A Million Men, A Few Stones, and a Foot Disease
(II Chronicles 14-16)
For ten years the land of Judah was at peace…there were no wars or battles to be fought. There was no unrest or trouble in the land. Everything was going perfectly. The king of Judah at this time was King Asa…and he was a king that was good in the sight of the Lord. Now THIS is a compliment! This is one of the highest things that you could say about anyone: “they did that which was good in the sight of the Lord.” Wouldn’t you feel honored if someone could look at your life and say, “They did right in the sight of God?” And Asa started out very early doing good…with diligence and zeal he brought the entire nation of Judah back to God. He began to restore worship to the one true God throughout the entire kingdom. What’s more amazing about this story is that Asa’s mother (who was the queen) was an idol worshipper and his father (whose name was?) Abijah, wasn’t much better.
What’s crazy about this is that Asa had no one to look up to…Asa had no role models of righteousness in his life. He didn’t have the faithful parents or grandparents to look over his shoulder and tell him, “Now, don’t you do that…the Lord wouldn’t want you doing that!” He didn’t have the big brother or sister….he didn’t have the best friend to keep him on the right track. He just did it! Yet, he was very determined, even in the younger days of his reign, for the Lord to be glorified in everything that took place in Judah. This young king…began to tear down all the idols that his fathers had built up. He began to go through cities and villages destroying all the idols he could find, and he passed a law against it…and those who were guilty of idol worship would be stoned! He wanted everyone around him to serve the God of heaven. He wanted everyone to know that HE was a follower of God.
Application: How many of you desire the same thing? How many of you look around at your friends, your family and the most INTENSE desire that you have is that they would serve God, just like you? Think about the closest friend that you have on this earth, and ask yourself: “Do I want that person to serve God…do I want that person’s soul to be saved.” That takes a lot of zeal…that takes a lot of maturity in your faith to want to see others be a part of the Lord’s family. It takes a lot of courage to tell one of your friends about the gospel, and most of us don’t have the right mindset when it comes to our friends. We see our friends as the people that we hang out with…that we play XBOX live with, or that we go to the mall with. It takes a special kind of person…a peculiar person to see their friends and DESIRE them to serve God just like you. Asa was that kind of person….he was a person that did that which was good in the sight of the Lord. He was a person that was connected to God!
Your life, right now, may be taking off spiritually. You may be growing and increasing in your faith like you never have before. You may go to every devo, every youth series, every rally, every class…but that earnestness and zeal may fade away during certain times of your life. Whether you’re going through some troubling times in your family, or maybe you’re having some problems at school…those fires that were burning SO BRIGHT for the Lord can begin to fade.
You know it’s easy to determine if you’re on fire for the Lord or not. Whe something is on fire…it ignites other materials around it. Any fire that doesn’t spread will eventually go out. Now a Christian that doesn’t spread their fire for Christ is a contradiction in terms, just like a fire that doesn’t burn is a contradiction. You may have an awesome summer of growth in 2008, but unless we have help from on high…all that fiery zeal can die.
Back to the story: In the middle of his reign Asa’s faith in God…Asa’s zeal to serve God…Asa’s connection to God was put to the test. He was attacked by the Ethiopians (II Chr. 14:9), and they weren’t just a small nation of a few soldiers. They weren’t just a few thousand strong. They came against Judah like a swarm of locust! II Chr. 14:9 says Ethiopia had an army of a million foot soldiers and 300 chariots! How many soldiers did Asa have in his army according to 14:8? 580,000. All of the soldiers that Asa could find within his nation made up a SMALL number compared to this mighty army that was coming to take his land. It appeared as if the whole land would be eaten up like a swarm of locust eating a field of wheat. His back was against the wall…he was outmanned and outnumbered. What was he gonna do? How was he gonna get out of this with his life, and with his country?
Asa believed in God…he was connected with God, and his connection to God was VERY STRONG! This is one of the greatest things that we see about Asa…he was connected with God. His faith was rock-solid in God! Even in the face of tremendous odds…when he was outnumbered almost 2 to 1 he knew that God was on his side. Even in the face of a million soldiers look at what Asa prayed in 14:11: “And Asa cried unto the Lord his God and said, Lord, there is none like Thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude.”
Look at how connected Asa was with the God of heaven when he was in a tough spot! He gave all of his burden to the Lord! He declared that it was left in the hands of the Lord. He believed more in what he didn’t see than what he saw before his very eyes! I don’t know about you, but seeing an army of a million soldiers might have shaken my faith just a bit….there might have been a brief break in the connection. BUT Asa knew that though he was outnumbered…the victory would be given by God. Nothing was impossible for the Lord God of Israel!
