# Abijah and his son Asa - The Book of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 23 Nov 2023, 12 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/811beff6-e436-4725-ba20-b4d70001382f/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 94. Embark on the tales of kings Abijah and Asa—Abijah repeating his father's mistakes, and Asa, initially pleasing the Lord but later facing challenges. These tales teach us about leadership, faith, and the outcomes of our choices. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth
[0:04] Speaker 1: to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
[0:09] Speaker 1: 2 Chronicles 16 9 Dear God, thank you for showing
[0:17] Speaker 1: yourself strong, no matter what we face. Help us to
[0:21] Speaker 1: be the kind of people that fully love and obey you,
[0:25] Speaker 1: even when things get hard. Help us to remember that
[0:29] Speaker 1: you alone hold all the answers and to come to
[0:34] Speaker 1: you first. Thank you for your love and protection. In Jesus'
[0:40] Speaker 1: name I pray. Amen.
[0:43] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:46] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports, delivering
[0:50] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world,
[0:54] Speaker 2: cultivate curiosity, and discover new interests. with hands-on crafts and
[0:58] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more, all with a
[1:02] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more
[1:07] Speaker 2: and save 20% with code BLESSED.
[1:18] Speaker 3: Abishah and his son Asa. In our last story, we
[1:23] Speaker 3: learned about the legacy and fate and succession of Rehoboam
[1:28] Speaker 3: and Jeroboam. In this story, we learn more about the
[1:32] Speaker 3: kings that ruled Israel and Judah, in particular, Abijah and Asa,
[1:38] Speaker 3: as inspired by 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
[1:45] Speaker 1: Hi there, it's Julia Sapler with the Kids Bible in
[1:48] Speaker 1: a Year podcast. Today we get to know a new
[1:52] Speaker 1: king named Asa. and find out what happens when he
[1:56] Speaker 1: takes some treasures from the temple that he shouldn't have touched.
[2:01] Speaker 1: I bet you can guess. Let's listen.
[2:07] Speaker 3: Abijah became king of Judah. A short time later, the
[2:11] Speaker 3: king of Israel, Jeroboam, attacked Judah. Abijah stood on a
[2:16] Speaker 3: hill and said, Listen, God made a promise with David.
[2:22] Speaker 1: God gave him.
[2:23] Speaker 3: And his descendants the throne forever. Do you think you
[2:27] Speaker 3: can stand against the kingdom of God that is led
[2:30] Speaker 3: by David's descendants? You have a big army and gold calves.
[2:35] Speaker 3: You send away priests of the Lord. You let anyone
[2:39] Speaker 3: become a priest, pagan nation. As for us, the Lord
[2:44] Speaker 3: is our God, and we will not abandon him. The
[2:48] Speaker 3: descendants of Aaron serve the Lord as priests, and Levites
[2:53] Speaker 3: help their work. They present offerings to the Lord every
[2:58] Speaker 3: morning and evening. We follow the instructions of the Lord,
[3:02] Speaker 3: but you have abandoned him. God is with us, and
[3:06] Speaker 3: you will not win this battle. As he was speaking,
[3:11] Speaker 3: Jeroboam sent half of his army around the backside and
[3:15] Speaker 3: suddenly found themselves surrounded. Judah cried out to the Lord,
[3:21] Speaker 3: and the priests blew their trumpets, and the men shouted.
[3:25] Speaker 3: Then God defeated Jeroboam at the sound of their battle cry.
[3:29] Speaker 3: The Israelite army fled from Judah, and God gave them
[3:34] Speaker 3: over to Judah in defeat. Abijah had a massive loss.
[3:41] Speaker 3: Five hundred thousand troops were killed. Judah defeated Israel because
[3:46] Speaker 3: of their trust in God. Jeroboam king of Israel, soon
[3:52] Speaker 3: died afterwards. After, Abishaz's son Asa became king of Judah
[3:57] Speaker 3: after he died, and he ruled Judah for 41 years.
