The Scriptural account of this man’s ill-starred military expedition is given in the fourteenth chapter of II Chronicles. When King Abijah died, his son Asa succeeded to the throne. The ascension of Asa was followed by ten years of such peace and prosperity as was almost unprecedented in those troublous times. The reason given is that Asa was a godly man and found favour in the sight of the Lord. He shattered the images erected to unclean idols, cut down the groves where Ashtoreth was worshipped, demolished the altars and the high places, and purged the land of its apostasy. He compelled the people of Judah to return to the true faith and to obey the Lord and His commandments. He strengthened the fortified centers and in a masterly fashion built up his reserves.
The ten years of prosperity and industry found the land of Judah in an enviable condition that left it well worth robbing! Since the opportunity to steal and loot was the only incentive required by the grim pragmatists of antiquity, Zera, or Osarkon, gathered together an army of a million foot soldiers, reinforced with three hundred chariots, and journeyed toward Palestine to loot the land. The vicinity of Mareshah was chosen as the site of the battle and Asa came out with his pitiful little company to defend his possessions. The drama of this record begins in the eleventh verse of the fourteenth chapter of II Chronicles in the great prayer of Asa:
Plate 30
Enroute to the “High Place”
Plate 31
The Altar of Sacrifice
“And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.”
The high-hearted courage and simple faith of Asa is sufficient introduction to the very natural result, which follows in simple words: