1 Kings 15:14—Did Asa destroy the high places or leave them standing?

Problem: Second Chronicles 14:3 asserts that “he [Asa] removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places.” But here, 1 Kings says that, during the reign of king Asa, “the high places were not removed.”

Solution: There are several possible explanations. One is that these passages may refer to different times in Asa’s reign. In his early period, he may have been more active in putting idolatry down. Or, it may have been that Asa was unsuccessful in carrying through his reforms, so that the high places were not completely removed. Some have suggested that he may have only torn down the high places to other gods (as 2 Chronicles notes) but allowed the ones to the Lord to remain (which 1 Kings speaks about). Any one of these would take care of the difficulty.

This excerpt is from When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1992). © 2014 Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Click here to purchase this book.