5.3 2 Chronicles 13-15

2 Chronicles 13-15

Transcript

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Hello friends and neighbors. Welcome to the Sunny Side of Life Bible in a year experience. Join me each day as I read the Bible from start to finish. I'm reading from the Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation, published by Tyndale House Publishings. I pray this daily reading will bless you as much as it does me. So let's get started. May 3rd, 2nd Chronicles chapters 13 through 15. Abijah began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam's reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Makah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. Then war broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. Judah, led by King Abijah, fielded four hundred thousand select warriors, while Jeroboam mustered eight hundred thousand select troops from Israel. When the army of Judah arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, Abijah stood on Mount Zameram and shouted to Jeroboam and all Israel, Listen to me, don't you realize that the Lord, the God of Israel, made a lasting covenant with David, giving him and his descendants the throne of Israel forever? Yet Jeroboam, son of Nebat, a mere servant of David's son Solomon, rebelled against his master. Then a whole gang of scoundrels joined him, defying Solomon's son Rehoboam when he was young and inexperienced and could not stand up to them. Do you really think you can stand against the kingdom of the Lord that is led by the descendants of David? You may be a vast army, and you may have those gold calves that Jeroboam made as your gods, but you have chased away the priests of the Lord, the descendants of Aaron and the Levites, and you have appointed your own priests, just like the pagan nations. You let anyone become a priest these days. Whoever comes to be dedicated with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of these so called gods of yours. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him. Only the descendants of Aaron serve the Lord as priests, and the Levites alone may help them in their work. They present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They place the bread of the present on the holy table, and they light the gold lampstand every evening. We are following the instructions of the Lord our God, but you have abandoned him. So you see, God is with us. He is our leader. His priests blow their trumpets and lead us into battle against you. O people of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed. Meanwhile, Jeroboam had secretly sent part of his army around behind the men of Judah to ambush them. When Judah realized that they were being attacked from the front and the rear, they cried out to the Lord for help. Then the priests blew the trumpets, and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel and routed them before Abijah and the army of Judah. The Israelite army fled from Judah, and God handed them over to Judah in defeat. Abijah and his army inflicted heavy losses on them. Five hundred thousand of Israel's select troops were killed that day. So Judah defeated Israel on that occasion because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Abijah and his army pursued Jeroboam's troops and captured some of his towns, including Bethel, Jeshana, and Ephron, along with their surrounding villages. So Jeroboam of Israel never regained his power during Abijah's lifetime, and finally the Lord struck him down and he died. Meanwhile, Abijah of Judah grew more and more powerful. He married fourteen wives and had twenty two sons and sixteen daughters. The rest of the events of Abijah's reign, including his words and deeds, are recorded in the commentary of Edo 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 removed the foreign altars and the pagan shrines, he smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherapoles. He commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands. Asa also removed the pagan shrines, as well as the incense altars from every one of Judah's towns. So Asa's kingdom enjoyed a period of peace. 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. Asa told the people of Judah, Let us build towns and fortify them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God, and he has given us peace on every side. So they went ahead with these projects and brought them to completion. King Asa had an army of three hundred thousand warriors from the tribe of Judah, armed with large shields and spears. He also had an army of two hundred eighty thousand warriors from the tribe of Benjamin, armed with small shields and bows. Both armies were composed of well trained fighting men. Once an Ethiopian named Zera attacked Judah with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots. They advanced to the town of Mershah. So Asa deployed his armies for battle in the valley north of Mershah. 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. So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled. Asa and his army pursued them as far as Girar, 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. While they were at Girar, they attacked all the towns in that area, and terror from the Lord came upon the people there. As a result, a vast amount of plunder was taken from these towns too. They also attacked the camps of herdsmen and captured many sheep, goats, and camels before finally returning to Jerusalem. Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, son of Oded, and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. Listen to me, Asa, he shouted. Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin, the Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him. Whenever you seek him, you will find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them and without the law to instruct them. But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord the God of Israel and sought him out, they found him. During those dark times it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the people of every land, nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling them with every kind of problem. But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded. When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet, he took courage and removed all the detestable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin, and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which stood in the front of the entry room of the Lord's temple. 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. The people gathered at Jerusalem in late spring, during the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. On that day they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had taken in the battle. Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the Lord the God of Israel would be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the Lord with trumpets blaring and rams horns sounding. All in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him, and the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side. King Asa even deposed his grandmother, Makah, from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burdened 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. So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign. That's it for today, friends. Feel free to read ahead on your own. Before I go, let's share the Lord's prayer together. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, power, and glory forever.