Asa
Have we gotten “mad” at God….and stopped hearkening to His Word to us….and “slid” away from His Will?
Asa did….which was sad, for Asa was a good king for a long while.
Asa came to the kingdom after his father died:
2 Chron. 14:2-4 “And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God:
For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.”
Notice it says: “the Lord his God:” Not just the Lord God….but his God! How blessed, in a king!
God gave Asa ten years at the beginning of his reign to see to the things at home….and he did.
Then, after that:
2 Chron. 14:9 “And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots;…
When God’s work is being done,….there are always enemies. Yet, it is what we do about the enemies, that counts with God.
2 Chron. 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 then that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy anime we go against this multitude. O Lord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee.
So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.”
Coming back from this battle….Asa is met by a prophet, who tells him: 2 Chron. 15:2, 7 “....Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you. Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.”
(What a blessing that God speaks to our hearts in trouble and in triumph! How easily for us to be discouraged…and puffed up with victory!)
Here, Asa hearkens and he “…put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin,…and renewed the altar of the Lord.
And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their sou;
And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with their whole desire; and He was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about.” (2 Chron. 15:8, 12, 15)
For twenty years there is rest in Judah! Hallelujah!
But then, the king of Israel, the ten tribes, come down and seeks a war with Judah.
And here, we must pause and look to our own hearts, and lives:
Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
How many times we do not want our circumstances to change….or how many times we wish for things to be different than they are? Our walk is often straight through the valleys, and storms, and over the mountains….yet the Lord is with us!
In prosperity and in battle, God has helped Asa…..kept him and the nation of Judah….given a time of blessedness and rest…
…but when another battle looms on the horizon….Asa forsakes God, and looks to the help of man! 2 Chron. 16:2-5 “Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the kings’s house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria,...saying There is a league between me and thee,....I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break they league with…Israel, that he may depart from me. And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel….and Baasha (king of Israel)...left off…and let his work cease.”
Now this looks like it worked! But God is displeased….and sends someone to rebuke and correct Asa.
Would he hear as he had before,….and repent?
2 Chronicles 16:7 “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.”
(the Lord was plainly telling Asa that He would have given victory over both the king of Israel, and the king of Syria!)
2 Chron. 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and from 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.”
If peace was what Asa wanted when he turned to Syria, he was greatly deceived. God is not mocked, whatsoever we sow, we reap.
But if Asa had repented, at least God would have been with him in these battles….and his last years as king would have been blessed ones.
Instead:
2 Chron. 16:10 “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.”
(Terrible actions toward God, and HIs servants!
The only other thing that is recorded of Asa’s life was that he got a disease in his feet….which grew exceedingly worse. But he still refused to call upon the Lord! How his childish anger ruled his emotions and heart! How sad.)
The seer called Asa’s actions “foolish”….but he could have heard the rebuke and gotten God’s wisdom (James 1:5-8)….and returned to righteous and blessed living before his God.
Let me ask again….Have we gotten “mad” at God…and stopped hearkening to His Word…and slide away from His Will?
Are we being corrected….and instead of repenting and getting His blessed Presence again…are we looking to others…or to entertainment,….or to anything else but Him?
Let us learn a lesson from Asa….and seek the Lord…..and He will be found of us.
As the prophet told Asa at the first:
“Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands we weak: for your work will be rewarded.”
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 