2 Chronicles 14 Study Notes

14:6-7 Encouraged by the time of peace, Asa set about redoing the fortifications throughout the land. He showed greater understanding than Rehoboam of the value of these fortifications. He told the people that they still owned the land because they had sought the Lord. Without the Lord’s protection, the walls would be useless.

14:8-10 Asa’s army was even larger than that of Abijah; the four hundred thousand warriors had grown to five hundred eighty thousand. Unfortunately, this huge number still put him at a disadvantage when Zerah the Cushite (an Ethiopian) came calling with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots. Instead of concealing himself behind his newly built fortifications, Asa and his smaller army marched out to confront Zerah in the vicinity of Mareshah, a town in western Judah.

14:11 Asa knew the odds were against him, but he had evidently learned from his father’s success against Jeroboam’s army. He cried out to the Lord for help. The king believed the outcome of the battle would not be determined by a mere mortal.

14:12 Once again, it was the Lord who won the battle, with Asa and his army serving as his instruments.

14:13-15 Zerah and his huge army had advanced this far because they had received support from the people of Gerar and the cattle-raising nomads in the vicinity. Thus, the army of Judah plundered all the cities around Gerar.