Tag Archives: 2 Chronicles 17

Daily Bible Study

May 22, 2024 Bible Study — If We Seek God, We Will Find Him

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 15-18.

Yesterday I said that we often overlook Asa.  Today’s passage makes it clear that that is our fault.  The writer here tells us enough that we should recognize what a great leader Asa was.  After Asa had defeated the Cushite army by calling on God, God sent Ahaziah to prophesy to Asa and the people of Judah.  The message which he gave them is one which applies to all people for all time.  First he told them that God will be with us when we are with God.  That is a vitally important lesson.  If we want God to be with us when trouble comes, then we need to be with Him now.  Then Ahaziah told Asa and the people of Judah something which is repeated multiple times throughout the Bible: those who seek God will find Him.  Those two messages together should give us great hope and joy.  Ahaziah even explains why that message is such a message of hope.  He tells his audience that at one time Israel was without God.  At that time the people were in turmoil and it was not safe to travel.  In response to that situation, the people sought God, and He as found by them.  Today, once again the land is in turmoil.  So, let us seek God so that we may be with Him, and let us encourage others to do likewise.

I want to point out that not all of those who seek God know what they are seeking.  But even those who do not know what they are seeking will find God, if that is what they truly desire.  I also want to note that while only those whom God has called will seek Him, we have no way to know to whom His call has gone.  I, also, believe that some who have been called by God reject His call.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

May 22, 2023 Bible Study — We Must Not Allow Age To Rob Us Of The Joy Of Serving God

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 15-18.

I think that we do not give King Asa as much attention as we should.  His story contains some great lessons for us.  Most of his reign provides us with an example we should follow, while the last few years of it provide us with a warning.  Starting at the beginning of his reign, Asa destroyed the altars and places of worship for idols and led the people to faithfully worship God.  He committed himself to serving God his entire life.  His dedication to God led Israelites from the Northern Kingdom to relocate to Judah.  After relying on God to defeat a vast invading army, he held a great festival to praise and worship God.  The people of Judah enthusiastically followed Asa’s lead and took an oath to serve God.  As I read over what I just wrote, I realized that I have failed to communicate the joy which the passage conveys that the people felt over their dedication to the Lord.  And that is perhaps the most important part of what Asa did, he led the people of Judah to serve and worship God with joy.

Unfortunately, late in his life King Asa became more “pragmatic”.  When King Baasha of Israel began fortifying the border to isolate Judah (probably at least in part in response to his own people moving to Judah), instead of turning to God for aid, Asa bribed the king of Aram to go to war against Israel.  When confronted about this by a prophet, rather than accept his criticism, Asa had the prophet imprisoned.  The passage also tells us that at the same time Asa began oppressing some of the people.  While the passage does not outright say so, I suspect that the people who oppressed were those who were critical of his actions.  Then when he was afflicted with some sort of disorder in his feet, King Asa sought only the aid of doctors, he did not seek help from God.  I find this very sad, as his life ended without the joy in serving God which filled so much of it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

May 22, 2022 Bible Study — God Will Be Found By Those Who Seek Him

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 15-18.

I want to expound on the prophesy which Azariah spoke to King Asa after the latter’s victory over the mighty Cushite army.  King Asa was inspired by that prophecy to seek the Lord, and to assemble the people who looked to him for leadership for them to enter into a covenant to seek the Lord.  Here is Azariah’s prophecy:

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. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

This prophecy is not very long, but it says a lot.  When we do the Lord’s will, He will be with us.  And if we seek God, He will be found by us.  If anyone seeks God, He will be found by them.   When the people do not know the true God, their land will be in distress.  Isn’t that what we see in the world today?  It is not safe to travel and people everywhere are in great turmoil.  One nation is being crushed by another.  And why is this?  Because God is troubling the people of the world with great distress because they do not know Him.  Perhaps in their distress they will turn to Him.  Then He will be found by them.  As for us who already know Him, let us be strong and not give up.  We have work to do, let us be about it.  If we do the work which God has given us we will be rewarded…by seeing that God’s work has been done.  And let’s not forget the negative side of Azariah’s prophecy:

If we forsake God, He will forsake us. 

I do not want to be forsaken by God, that may be my greatest fear.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

May 22, 2021 Bible Study Even One Whose Heart Is Fully Committed To The Lord Can Make Mistakes

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 15-18.

We generally overlook Asa because the Bible tells us much more about his son Jehoshaphat.  Yet, here we learn that King Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord for all of his life.  His religious reforms encouraged more people to migrate from the Northern Kingdom into Judah.  King Asa called the people to assemble for a festival to worship God and rededicate themselves to Him.  For all of the great things which he did in the service of God, late in his reign when Baasha, King of Israel, attacked him, rather than trusting in God to deliver victory, King Asa sent a bribe to the king of Aram.  At the same time he became intolerant of those who criticized him.  So, we learn that even one whose heart is fully committed to the Lord can make mistakes.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

May 22, 2020 Bible Study Sometimes the Fires of Youth Turn Into the Cynicism of Age

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 15-18.

