Asa

Asa was the third king of Judah (reigned 908-867 BC). He was the son and successor of Abijah. His mother was Maachah. Asa became King of Judah in the 20th year of the reign of Israel's King Jeroboam, and reigned 41 years.

Asa loyally adhered to God and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He instituted reforms to rid the land of heathen deities and practices. He banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his father had made. He also demoted his mother Maachah from her position as Queen Mother because of her paganism.

There was a 10-year period of peace at the beginning of Asa's reign, during which he fortified cities on his frontiers and raised an army of 580,000 men. He was attacked by an army of 1,000,000 troops from Ethiopia under the leadership of General Zerah. Asa cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord defeated the Ethiopians, and Asa and the army of Judah triumphed as the Ethiopians fled. Asa then cleared the land of Judah and Benjamin of all idols. Then the people entered into a contract to worship only the Lord God of their fathers.

King Baasha of Israel then declared war on Asa, and he paid King Ben-Hadad of Syria to help him defeat King Baasha. The Israelites were defeated, but God, through the prophet Hanani, let Asa know that he had made a mistake by going to Syria for help, instead of God. Asa died in the 41st year of his reign and was buried in Jerusalem with "bad feet." In this affliction, he turned away from the Lord, and was unable to be healed by the physicians he consulted with. His son, Jehoshaphat, became king.