Hello friends, hearty welcome to our weekly Scripture for the Week meditation hub!  This week, we will be focusing on the blessing God promised to Asa king of Judah commanding him to … be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded (2 Chronicles 15:7). This promise of blessing is given to Asa through prophet Azariah son of Oded in order to encourage him and for doing what is good and right in the sight of God. We will look at Asa’s life from a personal, spiritual, and career perspective and see what lessons we can learn from his life. The above-mentioned Scripture passage God promised king Asa that He will reward him because he was seeking God’s favor in his life and work by doing what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God as the king of God’s people Judah (2 Chronicles 14:2). The reward is not only to king Asa but also to everyone who does what is good and right in the sight of the Lord. Let us examine just a few examples for our reference from the Scripture regarding God’s promise of reward for doing what is good and right in the sight of God:

• • Levites were promised a reward for doing what was right in the sight of the Lord (Exodus 32:28-29)
  • Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was rewarded for doing what was right in the sight of God (Numbers 25:10-13; Psalm 106:28-31)
  • Ruth, the Moabitess, was rewarded by the God of Israel (Ruth 2:12)
  • Jesus promised reward to everyone who does what is good and right in the sight of God (Matthew 10:41-42; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21; 22:12)

Apostle Paul very specifically noted regarding God’s reward for everyone who does what is good and right in the sight of God:

6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:6-11; also refer 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Asa’s Life as the King of Judah

Asa was the son of Abijah (2 Chronicles 12:16; 13:1), the son of Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:22), the son of Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:31), the son of David (2 Chronicles 1:1), the son of Jesse of Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:1b, 11-13), the son of Obed (Ruth 4:22) the son of Boaz of Bethlehem (Ruth 2:4; 4:21). Asa became king of Judah after the death of his father king Abijah (2 Chronicles 12:16; 13:1). Asa feared his God, the God of Israel, and did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God (2 Chronicles 14:2). He had a large number of army: an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty-thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men (2 Chronicles 14:8). Despite the large number of his army, he wholeheartedly placed his trust in the God of Israel and sought after God’s help when Zerah the Cushite marched out against Asa and all Judah and Benjamin with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah (2 Chronicles 14:9). As Zerah the Cushite and his army setup their battle positions at Mareshah against Judah, Asa and his army took up their battle positions against them in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah (2 Chronicles 14:10). Then, king Asa prayed to the God of Israel that: Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you (2 Chronicles 14:11). However, before his prayer to the God of Israel for help to overcome the enemies, he strengthened his relationship with his God, the God of Israel, and made himself and the people right with God by removing every detestable thing from Judah that was standing against their devotion to their God, the God of Israel. For our information, a few of those religious clean ups king Asa did in Judah is mentioned below based on 2 Chronicles 14:2-7. King Asa …

• • … did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God (v.2)
  • … removed the foreign altars (v.3a)
  • … removed the high places (v.3b, 5a)
  • … smashed the sacred stones (v.3c)
  • … cut down the Asherah poles (v.3d)
  • … commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors (v.4a)
  • … commanded Judah to obey God’s laws and commands (v.4b)
  • … removed the incense altars in every town in Judah (v.5b)
  • … built up the fortified cities of Judah (v.6a)
  • … put up walls around Judah with towers, gates and bars (v.7)

As we have seen above, when Asa did the right things before God of Israel and submitted to the will of God and prayed to him for help, God gave him such a victory over Zerah the Cushite and his army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots:

12 The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 13 and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces … (2 Chronicles 14:12-15).

Asa’s Life as a Religious and Political Reformer in Judah

After God blessed king Asa and gave him such a great victory over Zerah the Cushite and his army (2 Chronicles 14:12-13), God sent prophet Azariah son of Oded to warn them against any kind of unfaithfulness against their God, the God of Israel (2 Chronicles 15:1-7). The word of the Lord came to Asa and all Judah and Benjamin through prophet Azariah that The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you (2 Chronicles 15:2). One of the most important things in here is that the message is spoken very specifically to king Asa and all Judah and Benjamin (v.2a). As the followers of Jesus Christ, what would we learn from it:

• • The Lord is with us when we are with him (v.2b): As the disciple of Jesus Christ, it is important for us to be in the presence of God at all times – not just on some special occasions, or when some need arises, or when there is some convenient time to spare and spend before Him.
  • Seek God and He will be found by us (v.2c): As a follower of Jesus Christ, we need to seek God earnestly in all circumstances and certainly we will find Him.
  • If we forsake God, God also will forsake us (v.2d): There is no doubt that the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love (Psalm 103:8) but whoever forsakes God, He will also forsake them. Apostle Peter stated that: For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (1 Peter 3:12).

The reason why Azariah prophesied to king Asa and all Judah and Benjamin to seek the Lord is that for a long time the nation of Israel was without the true worship of God because they have forsaken the God of their fathers due to their unfaithfulness towards Him (2 Chronicles 15:3):

• • For a long time Israel was without the true God (v.3a)
  • For a long time Israel was without a priest to teach them (v.3b)
  • For a long time Israel was without God’s laws and decrees (v.3c)

Yet, when they returned to Him and sought out for Him He was found by them as it is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 15:4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.

