No More War
2 Chr 15:19 says, “And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa”.
Asa came to the throne after the three year reign of Abijah, 2 Chr 14:1. During Abijah’s brief reign, Jeroboam, the king of Israel, attacked Judah. Judah was outnumbered 2:1, 2 Chr 13:3. Yet, because Judah relied upon the Lord God, 2 Chr 13:18, Jeroboam was defeated and 500,000 men of Israel were slain, 2 Chr 13:17.
Thus, the land was quiet the first 10 years of Asa’s reign, 2 Chr 14:1. Nevertheless, because of the prospect of war, Asa sought the Lord, 2 Chr 14:4, built fenced cities, 2 Chr 14:6-7, and armed 580,000 soldiers, 2 Chr 14:8.
Afterwards, Judah was attacked by 1,000,000 Ethiopians with 300 chariots. Yet, Asa didn’t rely upon his defenses or his soldiers. Rather, he cried unto the Lord and relied upon God for help, 2 Chr 14:11-12. And Judah overthrew the Ethiopians.
Following such a great victory, the prophet Azariah said to Asa, “The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you”, 2 Chr 15:2. And then he continued his prophecy by describing the great vexations, wars, and adversities during which the Lord was found when Israel sought him, 2 Chr 15:3-6. He ended with these words, “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded”, v.7.
Therefore, Asa went about putting away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin… and renewed the altar of the Lord, 2 Chr 15:8. They even made a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul”, 2 Chr 15:12. This attracted the attention of many in Israel.
As a result, “the Lord gave them rest round about”, 2 Chr 15:15. And there was no more war unto the 35th year of the reign of Asa.
Yet, in the 36th year, Baasha, king of Israel, built Ramah, to stop the migration of his people from Israel to Judah, 2 Chr 16:1; 15:9. This was a provocative action against Asa. To counter this move, Asa, instead of relying upon the Lord, sent silver and gold to Benhadad, to break his league with Israel and attack them. It worked, and Baasha left off building of Ramah, 2 Chr 16:2-5.
However, following this “victory”, Hanani the seer reproved Asa for not relying upon the Lord to deal with Baasha’s provocation. And he prophesied, “Herein thou hast done foolishly; therefore, from henceforth thou shalt have wars”. And it was all down hill for Asa from here to the end of his reign.
In this text, the Lord directed my attention to these words, “no more war”. When there was war, or the prospect of war, or the aftermath of a war, Asa and Judah sought the Lord. But after a lengthy period of rest, 2 Chr 15:14, and no more war, Asa turned to a strong ally rather than the Lord for help.
We must learn from this. We are to fight the good fight of faith, 1 Tim 6:12. We are to be good soldiers, that warreth, 2 Tim 2:3-4.
In peace seek the Lord and prepare your defenses. As long as there was the prospect of war, Asa sought the Lord and prepared his defenses. Likewise, though we may not be in a war at the moment, we have an adversary and he will attack. Thus, train in the armor of God and seek the Lord. Don’t wait till a war starts to come running to the Lord. You’ll fall before you start to fight.
In war, rely upon the Lord. Asa knew that he needed the Lord’s help against the Ethiopians. Ahijah had defeated an army twice his size, through God’s help. And Asa followed Ahijah’s example and sought the Lord, though he had prepared his cities and his men.
Likewise, we’re no match for our enemy. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, Eph 6:10. It doesn’t matter how weak or strong you think you are. God is stronger than our enemy and we need him in every fight.
After a “victory”, continue to seek the Lord. After defeating the Ethiopians, Asa continued to seek the Lord and further cleaned up the idolatry in Judah. Likewise, when we successfully survive an attack, we need to stay even closer to the Lord afterwards. Often, though, when Christians have come through a war, we let our guard down and go back to our former ways, particularly if we prosper as a result of the “victory”, as Judah did. This sets us up to fail in the next fight with our adversary.
After a period of rest, never rely upon men in the next war. A common failure among the kings is that when they grew stronger, they relied upon their wealth and strength in subsequent battles. And they always failed like Asa did when he looked to Syria instead of the Lord for help. Likewise, Christians are guilty of relying upon their strength, worldly associations, and former victories rather than the Lord when they have become stronger in their lives.
Conclusion: if it seems you are constantly fighting some war with the adversary, don’t get frustrated by this. War is better for you than the long period of rest you so desire. War helps you to keep seeking the Lord and to stay close to him. A long rest, on the other hand, will weaken you and can lead you away from seeking God to seeking men and their help, instead.