II Chronicles 14-16
On my second visit to Israel in 2023, our group traversed an area where the Old Testament kings reigned and built their cities and fortresses. It is mind-blowing that these ruins still exist and can be viewed by the public. Unlike in the United States, where these relics would be gated off or covered by plexiglass, the ruins and hills surrounding them are open and accessible to all visitors. Again, it is mind-blowing! I assume their thinking is that, if the ruins have been there for 3,000+ years, they are not going anywhere.
Recently, while reading about the kings in II Chronicles, I immediately thought of a spot where we viewed a display of chairs, all different sizes, on the hillside of a significant ruin from that period. Each chair had the name of a Judaean king. The height of the back of each chair represented the length of that king’s reign. Some chair backs were short, some tall, and others fell at heights between them. These chairs gave a perspective of the significance of each king and his time of influence on his generation.
When I came across King Asa in my reading, I remembered his chair specifically. It was the third and among the tallest because of his lengthy reign. As I read, I was reminded how much good he did in his first few decades as king of Judah. While God gave them 10 years of rest, Asa worked, using the time to fortify the country and make them stronger.
When the wars came, Asa called out to God for help (14:11). God delivered them, and in chapter 15, the prophet Azariah gave Asa some encouragement to continue turning to God. Afterward, Asa took drastic steps to make sure all of Judah was wholly dependent on God. He abolished idolatry; he built the altar of the Lord; and he demanded that everyone swore allegiance to the Lord. Asa even removed his idolatrous mother from being queen. He was serious about making sure God was honored throughout the kingdom. In return, God spared Judah from wars for another 20 years, keeping them safe and giving them peace.
In his 36th year as king, Asa did something out of character for him. Under threat of conflict with Israel, he took the treasures from the house of God and sent them to Syria. He essentially paid off the Syrian king to fight Israel, distracting them from causing conflict with Judah. Syria prevailed over Israel, and while the threats stopped and Judah seemed to have been saved, Asa had made a grave mistake.
Hanani, another prophet, reprimanded Asa for his foolishness. The issue was not that he had used the house of God’s treasures to pay off the Syrian king but that he had not relied on God to negate the threat of Israel. Asa took the safety of Judah into his own hands, made a pact with a godless king, and never once called on God to save them. His strategy, although seemingly effective, left God out: the God Who gave them 10 years of peace, delivered them from the enemies in the second decade, gave them great spoils from the wars won, and followed up with 20 more years of peace.
I do not know if Asa purposely left God out of this conflict. Perhaps, he grew too self-confident in the years of peace and strength. Maybe this was a panicky, emotional response from the sudden threat of conflict. No matter the reason, Hanani told Asa that …from henceforth thou shalt have wars. Asa’s country would be plagued with the one thing Asa had tried to avoid. At this point in the story, I expected Asa to fall on his face and repent. After all, his reign had been so wholly focused and dependent on God up until this incident.
Instead, Asa got mad at the chastisement. The Bible says …he was in a rage with… Hanani and threw him in prison. His anger was so great that the Bible says he even …oppressed some of the people the same time.
I believe the last 5 years—the sad end—of Asa’s reign are more remembered than the first 36. In the rest of Asa’s story, we never see him repent, show deference to God, or even pray. In fact, when disease touched his body, he never sought the Lord; rather, he depended on the doctors to heal him. At his lowest, after a lifetime of honoring God, he let his anger, pride, and selfishness drive a wedge between him and the Lord. He died with a broken legacy.
If he had remembered the advice from the prophet Azariah from all those years ago, Asa could have ended his life with repentance and a return to trusting God. Azariah said in II Chronicles 15:4, But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
All Asa had to do was call out to God and turn back to Him. God waited 5 years to hear from Asa. Instead, Asa ended his life with a painful disease, a bitter heart, and a broken relationship with the Lord.
The times of conflict will come, but do we turn to God to carry us through them? How do we respond when God chastises our unfaithfulness and reminds us where we are supposed to be?
Sure, we all fall short from time to time in our Christian walk. We get busy with life. Illness distracts us. Stress compounds. I know Christian ladies who were faithful, involved in the work, making a difference in others’ lives, and then life happened. Health knocked them out for a while. The death of a loved one, a broken heart, or a severed relationship derailed them for a time. Some eventually got back on their feet and back in the work. Others, sadly, did not.
Some quit opening the Word of God every day. They continued going to church but disconnected from the people who helped “sharpen” them. While their health allowed them to go on vacation, out shopping, and out to eat, it was never quite good enough to enable them to go soulwinning. They stopped helping in the nursery or attending Sunday school. Some even quit church altogether. Their idolatry became their stress, their poor health, their hurt, or life’s unfortunate circumstances. They allowed their “reason” to be bigger than a God Who promises to sustain them.
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him… – II Chronicles 16:9
Asa let one foolish mistake morph into something the former him never would have believed possible. He allowed his anger and his damaged heart to shut the door on his godly influence on an entire nation. I wonder if he would have been healed from disease if he had turned back to God. How many more years would God have given him as king of Judah?
Asa allowed his self-centered ending to overshadow his decades of faithfulness.
Friend, all of us get knocked down, but please do not stay there. Do not let discouragement, disillusionment, or pride define the end of your story. Come back to God. Jump back in and be faithful. Do not allow the troubles of this life to be bigger than your God. Just as Azariah reminded Asa, that mistake is an opportunity to turn back to God instead of away from Him. Your loving Saviour wants you to return. Set down the things that are besetting you. Simply turn around—He’s waiting for you.
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. – Jeremiah 33:3
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. – James 4:10
by Tracie S. Burns