[4:02] Speaker 3: Asa helped return the people to seek the Lord and
[4:06] Speaker 3: removed Solomon's idols. And so there was a period of
[4:10] Speaker 3: peace for 10 years. After a while, another army from
[4:15] Speaker 3: Ethiopia attacked. Asa knew they were outnumbered and prayed, Lord,
[4:21] Speaker 3: help us. So the Lord helped Asa defeat the Ethiopian army,
[4:26] Speaker 3: and the people were able to enjoy the spoils of war.
[4:30] Speaker 3: Asa took courage and removed all the idols from the
[4:33] Speaker 3: land of Judah and Benjamin. He repaired the altar of
[4:37] Speaker 3: the Lord that stood in front of the entry room
[4:39] Speaker 3: of the Lord's temple. Asa called everyone together. Many people
[4:44] Speaker 3: from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa's reign, when
[4:47] Speaker 3: they noticed that the Lord was with him. But not
[4:51] Speaker 3: long after, King Basha of Israel invaded Judah and prevented
[4:55] Speaker 3: anyone from entering or leaving King Asa's territory in the
[5:00] Speaker 3: 36th year of Asa's reign. Asa responded by taking some
[5:05] Speaker 3: of the treasures out of the Temple of the Lord
[5:08] Speaker 3: and the royal palace. He sent the treasures to King Ben-Hadad,
[5:13] Speaker 3: who was ruling in Damascus, with a message saying, Let
[5:16] Speaker 3: there be a treaty between you and me like there
[5:19] Speaker 3: was between our fathers. I am sending you silver and gold.
[5:24] Speaker 3: End your treaty with King Basha of Israel so he
[5:27] Speaker 3: will leave me alone. Ben-Hadad agreed to Asa's request. He
[5:33] Speaker 3: sent commanders to attack the town of Israel and conquered
[5:37] Speaker 3: the cities. When Basha heard about this, he abandoned his
[5:41] Speaker 3: project and stopped working on it. King Asa then said
[5:45] Speaker 3: to the many men of Judah to carry away the
[5:48] Speaker 3: stones and timber Basha was using. He then used these
[5:51] Speaker 3: materials to fortify his towns of Geba and Mizba. During
[5:56] Speaker 3: that time, Hanani came to Asa and said to him,
[6:00] Speaker 3: You put your trust in the king of Aram. Do
[6:03] Speaker 3: you not remember what happened to the Ethiopian with all
[6:06] Speaker 3: the chariots and big army? You relied on the Lord,
[6:11] Speaker 3: and he handed them to you. The Lord searched the
[6:14] Speaker 3: whole earth to strengthen the hearts that are fully committed
[6:17] Speaker 3: to him. You have been a fool. From now on,
[6:21] Speaker 3: you will be at war. Asa was angry with Hanani,
[6:26] Speaker 3: and for saying that, he threw him into prison and
[6:29] Speaker 3: put shackles on him. During that time, Asa was mean
[6:34] Speaker 3: to his people. When Asa became old, he developed a
[6:37] Speaker 3: foot disease and couldn't walk. Asa rested with his ancestors
[6:42] Speaker 3: and and was buried with his father, David. Asa's son, Jehoshaphat,
[6:47] Speaker 3: would then become king.
[6:54] Speaker 1: Wow, another king who started off strong and ended, well,
[6:59] Speaker 1: not so great. As we heard in the story, Abijah
[7:03] Speaker 1: became king of Judah and stood up to the mean Jeroboam.
[7:09] Speaker 1: He walked with God and trusted in him. So God
[7:12] Speaker 1: allowed Judah to defeat the Israelites and Jeroboam. Abijah knew
[7:18] Speaker 1: that God had promised this kingdom to David. And most importantly,
[7:23] Speaker 1: he knew that God never breaks a promise. When Abijah died,
[7:29] Speaker 1: his son Asaph became king. He showed his dedication to
[7:34] Speaker 1: God when he removed Solomon's idols from the city. And
[7:39] Speaker 1: guess what happened next? Nothing. For 10 years. It was
[7:45] Speaker 1: peaceful and it was a wonderful time for God's people.
[7:50] Speaker 1: Then another army attacked and Asa again removed all the idols.
[7:55] Speaker 1: He even repaired the altar of the Lord in the temple.
