The spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded…
May you come upon me, Spirit!
“But you must be strong and not be discouraged. The work that you do will be rewarded.”
May that be the case, Father. Help me to be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:5-9).
They made a covenant in which they agreed to worship the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. Anyone, young or old, male or female, who did not worship him was to be put to death.
State religion. The death knell of religion.
They took delight in worshiping the Lord, and he accepted them and gave them peace on every side.
How was it seen that God accepted them? Just religious words?
There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of his reign. In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah…
Asa was constantly at war with King Baasha in 1 Kings 15:16!
Benhadad agreed to Asa’s proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. …At that time the prophet Hanani went to King Asa and said, “…you relied on the king of Syria instead of relying on the Lord your God, …You have acted foolishly…In the thirty-ninth year that Asa was king, he was crippled by a severe foot disease; but even then he did not turn to the Lord for help, but to doctors.
The commentary is overly critical of Asa’s decisions where for me, he simply exercised good sense. This book is over the talk simplistic in its black and white reasoning.
The Lord keeps close watch over the whole world, to give strength to those whose hearts are loyal to him.
I so wish you would find me as such, Lord (1 Samuel 16:1).