Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 2 Chronicles · About this commentary
Asa's Rest, and the Army He Could Not Face
2 Chronicles 14:1-15
1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David’s city; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days, the land was quiet ten years. · WEB
Peace is treated as an opportunity rather than a reward, and the prayer before the battle asks God to defend his own reputation.
Ten quiet years open the reign, and Asa spends them on two things at once. He removes the foreign altars, the high places, the pillars and the poles, and he commanded Judah to seek Yahweh 2 Chronicles 14:3–4. Demolition and instruction together; the second is what the first was for.
Then he builds. And the speech he makes about it contains the chapter's argument: the land is yet before us, because we have sought Yahweh our God. We have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side 2 Chronicles 14:7.
Rest is not treated as a reward to be enjoyed. It is read as a window, and the window is used for walls, towers, gates and bars. A man who believes the quiet was given rather than earned also believes it may not last, and he fortifies accordingly.
The test arrives with numbers designed to be hopeless — a million troops and three hundred chariots against an army of five hundred eighty thousand 2 Chronicles 14:8–9. Asa goes out to meet them anyway, and prays.
The prayer is four sentences and every one of them is worth its place. There is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. God is described as indifferent to the odds, which is the only relevant fact. We rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude — the reliance is stated as the reason they are standing there at all, not as a hope added to a plan.
And the last line changes whose problem this is. Yahweh, you are our God. Don't let man prevail against you 2 Chronicles 14:11. Not against us. He asks God to defend his own name, and puts the outcome where the risk actually lies.
The battle is reported in half a verse. God struck them, and they fled 2 Chronicles 14:12. Then the pursuit, the towns around Gerar taken because the fear of Yahweh came on them, and a great deal of plunder brought back 2 Chronicles 14:13–15.
That plunder is not incidental. Two chapters after Judah's treasury was emptied by Egypt, an African army arrives and its goods go into Jerusalem. The writer will note in the next chapter what part of it was given to God.
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