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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Chronicles 15:10 - 15:19
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The True Worship Restored
v. 10. So they, all those mentioned as having been gained by Asa's reformatory measures, gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, for a great festival of confession and thanksgiving.
v. 11. And they offered unto the Lord the same time, in the course of that festival, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep, the thanksgiving festival most likely being combined with the great Feast of Pentecost.
v. 12. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul, to be united with Him in the bonds of the closest love and service and loyalty,
v. 13. that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, possessing influence and power or not, whether man or woman, as the Law of the Lord required, Deu_13:5 to Deu_9:15.
v. 14. And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting, in a solemn chant, and with trumpets and with cornets, instruments used for the Temple music.
v. 15. And all Judah, in a solemn enthusiasm amounting almost to ecstasy, rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, it was not a mere confession of the lips, and sought Him with their whole desire; and He was found of them. And the Lord gave them rest round about, he rewarded their piety by granting the blessing of peace.
v. 16. And also concerning Maachah, the mother, that is, the grandmother, of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, she no longer could hold the position as dowager, because she had made an idol in a grove, erected a statue to the heathen goddess Astarte. And Asa cut down her idol, the wooden post consecrated to the female goddess, and stamped it, or crushed it, probably by cutting it up into little pieces, and burned it at the brook Kidron.
v. 17. But the high places were not taken away out of Israel, that is, the buildings which had been erected as houses of worship on the hills; nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect all his days, devoted to the Lord in true loyalty.
v. 18. And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, set apart as votive gifts, and that he himself had dedicated, silver and gold and vessels, of the booty taken from the Ethiopians.
v. 19. And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa. The fact that peace in the land is a gift of God's goodness often is overlooked by men; nevertheless, it is He who alone controls the hearts of men for peace or war.