Bible Study

Just for your thoughts.
2 Chronicles .
Bible Lesson Five .

2 Chronicles .
Bible Lesson Five .
King Asa: Two Sides of His Life
“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
— Galatians 3:3
Among the many Old Testament figures to whom Paul’s question aptly applies, King Asa, who ruled over the land of Judah, is one.
For nearly thirty-five years, Asa walked in ways pleasing to the Lord and carried out many reforms. But during the last seven years of his life, he turned away from the Lord, neither trusting Him nor repenting—and he died in that state.
Scripture passages for meditation:
2 Chronicles chapters 14, 15, and 16
When Zerah the Ethiopian came out against Judah with an army of one million soldiers and three hundred chariots, Asa cried out to God, saying:

“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 mere mortals prevail against You.”
— 2 Chronicles 14:11
The Lord struck down the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and they fled.
— 2 Chronicles 14:12
Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to obey His laws and commands.
— 2 Chronicles 14:4
He removed the high places and incense altars from every city in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.
— 2 Chronicles 14:5
Above all, he made a covenant with the people that anyone—small or great, man or woman—who did not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death.
— 2 Chronicles 15:13
In short, Asa was one of the best kings who ruled over Judah. For thirty-five years, he lived a life pleasing to the Lord.
However, in his life, Asa committed three major mistakes.
1. Trusting Man Instead of God
The turning point in Asa’s life came when Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from entering or leaving Asa’s territory. At that time, Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and from his own palace and sent them to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram (Syria), who ruled in Damascus. He requested him to break his treaty with Baasha so that the king of Israel would withdraw.
— 2 Chronicles 16:2–3
Asa acted accordingly, but this angered God.
— 2 Chronicles 16:1
He forgot how God had delivered him earlier when Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with a million soldiers and three hundred chariots. Instead of trusting God, Asa relied on the king of Syria and used money to deal with the king of Israel.
2. Rejecting God’s Correction
When the prophet Hanani rebuked him, saying
,
“You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war,
”
Asa became very angry. He imprisoned the prophet, and at the same time he brutally oppressed some of the people.
— 2 Chronicles 16:9–10
3. Refusing to Seek the Lord Even in Sickness
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa suffered from a disease in his feet. Though his illness was severe, he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from physicians.
— 2 Chronicles 16:12
Thus, King Asa died without being freed from his backsliding and without seeking the Lord in his final days.
In our spiritual life, what matters is not how we started or how we ran, but how we finish. It is vital to remain steadfast in New Testament teachings and doctrines until the end.
Many of us cling firmly to the Lord during times of suffering. But when comfort, opportunities, and wealth increase, pride and compromise often cause us to fail in doing God’s will. In the end, we may lose everything God had planned for us and enter heaven empty-handed.
In our spiritual life, the end is just as important as the beginning.
Our place in heaven will be determined by how we finish our spiritual race.