Second
Chronicles 15:12
The Bible says
in Second Chronicles 15:12-19, And they
entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their
heart and with all their soul;[13] That whosoever would not seek the
LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man
or woman.[14] And they sware unto the LORD
with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.[15]
And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart,
and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD
gave them rest round about.[16] And also
concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen,
because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped
it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.[17] But the high places were not
taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his
days.[18] And he brought into the house of God the things that his
father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and
vessels.[19] And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year
of the reign of Asa. What the Israelites did in verse twelve is a
great thing: they entered
into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and
with all their soul. We should
all do that every day. We will not find Him unless we seek Him. But what they
did in verse thirteen is absolutely not what we want to do today. That was the
Old Testament and we are in the times of the New Testament. It says in verse
thirteen, That
whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether
small or great, whether man or woman. That would be terrible to do something like
that. Everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe. No one
should be forced to accept any religious beliefs, not even the true beliefs.
God gave man free will. God lets people choose: we should do the same. God
hopes that people will make the right choice, and He works in their hearts and
lives so that they will wake up and see their need of Jesus. But God does not
force anyone. Freedom of choice comes from God.
Once the Israelites started seeking the Lord, they
found Him. As it says in verse fifteen, he was found of them. It always works that way. If someone does not
have a good relationship with the Lord or do not even know Jesus as Savior, it
means at least one thing: they are not seeking the Lord. Seek and ye shall
find.
One more thing to notice about Asa is the fact
that he removed his mother from being queen because she was involved with false
religion. Sometimes we do have to make a choice: God or family. That is why we
have the following recorded in the New Testament: in order to warn us that
family relationships can keep us from doing what the Lord wants us to do. It
says in Luke 9:59-62, And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer
me first to go and bury my father.[60] Jesus said unto him, Let the dead
bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.[61] And
another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them
farewell, which are at home at my house.[62] And Jesus said unto him, No
man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God.
The Bible says in Second Chronicles 16:1-5, In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of
Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent
that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.[2] Then
Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD
and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-hadad king
of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,[3] There is a league between
me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent
thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he
may depart from me.[4] And Ben-hadad hearkened
unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of
Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store cities
of Naphtali.[5] And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left
off building of Ramah, and let his work cease. When King Asa needed help against King Baasha of
the northern kingdom, Asa took some of the treasure out of the temple and gave
it to the king of Syria to buy his assistance. It seemed to work. Asa got the
results that he was looking for in that King Baasha was no longer a threat. But
the next verses tell us what really happened.
The Bible says in Second Chronicles 16:6-9, Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they
carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was
building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.[7] And at that time
Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast
relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is
the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.[8] Were not the
Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many
chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered
them into thine hand.[9] 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. Herein thou hast done
foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have
wars. Asa was a believer and did a lot of good things
as king, but somewhere along the way Asa stopped trusting in the Lord for
things as he should have. That can happen. Make sure that you trust the Lord
for everything. Asa trusted in the king of Syria instead of the Lord. The Lord
wants us to trust in Him. He is our God. It is a form of idolatry to trust in
anyone or anything instead of the Lord. Verse nine is a great verse to
remember. The first part of it says, 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. Evidently, in the context to have a perfect
heart towards God means that you trust in Him for everything. You pray to Him,
you rely upon Him, and you depend upon Him for everything. God loves it when
someone does that. He is constantly looking for someone to do that.
The Bible says in Second Chronicles 16:10-14, Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in
a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa
oppressed some of the people the same time.[11] And, behold, the acts of
Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and
Israel.[12] And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was
diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease
he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.[13] And Asa slept with
his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.[14] And
they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had
made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled
with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared
by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him. Even though Asa is considered a good king of
Israel, he really went bad at the end of his life. If you are not spiritually
minded, you will be carnally minded, and you will do the things of the flesh
instead of the things of the Spirit. This principle is stated very clearly in
Galatians 5:16-25, This I say
then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.[17]
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would.[18] But if ye be led of the
Spirit, ye are not under the law.[19] Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,[20]
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies,[21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God.[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,[23] Meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law.[24] And they that are Christ's
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.[25] If we live
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Asa was angry with the preaching of the Word and
with Gods preacher. Asa put the preacher in prison, and Asa oppressed some of
the people: probably the people who did not agree with him. Thus, he was
persecuting the believers and abusing his power. And evidently Asa never did
repent and get right with the Lord from that point up to the day he died. It
says in verse twelve that yet in his
disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. Many people make that mistake. They trust in
doctors more than the Lord. Yes, get the best medical treatment than you can.
But more important than that is to pray to the Lord about your medical
situation. Only the Lord can make the doctors care be of help to you. And the
Lord can heal you without doctors, if He wants to. Christians are told in James
5:14-16, Is any sick
among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over
him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:[15] And the prayer
of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.[16] Confess your faults one
to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Olive oil was used for many ailments. The
anointing with oil meant to use olive oil. Use medicines and doctors, but
most importantly, pray and rely upon the Lord, and confess any sins in your
life. Obviously, there were few or no believers with the gift to heal when these
verses in the book of James were written. If there were those with such a gift,
the instruction would be to go find someone with the gift of healing and ask
them to heal you. But, no, Christians are not told to do so, and that is
probably because the gift of healing was already disappearing. But God can
still heal and that is why prayer is so important.
Asas life is a good example that even though you
start serving the Lord and even though you serve Him for many years, something
can get you off track and cause you to end up living a life in the flesh.
Confess your sins daily to the Lord Jesus and seek Him with all of your heart
daily. If you do not, you will fall away.
The Bible says in Second Chronicles 17:1-6, And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead,
and strengthened himself against Israel.[2] And he placed forces in all
the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the
cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.[3] And the LORD was
with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and
sought not unto Baalim;[4] But sought to the
LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings
of Israel.[5] Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and
all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.[6] And his heart was lifted up
in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out
of Judah. Why was God with Jehoshaphat and why did God help Jehoshaphat?
We are given the answer in verses three and four. First, we are told that
Jehoshaphat walked in
the first ways of his father David. What a great example that David set for others to follow. We can
get the same benefit from the Psalms because David wrote many of the Psalms.
The second thing mentioned about Jehoshaphat is that he did not get involved in
false religion. That is only possible if you know what true religion is through
the study of the Word of God. Verse four says that Jehoshaphat sought the Lord. That is critically important. What do you seek? Jesus
said, Seek and ye
shall find. Because
Jehoshaphat truly sought the Lord, Jehoshaphat walked in his commandments. You cannot say that you are seeking the Lord if
you are not keeping His commandments. Jesus said, If you love me, keep my commandments. If you understand life and if you have ever
walked in fellowship with Jesus, then you know how important it is to be close
to Him, so you can benefit from His help. It says in verse five that
Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance because he served the Lord. God does not make everyone rich, but
He can if he wants to. But there is something more important than riches:
finding true happiness in this life. Happiness is knowing the Lord and living
within His favor, and so it says about Jehoshaphat in verse six, And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the
LORD.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2021 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved