Asa and his army were now returning in triumph
from the battle, laden with spoils and adorned with the trophies of
victory, the pious prince, we may now suppose, studying what he
should render to God for this great favour. He knew that the work
of reformation, which he had begun in his kingdom, was not
perfected; his enemies abroad were subdued, but there were more
dangerous enemies at home that were yet unconquered—idols in Judah
and Benjamin: his victory over the former emboldened him vigorously
to renew his attack upon the latter. Now here we have, I. The
message which God sent to him, by a prophet, to engage him to, and
encourage him in, the prosecution of his reformation,
1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: 2 And he went out to meet Asa, 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, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 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 inhabitants of the countries. 6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. 7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
It was a great happiness to Israel that
they had prophets among them; yet, while they were thus blessed,
they were strangely addicted to idolatry, whereas, when the spirit
of prophecy had ceased under the second temple, and the canon of
the Old Temple was completed (which was constantly read in their
synagogues), they were pure from idolatry; for the scriptures are
of all other the most sure word of prophecy, and most
effectual, and the church could not be so easily imposed upon by a
counterfeit Bible as by a counterfeit prophet. Here was a prophet
sent to Asa and his army, when they returned victorious from the
war with the Ethiopians, not to compliment them and congratulate
them on their success, but to quicken them to their duty; this is
the proper business of God's ministers, even with princes and the
greatest men. The Spirit of God came upon the prophet
(
I. He told them plainly upon what terms
they stood with God. Let them not think that, having obtained this
victory, all was their own for ever; no, he must let them know they
were upon their good behaviour. Let them do well, and it will be
well with them, otherwise not. 1. The Lord is with you while you
are with him. This is both a word of comfort, that those who
keep close to God shall always have his presence with them, and
also a word of caution: "He is with you, while you are with
him, but no longer; you have now a signal token of his
favourable presence with you, but the continuance of it depends
upon your perseverance in the way of your duty." 2. "If you seek
him, he will be found of you. Sincerely desire his favour, and
aim at it, and you shall obtain it. Pray, and you shall prevail. He
never said, nor ever will, Seek you me in vain." See
II. He set before them the dangerous
consequence of forsaking God and his ordinances, and that there was
no way of having grievances redressed, but by repenting, and
returning unto God. When Israel forsook their duty they were
over-run with a deluge of atheism, impiety, irreligion, and all
irregularity (
III. Upon this he grounded his exhortation
to prosecute the work of reformation with vigour (
8 And when Asa heard these words, and the 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, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord. 9 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 him. 10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 And they offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, 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; and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about. 16 And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, 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 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
We are here told what good effect the foregoing sermon had upon Asa.
I. He grew more bold for God than he had
been. His victory would inspire him with some new degrees of
resolution, but this message from God with much more. Now he took
courage. He saw how necessary a further reformation was, and what
assurance he had of God's presence with him in it; and this made
him daring, and helped him over the difficulties which had before
deterred him and driven him off from the undertaking. Now he
ventured to destroy all the abominable idols (and all idolatries
are abominable,
II. He extended his influence further than
before,
III. He and his people offered sacrifices
to God, as his share of the spoil they had got,
IV. They entered into covenant with
God, repenting that they had violated their engagements to him
and resolving to do better for the future. It is proper for
penitents, for converts, to renew their covenants. It should seem,
the motion came not from Asa, but from the people themselves. Let
every man be a volunteer that covenants with God. Thy people
shall be willing,
1. What was the matter of this covenant.
Nothing but what they were before obliged to; and, though no vow or
promise of theirs could lay any higher obligation upon them than
they were already under from the divine precept, yet it would help
to increase their sense of the obligation, to arm them against
temptations, and would be a testimony to the equity and goodness of
the precept. And, by joining all together in this covenant, they
strengthened the hands one of another. Two things they engaged
themselves to:—(1.) That they would diligently seek God
themselves, seek his precepts, seek his favour. What is religion
but seeking God, enquiring after him, applying to him, upon all
occasions? We shall not enjoy him till we come to heaven; while we
are here we must continue seeking. They would seek God as the
God of their fathers, in the way that their fathers sought
him and in dependence upon the promise made to their fathers; and
they would do it with all their heart and with all their
soul, for those only seek God acceptably and successfully that
are inward with him, intent upon him, and entire for him, in their
seeking him. We make nothing of our religion if we do not make
heart-work of it. God will have all the heart or none; and, when a
jewel of such inestimable value as the divine favour is to be
found, it is worth while to seek it with all our soul. (2.)
That they would, to the utmost of their power, oblige others to
seek him,
2. In what manner they made this covenant.
(1.) With great cheerfulness, and all possible expressions of joy:
The swore unto the Lord; not secretly, as if they were
either ashamed of what they did or afraid of binding themselves too
fast to him, but with a loud voice, to express their own zeal and
to animate one another; and they all rejoiced at the oath,
V. We are told what was the effect of this
their solemn covenanting with God. 1. God did well for them:
He was found of them, and gave them rest round about
(