Le royaume diviséKingReformerMilitary commanderReign: c. 911–870 BC
Asa reigned over Judah for 41 years and was one of the kingdom's most prominent kings in the struggle against idolatry. With resolute action he cleared the land of foreign cult objects, and he showed unusual principle when he removed his own grandmother Maaka from her position as queen mother because of her idol. His trust in God was tested when a powerful Cushite army under Zerah marched against Judah – Asa threw himself to the Lord in prayer and experienced an overwhelming victory. The prophet Azariah then encouraged him to hold fast to the reform course. Nevertheless, his legacy is overshadowed by the final years of his reign: when Baasha of Israel threatened, Asa chose political pragmatism and allied himself with Ben-Hadad king of Aram instead of seeking God's guidance, something the prophet Hanani confronted him about. When a serious illness struck him toward the end of his life, he turned exclusively to human help. Asa's life paints a moving picture of both the strength and frailty of faith – a king who began with wholehearted devotion but ended with failing trust.
Asa removed the foreign altars, broke down the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord and keep his law and commandments, even though the high places were not completely removed.
When the Cushite Zerah advanced against Judah with an overwhelming army, Asa cried out to the Lord and achieved a miraculous victory. He confessed his complete dependence on God.
10Asa called out to the LORD his God: "LORD, there is no one besides you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast horde. LORD, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you."
12Asa and the troops with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until not one of them was left alive, for they were shattered before the LORD and before his army. And they carried off a very great amount of plunder.
13They struck down all the cities around Gerar, for the terror of the LORD had fallen on them. They plundered all those cities, for there was much plunder in them.
After the victory, the prophet Azariah, son of Oded, met with King Asa and encouraged him to continue his reforms, saying: 'The Lord is with you as long as you are with Him.' Asa accepted this message and intensified his reform efforts.
2He went out to meet Asa and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will let you find him; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
8When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim, and he restored the altar of the LORD that stood in front of the portico of the LORD's house.
Asa removed his own grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an abhorrent Asherah image. He destroyed the image and burned it by the Kidron Brook.
16King Asa even removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
13He even removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
When Baasha of Israel built the fortress of Ramah to block Judah, Asa formed an alliance with Ben-Hadad of Aram by sending treasures from the temple, instead of relying on the Lord. The prophet Hanani rebuked him for this.
1In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign, Baasha king of Israel marched against Judah and fortified Ramah to cut off all traffic in and out for Asa king of Judah.
2Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house and sent it to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who ruled in Damascus, with this message:
3"Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me."
7At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped your hand.
8Were not the Cushites and the Libyans a mighty army with vast numbers of chariots and horsemen? But when you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand.
9For the eyes of the LORD range through the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are wholly his. In this you have acted foolishly, and from now on you will have wars."
In his 39th year as king, Asa was afflicted with a serious foot disease but sought help only from physicians, not from the Lord. He died after reigning for 41 years and was buried with great honor in the City of David.
12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet, and his illness grew severe. Yet even in his illness he did not seek the LORD, but turned to physicians.
14They buried him in the tomb he had cut out for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier filled with spices and all kinds of blended perfumes, and they made an enormous fire in his honor.