against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah; Asa attacked him before he had invad11 ed the land. And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, [it is] nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power; help us, O LORD our God for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou [art] our God; let not man prevail against thee. Asa offered this short but comprehensive prayer in the face of the army, expressing their trust in God's power, their encouragement because he was their God, and would defend his own religion 12 and his own cause. So the LORD smote, or struck terror into the

Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians 13 fled. And Asa and the people that [were] with him pursued them unto Gerar, a city of the Philistines, who were probably allies and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves, nor rally their forces; for they were destroyed before the LORD and before his host; and they, Asa's 14 army, carried away very much spoil. And they smpte all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD, a terror from God, came upon them and they spoiled all the cities ; for there was exceeding much spoil in them, which they had 15 taken from the countries they had ravaged. They smote also the tents of cattle, the tents in which the Arabians lived, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, which were very common among them, and returned to Jerusalem.

1

CHAP. XV. And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the 2 son of Oded: And he went out to meet Asa, not to compliment, but exhort him, lest he and the people should be puffed up with this victory and slacken their diligence, 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, worship him only, he will be found of you; but presume not on his favour without this, for if ye forsake him, he will forsake you; if you abandon his worship and fall into apostasy, he will cast you off. 3 Then follows an illustration of this: Now for a long season Israel [hath been] without the true God, and without a teaching 4 priest, and without law.* But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them, (as Judges iii. 9, 15. x. 16. 1 Sam. vii. 4, &c.) 5 And in those times [there was] no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations [were] upon all the 6 inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city, one part of the people of Israel destroyed another for God did vex them with all adversity: upon this the 7 prophet grounds his advice. Be ye strong therefore in rooting eut idolatry, and let not your hands be weak for your work shall be rewarded; as you may learn from this signal victory you 8 have obtained. And when Asa heard these words, and the

:

Some think that this refers to the state of the kingdom of Israel at that time, as sep arate from that of Judah. Others, to the whole nation of the Jews in the time of the Judges.

prophecy of Oded the prophet,* he took courage, and 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, from the cities taken by Abijah his father, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that [was] before the porch of the LORD, and which by 9 long neglect as decayed. 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 10 him. So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, de 11 the feast of weeks or pentecost. And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil [which] they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep, the spoils of the Arabians; burnt offerings for thankfulness to God, and peace offer ings to renew their covenant, by eating part and giving the rest 12 to the priests and the people. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and 13 with all their soul;† That whosoever would not seek the Lord GOD of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, 14 whether man or woman, Deut. xiii. 9. And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, with expressions of great joy, and with trumpets of metal, and with cornets. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire, sincerely, and heartily; this was the case with the greatest part of them, however some were altered afterward; and he was found of them and the LORD gave them rest round about; he made them reap the happy fruits of their reformation, in their present peace and prosperity.

16

And also [concerning] Maacha the mother of Asa the king,f he removed her from [being] queen,|| took away her ensign of au thority, because she had made an idol in a grove and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped [it,] and burnt [it] at the brook Kidron, 17 destroyed it with the utmost contempt. But the high places were not taken away out of Israel:* nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days, so far as that he hated all idolatrous” worship.

18

And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and which he had taken from Jeroboam, but®

Rather of Azariah the son of Oded, as it is in some ancient versions.

They bound themselves to what was their duty before, but thus they acknowledged the reasonableness of the precept, armed themselves against temptation, and encouraged one another; and they farther bound themselves to put the laws against idolatry into ex ecution.

She was his grandmother, but called his mother, because probably she had the care of his education, his mother dying while he was young, and so she was regent during his minority.

As the word being is not in the original, some interpret it, that he removed her from the queen, Asa's wife, lest she should corrupt her to idolatry.

• Perhaps these may refer to the high places in Ephraim, where the people were so much wedded to them, that he thought it not good policy to remove them; or rather, to the high places in which God was worshipped, though he destroyed all their idols.

which he had not brought to the house of God, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels, which he had taAnd there was no [more] war unto the 19 ken from the Arabians. five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

REFLECTIONS.

HOSE who resolutely set about reformation, will prob

1.Tably meet with less difficulties than they imagine, v. 5.

It is discouraging to many, when they think others are gone too far to mend, and there is no room to hope; but let not such be discouraged; vice may be weaker, and a disposition to amend stronger, than we imagine. God may succeed our endeavours. Though iniquity should abound, let not our love wax cold; at least let us do our duty and leave the event to God.

2. Our rest and peace ought to be thankfully acknowledged, and 6, 7. We should own the hand carefully improved: Asa did so, v. of God in public rest, in the peace and comfort of our families, in our ease of body and quietness of mind, and improve it to work the works of God, to grow in wisdom and holiness, and exert ourselves to do good.

3. Whatever enemies attack us, let us encourage ourselves in We wrestle not with the almighty power of God, as Asa did, v. 11. flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers. Without are fightings, and within are fears; but let us still remember his strength; that we are fighting in his cause; and therefore put our trust in him; and not fear what earth or hell can do against us.

