2 Chronicles 16 - Asa's War with Baasha of Israel |Bible Podcast, David Alley,Peace Christian Church
The Bible by David Alley · David Alley
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Show Notes
In this video listen to 2 Chronicles Chapter 16, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.
In 2 Chronicles 16 it says that Baasha attacks in the 36th year of Asa. But, according to 1 Kings 15 - Baasha rules from the 3rd to the 25th year of Asa, so he was dead 11 years by this point. The conclusion that seems most sensible and which historic church commentators like James Ussher and many others have concluded is that this is the 36th year after the divide of north and south, not the 36th year of Asa.
These number differences can cause people of weak faith to struggle, but what is not wrong is the strength of the Biblical accounts. These stories have been so remarkably preserved for thousands of years, and old documents freshly discovered always concur and match. There is such a rock we can lean on in scripture. Two chapters ago, Asa cried out to the Lord when a million strong army came and they were victorious.
But now the northern nation of Israel - the ten tribes - attacks one city of Ramah and they put their trust in the Syrians to sace them instead of the Lord. It works politically, but where is his trust in the Lord as before? When the Lord sends a messenger to confront Asa, He gets angry at the messenger. This happens regularly to us all the time too. We get angry at preachers because we don’t like what they say. Or people get angry at those who share the gospel because it seems like a personal attack.
What is the Lord supposed to do? How old was Asa when he died? We don’t know. Some of these details are not clearly explained in the Bible. Some are suggesting he began to reign about 18-22 and therefore died around about 56-60.