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Prophets and Kings
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.” “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands
be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.”
2 Chronicles 15:1, 2, 7
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Greatly encouraged by these words, Asa soon led out in a second
reformation in Judah. He “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.
“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. So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the
third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered
unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought,
seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into
a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart
and with all their soul.” “And He was found of them: and the Lord
gave them rest round about.”
Verses 8-12, 15
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Asa’s long record of faithful service was marred by some mistakes,
made at times when he failed to put his trust fully in God. When, on
one occasion, the king of Israel entered the kingdom of Judah and
seized Ramah, a fortified city only five miles from Jerusalem, Asa
sought deliverance by forming an alliance with Benhadad, king of
Syria. This failure to trust God alone in time of need was sternly
rebuked by Hanani the prophet, who appeared before Asa with the
message:
“Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on
the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped
out of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge
host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst
rely on the Lord, He delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of
the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein
thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have
wars.”
2 Chronicles 16:7-9
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