The account of King Asa of Judah is a perplexing and
troubling one. He had been king for 41 years and sought to honor the Lord by
obeying His commandments, at least for the first 36 years:
- And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of Jehovah his God. (2 Chronicles 14:2)
He began a great revival that turned the hearts of
the people to their God. Consequently, God honored Asa with 35 years of peace
and growth. Afterwards, a great Ethiopian army came against Asa, who cried out
to the Lord, and the Lord miraculously gave him victory.
Asa had been fully committed to the Lord:
- But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. (2 Chronicles 15:17)
However, it seems that something was changing. A year
later, when King Baasha of The northern kingdom of Israel came against him, Asa
did not call upon the Lord to help him. Instead, he paid-off King Ben-hadad of
Syria to attack Israel.
The strategy worked, but the Lord was displeased with
Asa, and sent a prophet to correct him:
- 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 hast not relied on Jehovah thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand." (2 Chronicles 16:7)
Instead of confessing his sin, Asa threw the prophet
into prison and persecuted others.
A few years later, we find that the once godly King
still hadn't learned his lesson:
- And in the thirty and ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to Jehovah, but to the physicians. (2 Chronicles 16:12)
This account raises several questions. Is it wrong to
enter into treaties with unbelieving kings or to see doctors? Evidently not!
King David had often transacted deals with other kings. This wasn't unusual. Nor
did the Lord censure this. However, in both of these cases, Scripture mentions
the fact that Asa hadn't trusted in the Lord.
Why not? God had blessed Asa wonderfully for the
first 35 years of his reign. What had changed?
Scripture doesn't explain. However, in many instances
kings had been chastened because they had become proud. King Saul had started
his reign as a humble man, but power and success went to his head, and he became
disobedient.
Even the Apostle Paul had been given a thorn in his
flesh, "a messenger of Satan," lest he become proud (2 Corinthians
12:7).
The case of Asa brings up other questions as well. Is
it possible for us to finish as did Asa? Paul had warned about the consequences
for taking the Lord's supper in an unworthy manner:
“For this cause many among you are weak and sickly,
and not a few sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:30)
This fate does not just apply to the Lord's supper.
As we had seen in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, it applies also to other
sins.
Do the Old Testament examples apply to us who are
under Christ? Definitely:
- ...for they [Israel] drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ. Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted...Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:4-6, 11-12)
We learn a troubling lesson from Asa. By the grace of
God, when life goes too well, we can easily forget our gracious Benefactor and
all He has done for us. We can even ascribe His many blessings to our own wisdom
and character and ignore God.
Consequently, Israel had been warned:
- “But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as at this day. And it shall be, if thou shalt forget Jehovah thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.” (Deuteronomy 8:18-19)
God knew that Israel would forget His many blessings
and instead would take credit for them.
It is troubling to consider Asa's end. Shouldn't it
be different for us? We are born again, indwelt by the Spirit, and guaranteed
eternal life. Nevertheless, we must take these warnings and their consequences
for turning away from our God seriously. Our lives depend on it. Perhaps then,
we need to be a bit troubled.
But isn't the dread of God contrary to the Good News?
When God had struck down Ananias and Sapphira, everyone feared. Did this mean
that others would flee from such a fearsome God? Not really! Instead, many were
drawn to the Church:
- And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people...and believers were the more added to the Lord. (Acts 5:11-12, 14)
There is much we can learn from such
lessons.
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