Renewing your vows—to God (2 Chron 15.14-15)

They took an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns. All Judah rejoiced over the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.

We have seen several prayer vows in our study so far. This one is a bit different: it is a vow that renews one’s devotion to God, much like a married couple might renew their wedding vows.

Background

After King Abijah died, his son, Asa, ruled the southern kingdom (Judah). The Chronicler describes him as a good king who “did what was good and right in the sight of the LORD his God.” He carried out both religious and military reforms. After much had been done, God sent the prophet Azariah to tell Asa that God was with him. Judah had been unfaithful for a long time and was punished for it. But now that Asa was returning Judah to faithfulness, he would be rewarded by God.

God’s message seemed to give him renewed energy to do even more. He began a program to remove all the idols from the land of Judah. He repaired the altar in front of the Temple, and then gathered all the people together for a covenant renewal ceremony. After many sacrifices, the nation pledged themselves to God and offered a vow (oath) that they would devote themselves utterly to God.

Meaning

The prayer vow is best understood in the context of Judah’s history and what led to the covenant renewal ceremony. The writer of Chronicles tells us more about Asa than did the writer of Kings, just as he did for his father, Abijah. The writer of Kings used sixteen verses for Asa, while the Chronicler uses forty-seven. In comparing the two, we find confusion in the dates of some of Asa’s actions between the two writers, but those discrepancies do not affect the purpose or meaning of the stories.