Let’s pray.
Lord, we do stand amazed in Your presence today, because out of Your amazing love, You have called us into this place of fellowship, into a place of communion with You. Lord, we’re thankful there is nothing between, but we have access, Lord. We have an opportunity to come, to remember You, to worship You.
And we’re thankful, Lord, also that because of this place of fellowship and communion we have with You, we can hear Your wonderful voice. Lord, You have given us Your Word. You have given us the Holy Spirit. You’ve given us that anointing, that enabling power.
Lord, by faith we come and offer ourselves unto You today, that You would be able to speak into our hearts. We realize the days we’re living in are very treacherous days. Lord, there is a desperateness within our hearts for You.
And we’re thankful, Lord, that You have words of encouragement for us in this time. By faith we lay hold of those, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we come to this time today, I’ve had a question on my heart: How can we be encouraged in these days? The days we’re living in are days of declension, departure, or weakness. How can we, from the Lord, find the ability to press on when everything is departing? How can we be strong when there are days of weakness?
There are many ways we can phrase this. How can we stay in first love, where there is this thought of the love of many waxing cold? How can we stay in this place of being hot in our love for the Lord when there is such lukewarmness within the spirit of Christendom today? How can we stay faithful in the midst of so much unfaithfulness? How can we stay clear during a day of confusion?
I think, as we look around, we know these aren’t normal days. There is much standing against the testimony of Jesus in this hour. How do we, as people God has called unto Himself in His faithfulness—called into this place of fellowship and to really know Him in a rich way—find encouragement?
Recently, I’ve been considering some of the history of the people of Israel. As Paul writes to those in Corinth, he says Israel is an example for us to learn from. If you look back at 1 Corinthians 10:11, it says much of Israel’s history is recorded and written for our instruction, for those of us living in these end days. There is instruction we can receive from the nation of Israel.
So I’d like for us, this week and, Lord willing, next week, to consider some things from the history of the nation of Israel.
As we roughly look back at Israel, we’re thankful to know that Israel reached its zenith during David and Solomon. After the temple was finished, the glory of the Lord came down. The Lord’s heart was satisfied. He had desired to bring His people out of the bondage of Egypt and into the promised land He had for them. He wanted them to enter fully into all that He had.
When they finished that temple, every aspect of it spoke of His very self—of Who He was and what He had done. The Lord’s heart was satisfied, and the glory of the Lord came down.
But sadly, because of the sins of Solomon, right after Solomon’s death the nation of Israel was divided. Division came in during the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. They divided into the northern kingdom, called Israel, consisting of the ten tribes, and the southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin. It was a tragic consequence of Solomon’s sins. It is sad that within twenty years this had occurred.
We see such declension continuing on and on. As we look at the northern kingdom of Israel, they never really had any genuine reviving or recovery. If you look at their history, there were no good kings recorded there. There was never that spark of life—of returning and coming back to the Lord.
In fact, they built two altars to keep people from returning to Jerusalem. Certain individuals in the northern kingdom still had a heart for the Lord, and they would go to Jerusalem because they knew that was where the house of the Lord was. So Israel came up with this great invention: “We’ll put these two altars up and tell the people they can worship there. They don’t have to go to the trouble of going all the way back to Jerusalem, all the way back to where God’s heart and purpose are. We have a substitute for you. This is much more convenient.”
They could go and see these calves, and the calves could represent God for them. Actually, these calves were not representing some foreign idol. They were still trying to draw people to God in their own way. It was simply a substitute—man’s substitute.
But tragically, because the northern kingdom never responded to God’s call—though there were prophets there—within a couple of hundred years they were taken captive by Assyria.
Judah, we’re thankful, was a little more positive. Following the reign of Solomon, there were about twenty years of declension under Rehoboam and Abijah. But then, thank the Lord, He raised up Asa. There was a period of peace and recovery.
Sadly, this did not continue. Throughout the various kings in Judah, there were some who had a heart for the Lord. The Lord came in, blessed, prospered, and brought the people of God back to Himself. But there were others who did not have a heart for the Lord.
Finally, after God’s long-suffering with them, He exiled them into Babylon—not to punish them, but to discipline them, that they might learn some lessons from Him. We see a great ebb and flow during these times.
But as we look at these times of recovery, we begin to see some unique characteristics. There were certain keys.
Now we know that among the kings of Israel, David was the model king. Everybody was measured against David because he was a man after God’s own heart. David was not concerned about his own interests. He was looking out for the interests of God.
