He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
Asa's reform reached past the shrines of Judah into his own palace. There the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom had set up an idol, and removing her cost Asa both a family tie and a powerful ally.
Who Maacah Was
The word "mother" here does not carry its usual sense. The woman named in the verse came from an earlier generation.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIt was a remarkable work for someone so young. Asa was probably not yet twelve years old when he became king. Maachah, his grandmother, most likely had some oversight as "queen-mother." (In 1 Kings 15:13 she is called the mother of Asa, and the same is true in 2 Chronicles 15:16. In these passages "mother" means grandmother.)
Commentators differ on her exact descent. One writer leaves that question open, but is clear about what her title meant:
J. N. DarbyI am not sure whether Maachah was Absalom's daughter or his granddaughter. She may well have been his granddaughter... In the East the mother's place was, and still is, something like an official position — not the wife's.
What She Made
The ESV calls the object "an abominable image for Asherah." Older translations say an idol "in a grove" — but that word does not mean a stand of trees.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe word "grove" suggests a row of trees, but that cannot be the meaning, because groves were set up "under every green tree"... The groves were made of wood, as we know from the fact that they were cut down and burned... They are always linked with idols and images.
This was not just mistaken religion. God had told Israel to destroy this kind of worship completely.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThey were to destroy their altars, their images and their groves. The word groves is "asherah." It was an image used in grossly immoral practices... This worship flourished among all the ancient nations, but the Canaanites used it most of all.
Cleaning the Public Square and the Private House
Asa had already stripped idols out of the land. Here he finishes the job in his own household. Commentators treat that as the test of whether a reform is real.
Henri L. RossierAsa is not satisfied with driving evil out in public; he cleans up his own house as well. These two things must be done together; otherwise our Christian life will be only an empty show... See how strongly Asa sets aside natural family ties! He makes no allowance for them when the honour of his God is at stake. Nothing stops him. He removes any hope that Maacah could have influence over God's people, and in front of everyone he treats her as an enemy of the LORD. May we do the same!
The same writer applies this to us. When we go easy on sin in our own families, we end up going easy on it in God's family too, and so evil spreads and defiles many.
Not Even His Own Family
Removing the queen mother was not a safe move. It would anger her and go against popular feeling.
Leslie M. GrantAsa did not spare even his grandmother. She had made an obscene image of Asherah, so he removed her from being the queen mother and cut down and burned the image she had made. Her grandson's faith would surely anger her, but Asa did not fear popular opinion when it went against the truth of God.
Another writer sets Asa alongside others who put God ahead of family.
C. KnappIt is in a man's own family circle that his faithfulness is really put to the test. Levi was tested at Massah, where he said of his father and mother that he had not seen him, and did not acknowledge his brothers or know his own children. Gideon too began his work for God by breaking down the altar of Baal that his father had set up. And in the early church men could not serve as elders or deacons unless they managed their own homes well. And He who is called "Faithful and True" said, when the moment called for it, "Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?"
Why the Kidron
Asa did not store the image away out of sight. He burned it in a place with a reputation — the valley east of the city.
Morrish Bible DictionaryIn Old Testament times people treated it as a defiled place. Asa burned his mother's idol there. Josiah also burned the symbols of idolatry there, and it seems to have been the common burial ground.
Summary
- Home. Public reform and a clean house at home belong together. Without both, as one writer says, "our Christian life will be only an empty show."
- Throne. Maacah was most likely Asa's grandmother. In the East the queen mother held an official position, not just a family one.
- Fire. Asa cut the image down and burned it in a defiled valley: no storing it away, no compromise, nothing hidden.
- Idol. The "grove" was a wooden image of Asherah. It belonged to an immoral worship that God had told Israel to destroy, not a harmless family heirloom.
- Cost. Asa set aside both family ties and popular opinion. He treated the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom as an enemy of God. Faithfulness at home costs that much.