“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.” — 2 Chronicles 14:11
In October of 1973, while the people of Israel fasted for Yom Kippur, a coalition of Arab nations led by Egypt and Syria made a surprise invasion into their country. The armed conflict—later known as the Yom Kippur War—began on October 6 and ended with Israel’s victory on October 25. Israel’s rapid triumph was unquestionably miraculous, since the nation was caught off guard and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) was massively outnumbered.
Twenty-one-year-old Lieutenant Zvika Greengold played an important role in the victory. Greengold was home on leave on October 6 when he heard the familiar sound of Israeli fighter jets roaring through the sky. Knowing that no military exercises would ever take place on a high holy day, he rushed to his radio to find out what was going on. What he heard confirmed his fears: the nation had been invaded and Syrian armored troops were engaged in an all-out assault on the Golan Heights.
Greengold immediately hitched a ride to a nearby command center, only to find that all the tanks had been deployed. However, he located two damaged tanks sitting unmanned at a repair depot. After hastily assembling a crew from back-up staff left on the base, he radioed the brigade commander that he had a “tank force” ready to go. He was cleared for battle and received the code name Koah Zvika (Zvika’s Force).
IDF troops in the area heard the radio report that “Zvika’s Force” was joining the action. They were encouraged, thinking that reinforcements were coming to their rescue. They had no idea that Greengold had only two damaged tanks, nor did the brigade commander. Greengold did not dare report that fact over the radio for fear the information would be intercepted.
Greengold and the men with him immediately engaged the Syrian tanks that were advancing unopposed on a nearby road. They destroyed six of the Syrian tanks, but Greengold’s vehicle was damaged, so he switched to the other tank and sent the damaged one back for repairs. Taking advantage of the darkness, and moving constantly from one spot to another to find good firing positions, he managed to fool the Syrians into thinking the opposition was a significant threat.
Joined at times by a few other tanks, Greengold displayed an astounding knack for repeatedly showing up at precisely the right moment to shift the momentum in favor of the Israelis. In one such encounter, enemy fire hit the tank he was in. The tank driver was killed and Greengold’s uniform was aflame. Though he was severely burned and wounded by shrapnel as well, he jumped out of the burning tank and hopped into the only other operational tank with him at that point. Then the one-man Zvika Force continued driving to various strategic positions in the area, firing on the approaching Syrian tanks with deadly precision.
Over the next hours, in what came to be known as “The Battle of the Valley of Tears,” the Zvika Force and a handful of other tanks held off the advance of hundreds of Syrian armored vehicles. After three days of battle, the combined forces defending the Golan Heights had just seven tanks left out of the original one hundred. There were no reserves behind them, only an open road to the center of the country. Miraculously, on the fourth day of the battle, the Syrians began to retreat—just as the Israeli defenses were about to collapse.1
In our text today, a similarly “impossible” military victory took place. The army of King Asa of Judah was about half the size of the force from Ethiopia that confronted them when they “set the battle in array” in the valley of Zephathah. We do not know if Lieutenant Greengold prayed when he faced his enemy, but Asa did! Our focus verse relates that the king “cried unto the Lord his God.” He knew that God’s might was not limited by man’s weakness, so he proclaimed his trust in God and said, “In thy name we go against this multitude, O Lord” (verse 11).
In response to Asa’s prayer, God gave a mighty victory to Judah, and the enemy forces fled before them. Verse 13 relates that “the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host.” Not only were the armies of Judah victorious, but they obtained “much spoil” from their vanquished enemies.
There is a lesson for us in Asa’s actions. When we face battles that seem impossible to win, we need to remember Who is on our side. When we turn to God for help, acknowledging our helplessness but trusting in His mighty power, He will come to our aid. There is no need for us to feel overwhelmed or afraid, because there is no foe that He cannot conquer. When our trust is in God, victory is sure!
1. Team Mighty, “How One Israeli Tanker Held Off the Entire Syrian Army in 1973,” We Are the Mighty (September 8, 2022), https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/how-one-israeli-tanker-held-off-the-entire-syrian-army-in-1973/. Note: Original report was by Renen Schorr for Bamahane Magazine in 1974 (an IDF magazine written in Hebrew).
Asa followed his father Abijah in reigning over Judah, and chapter 14 begins a three-chapter summary of his rule that spanned forty-one years, from 911 to 870 B.C. Verses 1-8 provide a description of Asa’s character and the reforms he instituted in Judah, and verses 9-15 record his victory over the invasion of Zerah the Ethiopian.
The statement in verse 2 that Asa “did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God” is remarkable, given that he was raised in an ungodly environment. The Kingdom of Judah benefitted from Asa’s obedience to God, and the first ten years of his reign were peaceful and prosperous. Throughout 1 and 2 Chronicles, this pattern is repeated: when the king followed God, the people did as well, resulting in national peace. When the king turned from God, the people also rebelled, and suffered the consequences.
Like Hezekiah and Josiah, Asa is frequently classified by Bible scholars as a “reformation king.” Verses 3-5 describe the specifics of his reform. The “high places” mentioned in verse 3 were places of worship on elevated platforms or high altitude ground. These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object of worship, such as an idol, stone pillar, or carved wooden pole. Activities that occurred in the high places included animal sacrifices (1 Kings 3:2), prostitution (Jeremiah 3:2), the burning of incense (1 Kings 3:3), and human sacrifices (2 Kings 23:20). The “groves” (in Hebrew, asherah) were typically a wooden image or pillar representing Ashtoreth, a Canaanite goddess.
Verses 6-8 indicate that Asa used the ten years of peace in Judah to strengthen the military preparedness of the nation by building cities for defense and raising a standing army.
Judah’s victory over Zerah of Ethiopia is recorded in verses 9-15. Zerah’s army of a million men and three hundred chariots was almost twice as large as Asa’s army, so it obviously posed a tremendous threat to the Kingdom of Judah. However, Asa called upon the Lord for help, acknowledging that the numerical advantage of their enemy made no difference to God. God responded by fighting for Judah, and the armies of Zerah fled before Asa’s soldiers. Ultimately, the Ethiopians were overthrown and the people of Judah “carried away very much spoil” (verse 13).
III. The history of the kings of Judah
C. The reign of Asa
1. The character of Asa’s reign (14:1-8)
2. The defeat of Zerah the Ethiopian (14:9-15)
The secret to victory in spiritual battles is to call upon our mighty God. No matter how impossible the situation may seem, He will never fail us!
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