It is interesting that Asa conducted his major religious reforms after his great victory, not before.  While yesterday’s passage tells us that God gave King Asa victory because he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, today’s passage tells us that a prophetic message upon his return led him to remove the detestable idols from all of the towns and villages under his control.  We see how the victory’s which God gives us as a result of our trust in Him can inspire us to even greater worship of God.

However, the end of King Asa’s reign gives us a warning as well.  Despite the great victories which God gave him as a young man, when Asa got older and faced war once more he sought pagan allies rather than putting his trust in God.  Further, when confronted by a prophet about this lack of trust in God, rather than humbly repent he struck out at the one bringing him God’s message.

Daily Bible Study

May 22, 2019 Bible Study — Forgetting The Lessons Of Our Youth

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 15-18.

As Asa returned from his victory over the Ethiopian army, he was confronted by a prophet of God, but not in an accusatory or otherwise negative way.  Rather, the prophet confronted him with a call to carry on with his reliance and dependence on God.  Asa responded to both God’s aid in the battle and the exhortation of the prophet.  He removed the idols from all of the towns which were under his control and repaired the altar at the entrance to the Temple.  The writer tells us that many people moved from the Northern Kingdom into Asa’s territory when they saw that God was with Asa.  That tells me that Asa’s reforms had an economic impact as well as a spiritual one.  Asa followed up his other reforms by calling the people to gather in Jerusalem.  At this gathering, the people dedicated themselves to seek the Lord.  We see here that God uses good times and bad times to call people to Himself.  In other passages we see how when things are bad, people call out to God for rescue and turn away from evil.  Here times had been good and they had just won a great victory over a powerful threat.  This caused the people to praise God and have a renewed dedication to serving Him.  We have no excuse for not praising God with all of our being.

Unfortunately, late in his reign King Asa forgot the lessons he should have learned from these early events.  When King Baasha of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, made war against him, rather than once more relying on God, Asa bribed the king of Aram to attack Israel.   When King Asa first took the throne and faced adversity, he did not feel like he had any choice but to rely on the Lord.  Later in his reign he felt like he did not need to call on the Lord when faced once more with adversity.  He thought he had a better way to solve this new problem.  We are all tempted by such things when we get established in life.  We think that now we have the resources to stand on our own two feet and no longer need to rely on God.  I pray that I never again make that mistake.

Daily Bible Study

May 22, 2018 Bible Study — Trust in the Lord, or Trust in Man?

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 15-18.

    In the early years of his reign, King Asa was receptive to the words of God delivered to him through prophets. Later, he imprisoned a prophet who gave him a message from God. Of course, there was a major difference between the messages those prophets gave him. The first praised him for his trust in God, the second berated him for not doing so. The key here was that when the Southern Kingdom was attacked by the Ethiopian (Cushite) army, King Asa could see no choices but to rely on God. When he was later attacked by the Northern Kingdom, he thought he could deal with it without God. Rather than trusting in God, King Asa took treasures dedicated to God and used them to bribe a foreign king to attack the Northern Kingdom.

    I am not sure what happened to King Asa. Early in his reign he trusted in the Lord and his enthusiasm led the people of his kingdom to do the same. He caused the people to enter into a renewed covenant with God. One of the consequences of his enthusiastic faith was that people migrated from the Northern Kingdom to his kingdom to join in the worship of the Lord. It was this migration which probably led to King Baasha of the Northern Kingdom attacking him (we are told that King Baasha attacked in order to close the border). In other words, King Asa did not trust God to protect him when he was attacked for worshiping the Lord.

    Despite the fact that King Asa failed to put his trust in God in his later years, Jehoshaphat, his son, was faithful when he succeeded him. The one thing which can be held against King Jehoshaphat was his friendship with King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom. Even there, he really only made one mistake. King Jehoshaphat tried to be a good influence on King Ahab. He pointed out that prophets of Baal were not prophets of God. Then, He chided him for being petty and un-kingly because he did not want to listen to the one prophet of God because that prophet did not tell King Ahab what he wanted to hear. However, despite being aware of King Ahab’s flaws and idolatry, King Jehoshaphat arranged for his son, and heir, to marry King Ahab’s daughter. The end result being that King Jehoshaphat’s son was not faithful to God as his father had been.

    I really did not intend to spend that much time on that. What I really want to bring attention to is the fact that Jehoshaphat sent his officials throughout the kingdom to teach the people. While they took the Book of the Law with them, I do not believe that they limited themselves to teaching God’s commands. I believe that King Jehoshaphat’s officials taught the people to, at the very least, read and write so that they could read, and make copies of, the Book of the Law for themselves. The fact that his people were educated and faithful to God led the rulers of the surrounding lands to be afraid of King Jehoshaphat.