Whenever the Lord found such a one with this heart and interest, God reacted. God said, “Oh, look at this one. He’s got a heart for Me. His interest is for My house. His interest is for My purpose.” The Lord responded, and we see periods of recovery.
There is a great verse in 2 Chronicles 16. You can go ahead and turn there. We’re actually going to be sharing out of these chapters, and since I’m monopolizing the PowerPoint, Keane doesn’t have anything to do today, so he gets a day of rest.
You’re actually going to have to open your Bibles today and look up Scriptures, but we’re going to stay within one particular area, so I’m not going to make it too hard on you.
If we can turn to 2 Chronicles 16:9, there is this wonderful verse. It gives us a glimpse into the very heart of God. Sometimes we ask, “What’s the Lord doing?” He is still doing this in our day.
For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth,
that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.
We’ll just read that first part of the verse for now. His eyes are looking to and fro, looking for those whose hearts are toward Him; whose hearts are not divided; whose hearts are not set on their own pleasures. This is what He found in David. He said, “Ah, there’s one after My heart.”
All of a sudden, we see this in Asa. God says, “Ah, here’s one after My heart,” and He comes in and blesses.
There is another key verse related to these various kings. It is in 2 Chronicles 14:2. Over and over throughout 2 Chronicles, we see this phrase used to describe these various ones.
Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.
When God’s eyes were moving to and fro, He saw one whose heart was for Him and who was doing good—doing what was right in His sight, not from man’s perspective and not in his own eyes, but from the eyes of God.
God said, “Oh, this is one after My heart. He is not only after My heart, but he is doing My will.” His actions and his life expressed what was within his heart. We see this in Asa.
What does this mean for us today? How about the church today? We are looking back at Israel for history and encouragement.
The church had a glorious beginning too. It had a zenith. Just as Israel had its zenith under David and Solomon, when the glory of the Lord came down, so on the day of Pentecost the church had a glorious birth. It had a full birth.
Those one hundred and twenty individuals, and the thousands who were there, came into that oneness they had in Christ. Praise God for that.
As we look through the book of Acts, we see not only that the church had a glorious beginning, but it had a healthy young life. During those times, we see the life of Christ. The Word of God was growing, the church was growing, and many were being added. There was healthiness there.
But sadly, by the end of the first century, we start seeing declension. In Revelation, we have that verse with which we are familiar concerning the church of Ephesus: “You’ve left your first love.” In John’s epistles, we read of antichrists that were already there. We begin to see declension and falling away.
But praise God, throughout church history, when God found those who were after His heart, He brought about recovery. God reacted in these situations, and we see marvelous recoveries.
Again, just like Israel, there was an ebb and flow. There would be wonderful moves of God by His Holy Spirit, and then a settling back down of man doing his own thing. Praise God, He would find those after His heart and bring in more recovery. This is what we see over and over again, because the Lord is still looking for those whose hearts are after Him.
I love how it says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that He may strongly support those. He does not merely say, “I’m going to support you.” God’s support in itself would be wonderful. If God says, “I’m supporting you,” that’s pretty good.
But to convince us and remove any doubt, He says, “I’ll strongly support you through whatever you’re going through.” He sees that your heart is after Him, and He is there for you. If your heart is after Him, there will be great battle against the things of His interest, and you will need strong support. We cannot make it on our own. That is why we need His great, strong support.
We want to consider some of the good kings in 2 Chronicles and how the Lord used them. Naturally, we may have a tendency to get out of this and say, “Well, this doesn’t apply to me. They were kings. I’m just an ordinary person.”
But no. When we were saved, we realized that God, in His marvelous salvation, not only made us priests unto Him, but He made us kings unto Him. We are kings. We are a kingdom of priests. We have that royal character within us. We have the life of the King within us, desiring to be expressed in a kingly way.
We see it throughout Scripture. If you look at the bookends of Scripture, from Genesis 1 the Lord says He created male and female to rule and have dominion—to be kings upon the earth. Then all the way over in Revelation 1 and Revelation 5, it speaks of how we are kings and priests unto Him.
So don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not a priest, and don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not a king. When we are born again, we are made kings and priests unto Him, because He is preparing us to rule with Him in His glorious kingdom.
He wants that kingly character to be expressed. As we look back at these kings, we’re looking at ones like us. They were made kings; we have been made kings. So we can learn from them and be encouraged by them.
