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King Asa was one of the kings of Judah. When he followed the Lord in obedience, when he commanded Judah to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, and to practise the law and the commandment (2 Chron. 14:4) , he succeeded. At a certain point he turned to the arm of flesh, in other words, looked for man to help him more than God.

2 Chronicles 16:7  (Darby) And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied on Jehovah thy God, therefore has the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand.

8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army, with very many chariots and horsemen? but when thou didst rely on Jehovah, he delivered them into thy hand.

9 For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

King Asa’s story starts here.

2 Chronicles 14:1 And Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

2 And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Jehovah his God;

3 and he took away the altars of the strange [gods] and the high places, and broke the columns, and cut down the Asherahs;

4 and commanded Judah to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, and to practise the law and the commandment.

5 And he removed out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images; and the kingdom was quiet before him.

6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because Jehovah had given him rest.

7 And he said to Judah, Let us build these cities, and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us; for we have sought Jehovah our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. And they built and prospered.

8 And Asa had an army that bore targets and spears: out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew the bow, two hundred and eighty thousand: all these, mighty men of valour.

9 And Zerah the Ethiopian came out against him with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.

10 And Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

11 And Asa cried unto Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, it maketh no difference to thee to help, whether there be much or no power: help us, O Jehovah our God, for we rely on thee, and in thy name have we come against this multitude. Jehovah, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

12 And Jehovah smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

13 And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to Gerar; and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that none of them was left alive; for they were crushed before Jehovah and before his army. And they carried away very much spoil.

14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the terror of Jehovah came upon them; and they spoiled all the cities, for there was very much spoil in them.

15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

15:1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.

2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you while ye are 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 while Israel [was] without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;

4 but in their trouble they turned to Jehovah the God of Israel, and sought him, and 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 disturbances were amongst all the inhabitants of the countries.

6 And nation was broken against nation, and city against city; for God disturbed them with all manner of distress.

7 But as for you, be firm and let not your hands be weak; for there is a reward for your deeds.

8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah.

9 And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon; for they fell away to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him.

10 And they assembled themselves at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

11 And they sacrificed to Jehovah in that day, of the spoil that they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

12 And they entered into a covenant to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul,

13 and that whoever would not seek Jehovah the God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14 And they swore to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they took the oath with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them. And Jehovah gave them rest round about.

16 And also Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burned it in the valley Kidron.

17 But the high places were not removed from Israel; only, Asa’s heart was perfect all his days.

18 And he brought into the house of God the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

19 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

16:1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

2 And Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of Jehovah and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying,

3 There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I send thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

4 And Ben-hadad hearkened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his forces against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon and Dan and Abelmaim, and all the store-magazines of the cities of Naphtali.

5 And it came to pass when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and let his work cease.

6 And king Asa took all Judah; and they carried away the stones and the timber from Ramah, with which Baasha had been building, and he built with them Geba and Mizpah.

7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied on Jehovah thy God, therefore has the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand.

8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army, with very many chariots and horsemen? but when thou didst rely on Jehovah, he delivered them into thy hand.

9 For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

10 And Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was enraged with him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

11 And behold the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

12 And Asa in the thirty-ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was extremely great; yet in his disease he did not seek Jehovah, but the physicians.

13 And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one-and-fortieth year of his reign.

14 And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had excavated for himself in the city of David, and laid him in a bed filled with spices, a mixture of divers kinds prepared by the perfumer’s art; and they made a very great burning for him.