This chapter covers twenty-five years of Asa’s reign. Victory over the Ethiopians, in the previous chapter, was followed by a long period of peace, ‘There was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa’, v. 19. God greatly blessed Judah during this period, and the reason is clear. Asa is a good example of the injunction, ‘Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only’, Jas. 1. 22. He was one of the wise men described by the Lord Jesus, Matt. 7. 24. Asa heard the word of God in verses 1-7, and acted upon it in verses 8-19.
The terms on which God was prepared to bless Asa are spelt out by Azariah, ‘The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you’. That is exactly what happened. ‘And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers’, v. 12. ‘All … Judah sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them’, v. 15. They did this with 'all their heart and with all their soul’, v. 12.
Since they were completely whole-hearted in their devotion and obedience to God, no idol could possible remain. Otherwise, their profession would have been superficial, with no inward reality. Never forget the solemn warning given by the Lord Jesus in this connection, Matt. 15. 7-8. The destruction of idolatry affected Asa personally. He dealt with it in his own family; v. 16. Imagine what people would have said if the king had smashed all the idols in Judah, except the image worshipped by his mother! Asa was not guilty of double standards. Are we?
We must not get the impression that obedience to the word of God involves nothing but grim determination. It certainly wasn’t like that here, ‘And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath’, vv. 13-15. Obedience brought joy. The Lord Jesus said, ‘If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain with you, and that your joy might be full’, John 15. 10-11.