Application: There are so many times in the lives of Christians that we forget about the greatest power in any world…and that is the power of God. Do you know that you have the power to overcome any temptation…do you know that you possess the power to bring a soul into the eternal joys of Paradise? YOU HAVE THAT POWER! Do you know that you have a connection with God that no one else in this world has as a child of God? The same hand that created all the things that you see…the same power that sustains every living being on the face of this earth….the same hand that guides the hurricanes across the seas, and makes the sun to rise and set is as close as a prayer away! You have more power in one word that you speak to God than in all the nuclear weapons of the world! As a child of God you have more power than you can imagine! You have the power to control the joy of heaven! The choices that you make here on this earth have a ripple effect that reaches all the way to the shores of heaven! That’s powerful…but it’s a power that we often pass by. It’s a power that we often don’t connect to because we’re distracted by the armies of the world. Asa wasn’t distracted…he was connected! He had plugged into the power of God.
Back to the story: After this powerful prayer, Asa marched into battle with a holy confidence. He met that million man army head on! Asa knew that he wasn’t going to win this battle without God…he relied upon the Lord with a trust that was unmatchable for the forces of the Ethiopians—and God gave him the victory. NOT ONE of those million soldiers was alive after the battle was over! The power of Ethiopia was broken, and Asa returned to Judah with all the spoils of a million man army. That would be something to remember.
After Asa had won that victory, by the power of God, he didn’t let it go to his head. He gets to work PURGING his country of idolatry and sin. He was connected to God, and he continued to be connected. He cleansed the country of its sin…he remembered the prophecy of Azariah in II Chr. 15:1-2 (somebody read those two verses) “Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD [is] with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” (II Chr. 15:2). AS LONG as Asa was connected to God…as long as he kept focusing on God, and keeping his sights fixed on the goal, he would continue to be blessed by Him.
Application: I can’t stress enough…you need to keep a connection with God! You need to have a strong prayer life…you need to keep your connection strong by reading the promises of God in His word… you need to keep your spiritual life strong. There are going to be so many things that keep you distracted from doing what you need to do! Whatever it is that you put your energy into, whether it be school, or sports, or your job, or relationships with friends or girlfriends/boyfriends…keep your connection with God. NEVER…I mean NEVER let your guard down! Never let anything sever that connection! Defend that connection with your life…defend it with all your might! You can’t afford to lose that power!
Back to the story: ASA, after his victory, didn’t show any partiality…he didn’t show any favoritism towards those who were rich or famous in his country. Look at II Chr.15:13 and tell me what Asa did to those who didn’t seek the Lord. They were killed! It didn’t matter if they were young or old, if they were man or woman. ANYONE who disconnected themselves from the Lord was a dead man. And all the people swore an oath, in the presence of God, that they would seek the Lord.
Now, all of this would have been hard for Asa. Asa had a situation in his family. His own mother was an idol worshipper…SHE EVEN had a prized garden in one of the IDOL temple courtyards! But King Asa (her son) fired her from her royal position as queen…took her idol and not merely broke it, but stomped on it and burned it to the ground. Not only this, but Asa went the extra mile to desecrate this idol…and he placed the ashes in the brook of Kidron…a water source that took away the sewage of the temple! He wasn’t playing around! He let the people know that, whether in high places or among the poor—there will be nothing left to provoke the hand of the Lord to wrath!
Application: I want you, right now, to make an oath to God. I want you to swear to the God of heaven, as these people did, that you will follow Him. I want you to promise the God of heaven…that you will NEVER let anyone or anything sever the connection that you have with Him! I want you to have the determination, the grit, and the resolve to do whatever it takes to seek the Lord, and be found in Him! I don’t want you to rely on anyone else…I don’t want you to trust in anyone else…I don’t want you to seek to please anyone else before you please God. I want you to swear that! I want you to do just like ASA did…I want you to get rid of everything in your life that would keep you from fulfilling that promise, just like Asa did.
This is the type of commitment that the Lord wants from you…this is the type of life He wants you to lead…a life that begins and ends with HIM! Can you do that? I’m not going to say that you’re going to be killed or stoned if you don’t keep this promise, but can you promise, before God and these witnesses, that you will do all you can (within your power) to stay connected to God. I want to hear your answer: Will you stay connected with God? (yes/no). And I want you to put this into your memory banks, I want you to click and save this moment in your life, and I want you to remember the promise you made at this very moment, because God will remember.
