2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
The Lord has led me to write about Judah’s King Asa, who ruled from 911-870 BC, which is described in 1 K 15: 9-11 as “the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel.” He ruled for 41years in Jerusalem. It is interesting to note that his grandmother was Maacah (not to be confused with the town of the same name which was in the eastern sector of the territory of Manasseh just east of the Jordan River). Maacah was the daughter of Absalom, Solomon’s third son, the one who caused him so much grief by leading a rebellion against his father in which Absalom was killed [2 SAM 19: 1-4]. We learn about the attitude Asa had about God in 1 K 15: 11-14. “Asa did what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made. He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah [wife of Baal]. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley. Even through Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life.”
During the 41 years of Asa’s reign in Judah, there was considerable transition in the northern kingdom of Israel. It helps to remember that Israel had a succession of nineteen evil kings in its history as the northern half of a divided kingdom. Judah had fewer kings and some of them, namely Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amazah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah, were righteous. The others were evil. One might ask why looking at all this history is important. I don’t want to lose sight of the main reason for this series of devotions. It is to look at these personalities and examine how their trust and obedience of God (or lack thereof) impacts not only their own lives, but the course of Israel’s history and provides lessons for our lives as well.
Here is some of the transition during Asa’s 41 year reign that is reported in the Scriptures. 1 K 15: 33-34, “ In the third year of the reign of King Asa [908 BC] of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah (SW of Thebez in the portion of Manasseh west of the Jordan River just NE of Shechem) for 24 years [until 874 BC]. Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned agaisnt the Lord and led Israel into sin.” 1 K 16: 8, “In the 26th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and ruled in Tirzah for two years.” One of his officers, Zimri, assassinated Elah and ruled Israel for 7 days after killing off every male relative of Baasha’s family. 1K 16: 12-13, “And the Lord had said against Baasha through the prophet Jehu, Zimri killed all the family of Baasha. Because of all their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.” 1K 16: 23-24, “So in the 31st year in the reign of King Asa of Judah [880 BC], Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled for twelve years. The first six years he ruled in Tirzah, and then he bought the hill of Samaria for 6000 pieces of silver from a nam named Shemer. Omri fortified the hill, built a town there, and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the former owner of the hill.” 1 K 16: 29-30, “In the 38th year of King Asa’s reign, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for 22 years [873-851BC]. He sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors.”
Dear Ones, the cause and effect relationships between disobeying God and suffering horrendous consequences cannot be missed in this series of Israel’s kings who reigned during King Asa of Judah’s long 41 year reign. That is why it is worth including them here. The lesson for us is very overt. It will take me more than one message to write about Asa, so I will cover as much as I can in this one and then continue in tomorrow’s devotion. The evil rule in Israel led to war over its territory, assassination, and (you can imagine) hardship for the people. Things were considerably better for a longer time in Judah, the southern king during Asa’s rule. The story of Asa picks up in 2 CH 14: 1 in which we find that the first 10 years of Asa’s rule was a time of peace. During this time, we learn from (6-8) that he built fortifications for Judah’s cities and that he had an army of 300,000 men from the territory of Judah and 280, 000 men from the territory of Benjamin. All of them were brave and well-trained.
Human sin often takes the form of jealousy and greed. It’s the old story of the have-nots wanting that which belongs to the haves. Such was the case with a Sudanese named Zerah who invaded Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots and advanced as far as Mareshah [NW of Hebron well into Judah’s territory] (9). (Sudan is in north Africa just south of Egypt). Asa went out to fight him. Before doing so, he sought God’s help. 2 CH 14: 11-12 reveals this cause and effect relationship between trusting God and overcoming against extraordinary odds when you are outnumbered. “As prayed to the Lord his God, ‘O Lord, You can help a weak army as easily as a powerful one. Help us no, O Lord our God, because we are relying on You, and in Your name we have come out to fight against this huge army. Lord, You are our God; no one can hope to defeat You.’ The Lord defeated the Sudanese army when Asa and the Judean army attacked them. They fled.” It is interesting to note that such examples have occurred many times in Israel’s history, including in modern times with the assault by Arabs on General Allenby’s troops in 1921 and the Six Days War in 1967. After the Judean victory at God’s hand over the Sudanese, the army took large amounts of loot (13). While the battle began in Mareshah in Judah, it ended in Gerar, a city in Philistine territory. The victorious Judean troops also attacked the camps of some shepherds, capturing large numbers of sheep and camels. Then, they returned to Jerusalem (15). Remember, LK 18: 27, “Jesus answered, ‘What is impossible for man is possible for God.”
PRAYER: O Lord, You have commanded us to read the Scriptures because of the lessons in them for us. One of those lessons is for us to see the cause and effect relationship that exists between trust and obedience and salvation. When we disobey You and refuse to trust You, we suffer negative consequences just as the kings of the divided northern kingdom of Israel did. When we remain faithful and put our trust in You, we are blessed and protected. Sometimes that blessing and protection comes in ways or degrees never possible without Your supernatural intervention. Stability is something we all seek in our lives. You show us in the history of Judah and Israel how evil disobedience leads to instability and peril. We also see the beneficial effects of righteousness on the people when their king was a good a man as Asa was. You have never stopped loving or protecting Your people. That is why the Jews have had so many victories in battle where they were vastly outnumbered. We humbly offer You our thanks, worship, adoration, praise, honor, and glory for the love You continually shower on those who are faithful. In return, we offer You our continuing trust and reverent obedience. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will go on with our examination of the life of King Asa of Judah to mine the wonderful citations in 2 CH 15-17 on it for the treasure chest of lessons within them. The same God who saw fit to give the Judeans victory over Sudanese when the Jews were so badly outnumbered is the God Who loves each one of us every day of our lives. When we obey His commands, we show Him how much we love and honor Him. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn