He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest. – 2 Chronicles 14:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 14, 2013): 2 Chronicles 14

Beginning with the rise of Augustus in 27 B.C.E., the Roman Empire entered into a 200 year period of peace that is often called the Pax Romana or the Pax Augustus. The Pax, meaning treaty or agreement, but more commonly translated as peace, was a period in which the borders of the Roman Empire remained relatively stable. There were minor border skirmishes during this period, but the major expansion of the Empire was halted.

But while the expansion of the empire was halted during this period, the Roman military was far from silent. Their attention had simply shifted from an emphasis on the expansion of the empire to the maintaining of peace within the empire. This was a period when the safest place to be was well within the borders of the kingdom. The military spent their time dealing with of the citizens, pirates, and other threats that sought to intrude on the peace. For most outsiders, the Roman Empire was simply too daunting a force to attack. The peace was kept, but only because the force was present. It was the common method of keeping the peace in the ancient world, and it is often a logic that we fall back into in the modern world.

History has recorded Asa as a man of peace. There were no major wars to be fought during the first 35 years of his reign, and when the wars did come, Asa was not the perpetrator. But the Bible makes it clear that during the times of peace, Asa was not still. He removed the places where idols were worshiped inside of the kingdom, he fortified the walls of the cities, and he built up the sitting army of the kingdom. He was not seeking a fight, but he wanted to be able to keep the peace that his own character demanded and be strong enough to repel attacks from foreign governments. Peace was important, but peace was not a time of inactivity. Peace was a time of preparation for whatever the future might hold.

Life comes at us in cycles. There are times of stress and trouble that are simply part of life, but there are also pauses, “paxes” that give us a chance to breathe. But it would be a mistake to believe that these times are just periods of inactivity. Actually, they need to be times of intense activity. Times that we spend on the formation of our character so that when the trouble comes, we will be ready for it. We will have the moral strength to move through it according to our character rather than in a way that is shaped by the stress.

Asa’s character was formed during this time of peace. But when the stress would finally come and the peace was broken, Asa would also know the path that his character demanded that he take to come through the times of war - the character that Asa had developed during the time of peace, a time we might call the Pax Asa.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 15