In chapters fourteen through sixteen we are introduced to good King Asa of Judah. As we follow the life of Asa through these three chapters, God gives us priceless insight into His intersection with man.
2 Chronicles 14:2-5 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: 3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: 4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.
God first brings to our attention Asa's unbridled devotion to the biblical worship of God. Here we see a pattern for our lives in Asa's unwillingness to spare anything associated with the worship of God that violated God's methods of worship prescribed in the Scriptures. He stopped all of the idolatrous practices by removing the idols. He then prevents a return to these practices by commanding the the people to seek the Lord through obedience to God's written commandments. We can learn much from Asa's initial reign. We too must worship God biblically by removing the idols from our lives. Those things and people that hold greater influence and a higher priority than obedience to the biblical mandate of reconciling men to God through the Gospel are idols and must be destroyed. This will only be realized as we seek the Lord through a life lived in harmony with the Bible. The results for us will be the same as they were for Asa-- quiet and peace.
2 Chronicles 14:11-12 And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. 12 So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
Like Asa we will face battles in this life as we seek to live and minister in accordance to the biblical pattern we have been given. There will be internal resistance as the flesh, our Adamic nature, rebels against humility, selflessness, charity, service, etc. There will also be the external resistance as family, friends, and the whole world would seem to be confederate against our efforts to live as children of the kingdom of God (see Matthew 5-7). When this great host is encamped against us, we can cry unto God and find deliverance by His hand. Asa's defeat of the Ethiopian army was not the result of superior forces but superior faith in the superior God that we still serve today.
2 Chronicles 16:7-12 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. 10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. 11 And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
We can learn from Asa's mistakes as well as his successes. The Bible describes in this passage a tragic mistake Asa made that we all are subject to make. Baasha, king of Israel, has besieged the city and Asa sends to Ben-hadad, king of Syria, for help. The problem with this is that God was not pleased with his decision to look to man for help instead of God. Maybe Asa meant well by this action. Perhaps he thought this was a matter he could take care of with his resources so there was no need to bother God. Perhaps this is recorded to show us the danger of falling back on the 'old man' for help in a difficult time. Syria typifies the flesh and perhaps God is telling us He is not pleased when we resolve problems after we are saved with the means we would have used before we were saved.
Asa's death seems pretty normal for that time until we consider the words "he sought not to the LORD". Perhaps Asa thought he had blown it and God would not help him. He put his confidence in man and they failed him when he needed them the most. If Asa had only turned to God, verse twelve intimates that God would have helped. Let us never think our actions have put us beyond the grace of our God who delights to help us when we repent and turn to Him with a perfect heart.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
Daily Devotional - Matthew 18:21-19:15 Teachings and Parables
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