He removed the foreign altarsThis phrase indicates a significant religious reform undertaken by Asa, the king of Judah. Foreign altars refer to those dedicated to deities other than Yahweh, often introduced through political alliances or cultural assimilation. The removal of these altars signifies a return to monotheistic worship, aligning with the first commandment in
Exodus 20:3. This action reflects a commitment to covenant faithfulness, as foreign worship practices were seen as a direct violation of the covenant between God and Israel.
and high places
High places were elevated sites used for worship, often associated with Canaanite religious practices. These locations were sometimes used for the worship of Yahweh but had become syncretized with pagan rituals. The removal of high places was a recurring theme in the reforms of Judah's kings, as seen in the actions of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4) and Josiah (2 Kings 23:8). This act underscores the importance of centralized worship in Jerusalem, as prescribed inDeuteronomy 12:5-14.
shattered the sacred pillars
Sacred pillars, or standing stones, were often erected as memorials or objects of worship. In Canaanite religion, they were associated with Baal worship. The shattering of these pillars by Asa was a direct attack on idolatry, emphasizing the exclusive worship of Yahweh. This act can be seen as a fulfillment of the command inDeuteronomy 7:5 to break down pagan altars and pillars, highlighting the ongoing struggle against idolatry in Israel's history.
and chopped down the Asherah poles
Asherah poles were wooden symbols representing the goddess Asherah, often placed near altars dedicated to Baal. The chopping down of these poles was a decisive move to eliminate the influence of Canaanite fertility cults. This action aligns with the command inExodus 34:13 to cut down Asherah poles, reflecting a broader effort to purify the land from idolatrous practices. The removal of Asherah poles also prefigures the ultimate cleansing from sin and idolatry through Jesus Christ, who fulfills the law and the prophets by establishing a new covenant based on faith and grace.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
AsaAsa was the king of Judah who reigned for 41 years. He is noted for his religious reforms and efforts to return Judah to the worship of Yahweh.
2.
JudahThe southern kingdom of Israel, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, over which Asa ruled.
3.
Foreign Altars and High PlacesThese were sites of idol worship, often located on elevated ground, where the people of Judah had been worshiping foreign gods.
4.
Sacred PillarsThese were stone structures associated with pagan worship, often representing deities.
5.
Asherah PolesWooden symbols representing the goddess Asherah, commonly used in Canaanite religious practices.
Teaching Points
Commitment to Purity in WorshipAsa's actions demonstrate a commitment to purifying worship practices by removing idolatry. Believers today are called to examine and remove any idols or distractions that hinder true worship of God.
Courage in LeadershipAsa's reforms required courage and determination. Christian leaders are encouraged to stand firm in their convictions, even when it involves making difficult decisions.
Obedience to God's CommandsAsa's actions were in direct obedience to God's commands given to Israel. Christians are reminded of the importance of aligning their lives with biblical teachings.
Influence of LeadershipAsa's reforms had a significant impact on the spiritual direction of Judah. This highlights the influence leaders have on their communities and the importance of leading by example.
Renewal and RevivalAsa's actions led to a period of peace and prosperity in Judah. This serves as a reminder of the blessings that can follow when a community returns to faithful worship and obedience to God.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of 2 Chronicles 14:3?
2.How can we "remove the high places" in our own spiritual lives today?
3.What does 2 Chronicles 14:3 teach about eliminating idolatry from our hearts?
4.How does Asa's action in 2 Chronicles 14:3 connect to the First Commandment?
5.In what ways can we "shatter the sacred pillars" in modern society?
6.How can Asa's reforms inspire personal and communal spiritual renewal today?
7.What does 2 Chronicles 14:3 reveal about King Asa's commitment to God?
8.How does removing high places in 2 Chronicles 14:3 reflect on idol worship?
9.What historical evidence supports the events described in 2 Chronicles 14:3?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from 2 Chronicles 14?