The Lord was able to find those who could be faithful during weakened times—during times of departure and declension similar to what we are living in today. In spite of outward conditions, these ones were found faithful. In spite of the conditions we are living in, God, Who is faithful, is calling us to respond to His faithfulness and be faithful unto Him.
This week, Lord willing, we’ll look at King Asa, and next week we’ll look at King Jehoshaphat. We are going to look at them from the book of Chronicles because Chronicles approaches them more from a spiritual perspective. The book of Kings is, generally speaking, more of a historical perspective; Chronicles gives us spiritual perspective and spiritual lessons.
As we look at Asa, we first want a quick overview of his life, and then we want to consider some lessons from his life—how we can be strengthened and encouraged by him.
The whole life of Asa in 2 Chronicles is contained in three little chapters: chapters 14, 15, and 16. The wonderful thing about my Bible is that when I open it up, it is all right there on the same two pages. I don’t even have to turn a page. That makes it wonderfully easy when you’re standing up here.
As far as a quick overview of his life, it starts in chapter 14. Asa had a heart for the Lord, and immediately he began bringing in reforms. He began removing idols and foreign incense altars.
Because of this, over and over in this chapter, it speaks of how Judah was brought into a place of rest. They were undisturbed. When people followed the Lord, they came into this place of rest. Asa built and fortified cities, and he established a mighty army.
After he established that army, he suffered a great invasion. An Ethiopian army, hugely outnumbering Judah, invaded them suddenly. But Asa went out to meet them, and the Lord won a marvelous victory. God routed and disrupted them. It actually says He shattered the Ethiopian army.
Then, in chapter 15, as they were returning to Jerusalem, a prophet of the Lord went out and commended Asa. He encouraged them and gave both encouragement and warning: if they sought the Lord, the Lord would be with them. Because of that encouragement, Asa brought in further reforms and restored the altar.
The people freely made a covenant with the Lord, and again it says the Lord gave them rest. Asa even removed his mother from her position as queen mother because she was an idolatrous person. He destroyed her idol and removed her from that position.
Finally, in chapter 16, after Judah had experienced peace and rest, the northern kingdom, Israel, came down and attacked them. Asa, strangely enough, did not call upon the Lord. He called upon Syria. He took money out of the house of God and gave it to the king of Syria, saying, “Break your alliance with the northern kingdom and go in and destroy them. Fight this battle for me.”
Syria did. They went in and defeated the northern kingdom. Then the Lord sent another prophet to Asa—this time to rebuke him for relying on himself and the things of this world instead of relying on God. Asa rejected the prophet, became infuriated with him, threw him in prison, and began persecuting some of those supporting the prophet and the Word of God.
We see quite a turn in Asa’s life toward the end of his days. Tragically, toward the end of his reign, he developed an illness in his feet. Scripture says he did not seek the Lord, but sought the help of physicians. After two years, he died.
Asa had a good beginning. He was faithful for many years. But tragically, at the end of his life, he did not finish well.
At times, we can relate to him. These things are for our admonition and instruction. None of these men were perfect. They were very much like us. This is why they can be a help and encouragement.
I love Scripture because it is full disclosure. Our Lord does not merely show us the good things in people. Where people had weaknesses, sins, and failures, He puts it right there. We can learn from good examples, but there are many things we can learn from people’s failures and sins. Hopefully, the Lord will teach us today as we look at Asa’s life.
Let’s turn again to 2 Chronicles 14. We want to read verses 1 through 8.
So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
In his days the land was quiet ten years.
And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God:
for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and brake down the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim,
and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.
And he built fortified cities in Judah: for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest.
For he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand out of Judah that bare bucklers and spears, and out of Benjamin two hundred and fourscore thousand that bare shields and drew bows: all these were mighty men of valor.
We see how Asa got off to a good beginning. As we said before, he had grown up under twenty years of declension. He had experienced much declension under Rehoboam and Abijah.
I need to correct myself. When you are thinking about Asa and Jehoshaphat, you can get things mixed up. Asa was born before Solomon died, so he remembered some of that. Jehoshaphat did not. Keep me on my toes.
But during those last twenty years, Asa had experienced much declension. Thank the Lord, in the midst of that declension, he stood for the Lord. In spite of that low spiritual condition, he came forward.
There is really no record of how Asa came to the Lord. It is a hidden record. Sometimes Scripture tells us that such-and-such happened in someone’s life, and because of that they came to the Lord. We do not know what touched Asa’s life, so we have to surmise in many ways.