4. We learn, that God will be with us while we are with him. chap. xv. 2. He will not forsake the souls that seek him and cleave to him. If we forsake him, what can we expect but that he will forsake us. Let this engage us to be active and resolute in religion : it is not without its reward, v. 7. it brings present peace and joy, and hope of a glorious reward hereafter.

5. Those who would seek God, so as to find him, must do it with their whole hearts, v. 12. must seek him by fervent, constant prayer; seek his favour by a course of piety, make heartwork of religion, and engage all the powers of the soul to serve God; for thus only will they be accepted of him.

6. It is wise to enter into solemn engagements to be the Lord's, and to renew them with cheerfulness and joy. It is proper at all times, to prevent temptations, and to keep us resolute; but especially in times of degeneracy, when we have bad examples and many temptations about us, we should renew them cheerfully. The people of Judah were not ashamed nor afraid to let all know that they were for God. Times of sacramental engagements should be times of rejoicing in the goodness of God. They are pledges of his love, means of holiness, and a seal of the covenant of eternal life. We are taught,

7. Not to regard our wicked relations, when we are engaged in the cause of God and religion. So Asa acted in the case of his

grandmother; neither her authority, her age, her sex, nor his obligations to her, prevented him from removing her. Let our refor mation begin at home; let us mind first our own family, and not spare sin in the nearest relative or dearest friend. This will show that our heart is upright, and we shall not be ashamed.

CHAP. XVI.

Compared with 1 Kings chap. xv. 25, to the end.

'Asa's confidence in the king of Syria; the message of a prophet to him, on account of his confidence; with the close of this reign and death.

Ν

IN the six and thirtieth of the of Asa" Baasha

of Israel came up against Judah, and built, or fortified, Ra mah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Being a frontier town it cut off the commu nication, and was a place they could not easily pass without discov. 2 ery. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to 3 Benhadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, [There is] a league between me and thee, as [there was] between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold ; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may 4 depart from me.t And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the store cities of Naphtali: Benhadad attacked Baasha in the north, while 5 he fortified Ramah in the south. And it came to pass, when Baasha heard [it,] that he left off building of Ramah, and let his 6 work cease; it had the desired effect. Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building, and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah, fortified his own frontier towns.{}

7

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria,' and not relied on the LORD thy God, who had promised him suc cess if he continued obedient and faithful, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand, and reserved to be a scourge to thy kingdom and posterity hereafter; whereas if he had

There is a remarkable difference between the date of this and the parallel plate in: Kings. Here it is said, in the thirty sixth year of Asa's reign; Josephus says in the twent sixth. There is either a mistake in some early transcriber, or they compute from different periods, the death of the possessor, the establishment of the empire, or some remarkable ac.. tion, as was the case of some Greek and Roman emperors, So Augustus has three differeaz periods assigned him by three different historians.

+ This was held lawful in cases of great necessity; but there was no necessity to use these treasures now; the thing was evil in itself, it was done from a bad principle, and for a bad end, to make Benhadad violate the public faith..

So fearful was Asa lest Baisha should seize his kingdom, that he made a great cave Bader ground; perhaps to hide himself and his treasures, Jer. xii..

joined with Baasha against thee, thou shouldest have overthrown 8 them both. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims* a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou 9 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. This is the general conduct of Providence ; his power and might are employed in behalf of those that are upright. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from hence10 forth thou shalt have wars. Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house, and in the stocks, whereas he ought to have thanked him, for [he was] in a rage with him because of this [thing.] And Asa oppressed [some] of the people the same time; he grew tyrannical in general, or else he punished some of those who appeared in behalf of the prophet.

11

And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they [are] writ12 ten in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease [was] exceeding [great,] yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians; trusted to their skill and power, more than to the goodness of God.||

13

And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth 14 year of his reign. And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, a vault which he had made for himself and family among the kings, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds [of spices] prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him of sweet perfumes, in honour to his remains; which was also customary among the Greeks and Romans.

1.

Before the Reflections read i Kings chap. xv. 25, to the end.

REFLECTIONS.

E infer, that trust in God is a reasonable and important

WE

rely upon him. Thus, because Asa relied not on God, especially after such extraordinary appearances of his power and goodness in his behalf, he brought wars and heavy judgments upon him. Cursed is the man that maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

2. A belief of God's pravidence, and experience of his goodness, should excite us to trust in him for the future. Thus he reminds Asa; Were not the Ethiopians a great host? yet the Lord delivered them into thy hand. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout

The inhabitants of Lybia in Africa.

It was said Asa was perfect all his days, see ch. xv. 17, that is, with regard to his zeal against idolatry; for there were many blemishes in his moral conduct.

Some think this was a punishment for using the prophet so ill; he bruised the prophet's feet, and God now made him à cripple.

VOL. III,