11.In 1 Kings 15:14, why are the high places said to remain, yet 2 Chronicles 14:3 claims Asa removed them?
12.Is there archaeological evidence supporting Asa’s fortification projects described in 2 Chronicles 14:6–7?
13.2 Chronicles 3:15-17 - Is there any credible external confirmation that the pillars Jachin and Boaz actually existed as they are described?
14.Why does 2 Kings 14:3 say Amaziah followed God while 2 Chronicles 25:14 depicts him turning to idols?What Does 2 Chronicles 14:3 Mean
He removed the foreign altarsKing Asa’s very first act was to deal with anything that competed with Yahweh’s worship. “He removed the foreign altars” (2 Chronicles 14:3).
• The altars were “foreign” because they belonged to the gods of the surrounding nations, directly defying the first commandment (Exodus 20:3).
• God had already ordered, “Tear down their altars” (Deuteronomy 12:3). Asa obeyed this long-standing command without delay.
• By dismantling these structures, the king made a public statement: Judah would not blend true worship with pagan practices, echoing later reformers like Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4).
and high placesHigh places were elevated sites where people mixed worship of the LORD with idolatry. Even well-meaning Israelites had sacrificed there since the days of Samuel, but God had chosen Jerusalem alone (Deuteronomy 12:5–6;2 Chronicles 6:6).
• Asa “removed the high places” (2 Chronicles 14:3) even though some kings after him hesitated (1 Kings 15:14).
• Eliminating them reaffirmed that worship must happen God’s way, not merely with good intentions (Amos 7:9).
• For believers today, the lesson is clear: sincerity is not a substitute for obedience; God defines acceptable worship (John 4:23–24).
shattered the sacred pillarsSacred pillars were stone monuments set up to honor fertility gods. They symbolized strength apart from the Lord. Asa “shattered” them—an aggressive, irreversible act.
• God had said, “Smash their sacred stones” (Exodus 34:13). Asa carried that out to the letter.
• Breaking the pillars declared that Judah’s stability came from Yahweh alone, not from the false deities those stones represented (Hosea 3:4).
• The physical shattering mirrors the spiritual break every believer makes with past idols (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
and chopped down the Asherah polesAsherah poles were wooden symbols of the Canaanite mother-goddess. Scripture repeatedly links them to moral and spiritual corruption (Judges 6:25–26;1 Kings 15:13).
• Asa “chopped down the Asherah poles,” matching the wording ofDeuteronomy 12:3 and foreshadowing Josiah’s later reforms (2 Kings 23:6).
• Cutting them down uprooted an entire worldview that normalized immorality and syncretism (2 Chronicles 15:16 shows how seriously Asa took this).
• For us, it pictures decisive action against any influence that rivals Christ’s lordship (Colossians 3:5).
summary2 Chronicles 14:3 shows King Asa launching a wholehearted return to covenant faithfulness. He:
1. Removed foreign altars—ending open idolatry.
2. Cleared high places—rejecting compromised worship.
3. Shattered sacred pillars—denouncing false security.
4. Chopped down Asherah poles—eradicating immoral influence.
The verse calls every generation to the same resolve: tear out anything that steals honor from the one true God and worship Him with undivided hearts.
Verse 3. -
The altars of the strange (gods); Hebrew,
the altars of the stranger, meaning, of course, "the altars of the gods of the stranger." This expression, "strange gods," is found in the Authorized Version about thirteen times for the Hebrew
גֵכָר, or
הַגֵּכָר, and would be most correctly rendered, "The gods [or, 'god'] of the stranger,"
i.e. of the
foreigner, as it is rendered in the solitary instance of
Deuteronomy 31:16.
