Lessons from King Asa

Biblical history is given to us so that we may learn how God dealt with his people in the past and be warned so that we can live properly today. It is not meaningless, therefore, to study the historical sections in the Bible.

The life of King Asa is both an encouragement and a warning to every true Christian. Asa is an example of one who sought God and rested in God alone for most of his life. But we are not to follow Asa’s example of hardening his heart against God in his later years.

Asa did not live a consistent spiritual life. Towards the end of his life, he fell from his first love. He abandoned God and refused to trust in him. Instead, he trusted in his money, violating the biblical counsel that says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5–6).

Asa did not persevere to the end; therefore, God severely punished and killed him. Even in his severe illness, Asa refused to seek the Lord and live by the divine promise: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).

May God help us to be faithful to the very end. May we learn and apply to our lives these lessons from the history of Asa.

A War (2 Chronicles 14)

Asa was the third king of Judah, reigning from 910 through 869 BC. He began his reign as the Lord’s deputy and vassal. Faithful to the covenant, Asa hated sin and loved righteousness. Therefore, he brought about a great spiritual reformation in the life of God’s people. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord.

Asa set out to destroy idolatry in Judah. He removed the foreign altars and high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles. As king, he commanded Judah to seek the Lord and obey his laws, which the priests were to teach to the people. Notice, when revival comes, people return to the word of God to hear and do what it says, and be blessed by pleasing God.

God was pleased with Asa’s reforms, and the land enjoyed peace and prosperity for many years. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. When we come under God’s rule, we will enjoy God’s peace and joy.

Remember the biblical law of 2 Chronicles 7:14. The Lord tested Asa’s faith when Zerah the Cushite came with his million-man army and three hundred chariots. Asa faced him in battle in the valley of Zephathah with only half a million soldiers and no chariots. How could Asa win this battle? It was humanly impossible.

But with God, all things are possible. If the infinite, almighty God is for us and with us, who can be against us? So we read, “This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours but God’s’” (2 Chron. 20:15). God is speaking the same thing to us today. If we are afraid and discouraged, take heart. The battle is the Lord’s, and our God is for us.

Our God is the true and living God. The god of our enemies is a creature, the devil. The devil is always defeated. He can never win a battle against our God. Our God always wins. We learned that from God’s war against Pharaoh. Our Yahweh is a Warrior and a Savior. He defeats our enemies and saves his people, who seek him with their whole heart and rely on him, rest in him, and trust in him.

So Asa prayed, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you” (2 Chron. 14:11). The Lord fought against Zerah’s million-man army and utterly defeated them. And this is written for our encouragement.

Asa’s prayer was based on God’s promise of 2 Chronicles 6:34–35: “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.” The LORD and his supernatural forces struck down the enemies, who fled and fell. They were crushed and killed. Then the men of Judah went out and collected all the spoils—gold and silver, cattle and sheep. They brought the gold and silver into the temple treasury, and the people of God rejoiced greatly.

So let us learn the first lessons from this incident in the life of Asa: Seek the Lord and prosper. Seek the Lord and be blessed. Reform your ways and prosper. Pray and prosper. Do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and prosper. In all your ways acknowledge our covenant Lord, and be blessed. Obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings curse.

Another lesson we can learn is that leaders must lead. They must lead in reform, in Bible teaching, in covenant-keeping, in spiritual warfare, in prayer, and so on. And when they do so, it will result in great blessing to the people under them.

Peace (2 Chronicles 15)

God was pleased with Asa’s reliance on him when his faith was tested. Like Abraham, by grace Asa passed this first test. Asa had prayed for and had received divine help. He could say with the psalmist, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. . . . The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Ps. 46:1-3, 11).

So God sent a prophet named Azariah to encourage Asa on his return from the battle. Notice, the man of God has authority over the king. Azariah’s message to Asa was a message of comfort; yet, at the same time, it was a warning. So we read, “[Azariah] went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. 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 Chron. 15:2).

This was a serious word. Woe to us, if we forsake our covenant Lord! Remember the words a man of God spoke to Eli the priest: “Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and your father’s house would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line” (1 Sam. 2:30–31).

Friends, we must follow Jesus Christ. He will always lead you in the paths of righteousness, yea, in the paths of eternal life. He will fill you with joy in his presence. So worship and serve him only. And if you forsake him for the enjoyment of the pleasures of sin, you will experience the covenant curse without any question.

When we refuse to follow the covenant Lord in covenant obedience, he will bring troubles and distress in our lives to turn us back to him. So Azariah also reminded Asa, “In [Israel’s] distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. . . . One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress” (2 Chron. 15:4, 6).

Think about your own life. God knows how to deal with us—how to humble us and break the pride of every arrogant, rich, brilliant, independent, self-centered person. He knows how to cure our backsliding. He will use every kind of trouble at his disposal to discipline us, if we are his elect.

Let us learn this lesson, then: The Lord is with us when we are with him. If we seek him, he will be found by us. Jesus said the same thing: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7–8). Thank God! Of course, God is always with us, but our sins blind us from seeing his presence.

Then Azariah gave a final encouragement to Asa: “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded” (2 Chron. 15:7). This is what God is saying to us also. Do not quit serving God, but continue to follow Christ. Work hard in the Lord’s work, and your work will be rewarded. Paul says, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). The Hebrew writer exhorts, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Heb. 10:35–36).

Azariah’s words encouraged Asa to continue his reforms. He became fearless of those who were idolaters. What about you? Are you encouraged and emboldened by the word of God as you read it and hear it preached? If so, may God help you to work hard doing God’s will in the power of the Scripture and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So Asa removed detestable idols from all Judah and repaired the broken altar in the temple of the Lord. Then he and all the people renewed their covenant with the Lord. What a great revival!

