a bold move considering he has half the number of men, but his confidence is in the Lord. Little does he know, while he is talking, Jeroboam is surrounding him.
The men of Judah turn and see they are in trouble. There are Israelites before and behind them. They cry out to God, the priests add to the cry with trumpets, and God comes to the rescue. Because they relied on the Lord, the Lord responded.
The Israelites run, and Judah pursues, inflicting 500,000 casualties. Over half the Israelite army is lost. It is a crushing defeat. A spiritual confidence booster for Judah and a warning to Israel.
Jeroboam never regains power, and from the Chronicler’s point of view nothing much came of the rest of his reign. In 2 Chronicles 13:13-20, the Chronicler makes it sound like he died right away. He actually outlived Abijah by a couple of years.
A Mixed Legacy
In 2 Chronicles 13:21-22 Abijah is blessed with a large family and a nation that grew in strength. Since Abijah reigned only three years, he must have already had most of his 14 wives and two sons when he ascended the throne in his late thirties. He probably started marrying and having children in his late teens.
The Chronicler makes Abijah sound like a good king highlighting this battle, which was his one shining moment of faith. However, 1 Kings 15 takes a different view of the life and reign of Abijah and dismisses him as an unfaithful king.
Asa’s Strong Start: 2 Chronicles 14
In the books of Kings, season 11 and 12 of Bible Book Club, we learned there were many kings between the northern and southern kingdoms. Forty two to be exact.
However, after David, there were only four good kings, all from Judah, who did not slip into idolatry: Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah.
There were five others who did some good, but later followed other gods, including Solomon, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham. Of all forty two kings, only ten were faithful or mostly faithful. All the rest did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Asa is one of the good kings. He is the fifth king in the line of David.
In 2 Chronicles 14:1-7, Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord. He started out strong by cleaning houses, smashing idols, tearing down pagan altars, and urging Judah to seek God.
Then he turned toward the fortification of Judah building up towns, walls, towers, and gates. His faithfulness to God and his diligence in protecting the country led to a season of peace.
One Million Enemies, One Mighty God
The Chronicler has built King Asa’s story around two battles. In the first, Asa calls on the Lord and receives a blessing. In the second, Asa fails to call on the Lord and receives a consequence.
During the first battle in 2 Chronicles 14:8-10, the odds are stacked against Judah again with their 380,000 men up against thousands upon thousands. Most commentaries agree this is the largest number implied in the Bible.
According to Josephus, a Roman-Jewish historian and military leader of the first century, this army consisted of 900,000 foot soldiers and 100,000 horse men. Therefore, most believe this Ethiopian army was about one million strong.
With a million-strong Ethiopian army pressing in on them in 2 Chronicles 14:11-15, Asa prays boldly and God delivers an impressive victory. The results provide proof to God’s people that no enemy is too large for God, and the Chronicler hopes it is clear to the returned exiles too.
When the people are faithful to God, God is faithful to them. No army is too big for the Lord. After this battle, Asa is blessed with another season of peace.
Asa’s Test Prep: 2 Chronicles 15
In 2 Chronicles 15:1-19, a prophet arrives on the scene. This is the only appearance in the Bible for the prophet Azariah, son of Obed. There will be a King Azariah in a few hundred years, but this is not him.
By now we’ve heard enough Old Testament stories in the Bible Book Club Podcast to know God doesn’t send a prophet without a reason and often victories are followed by a test. Azariah encourages Asa to stay faithful. Little does Asa know how much he will need that encouragement, because something bad is about to happen. A test is coming.
Asa responds well and takes courage from Azariah’s words. He generates a spiritual reset, leading Judah in a nationwide covenant renewal to wholeheartedly follow God. It’s a purging of anything impure and a call to obedience.
Asa even deposes his own grandmother, Maakah, as queen mother. The queen mother was the leading lady and took precedence over all the women in the harem, which gave her a lot of religious influence over all the wives. Normally, the queen mother keeps the position until she dies, but Maakah makes some repulsive idols to the god Asherah.
You may have heard of Asherah poles. They are mentioned a lot in the Old Testament. Asherah was a goddess and wife of the Canaanite supreme god El.
Apparently, she was the mother of seventy divine offspring including another prominent Old Testament Canaanite god, Baal. She was associated with fertility and motherhood.
Asa was fearless for the Lord and faithful. The result was no more war until the 35th year of his reign when he was tested.
Lessons from a Forgotten Victory: 2 Chronicle 16
Asa’s trust test came in the form of an attack on Judah in 2 Chronicles 16:1. King Baasha of Israel begins building up Ramah, a key city in the territory of Benjamin situated approximately five to six miles north of Jerusalem.
Ramah is of immense strategic importance to both King Baasha of Israel and King Asa of Judah due to its geographical location. King Baasha creates a blockade in Ramah that will cut off trade and supplies to Judah. Asa takes action but this time that action did not involve calling upon the Lord.