The highplaces. Comp. ver. 5 and
2 Chronicles 15:17, which says, "But the high places were not taken away out of Israel;" and
1 Kings 15:14, which says, "But the high places were not removed," without limiting this non-removal to "of Israel." On the question of this apparent inconsistency and surface-contradiction, see our Introduction, §7, pp. 16:1 and 17:2. Further, it may here be well distinctly to note how little is even the apparent discrepancy or contradiction alleged in this subject, throwing in the analogous passages in Jehoshaphat's history (
2 Chronicles 17:6;
2 Chronicles 20:33), in case these may reflect any light on the question. Firstly, we will remove out of our way the parallel in
1 Kings 15:14, with the observation that it is evident from its immediate context that it corresponds with the last statement of our Chronicles (
2 Chronicles 15:17), savouring of a
retrospective summarizing of the compiler, not with the first statements (
2 Chronicles 14:3, 5), which set forth Asa's prospective purpose of heart, his resolution, and, no doubt, his edicts. Secondly, we may notice that there is a plain-enough distinction made by the writer in vers. 3 and 5 respectively - the one saying that Asa "took away the high places," without any further limitation; the other saying within two verses, "Also out of all the cities of Judah" (note by the way here the suggestive stress laid upon "the
cities," possibly as more easily coped with than country districts) "he took away the high places." The only legitimate inference (taking into account both the words used, and the fact that the last written are found
close upon the former, with the significant conjunction "also") must be that some different information was intended in the two places. Ver. 3 finds Asa as much master of "Judah" as ver. 5. Therefore the natural interpretation of ver. 3 must be that Asa at once abolished "the high places" nearest home, nearest Jerusalem, most within his own personal reach; then "
also" that he did and ordered the same to be done in "all the cities of Judah," and it was done at the time, if only for the time. Thirdly, include the statement of
2 Chronicles 15:17, if we do not insist (as we might insist very fairly when pressed on a point of alleged inconsistency or contradiction) on the fact that now the high places "of Israel" arc distinctly designated, and that therein those
outlying parts of Asa's more or less acknowledged sway
outside of Judah and his thoroughest control are designedly described, let us instead take the help of an exactly analogous (and analogously alleged) discrepancy (
2 Chronicles 17:7 compared with
2 Chronicles 20:33), and we find there that the very key with which to unlock the difficulty is provided to our hand. Jehoshaphat (
2 Chronicles 17:6) "took away the high places;" "the people" (
2 Chronicles 20:33) did not faithfully and with a constant heart follow suit, but had failed to prepare,
i.e. to turn "their hearts unto the God of their fathers." How well the juxtaposition of these very words would tell, nay, do tell, with the emphatic words of
1 Kings 15:14! "Nevertheless
Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord
all his days;" and with our
2 Chronicles 15:17, "Nevertheless the heart of
Asa was perfect
all his days." In both these passages the antithesis is patent between Asa's heart and the
people's hearts, between Asa's "
all his days" and the people's uncertainty and apostasy. The fidelity of Bible history and its non-cunningly, non-fabulously devised tenor are gratefully corroborated by the inquisition made into such a supposed "discrepancy," inconsistency," "contradiction." Notice once more the confirming indication, so far as it goes, of the one verb that commands the next verse, as there noted upon.
Brake down the images; Hebrew,
מַצֵּבות. It occurs in the Authorized Version thirty-two times, and is rendered "pillar" or "pillars" twelve times; "image" or "images" nineteen times; and "garrisons" once. It appears simply to have slipped from the signification of
pillar into the rendering of the word "image," by aid of the intermediate word "statue." It is used of the pillar or statue of Baal in
2 Kings 3:2;
2 Kings 10:26, 27, with his name expressed; and in
2 Chronicles 18:4;
2 Chronicles 23:14, without that name expressed. Cut down the groves; Hebrew,
וַיְגַדַּע אֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרִים. The verb here used implies the "cutting," "cutting down," "pruning" of trees. It is undoubtedly applied also to other cutting and cutting down, as of the "breaking" of a red (
Zechariah 11:10), of an arm (
1 Samuel 2:31), of horns (
Jeremiah 48:25), of bars or bolts (
Isaiah 45:2). It occurs in all twenty-three times. It is here employed to describe the destroying of what according to the Authorized Version arc called "groves" (Septuagint,
ἄλσος; Vulgate,
lucus)
- a word which with little doubt misleads for the rendering of our
אֲשֵׁרִים. Before this same word we have also another Hebrew verb for "cutting," of very frequent occurrence in its simple and metaphorically derived uses included, viz.