The consequences of forsaking the true God is very dreadful because without the help of God it was not safe to live in the land:

5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress (2 Chronicles 15:5-6).

These kinds of troubles were happening in the land because God was troubling them with every kind of distress and causing them to suffer in the land because they have forsaken Him as their God, the God of their fathers – the one and only true God.

When king Asa heard the word of the Lord through prophet Azariah, he did not sit quietly doing nothing but he carried out a nation-wide inside-out reformation in the religious and political system of Judah as stated in 2 Chronicles 15:8-19 that brought a great revival in Judah during his reign.

• • King Asa removed the detestable idols … 
    • From the whole land of Judah (v.8a)
    • From the whole land of Benjamin (v.8b)
    • From the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim (v.8c)
  • King Asa repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple (v.8d)
  • King Asa assembled all Judah and Benjamin (v.9a)
  • King Asa assembled all the people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled in Judah (v.9b)
  • In addition, a large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him (v.9c)
  • All the people assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign (v10).
  • They sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back (v.11).
  • They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul (v.12).
  • All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman (v.13)
  • They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns (v.14)
  • All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly (v.15a)
  • All the gathered people sought God eagerly, and he was found by them (v.15b)

The Scripture states that King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley (2 Chronicles 15:16). Also, he brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated (2 Chronicles 15:18).

King Asa served his God, the God of Israel, his entire life and his heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life (v.17). As a result, the Lord gave them rest on every side (v.15c), and there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of his reign (v.19).

The Foolish things Asa did during the last years of his Reign/Life

The God of Israel, who lifted Asa into the throne of David as the king of Judah, had been faithful to Asa but during the last years of Asa’s reign/life, Asa drifted away form God’s commands and did what he thought would benefit him. God sent Hanani the seer to remind king Asa that the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles 16:9a). Since king Asa did not behave faithfully before the God of Israel as he did earlier, God’s judgement fell upon him:

• • He will have continuous war against his enemies (2 Chronicles 16:9b)
  • He was afflicted with a disease in his feet (2 Chronicles 16:12)

Despite God’s warning against king Asa, he did not follow God’s commands wholeheartedly. When Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah in the thirty-sixth year of king Asa’s reign, instead of praying to the God of Israel (similar to when Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army [2 Chronicles 14:9-11]), he made an alliance with Ben-Hadad king of Aram and sent him all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace (2 Chronicles 16:1-6). Also, he became angry with Hanani the seer and put him in prison when the seer came to warn Asa against the political alliance he made with Ben-Hadad king of Aram (2 Chronicles 16:9-10). In addition to that, when Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet, he did not seek help from the Lord for his healing, but only from the physicians (2 Chronicles 16:12). Below mentioned are some of king Asa’s failures for our information:

• • King Asa made treaty with Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, when Baasha king of Israel attacked Judah (2 Chronicles 16:2-6)
  • King Asa got angry with Hanani the seer and put him in prison who was sent by God to warn him against all ungodly actions (2 Chronicles 16:7-10a)
  • King Asa brutally oppressed some of the people in Judah (2 Chronicles 16:10b)
  • King Asa did not seek help from the Lord but only from the physicians when he was afflicted with a disease in his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign (2 Chronicles 16:12)

In the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors (2 Chronicles 16:13-14), and his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king in Judah (2 Chronicles 1:1a). Jehoshaphat walked before the God of Israel faithfully:

3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals 4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. 5 The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. 6 His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah (2 Chronicles 17:3-6)

In conclusion, keep in mind that God is faithful and He neither changes nor changes His promises to His people (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 90:2; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). His servants Moses and Samuel repeatedly stressed on saying Honor God and He will honor you (Deuteronomy 6:13-19; 1 Samuel 2:30b). When king Asa honored the God of Israel, God also honored him and blessed him as He promised:

• • The land was at peace under him (2 Chronicles 14:1b, 5c, 6b)
  • No one was at war with him during those years (2 Chronicles 14:6c)
  • The Lord gave him rest form every side (2 Chronicles 14:6d, 7b)
  • Judah did not go for war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign (1 Chronicles 15:19)
  • Asa reigned forty-one years (1 Chronicles 16:13)

Although king Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, the God of Israel, and carried out a phenomenal nation-wide inside-out reformation in the political and religious system of Judah (2 Chronicles 14:2-6; 15:1-19), he failed in several areas of his spiritual life, political responsibilities, and his relationship with the God of Israel during the last few years of his reign/life. Let us learn from all the good things he did and put it in practice all that is applicable to our life-situations. Also, let us learn from the foolish things he did and take warning not to repeat the things that displeases the Lord our God. Let us be careful not to practice any ungodly and unproductive things in our life that ruins the good works we did throughout our entire life and causes the judgements of God to fall upon our lives. Ask God in prayer to bless us with the wisdom that comes from heaven to do the right thing before God, as stated in James 3:17-18 that the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Listen to what Apostle Paul said: Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is (Ephesians 5:15-17). May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!