Lessons From The Son Of Abijah

Lessons From The Son Of Abijah 

In the days of the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah, few kings of Judah were righteous kings. Among the few good kings, Asa son of Abijah was one of bright stars of the people of God. He did what was “good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God” (2 Chronicles 14:2) removing the trappings of idol worship and commanding Judah “to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment” (2 Chronicles 14:4). But more than giving commands Asa proved his own devotion by example. When Zerah the Cushite marched out against Judah with a vast army and 300 chariots, Asa “cried out to the Lord his God, and said, "Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!" (2 Chronicles 14:11). Judah destroyed the army of Zerah (2 Chronicles 14:12-15).

Following the great victory over Zerah, Azariah son of Oded came and prophesied to Asa reminding him that “the Lord is with you while 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). Azariah confirmed to Asa the blessing and curse of the Lord (Romans 11:22) when men choose to follow the will of God and when they chose to follow their own will. This gave Asa courage (2 Chronicles 15:8) as he continued to purge the land of unrighteousness. Because of the power of God working in the land of Judah large numbers of people had come over to Asa when they saw the Lord his God was with him (2 Chronicles 15:9).

Declaring their faithfulness to the one true God, Asa assembled all Judah and Benjamin together in Jerusalem to enter a covenant to seek the Lord with all their heart and soul. This covenant was emphasized in a most remarkable manner: “whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman” (2 Chronicles 15:13). Asa was not a man after God’s heart in word only but in action. The righteous sought the Lord “with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around” (2 Chronicles 15:15).

The story of Asa that began with such promise however had a tragic end. For unknown reasons the king used the wisdom of man to protect the land against the army of Baasha king of Israel. Making a treaty with Ben-Hadad with the silver and gold Asa had put in the temple of God, Asa sealed his final years with war. Hanani the seer warned Asa that rejecting the council of God for his own wisdom was folly (2 Chronicles 16:7-9). Had the king forgotten the great victory over the Cushites and Libyans? “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).  Angered the king put Hanani in prison and brutally oppressed some of the people.

“And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign” (2 Chronicles 16:12-13). There are lessons to learn from the son of Abijah.