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II. THE DIVIDED KINGDOM 1 Kings 12--2 Kings 17 >
A. The First Period of Antagonism 12:1-16:28 >
5. Asa's good reign in Judah 15:9-24 >
Asa's godliness 15:9-15
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Asa came to power close to the end of Jeroboam's reign over Israel in 910 B.C. Asa reigned from 911-870 B.C., 41 years, an unusually long reign that probably began when he was quite young (cf. 15:2). It was his grandmother (NIV), not his mother (NASB), who bore the name Maacah (cf. 15:2). The queen mother (dowager), not the king's wife, was the first lady in the kingdom.158
The rightness of Asa's acts is clear from his removing the pagan worship practices of Rehoboam and Abijam (vv. 12-13; cf. Deut. 9:21). He did away with some of the high places (2 Chron. 14:3), but not all of them (v. 14). However his heart was true to Yahweh all his days (v. 14) even though he became somewhat self-reliant later in his life (2 Chron. 16:7-10).