כָּרַת. The first uses of this verb with the above word are found in
Judges 6:25, 26, 30. That word means literally "fortune," but in its ultimate derivation "straightness," and hence supposed to designate, in Phoenician and Aramaean idolatry, Astarte or the planet Venus, who is constantly associated in such idolatry with Baal (
Judges 3:7). But see for the first occurrence of the word,
Exodus 34:13, where there is no express mention of Baal, but where the idolatries of the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Hivite, Perizzite, and Jebusite are being spoken cf. When we take into consideration the probable ultimate derivation of the word, the fact of the verbs that speak of "cutting" being uniformly applied to what it represents, the "burning" to which this was condemned (
Judges 6:26) when cut down, and a series of statements that represent it as "set up
under every green tree" (
1 Kings 14:23;
2 Kings 17:10; see also
1 Kings 15:13;
2 Kings 21:7;
2 Kings 23:6;
2 Chronicles 15:16), it not only becomes perfectly certain that "grove" and "groves" cannot rightly render the word, but directs us with the light of those passages that speak of it coupled with Baal as an object of worship, and that speak of prophet and priest called by its name (
Judges 3:7 (compared with Judges 2:13; 10:6;
1 Samuel 7:4);
1 Kings 18:19;
2 Kings 21:3;
2 Kings 23:4), to the strong conviction that it should be at once written with a capital letter, and rendered as a proper name; that it may possibly be a synonym with Ashtoreth, 1.
q. Astarte, or a representation in wooden pillar, stock or trunk fashion, of some supposed aspect of her passion or dominion, very likely in the voluptuous or sensual direction (see the nevertheless very doubtful Septuagint and Vulgate,
2 Chronicles 15:16; and Vulgate,
Judges 3:7). Conder, in 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 187, 2nd edit., speaks of "Baal-peor (
Numbers 25:3) as identified by St. Jerome with the classical Priapus;" and adds "the
Asherah (rendered 'grove' in our version) was also apparently a similar emblem" (
2 Kings 23:7). The analogy of the sacred tree of the Assyrians sculptured on the monuments of Nineveh ('Nineveh and Persepolis,' p. 299, Fergusson), which was probably a straight trunk or stock garlanded at certain times with ribbons and flowers, has been opportunely pointed to (see also Professor Dr. Murphy's 'Handbook: Chronicles,' p. 115).
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
He removedוַיָּ֛סַר(way·yā·sar)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5493:To turn asidethe foreignהַנֵּכָ֖ר(han·nê·ḵār)Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5236:That which is foreign, foreignnessaltarsמִזְבְּח֥וֹת(miz·bə·ḥō·wṯ)Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 4196:An altarand high places,וְהַבָּמ֑וֹת(wə·hab·bā·mō·wṯ)Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 1116:An elevationshatteredוַיְשַׁבֵּר֙(way·šab·bêr)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7665:To break, break in piecestheir sacred pillars,הַמַּצֵּב֔וֹת(ham·maṣ·ṣê·ḇō·wṯ)Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4676:Something stationed, a column, an idoland chopped downוַיְגַדַּ֖ע(way·ḡad·da‘)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1438:To fell a, tree, to destroy anythingthe Asherah poles.הָאֲשֵׁרִֽים׃(hā·’ă·šê·rîm)Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 842:A Phoenician goddess, also an image of the same
Links
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OT History: 2 Chronicles 14:3 For he took away the foreign altars (2 Chron. 2Ch iiCh ii ch 2 chr 2chr) 
