II Chronicles 14:1 "So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: And Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years."

At the death of Abijah, Jeroboam was reigning over the house of Israel, and in his twentieth year Asa came to power. King Asa ruled over Judah for 41 years, and "his mother's name was Maachah". More accurately, Asa was the grandson to Maachah, for his father Abijah was the son of Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

II Chronicles 14:2 "And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God:"

First Kings 15:11 also tells us that Asa was truly a good man in the eyes of the Lord his God.

II Chronicles 14:3 "For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:"

One of the things that King Asa did, which these Kenites prefer not to mention, is stated in I Kings 15:12; "And he took away the Sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made." This is referring to only the male prostitutes, male to male in their sexual relations, and he removed them and their filthy actions out of the land of Judah. These sodomites were allowed not only by Abijam, but by Rehoboam, and were brought in by Solomon, when he allowed evil religious practices of his wives and their families to carry on in Jerusalem. They had been overlooked for many years, but not under the eyes of Asa. God's judgment on these sodomites was death, and Asa started in his own home in cleaning up the filth, the idolatry, the grove worship, and Baal worship. Asa did a complete house cleaning.

I Kings 15:13 "And also Maachah his mother; even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kedron."

This queen mother of Judah had idols given in sex orgies of grove worship placed right outside the east gate by the river Kedron, at the foot of the mount of Olives. She was looking to the east for her rituals, with the rest of the Baal worshippers standing by their little idols given to Satan worship. Asa did a good job removing much evil from Judah.

II Chronicles 14:4 "And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment, and to do the law and the commandment."

II Chronicles 14:5 "Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him."

Sure, Asa did remove many of the high places, but we read in I Kings 15:14; "But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days." Unlike his fathers, Asa tried to please the Lord God, and God counted it as perfect.

II Chronicles 14:6 "And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest."

Following the purging of his own land of wickedness, and seeking to please the Lord. Asa took the gold and silver from the purging, and dedicated them to the house of the Lord. Remember under his father, the king of Egypt came upon them and took all the gold and treasures from the stores of Judah, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

As Asa prepared his land for the defense of his nation, we read of one smart thing he did when he heard that Baasha king of Israel was preparing to go to war against Judah.

I Kings 15:18,19 "Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of the servants: and king Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying," [18] "There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me." [19]

Asa is saying, You and I are going to be buddies just as our father's were. What's wrong with this agreement between Asa and Benhadad? When Asa did every thing right in the eyes of the Lord to clean up the kingdom, God was pleased with him. Even to the point of giving victory to Asa over Israel. A great part of this booty given to Benhadad was from that victory over Israel, and Asa is giving away the blessings that God gave to Israel, and forfeited to Asa. Here Asa is handing those blessings over to Benhadad. God does not like for His people turning to a heathen nation for their protection, and away from His protective hand.

Relate this to you and I living today, for God also doesn't like for us to seek spiritual guidance from other mean, when those religious forms are not in tune with His Word. God wants to protect His children, and when His children run to the hand and protection of the enemy for protection problems will come, expect it to come. There in the end, Asa blew whatever favor his had with our heavenly Father.

II Chronicles 14:7 "Therefore he said unto Judah, "Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought Him, and He hath given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered."

II Chronicles 14:8 "And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour."

II Chronicles 14:9 "And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah."

II Chronicles 14:10 "Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah."

Do you think that Asa's walled cities and all his arms are going to protect him when he has turned from the Lord. Not against this enemy's numbers.

II Chronicles 14:11 "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."

II Chronicles 14:12 "So the Lord smote the Ethiopieans before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled."

II Chronicles 14:13 "And Asa and the People that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before His host; and they carried away very much spoil."

II Chronicles 14:14 "And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the Lord came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them."

II Chronicles 14:15 "They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem."

The point to think on here is that the more God gives to some, the more careless they become with what is given to them through the blessing of God. God gave Asa victory over an army that afar outnumbered his army, and God gave Asa the spoils of the battle. Yet Asa took that blessing and gave it all away. Asa not only tried to buy his way out of the same trouble that he was in before, but then he turns to an enemy of God. He hired mercenaries to obtain the victory, that he did not have the faith that God could deliver for him. In the end there is no doubt what was in God's mind toward Asa. Asa even ran to Seers for advice, just as king Saul did when he went to the wicked witch of Ender to seek conversation with the dead Samuel.