No .04 King Asa

I like to read in the Old Testament about the kings, the battles and the adventures they went on. One of the battles that you might not have stumbled across is found in the life of King Asa.

The bible, when it talks about the period of kings in Israel and Judah, often says one of two things. 1. They did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, or 2. They did what was detestable in the eyes of the Lord.

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.

Asa was king in Judah and had a time of peace after he had gone through the land destroying all the paraphernalia set up to worship false gods. King Asa had about “300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valour.”
2 Chronicles 14:8

“Here is the thing, sometimes, even when everything is right and you haven’t done anything to warrant the nightmare on your doorstep, it still turns up!”

King Asa had done a good job; he had sorted the people out and their wavering devotion to God. He had good relationships within the kingdom and around it, he had fortified the cities and established a decent army, good times.

Here is the thing, sometimes, even when everything is right and you haven’t done anything to warrant the nightmare on your doorstep, it still turns up! For King Asa this nightmare was an army led by Zereh the Ethiopian, and when I say army I mean an army of a million men and 300 chariots. That’s a big problem.

Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you. 2 Chronicles 14:11

King Asa, his army and the authority from God, enabled him to defeat the Ethiopian army, all 1 million of them! King Asa chased them and not one survived. Again, this stuff isn’t easy reading but it is there in the bible and we can’t ignore it.

So what’s the point with all this stuff? Well I actually want to make two points. The first is the one we have just explored, stuff, trouble, chaos and the odd punch up in your life will happen. Even when you are ‘doing’ everything right. Depression might hit, financial crises, marriage breakdown, sickness and death. We can follow King Asa’s example and fall to our knees and call on the name of the Lord. Won’t mean you get the outcome you want! But it will ensure you are not alone in the fight.

Second thing to mention is that King Asa didn’t actually learn from this. Trouble came knocking again in his life, and instead of running to God, he ran to his network, his partnerships, he allies, basically he relied on his own strength, and it failed!

Image Credit: Word for WORD Bible Comic
The Word for WORD Bible Comic is a historically accurate, unabridged and untamed graphic novel of the Bible with a high view of Scripture.