This seems rather short-sighted considering in the last battle Asa chose to seek God and had incredible success. God defeated a million Ethiopians on Judah’s behalf. How could Asa forget such a huge victory from God, even if it happened years ago?
But this is not the first time a faithful follower has become forgetful. It’s a warning to us. Sometimes what threatens our faith most is time. When all is good, our faith grows weak. We so easily forget what God has done for us.
Through lessons and experiences, God gives us knowledge and understanding. These experiences are faith-building milestones. If we carefully stack them one on top of the other in our memory, each stone will build and strengthen our faith like a wall around our heart for the Lord that protects us from the attack of the enemy.
Asa’s Faithless Strategy
So in 2 Chronicles 16:2-6, Asa forgets God, which is ironic because he did not forget about the gold in God’s temple. But instead of going to the temple to seek God, he goes to the temple to seek gold.
King Asa uses all that gold and silver to bribe Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, to attack Israel at their northern border with Aram. King Baasha of Israel cannot defend both this northern border and his southern border with Judah. So he withdraws from Judah to focus on defending Israel against Aram.
It’s vital that Israel defeats Aram. Otherwise they will lose access to trade through Damascus.
At this point in ancient history, Damascus is very important because it is the intersection of the two most important highways for trade. The International Coastal Highway which goes from Egypt along the Mediterranean coast until it crosses over to Mesopotamia in the east, and the King’s Highway which carries riches all the way from the south of Arabia directly north.
A Missed Opportunity for Faith
Earlier in our readings, Asa was visited by the encouraging prophet. Now, in 2 Chronicles 16:7-9, he gets a visit from the “consequence” prophet Hanani who is very clear on what’s going on.
First, Asa is being judged because he relied on the King of Aram instead of seeking God for direction. Second, there is no excuse after the victories God gave him over the Cushites and Libyans. Third, he has done a foolish thing and will live with war from now on.
There is no escaping God. His eyes range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed.
John Piper’s thought on this verse is that God isn’t a scout looking for first draft choices to help His team win. He’s an unstoppable fullback ready to run touchdowns for anybody who trusts Him to win the game.
But we must seek Him. Call on Him to carry the ball for us verses us foolishly running all over the field and never making it to the goal.
Asa’s response in 2 Chronicles 16:10 is pitiful. Hanani just delivered him a failing grade, and it’s difficult to receive. David is one of the only Old Testament characters to excel at this. His heart was so committed to the Lord that it was pierced with conviction when confronted by his sin.
David humbly asked for forgiveness twice. Once after the affair with Bathseba and once after the census plague.
Asa could have followed the example of his great-great-grandfather. Certainly, if God could forgive David of an affair and murder, he could forgive Asa.
But Asa has slipped in his faith, and his pride makes him angry instead of humble. He takes his anger out on the prophet and the people.
Asa’s Last Chapter
In 2 Chronicles 16:11-13, at the end of his reign, Asa was plagued with disease. Perhaps this was another chance to seek God for healing, but Asa stubbornly refuses. Instead, he turns to physicians.
The author is not saying he shouldn’t have seen physicians. He’s simply pointing out that he could have also prayed for healing.
Despite Asa’s slip, on the whole his reign was a good one. It was 41 years long and a huge fire was burned in his honor at his death.
According to 1 Kings 15, Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had. This does not mean he didn’t make mistakes. It means he didn’t worship idols and worked hard as a king to remove them from Israel.
Like David, Asa made mistakes. And like David he received consequences.
However, he did not receive his consequences with David’s conviction, and that is where the comparison ends…with Asa’s lack of humility.
In the beginning Asa fought the good fight for God choosing to seek God in all things. In the end, he slipped a bit choosing not to seek God.
Question to Ponder
Who do we seek for answers? Google? Grok? Claude? Gemini? Perplexity? ChatGPT?
We have so many advisors to choose from.
Jeremiah 12:11-13 is a letter the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to all those still in captivity in Babylon:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
God says the same to us today. He has plans for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future, just as He did for the exiles.
God wants you to call on Him.
Pray to Him, and He will listen to you. Seek God and you will find Him. But you must seek with all your heart.
🎧 Ready to dive deeper? Listen to episodes of the Bible Book Club Podcast here.
Themes of this podcast:
Victory comes from relying on the Lord. Both Abijah and Asa faced overwhelming odds. Their victories were tied not to military strength, but to their willingness to cry out to God. The Chronicler emphasizes when God’s people rely on Him, He responds with power.
Faithfulness leads to peace. Forgetfulness leads to decline. Asa’s early reign was marked by courage, reform, and peace, because he sought the Lord. Over time, comfort dulled his dependence on God. The decline of his spiritual life shows how dangerous spiritual forgetfulness can be.
God strengthens those who seek Him wholeheartedly. We don’t have to be perfect. God is simply looking to support those fully committed to Him. Seeking God isn’t a one-time act. It’s a daily decision that shapes a legacy.
