In the days when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were divided, a man named Abijam ascended to the throne of Judah. He was the son of Rehoboam and the grandson of Solomon, the wise king who had built the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Abijam began his reign in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam of Israel, the man who had led the northern tribes into rebellion against the house of David. Abijam ruled from Jerusalem, the city chosen by the Lord as His dwelling place, and he reigned for three years.
Abijam’s heart, however, was not fully devoted to the Lord. Though he was of the line of David, he walked in the sins of his father, Rehoboam, and did not follow the Lord with all his heart as his forefather David had done. The high places remained throughout the land, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there, rather than worshiping solely at the temple in Jerusalem. The Asherah poles, symbols of idolatry, still stood tall, and the hearts of many in Judah were led astray by the allure of foreign gods.
Yet, despite Abijam’s unfaithfulness, the Lord did not abandon the house of David. For the sake of His covenant with David, the Lord allowed Abijam to reign and preserved a lamp in Jerusalem. The Lord had promised David that his descendants would always sit on the throne of Judah, and He remained faithful to His word, even when the kings of Judah were not faithful to Him.
During Abijam’s reign, there was constant war between him and Jeroboam of Israel. The two kingdoms, once united under David and Solomon, were now locked in a bitter struggle. The borders of Judah and Israel became soaked with blood as the armies clashed, and the people suffered under the weight of their leaders’ ambitions. Yet, even in the midst of this turmoil, the Lord watched over Judah, ensuring that the line of David would not be extinguished.
When Abijam died, he was buried in the City of David, the resting place of his ancestors. His son Asa succeeded him as king, and the people of Judah looked to this new ruler with hope, longing for a king who would lead them back to the Lord.
Asa began his reign in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s rule over Israel, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty-one years. Unlike his father, Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of his forefather David, removing the idols and high places that had led the people into sin. He even removed his own grandmother, Maacah, from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa cut down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley, a bold act that demonstrated his commitment to purging Judah of idolatry.
Asa also fortified the cities of Judah, building up their walls and towers, and he commanded the people to seek the Lord and obey His commands. The land enjoyed a period of peace during the early years of Asa’s reign, for the Lord blessed Judah under his righteous leadership.
However, the peace did not last forever. Baasha, the king of Israel, rose up against Judah and fortified Ramah, a city near Jerusalem, to cut off access to and from Asa’s kingdom. Faced with this threat, Asa made a fateful decision. Instead of relying on the Lord, he turned to Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, for help. He took silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and his own palace and sent them to Ben-Hadad, urging him to break his treaty with Baasha and attack Israel.
Ben-Hadad agreed, and his forces struck the cities of Israel, forcing Baasha to abandon his work on Ramah. Asa then mobilized his own men to dismantle Baasha’s fortifications and use the materials to strengthen Geba and Mizpah, two cities in Judah.
Though Asa’s strategy succeeded in the short term, it displeased the Lord. The prophet Hanani came to Asa and rebuked him, saying, “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
Asa was enraged by Hanani’s words and threw the prophet into prison. He also began to oppress some of his own people, showing that his heart was growing hardened. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa was afflicted with a severe disease in his feet. Yet even in his illness, he did not seek the Lord but relied only on his physicians.
Asa died in the forty-first year of his reign and was buried in a tomb he had cut out for himself in the City of David. His body was laid on a bed filled with spices and various blended perfumes, and the people made a huge fire in his honor. Though Asa had started his reign with great faithfulness, his later years were marked by compromise and a lack of trust in the Lord. His story serves as a reminder that even those who begin well must remain steadfast in their devotion to God, for the Lord seeks those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.