One thing we know is that the Word was read daily in the temple. Also, as king, Asa was required not only to read the Word daily, but when kings became king, Deuteronomy says they had to write out the Law. They had to write out the Pentateuch themselves.
Perhaps, through that exposure, as he considered the Law and God’s heart and purpose, something captured him.
When we do not know how someone came to the Lord, it speaks to me of a hidden life. In spite of the conditions in which he was living, Asa had a hidden life with the Lord. He knew that place of fellowship with the Lord.
As Kenny was sharing, fellowship is essential to knowing God’s heart. Asa had this hidden life with the Lord. The Lord’s heart captured his heart, and he stood for God’s purpose.
It also speaks of the grace of God. When we see one growing up in such a horrible condition, it is simply the grace of God. God saw one with a heart for Him, reacted, and we see the manifestation of His grace.
As we see how the Lord captured Asa in the midst of the conditions in which he was raised, we have to ask ourselves honestly: How do the conditions we are living in impact us? Do they affect us? Do they hold us back? Are they an excuse?
Are we saying, “If my family life was better, if the economy was better, if my job was better, if my kids were better, if this assembly was more on fire for the Lord, if there were more life here, if those poor brothers in leadership were only better, oh, I could be a better Christian”?
What excuses do we use in our lives? If we are honest, we have all used them. Well, I’ll speak for myself: I’ve used excuses.
We can quickly say, because of something else, “I’m not really pressing on because of this or that.” But no. The Lord is saying, “Am I enough?” This is what captured Asa’s heart.
Asa was not ruled by circumstances. Throughout Scripture, we see various ones whose circumstances were horrible, but they ruled in the midst of them. That kingly, overcoming character came forth.
Consider Joseph. For his faithfulness to his father, and because he loved his father, he was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. But he did not use that as an excuse. He kept pressing on.
Even when he was faithful to Potiphar and took a righteous stand in Potiphar’s house against Potiphar’s wife, he was thrown into prison for righteousness’ sake. Are we willing to stand for righteousness in this day and time when there is so little of it?
But praise God, Joseph was not a crybaby. He did not make excuses. He kept pressing on. We see him ruling. In many ways, we see Joseph on the throne in Egypt because he was the true ruler over Egypt. Pharaoh was kind of like the queen of England—he was a figurehead. Joseph was the true ruler in Egypt during that time.
Consider Samuel. We might think Samuel had a great life. No, he did not. He had to grow up with the sons of Eli, and they were pretty wicked fellows. He had a difficult environment in which to grow up.
Look at where Daniel grew up. But we do not see these men making excuses. In spite of circumstances, something of the Lord had captured their hearts, and they were pressing on to know Him in a fuller and greater way.
Because of Asa’s faithfulness, the people had rest. It is wonderful how, in the midst of a storm, you see various people whose lives are, circumstantially, in turmoil. But when you talk with them, there is rest. There is peace.
It does not make natural sense to us. Perhaps somebody has died, there is illness, somebody has lost a job, or there are many other troubles. Outwardly, everything looks tumultuous. But when you talk with them, you touch the peace of God. They are ruling in the midst of the circumstances.
That is what the Lord is trying to encourage us in during this day and time.
But how did Asa use this time of rest and peace? He prepared. He prepared.
It says he built those fortified cities. He built strong cities with walls and towers. He strengthened the army. He trained them. Outwardly, people might have asked, “Why is he doing all this? We’re having wonderful peace. We haven’t had trouble for years.”
Yet he was building fortified walls and towers. The towers enabled them to watch for the enemy, and the walls protected them from invasion. They were learning how to fight—not only to use bow, but spear and shield. The passage describes them as valiant men.
If you remember, this is what Jeffrey was talking about: mighty men. These were mighty men. Praise God, there was that character within them.
All this was done during a time of rest and peace. There was no apparent imminent threat. They had not received a letter from Al-Qaeda saying they were going to invade soon. There was no obvious threat.
So we have to ask ourselves: How do we use our time?
If we look around today, we are living in times of relative peace. We are thankful for that. We have much freedom. Now, as I said, many individuals are going through tumultuous things. But in general, we are living in a time of peace.
If you do not think you are living in a place of peace and rest, just watch the news. Do you want to live in Ukraine? Do you want to live in Syria? Do you want to live in some of the places in Africa? We have it pretty good.
