Asa
Asa
follows Abijah in the kingly line. He
reigns for 41 years. There can be no
doubt that part of the reason that Asa reigns for so long is because his father
reigned for such a short time. Asa
easily became king at quite a younger age than Abijah did.
However,
I believe there is a more important reason that we can give for Asa’s extended
reign. Simply put, Asa followed the ways
of the Lord. Asa sought peace. Asa focused on fortifying the defenses of
Judah. Asa tore down all of the places
that God found despicable. As he focused
on God, life went on under God’s protection.
There is
a lesson beyond the obvious one. How
easy would it have been for Asa to take those easy years of rest and do
nothing? How easy would it have been for
Asa to be complacent? How easy would it
have been for Asa to learn bad habits and fall into a life of sinfulness that
could have come when life was easy? Isn’t
that a pattern that most of us have felt at least some time in our life?
Not so
with Asa. When Asa reigns and there is
peace in the land, Asa is proactive. He
is leading people into reclaiming their life of faith. When there is external peace, Asa is actively
tearing down the internal turmoil and rebuilding the religious infrastructure
so that it is strong once again. What we
learn from Asa is that when we are in a time for external peace we are
automatically in a great time for internal challenge and reconstruction.
Can you
imagine the inner turmoil that happened as Asa went about that work? Remember that it was Solomon who allowed
those places to be built. Solomon was
regarded as one of the wisest kings of the Herbew people. Rehoboam had allowed them to remain. Abijah had allowed them to remain. Then this young upstart king comes into power
and begins to tear down all the places that were not of God and that had
existed for somewhere between 20 and 60 years.
I can only imagine the grumbling and the pain that Asa endured as he
went through that process.
Yet, how
is it that Solomon is remembered? He was
a wise king who fell away into the worship of false gods at the end. Rehoboam walked in ways of evil. Asa walked in the same evil ways as his
father. All of those people had a great
reputation among the people in spite of how they are remembered in God’s Word. So how is Asa, the one who sought internal
reform, remembered? He was a king who
did good in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of David.
It is
difficult to lead. It is even more
difficult to lead when internal reform needs to be accomplished. But if the reform is of God, the difficulty
is worth the pain and the struggle.
Internal reform that is at the hand of God will eventually bear great
fruit.
After
reading Asa’s account, I have a simple request and a prayer from God. I hope any of you who are in a time of reform
in your life can join me in this prayer.
Lord, as I lead, may Your hand guide me and may my work be about your
will. In the end, may it be said of me
that I walked in the ways of the Lord regardless of the depth of the struggle.
The Ethiopians
Of
course, not all of Asa’s reign is at peace.
Eventually, there comes a time when peace is taken away from Asa. The internal reforms are completed. The difficult change has been
accomplished. It took ten years, but Asa
manages to purge the public false worship of other gods from the land. Then it becomes time to bear fruit.
The
Ethiopians come to challenge Asa and the people of Judah. They come with an impressive force of a
million warriors. They have come to
conquer and plunder this land that has been rebuilt under Asa. So Asa takes his forces out to battle and
meets them. Numerically speaking, we are
talking about Asa going out to battle with a force of roughly half of what was
sent against him. It’s one thing to
fight a battle of 1-on-2 or even 2-on-4.
But there seems to be something horrifically disturbing in realizing you
are outflanked by roughly 500,000 people.
What does
Asa do? He relies upon the Lord. He doesn’t brag about his faith in the Lord
and he doesn’t use his faith as a way to demoralize the opponent. Rather, he prays to the Lord and lets the
outcome rest in God’s hand. Asa submits
to God on the battlefield and asks for God’s strength.
God
grants Asa his prayer. God goes before
Asa and defeats the Ethiopian army. The
Ethiopians flee until there is nobody left to run before the army of
Judah. The battle is a rout. The people who had come to plunder the land
of Judah were instead plundered by the land of Judah. Asa submitted to God and trusted God to fight
His battle for him.
As with
the stories of Asa’s reforms, I think that I am again inspired to prayer by the
account of Asa. Lord, as I go through
life and fight battles, remind me to submit to you. Remind me to let you fight my battles for me
and to go forth only at your call once you have prepared the way. Teach me, Lord, to submit to Your victories
rather than causing me to seek my own.
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