Take note of one of the descendents of King David who ruled in Judah, King Asa. In verse 2 we see that, “And Asa did [that which was] good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.” That is really nice. Then I noticed that he “commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.” and I thought well sure, he could do that since he is the king and all, but it isn’t like I can go around and command my neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family to seek God and obey His commandments. Nice thought though. Anyway, Asa tore down the idols and built up fortified cities and was free from wars for 10 years. Life was good and God gave him and Judah rest. Verse 7 says: “So they built and prospered.” Sounds great doesn’t it?
Minister Debbie Stackhouse is always telling us that growth comes through adversity so I am guessing that after the period of rest God wanted Asa to grow a bit more because adversity came in about a million Ethiopians in battle array. What did Asa do? He hasn’t had to fight a battle in a long time (for that period 10 years of no fighting was amazing) and his army was only 580 thousand with some spears and bows. Asa cried out to the Lord his God. I want you to note just a little point here. He cried out. It doesn’t say he prayed long hours, nor does it say that he fasted and donned sackcloth. It simply says “Asa cried out to the Lord his God” and this is what he said: "Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!"
Lesson: Sometimes we just need to cry out! Straight from the gut and out of our own helplessness we need to just cry out to God.
I am getting excited now and thinking that maybe this isn’t such a bad place to turn to this morning. Hey, at 4:00 in the morning you need something to keep you from dozing off and Holy Spirit inspired Word will do the trick if your heart is hungry. So I keep reading on into chapter 15. (Somewhere in the back of my mind I kept thinking of Asa as being one of the ‘bad’ kings and now I want to find out why I thought that. I hate being wrong even when it is only in my own little head!)
Chapter 15 starts out sounding like things couldn’t be better. Asa gets a word from God directly from the prophet Azariah encouraging him and giving him a promise. Take a look:
"Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; 4 but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!"
Talk about a promise. Sounds too good to be true but it wasn’t because God is good! We read that Asa went ahead full steam with the inspiration from the words of the Lord and he and all of Judah ‘entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams' horns. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.’ (2 Chron. 15:12-15)
I guess in this day and age the majority of people would say he had turned ‘fanatical’ or that he was ‘going overboard’ in his fervor to seek God. I know one thing for sure, we need a King Asa!! Someone who will take a stand for God so that God will take a stand for them!! Verse 17 says that Asa’s heart was loyal all his days. Lord let my heart be loyal to You and Your Word all of my days!!
“And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.” End of chapter 15.
What?!?!?!?
I had to keep reading now because it did not say ‘and Asa died’ or that ‘Asa turned his heart’ so why did Asa have war after 35 years??? My inquiring mind wanted to know… So chapter 16 begins with telling of the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign and how this king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah. It was like some type of blockade so that no one could go in or out of Judah. Now at this point I am wondering what the big deal is and then in the back of my mind I am remembering that point noted above regarding adversity. Ah hah! God is getting ready to grow Asa again!
Sure enough! Here is how it goes down: Asa sees the threat. Asa decides to call on a few favors and family ties. Asa figures out how to handle the situation and takes charge. War is avoided. -- Or is it? Asa soon gets another visit from yet another prophet with another word from the Lord. This word was neither so encouraging nor full of the promises he wanted to hear. Listen,
"Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars."
Wait a minute! Hold on a second there! Asa didn’t seek Baal or any idols! Asa merely used his God-given intelligence to strategize and plan for the kingdom. How is that a sin?! This just doesn’t sound fair at all! I mean, after all, aren’t we supposed to use wisdom and counsel? God seems to be going a bit overboard now. Why didn’t He send the prophet before Asa made the decision for the treaty with Syria? It didn’t mention that Asa’s heart had turned or that he had stopped seeking God.
Looking for my own answers kept me reading and sure enough Asa responded just like I would have. Asa got angry too and although it says he was angry at the messenger I wondered if he wasn’t also deep in his heart a little angry at God. He failed this growth opportunity.
God is generous with us and was with Asa also, because God gave him another growth opportunity, through yet another adversity, to see if he was ready for the next level. The trial came within the next three and a half years, Asa was badly diseased in his feet and his anger must have turned into a deep bitterness because despite the Lord’s earlier promises ( “The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you;”) he turned to physicians instead of God. He was severely sick for two years and still did not turn back to God and he finally died in the 41st year of his reign. What happened?
“The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you;”
I want to take you back to Chapter 15 verse 17. Remember where it says that "Asa’s heart was loyal all his days." All his days means that even though Asa failed his growth opportunities he didn't fail God completely. He remained loyal just not all that God desired him to be. I guess that means that Asa wasn't angry in his heart against God either because you cannot be angry at someone and remain loyal. So Asa simply failed to remember God's promises and failed to recognize the opportunites that God presented him with. God is always looking for opportunities to show Himself strong and He uses us and our adversities to do it.
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. (2 Chron. 16:9)"
No comments:
Post a Comment