We might not agree with what is going on—that is a whole other subject, and we will not go there—but we are in relative peace and rest. We have freedom: freedom to gather like this, freedom to read our Bibles, and freedom for fellowship. What wonderful freedom we have. But how are we using our time?
Often, when we find times of rest and peace, we just kick back and relax. We say, “Oh, this is a good life. We’ve got it made now.” But no. Today is a time of strengthening.
The Lord is calling us to prepare. All throughout Scripture, the Lord calls us to prepare. We know we are living in the end days, and over and over again He says, “Prepare. Keep on the alert. Watch.”
These are days of preparation. Praise God for them. We should be so thankful that we have an opportunity to prepare, because we know a great battle is coming. I am speaking spiritually. There is great warfare. There is already an attack in process against the testimony of Jesus.
But before it really heats up, we have an opportunity to strengthen ourselves in His Word, storing His Word within our hearts.
One of the tragic things among so many believers today—and it breaks your heart, and I do not understand it—is when we travel and fellowship with different people, they come with problems. We ask, “What did the Lord speak to you when you were reading your Bible this morning?” They say, “Oh, I didn’t read this morning.”
Then we ask, “When do you read your Bible?” “Oh, a couple of days a week I might read it.” “How do you read it?” “Well, I just open it up and find a verse.”
Now is the time to feed upon the Word of God. There is a famine in our lives when it comes to feasting upon the Word of God. This is the day we have. We can start at the beginning. We can devour this Book and allow it to be stored within our hearts. That is what prepares us for what is ahead.
Thank the Lord, we have an opportunity to store His Word within our hearts. Throughout history, this has been one of the keys whenever God reacted. There were people who had the Word of God stored in their hearts—not merely in their minds. It was not a mental thing, but something in their hearts and lives.
They hungered and thirsted to know more of Him. They came into this place of fellowship and communion. Daily, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, they came and sat at the Lord’s feet, held the Word before Him, and allowed the Word to speak into their hearts.
There is a strengthening of that personal relationship. There is a strengthening of the inner life, which is so needed in this day and time.
Yet we settle for an email. “Oh, I got a devotional this morning. I’ll read that.” There is a devo here and a devo there. Now, I do not want to put down devotionals. They are okay, but they are a supplement. They are not the main course.
I remember Jim once said devotionals are fast food. We need to feast upon the meat. We need to eat the real stuff. Then, thank the Lord, we can have devotionals to aid and encourage us.
The same is true with our prayer life. As we go through life, does it take a crisis to bring us into prayer? Or is there already a desire in our hearts, when we get up in the morning, to be in communion with Him, to be in fellowship with Him, to offer ourselves to Him, and to pray?
Praying is a two-way dialogue. It is sharing with Him and hearing from Him. Are we in this place? This is one of the great weaknesses in the church today.
But praise God, we have an opportunity to strengthen ourselves in Him. There is strengthening in our lives together as living stones—the establishing of relationships one with another.
How fractured are the relationships we have? These need to be days when relationships are restored, reconciled, and strengthened together, so that we can go forward when it really gets tough.
That is why the old verse in Jeremiah says, “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?” These are the days of the footmen. The days of the horses are coming.
We need to use this opportunity to allow the Lord to strengthen us. Praise God, Asa did. He made ample preparation.
If you look at 2 Chronicles 14:9, you see that Asa suffered a mighty invasion. This Ethiopian army came with over a million men and three hundred chariots. They were coming right at Asa. Asa was greatly outnumbered.
What did Asa do? The wonderful thing about Asa is that he saw this huge, overwhelming army coming at him, and he marched right out to meet it. Asa and his army went out to meet them.
But were they going out in confidence in themselves? Yes, they were trained. But were they relying upon themselves, their strength, and their power? No. They went out to meet the army, and in 2 Chronicles 14:11 we read:
And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said,
Lord, there is none besides Thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength:
help us, O Lord our God; for we rely on Thee,
and in Thy name are we come against this multitude.
Praise God. Asa went out saying, “Lord, this multitude is so huge. Only You can help.” They went out standing in faith. They took a stand of faith and stood for the Lord’s interests, but they were not fighting in themselves. They were saying, “Lord, the battle is Yours.”
As you look at these verses, it is interesting how they are translated in the New American Standard, the King James, and Darby. The New American Standard speaks of help between the powerful and those who have no strength. It is as though the army is powerful and they are the ones with no strength.