Back to the story: You would think that a man who saw such great things….who saw such great things happen by the power of God WOULD NEVER come to forsake the Lord in unbelief! He saw a million man army fall before his very eyes. He saw a million men destroyed by the Lord’s power. You would think that such a thing would be the glue that held his faith together for the rest of his life. But even the greatest faith of yesterday will not give us confidence for today…unless the Lord is in it. The greatest of God’s servants soon come to sink into sin, when they forget God is there. All the strength of the strongest life lies in Him. Asa, who saw miracles happen in the kingdom of Judah…ASA, who walked so well before God…nevertheless, came to do foolish things. His heart was right…he was connected. He was sincere…he was genuine….he was a believer in the power of God. But even the holiest of men in Scripture had their imperfections. With the sole exception of our Master, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, in whom was no sin…all of us have sinned. Christ’s garments were whiter than snow….but all of His servants have had their spots. He is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. But we…with all the brightness that we find in the Word of God, are dim lamps at best.
Asa messed up, and you will too. Asa was threatened by Baasha (the king of the neighboring territory of Israel). It wasn’t an all out war…it wasn’t like Baasha showed up outside Judah with all his troops and said, “Let’s get it on!” But Baasha began to build a fortress, in the beginning of II Chr. 16. This fortress, called Ramah, was built for the purpose of ticking off King Asa. This fortress of just a few stones was built so that no one could go out or come into the territory of Judah. Pretty much, Baasha, was cutting off Judah’s supply lines. No Jews were going to be able to go in or go out.
Now, we know the history of Asa. He saw a million man army conquered by the hand of the Lord, and we would have expect, from Asa’s former conduct, that he would have said, “Who cares…the Lord’ll handle it.” This was such a small thing! It was just a few stones…it was one lousy, little fortress. Maybe because it was such a small thing…Asa thought that he could handle it by himself. Asa disconnected himself from God. Maybe he thought he was strong enough to do it on his own. Maybe he thought that God was too busy, and he’ll just take this one on his own. It reminds me of that one soldier with the big gun in all the war movies that sees something move out in the woods, and says, “I got this one,” and he goes into the woods and never comes back.
Asa is that guy. King Asa, remembering that his wicked father had made a covenant with Syria, begins to take his own gold, AND THE GOLD OF THE LORD’S HOUSE, and takes it to Ben-hadad, king of Syria. King Asa, who just a few years earlier totally relied on God for everything, now takes the gold and silver from God’s temple to pay off a heathen king. He tells the king of Syria, “I’m paying you, with the Lord’s money, to break your alliance with king Baasha, and go and make war with Israel.” I can’t understand this! That Asa would go and get the LORD’s MONEY, and give it to a heathen nation! He was making an alliance with a Gentile, heathen king. If he was connected to God…he would have sooner cut out his tongue than make an alliance with the Syrians! That’s what his wicked father did! It was just a few stones…it was one tiny fortress at Ramah. It wasn’t a million men…it wasn’t an army! It was one building!
Application: As a rule…we generally behave worse in little trials than in big ones. If we lose everything…at least we know that there’s no where to go but up. But how is it that the same faith that can go through a hurricane can be capsized by such a little thing as some stupid words spoken by your friends or family that causes tension for the rest of your life? “Did you hear what he said about me…I hate him!” “Did you hear what she said about me…I will never talk to them again!” It only proves this, that it’s not the severity of the trial…it’s having or not having God’s Presence in that trial that is the main thing!
So many times we think that we can handle certain situations without God. If we just tell one lie…one little lie …that’s a way we can handle a situation without making waves. At the time, it seems like the smartest thing to do, cause it’s the path of least resistance. The way we handle little things can cause them to become big things. What happens when you do lie about something little and your parents find out that you lied to them? Are they going to trust you? No! That one lie has just caused a world of hurt in your life. What happens when you say something bad about someone else, and they find out about it, but you don’t apologize for it? When you don’t apologize for those things that you said, then hatred just begins to boil, and boil and boil. If you would have apologized…all would have been forgiven, but now you have this huge fight on your hands! In the trial with the Ethiopians, Asa had faith, but in the little trial with Baasha, king of Israel, Asa forgot faith…Asa forgot God!