They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. (2 Chron. 15:12–15)

Moreover, Asa deposed his wicked grandmother, Maacah, and totally destroyed her idol, an Asherah pole. He loved God more than his family. Jesus said, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). May God keep us from such idolatry.

So God blessed Asa with twenty more years of peace and prosperity. It is important for us also to renew our covenant with God and God’s people frequently. Let us renew our vows to God. The Lord is with us, when we are with him. If we seek him, he will be found by us.

Punishment (2 Chronicles 16)

In his later years, however, Asa became a mule. About five years before Asa’s death, God brought about another test of faith. A minor enemy, Baasha king of Israel, began to fortify Ramah in the north to keep his people from going to Judah.

Asa was provoked by Baasha’s actions. But this time he refused to rely on God or seek his counsel. He did not seek God, crying out, “O God, help! Help us, as you did when we faced the million-man army of Zerah the Cushite.” He forsook the Lord. He acted foolishly, in the biblical sense of acting in a godless way (Ps. 14). He forgot about God. He removed God from his thinking. Asa became an unbeliever. He trusted in money, not in the covenant Lord, who had fought and given him victory against Zerah the Cushite.

It turned out that Asa had learned nothing from history. Now he chose to lean onto his money and his own understanding. He needed God twenty years earlier when he was weak and without money. Now he had money, he had his palace, and he had his children. Everything was going right. Asa did not need God.

But we cannot serve both God and money. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matt. 6:24). James says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:8). So Asa fell headlong into unbelief. He took all the money, which really belonged to God, from the temple treasury. Asa stole God’s money and gave it to Ben-Hadad of Damascus to fight against this little enemy, Baasha.

After Asa committed his sin of unbelief, God sent the seer, Hanani to rebuke him. Notice, Hanani came after Asa’s sin, not before. God often allows us to sin. Asa had failed the test and had become an unbeliever, so God sent his prophet to rebuke him. The word of God rebukes us and corrects us. Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). He also said, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2). Fifty percent of the ministry of the word of God is rebuke and correction.

What had Asa done to deserve his rebuke? He broke covenant with God and made a covenant with this weak king, Ben-Hadad, to save himself. How foolish was this action! But in 2 Chronicles 15:13 we read, “All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.” That is exactly what God did to Asa.

Hanani told Asa,

Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war. (2 Chron. 16:7–9)

But Asa refused to pay heed to the rebuke. What about you? Do you receive the rebuke and correction that comes to you from your pastor or parents or others? These authorities know what we are doing wrong. (PGM) So when they come to rebuke, correct, and turn us back to the Lord, we should listen to them. Take the rebuke. They rebuke us because they care for us.

The Lord saw that Asa’s heart was no longer committed to him, so he did not help him. Asa lost all the money and failed to defeat Ben-Hadad and Baasha, which he would have done, had he gone to war relying on the Lord. Instead, he brought about a state of loss, distress, and war. We must pay for our sins in this life. A sinner always loses.

Furthermore, instead of heeding the rebuke and humbling himself, repenting, and seeking God’s forgiveness and favor, Asa became intensely angry with Hanani, the seer and minister of God. He put him in prison and put his feet in the stocks, just as Ahab did to Micaiah, the true prophet of his time. This hatred is still manifested today, although now ministers are not put in prison and their feet are not put in the stocks. Instead, churches may fire a preacher if he preaches the word of God.

Asa also brutally oppressed God’s people, the ones who stood with Hanani the prophet. Asa could not kill God; he could only persecute his people. Yet, in the fullness of time, the enemies of God did also kill God incarnate, Jesus Christ our Lord, in God’s own plan and purpose.

The Lord who had fought against Zerah the Cushite now began to fight against Asa himself. God afflicted Asa, who had put Hanani’s feet in the stocks, with a severe disease of his feet. This was divine retribution. Yet, though this was a severe disease, Asa refused to repent and follow the biblical solution found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. He refused to humble himself and pray and seek God’s face and turn from his wicked ways. He refused to seek any help from God. He was, in essence, saying, “I don’t need God!” So he sought help from pagan physicians. But no doctor could help him. If God is against us, who can be for us?

Finally, God killed this covenant breaker. Asa did not persevere and he died in his sins. Asa died of a hard heart. He could not say with Paul, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6–8).

God himself warns against such falling away: “But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die” (Ezek. 18:24). And Jesus said, “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:6).

The Hebrews writer says, “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace” (Heb. 6:4–6). He also writes,

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:26–31)

Tremble and fear before you go to sin. When we sin, we are trampling the Son of God under our feet.

How did Asa come to such a sorry end? In the last years of his life, his heart became proud. He stopped reading the Bible and praying. He stopped worshiping in the temple. He stopped fellowshipping with God’s people and God’s prophets. He thought, “I was weak once, but now I am strong. I can solve my problems without God’s help.” So he died. God dealt with Asa severely, and God gained glory for himself. Our God will not share his glory with anyone. He will fight, and he will gain glory for himself.

May we learn this final lesson from Asa: Weakness is strength, in the kingdom of God. Paul himself had to learn this lesson when he was tempted to become conceited because of the revelations God gave him. God afflicted him, and Paul pleaded for relief. But the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So Paul writes, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9–10).

Saints of God, embrace the ministry of God’s true ministers. Be faithful to God’s covenant. Hear and do the terms of the covenant revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Renew the covenant regularly and practice the principle of 2 Chronicles 7:14. Hate sin and love righteousness. Always welcome God’s gracious rebuke, for the Bible says, “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it” (Ps. 141:5). It also tells us, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Prov. 27:5–6).

Friends, obedience always brings true everlasting blessings. May God help us to rely on him alone and persevere to the very end!