1 Kings 15:9-15

1 Kings 15:9-15

[9] And in the twentieth  year  of Jeroboam  king  of Israel  reigned  Asa  over Judah.  [10] And forty  and one  years  reigned  he in Jerusalem.  And his mother's  name  was Maachah,  the daughter  of Abishalom.  [11] And Asa  did  that which was right  in the eyes  of the LORD,  as did David  his father.  [12] And he took away  the sodomites  out of the land,  and removed  all the idols  that his fathers  had made.  [13] And also Maachah  his mother,  even her he removed  from being queen,  because she had made  an idol  in a grove;  and Asa  destroyed  her idol,  and burnt  it by the brook  Kidron.  [14] But the high places  were not removed:  nevertheless Asa's  heart  was perfect  all his days.  [15] And he brought  which his father  had dedicated,  into the house  of the LORD,  silver,  and gold,  and vessels. 

What does 1 Kings 15:9-15 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Asa came to power close to the end of Jeroboam"s reign over Israel in910 B.C. Asa reigned from911-870 B.C, 41years, an unusually long reign that probably began when he was quite young (cf. 1 Kings 15:2). It was his grandmother (NIV), not his mother (NASB), who bore the name Maacah (cf. 1 Kings 15:2). The queen mother (dowager), not the king"s wife, was the first lady in the kingdom. [1]
The rightness of Asa"s acts is clear from his removing the pagan worship practices of Rehoboam and Abijam ( 1 Kings 15:12-13; cf. Deuteronomy 9:21). He did away with some of the high places ( 2 Chronicles 14:3), but not all of them ( 1 Kings 15:14). However, his heart was true to Yahweh all his days ( 1 Kings 15:14), even though he became somewhat self-reliant later in his life ( 2 Chronicles 16:7-10).