DO NOT FORGET ABOUT GOD! He sees what you do and He hears what you say! He knows what you’re thinking! He knows when you choose to break that connection with Him. He knows when you’re trying to do things on your own, and you’re not casting your cares and burdens on Him. He knows what path you choose, and once we’re off the path of the Lord….once we get off the plain, simple way of trusting in God and taking our trouble to God, there’s no telling what we can do. When our walk is with the Lord, it is a safe, holy, honorable walk. But going our own way always ends in shame. If you follow the way of the world, though that way is always a crowded way, it will turn out to be a miserable, dishonorable and wretched way! “Cast your burden upon the Lord: He will sustain you. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Do not try to finish the fight yourself! You may (if you try to do it all yourself) do in five minutes what you can’t undo in 50 years! You may bring upon yourself a lifelong trial by one single action that is done apart from the Lord.
Back to the story: God gets Asa’s attention. After he has stolen the gold from the temple, and paid off the heathen king…no doubt Asa thinks that he did a good job in getting those few stones out of his way. He’s sitting back and relaxing on his throne, patting himself on the back and soaking in the rays. BUT…here comes God’s messenger…his prophet. What’s his name in 16:7? Hanani. Let’ see what he says in II Chr. 16:7-9------READ-----.
Asa knows that he’s messed up, and he begs God’s forgiveness doesn’t he? He knows that he’s disconnected himself from the power of God, and he pleads for mercy, doesn’t he? NOPE. He listens to the messenger of God, and with each word that comes out of Hanani’s mouth…Asa gets angrier and angrier and angrier! And when Hanani was done with what the LORD HAD TOLD HIM TO SAY, Asa throws the prophet of God in prison. He’s mad because he messed up! He doesn’t want to take the blame on himself.
Have you ever been playing basketball or any sport, and you’re not doing great and your shots aren’t falling, so you just get so upset that you take it out on other people. You may throw a shove here and there….you may put an elbow into the chest of somebody else when you go up for a rebound. You’re taking out your own frustrations on other people. Or how about when you come home, and you’ve already had a bad day and your mom comes in and says, “We have decided NOT to let you get a car this summer because of how you’ve been acting lately.” It’s kill the messenger time. It’s get angry with everybody else because we don’t want to face facts time!
Asa was told that he was disconnected…he wasn’t the same man that looked over the million man army of Ethiopia and said, “God, you take care of it.” He wasn’t the same man that commanded all the people in Judah to seek the Lord! He was now a man that was disconnected from God. By his own law, he deserved to die! So, God seems to say, “Hey, if you won’t listen to my prophet, and you insist on getting angry with everyone else…then have some disease! Maybe that’ll get your attention!” And God sent Asa a disease in his feet—a very painful disease. He had to suffer night and day. He was tormented with it! God’s own hand was heavy upon him.
Now…this should have driven Asa to repentance...it should have opened his eyes to the fact that he was so far away from the Lord, but maybe to show that affliction and pain within themselves won’t necessarily open somebosy’s eyes, Asa STILL turned his back on God. Instead of asking God for help…who did Asa send for in 16:12? His physicians. Who do we send for before we go to God, most of the time? The physicians! Now…it’s not wrong to send for a doctor….it’s a good thing to want to get better—but it is very wrong to send for doctors in place of going to God—thus putting the human action before the Divine.
Asa’s life, after this, was filled with war and pain. The evening of his life was clouded with bitterness, and his sun was set in anguish.
Application: Do you like it when people tell you that you’re doing something wrong? How many people here love it when they’re corrected? None of us. How many of you tend to get irritated if someone corrects you, and you don’t think you did anything wrong? But there are going to be times where you need to be corrected…where you need to be put in your place. ALL OF US HAVE SINNED! That means that all of us need correction! And someone is going to either do it in this life, or in the next. It’s better to learn your lessons here than it is to learn them there. When someone comes to you and tells you that you’re doing something wrong…the hardest thing to do is to take that and examine it BEFORE you get angry. Asa just flew off the handle and said, “Who are you to tell me what I did wrong,” when he should have reflected on what he did, and then changed.
The easiest way to see if your connection with God is weak is to let someone tell you you’re wrong. If you fly off the handle…you’re not connected to God. BUT if you take what they say and examine it, and reflect on your own life….then you know that God has helped you to see what you need to change.
Look at your life right now…look at the things that you do, the things that you say, the places that you go, the people you hang out with, and answer this question: Are you connected to God? And if you’re not, don’t do what Asa did and reject the messenger. Change what needs to be changed, and plug back into the greatest power of all…the power of God.