========================================================================
  COMMENTARY ON 2 CHRONICLES 14-18
  by Chuck Smith
========================================================================

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In chapter 14 we find the death of Abijah listed and the son Asa coming
to the throne.

and Asa his son reigned in his stead. The land was quiet for ten years.
Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
he took away the altars of the strange gods, the high places, he broke
down the images, and cut down the groves: and he commanded Judah to seek
the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment
(2Ch 14:1-4).

Now you remember under the reign of Rehoboam they began to...he turned
away from God and the people turned away from God also. He began to
worship these other gods. Began to plant these groves as places to
worship God. Built the altars unto these false gods and so forth. And so
now Abijah allowed these things to exist and there was a co-mingling
during his reign. God was still worshipped in Jerusalem, but yet there
were people who were allowed to worship these other gods in these other
ways.

Now when Asa came to the throne, he established a spiritual reform. He
got rid of all of the idols and the images. He got rid of the altars
that had been erected to these other gods. He cut down the groves.
However, he did not destroy all of the high places where also they
gathered to worship.

He took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the
images: and the kingdom was quiet before him (2Ch 14:5).

But it was not a complete thing. He had allowed some of them to remain,
as we will read.

And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, there was no
war (2Ch 14:6)

And there came up against him, verse 7,

He had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah; plus eighty
thousand from Benjamin (2Ch 14:8).

Or five hundred and eighty thousand men all total.

There came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with a host of a
thousand thousand (2Ch 14:9),

Or a million men.

three hundred chariots; and they came to Mareshah. Then Asa went out
against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah
at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto the LORD his God (2Ch 14:9-11),

Now here you\

========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/chuck-smith/commentary-on-2-chronicles-14-18/
========================================================================