2 Chronicles 15:8

ASA'S CONTINUING PROGRAM OF RELIGIOUS REFORM

"And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Obed the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of Ephraim, and Mansasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him. So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they sacrificed to Jehovah in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into the covenant to seek Jehovah, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; and that whosoever would not seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. And they sware unto Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and Jehovah gave them rest round about."

"And the prophecy of Obed" (2 Chronicles 15:8). "Some versions have, `the prophecy of Azariah the son of Obed,' which may be the true reading."[5]

"In the third month of the fifteen year of Asa" (2 Chronicles 15:10). "This was June (Sivan), on the sixth day of which the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) was observed. The great sacrifices on this occasion included some of the booty they had taken in the war with Zerah";[6] and if the conjecture that Zerah came against Asa in his eleventh year is correct, this would indicate that the war lasted four years. However, a great deal of the chronology of all of these Hebrew kings is very uncertain.

"And they entered into the covenant" (2 Chronicles 15:12). The original covenant between God and his people is recorded in Exodus 24:3-8; it was renewed again at Shechem (Joshua 8:30-35); this was a third ratification; and still another took place in the times of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:20).

"Whosoever would not seek Jehovah ... should be put to death" (2 Chronicles 15:23). This was part of the original covenant (Deuteronomy 17:2-8); and thus we have another testimonial to the prior existence of the Pentateuch, long centuries before the times of Josiah. The account here is a true record of what occurred in the reign of Asa (913-873 B.C.).[7]