The King James and Darby say they were asking for help whether there was much power or no power. It is as though Asa said, “Lord, I do not care whether this enemy is really strong or whether it is weak. We cannot defeat it in ourselves. We need Your help.”
This will come back to haunt Asa later in his life. But here we see utter reliance upon the Lord for help in the day of battle. Praise God, the Lord brought forth a great victory.
Again, we need to apply this to ourselves. How do we react when we are overwhelmed? When we see a situation so bad and so overwhelming that we cannot handle it, how do we react?
Are we like the ten so-called bad spies who went in and saw only the giants? They said, “Yes, the land flows with milk and honey. Look at these grapes we brought back. But the giants are so big.”
But what did Joshua and Caleb see? They saw the giants too. They said, “Yes, there are giants there, but they will be our food. Our God is bigger. We will defeat them. We can go in and possess.”
Joshua and Caleb saw that God was bigger than the overwhelming odds against them.
We have to ask ourselves: Is there an issue in our lives that we think is impossible? The only reason we think it is impossible is because we do not really know the One Who has loved us, died for us, and won the victory.
Jerry shared a little while ago: situations are impossible, but God. Yes, the situation at work may be overwhelming. Yes, the family situation may be overwhelming. Yes, the relationship with a brother or sister may seem impossible. But God.
God is able to do abundantly more than we can ever ask or think.
Asa knew that. He did not know how God would work, but he knew Who God was. He went out and stood in faith.
As we face impossible situations that try to weigh us down and knock us out, we go and stand in faith. We say, “God, I cannot handle this, but You have overcome. You are able to bring us through. I do not know how You are going to work this out, and I am not going to manipulate it, but I am going to stand and see the salvation of our God.”
We see God move in a mighty way. This victory speaks of the enemy being routed and shattered. It was not merely that God said “Boo” and they ran away. No, they were crushed. It was a mighty victory that God won.
When God comes into our lives and we allow Him to overcome those so-called impossible situations, it is not merely a little victory or a marginal victory. It is an absolute, total victory. In a triumphant way, we can overcome in these circumstances and keep pressing on in these days. Praise God for that.
As Asa and the army won this mighty victory, it is wonderful that we do not see them becoming proud. They did not say, “Oh, look at the victory we won.” No, they went back to Jerusalem. They were headed toward the house of God.
They were met by a wonderful prophet at the gates. In 2 Chronicles 15:1-7, we read:
And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin:
the Lord is with you, while ye are with Him;
and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you;
but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.
“You were with the Lord, and He was with you. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” Praise God, when we seek Him, we find Him in times of impossible situations and trouble.
Then he says, “But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” This is speaking experientially. We know positionally and objectively that God never leaves us or forsakes us. But because of our attitude, if we forsake Him in our actions, He is not going to participate in the sins of our lives. Yet He is still there when we turn back to Him in repentance.
The prophet reminded Israel of the condition they had been in before:
Now for a long season Israel was without the true God,
and without a teaching priest,
and without law.
But when in their distress they turned unto the Lord, the God of Israel,
and sought Him, He was found of them.
It is amazing today, as you look throughout Christianity, how much of Christianity is without the true God. What a weakened condition we are in. There is so much weakness and declension because there are not those really teaching the Word of God and putting forth His law and His Word.
Then, in 2 Chronicles 15:7, the prophet gives this great word of encouragement:
But ye, be strong, and let not your hands be slack;
for your work shall be rewarded.
Praise God, this prophecy came forth and encouraged Asa. It said there was a great reward for him as he kept pressing on.
Asa made a wonderful response. What I love about Asa is that every time he touched the Lord, he wanted more of the Lord. He did not stop and say, “We have won this victory. Now we can stop. We have rest and peace. We can stop.” Asa kept pressing on.
In chapter 15, Asa restored the altar. Physically, the altar was okay. But what he was restoring was the reality and truth related to the altar.
Outwardly, they were going through many motions, but the reality of the altar and the offerings had been lost. Many came and went through the motions of making their offerings to the Lord, but then they served the Lord and served their other gods.
During the week, they served their own purposes. They followed their own desires. They had idols that meant something to them. Then they came and went through the motions. We see this tragically too much today.
What does the altar speak of? The altar speaks of the cross. The altar speaks of the cross, the work of Christ, and His victory.
Asa wanted them to come back and see: “Behold, the Lamb of God.” These lambs being sacrificed spoke of the Lord’s heart. All these offerings had meaning. There was provision there for them.