[7:59] Speaker 1: It was clear to see the Lord was with Asa.
[8:05] Speaker 1: But then things started getting worse. Israel attacked, but Asa
[8:09] Speaker 1: could not defeat them right away in his time. He
[8:13] Speaker 1: needed help. Let's stop there for a moment. Where do
[8:18] Speaker 1: you go when you need help? Do you go to
[8:21] Speaker 1: a parent, a teacher, a friend? Is that person usually
[8:26] Speaker 1: able to solve your problems?
[8:28] Speaker 3: Here's the thing.
[8:30] Speaker 1: God has given us family and friends to help us
[8:33] Speaker 1: when we need them. But He always wants us to
[8:37] Speaker 1: come to him first. Sure, it feels easier to go
[8:42] Speaker 1: to a person because we can touch them, see them,
[8:45] Speaker 1: hear them in front of us. But God, it's harder
[8:49] Speaker 1: to hear him and it's easy to forget he's there.
[8:53] Speaker 1: It's easy to forget that he is the only one
[8:57] Speaker 1: who knows the answer to every problem on earth. So
[9:02] Speaker 1: next time you have a problem, try this. Stop and pray.
[9:08] Speaker 1: Ask God in your heart to show you the right
[9:11] Speaker 1: thing to do. Ask Him to lead you to the
[9:14] Speaker 1: right people and help you to solve the problem with
[9:18] Speaker 1: His wisdom and strength. Then, see if you can tell
[9:23] Speaker 1: what He may be speaking to your heart. 1 Chronicles
[9:27] Speaker 1: 16.11 says this, Seek the Lord and His strength. Seek
[9:34] Speaker 1: his face forevermore. All right, back to Asa. Instead of
[9:41] Speaker 1: depending on God and trusting in him, Asa took some
[9:45] Speaker 1: treasures from the temple. He shared these items with another king,
[9:50] Speaker 1: asking for his help. It was then that a man
[9:54] Speaker 1: named Hanani reminded him of this truth. The Lord searches
[9:59] Speaker 1: the whole earth to strengthen the hearts that are fully
[10:04] Speaker 1: committed to him. Don't we want that to be us?
[10:09] Speaker 1: Hearts that are fully committed to him. Hearts that believe
[10:13] Speaker 1: in God, trust in his plan, never worry and obey
[10:17] Speaker 1: what he tells us to do. Not because we have to,
[10:23] Speaker 1: even though we should, but because we want to. We
[10:27] Speaker 1: want that closeness with God. So when Hanani told Asa
[10:31] Speaker 1: God was not pleased with him, that made Asa very angry.
[10:36] Speaker 1: He acted terribly to his people, developed a disease in
[10:41] Speaker 1: his foot, and later died. And Asa's son Jehoshaphat was
[10:46] Speaker 1: next in line. Is that good? or bad? Come back
[10:51] Speaker 1: next time to find out. And thanks for listening. Always remember,
[10:57] Speaker 1: the Bible is the best story ever told. It's God's
[11:01] Speaker 1: story to you, and it's all true. If this podcast
[11:06] Speaker 1: brought you joy and seems like a valuable tool for
[11:08] Speaker 1: kids and parents alike, please share it with someone you
[11:11] Speaker 1: care about. Thanks for listening to Pray.com's Kids Bible in
[11:16] Speaker 1: a Year. For more inspiring stories and wisdom to last
[11:20] Speaker 1: a lifetime, download the Pray.com app for free today. Thanks
[11:33] Speaker 1: for listening to Kids Bible in a Year. I want
[11:36] Speaker 1: to invite our adult listeners to check out my other show, Unapologetic,
[11:40] Speaker 1: God's Truth on Today's Topics. It's unfiltered, important, inspiring, and
[11:46] Speaker 1: we have awesome conversations and amazing guests such as Candice
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[11:57] Speaker 1: Maddie Pruitt, and so many others. We are helping you
[12:01] Speaker 1: have conversations that empower you to have bold faith in
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[12:10] Speaker 1: your faith as you check out Unapologetic. Remember that you
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