Today, the Lord wants us to come back and see. As we take this table every week, we behold Christ. We behold Who He is. We behold His work. We behold His victory.
Out of this, Asa began purifying the land even more, removing idols. The people consecrated themselves to the Lord. They responded with a freewill offering and gave themselves to the Lord. They were shouting with loud voices and responding wholeheartedly.
It was not merely something in their minds. Their hearts were captured and truly brought in.
What is the cross to us today? Tragically, throughout much of Christianity, the cross has lost much of its real meaning. It can be a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, but the word of the cross has lost much of its true meaning.
The Lord desires that the reality of the cross be recovered in our lives—not only the reality of His death and resurrection, which brought us into new birth and new life, but also the reality of the transforming power of the cross working in our lives every day.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the cross renews us and conforms us to the image of Christ. This is what He is yearning for.
In a simple way, we can say the cross separates between what is of God and what is not—what is of man. The cross is a great divide, a great separator between things that are of God and things that are not.
Tragically today, because it has lost its reality, the things of God and man have become so mixed. There is so much confusion and chaos. May the Lord be merciful to us.
We immediately see the cross working within Asa’s life in a very personal way, because he had to deal with his mother.
Often, when we have to deal with someone close to us, it is difficult. Asa had to deny his natural affection for his mother—his natural affinity—and remove her from her position as queen mother.
If anyone studies these chapters, there are pages and pages written about whether she was his mother or grandmother. We are not going to get distracted by that. The issue is that she was an idolatrous woman. Asa removed her from her position and destroyed that idol.
The closer someone is to us, the harder it is. But God, in these days of declension, is calling us to return to Him and stand for Him. We desire to be disciples.
We do not want to let natural affections govern us. As it says, whoever loves mother and father more than Me cannot be My disciple. We want to allow the Lord to come in.
When natural affections are against the will of God, we have to take a stand. Praise God, when everything is in flow and in sync, there is harmony and peace. But when something is going against God’s will, there needs to be a stand. May the Lord bless us and enable us to do that.
We are thankful that, as Asa continued on, the land had peace for many years. But tragically, when we come to chapter 16, Judah was attacked again—this time by Israel.
Israel came down essentially to stop people from leaving Israel and going to Jerusalem to worship. These chapters speak of people leaving the northern kingdom and coming to live in Judah because they saw the presence of the Lord there. There was a recovery work.
People were coming out of that fallen-away system. In one way, Judah represents God’s heart—the church, that remnant people He is after. The northern kingdom represents a religious system, what some call the apostate church: people out there doing their own desires.
But praise God, as the Lord blessed Judah and His presence was seen, people left that place of declension and came down to live there. The king of Israel said, “Wait a minute. My people are leaving. I need to put up barriers. We are going to fight. We are going to stop this.”
At that time Judah was much stronger militarily than Israel. But how did Asa approach this? Tragically, he handled it in himself.
He did not call upon the Lord. He made an alliance with Syria, a worldly power, and paid them to fight for him. Tragically, he took money from the house of God. This indicated how far his heart had fallen.
Earlier, it says Asa had put silver and gold into the house of God as an offering. Now he was taking it back out and using it for his own selfish, worldly means.
Sure enough, Syria went, because Israel was not that strong, and defeated them. Israel left Judah alone. Outwardly, it looked as though Asa had won another great victory.
But Asa won an earthly victory; he did not win an eternal victory. He did not win a spiritual victory. Outwardly it looked as though Asa had won, but spiritually he lost.
Sometimes we can do the wrong thing, enter into something wrong, and it turns out okay. Then we think, “Oh, well, that must have been God. It turned out okay.”
It is tragic how sometimes a believer marries an unbeliever, and then the other person gets saved. We say, “See, it was of God.” No. God says believers and unbelievers are not to marry. It is not a debating point. That is what He says.
We sometimes ignore it, and then when God in His mercy allows someone to be saved, we say, “Oh, see, it was God all along. I was used to bring this one to the Lord.” No, you were not. You simply experienced God’s mercy in an abundant way.
Sometimes in business we make certain agreements for our own selfish interests. Then when God blesses, we say, “Oh, this was of God.” No, it was not. It was simply His mercy. His blessing does not always mean His approval. It means His great mercy has been demonstrated to us in our foolishness. We are thankful for that.
Asa acted like a fool. He went his own way.
Again, in His mercy, God sent a prophet to rebuke him. Asa would not listen to the prophet this time. He ignored him, became furious, and had him thrown in prison. Asa also oppressed those trying to remain faithful to the Lord.
We see Asa had drifted away from the Lord. He was not teachable. He was not approachable. The pride of life was taking over.
The Lord, in His mercy and love, sent that prophet to Asa. It was the love of God that sent the prophet. He did not send him in a negative way to destroy Asa. He sent the prophet to wake him up. He was giving Asa an opportunity to wake up.
It is like Samson. The Lord sent the lion to wake Samson up, because he was not supposed to be where those grapes were. I mean Samson—I always get Samson and Samuel mixed up.
But the Lord was trying to wake Samson up, and Samson did not wake up. Here, the Lord was trying to wake Asa up, but Asa did not wake up. He continued further down that path.
There is a lesson for us. Once we have experienced some of the Lord’s faithfulness, we can begin to become passive. We can become a little dull. At one point, we realized our dependence upon Him. Our conscience was tender toward Him. We knew His voice.
But after seeing the Lord win victories, deliver, and bring peace, we can begin to settle down. Our hearts can become hardened.
That is where it speaks of love waxing cold. The love for the Lord that was so hot at one point in Asa’s life was now waxing cold, slowly cooling down. It is a great warning for us in this day and time.
But again, God did not give up on Asa. He sent the prophet to wake him, and then we see that He allowed illness to come upon him. God’s long-suffering love, again and again, tried to wake Asa up.
He brought an illness to Asa’s feet. It was very debilitating, and Asa was suffering. Scripture says he did not repent and did not turn to the Lord. He turned to physicians.
This does not mean you never seek a doctor. It means we seek the Lord first, and then follow however He leads.
But Asa had fallen. This disease was not from the enemy. God allowed it to come in to wake him up. This was the love of God being manifested to Asa.
Sometimes we have difficult situations in our lives, and it is God’s love trying to wake us up—to make us realize we are not in a place where we should be. We should get out of there. We should repent. We should change our position and come back to the freshness in Him that we once knew.
It is sad that after many years of faithful life, Asa ended in this condition. It was not sudden. It was gradual, step by step by step.
But along those steps, God in His love was still calling him back. He kept calling him back. God waited two years. He gave him two years to wake up. Finally, Asa died.
As we have looked at Asa, we began by asking: How do we live during these times of declension and departure?
We see the Lord in His wonderful mercy. When He returns, He asks, “Will the Son of Man find faith?” Praise God, when He looked upon Asa, He saw one of faith. Asa had a simple faith. He simply asked God for help.
Asa was one after God’s heart. The eyes of the Lord are going to and fro, strongly supporting those whose hearts are completely His.
As we look at Asa, we need to come back and ask ourselves, “Lord, where is our heart? Where is our heart?”
Is our heart drawn to You? Is our heart drawn to the things of Yourself? Is our heart drawn to Your interests? Is it drawn to the testimony of Jesus and to Your soon return, for Your kingdom to come?
Or are we enjoying the pleasures of this life and the things of this world? Perhaps we go through religious exercises once a week, but how about the rest of the time? The Lord is looking for our hearts.
In Asa, we see one captured by the heart of God. In spite of the horrible circumstances in which he lived, through his response to the Lord, God was able to bring about a time of reviving and recovery—a time in which the presence of the Lord and the peace of God could be experienced by God’s people.
He desires to do that in this hour also, as He prepares us for His soon return.
May we be found faithful unto Him all the way through to the end. Let us not allow faithfulness from years ago to become a substitute for faithfulness today.
He is calling us each day to prepare, each day to make ample preparation, each day to enter into that hidden relationship with Him. He desires a people who will hasten His return, for His kingdom to come and His will to be done in these days.
Let’s pray.
Lord, we do thank You for Your long-suffering love with each and every one of us.
Lord, we are thankful that, as we see within Asa, every time he went the wrong way, Your love reached out. Those cords of love reached to bring him back.
Lord, we pray that we would be a people in this day and time who respond to Your love. We see Your great love demonstrated and remembered every Lord’s Day at this table.
We pray that it would be remembered as a reality in our hearts every day, that we would take the reality of Your life and allow it to be our daily bread unto us, Lord, as we feast upon You.
Lord, would we be those whose hearts are set toward You, and then allow You to come in and strongly support us in the days and times in which we are living.
In Thy name we pray. Amen.