Hope From the Word

Guest (Male): Are you in a difficult situation right now? Derive encouragement and hope from the Word, next.

Bill Luebkemann: You look out there and you say, "I can't get through the next day or the week or the next month. I have to see the doctor. I didn't get the good results. I'm having trouble in my household. The boss has been picking on me. I'm about to lose my job and business hasn't been so good right now and they're laying off people."

The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are looking around to strengthen those who are fully committed to Him, fully committed to Him.

Guest (Male): The Christian life isn't a sprint. It isn't a stroll in the park either. It's a race, and we're encouraged to run with endurance the race which is set before us. Some start out of the gate quite well but finish weak. Others give up halfway through for one reason or another.

How can we be among the few that start and finish well? Today on Hope From the Word, we give attention to the life of King Asa. He started strong and ended weak. He made a mistake that has been repeated through the ages. He relied on man's sufficiency instead of relying on God. Operating in the flesh leads to huge problems as we'll soon see. Here's Pastor Bill Luebkemann in 2 Chronicles 15 and 16.

Bill Luebkemann: It says here these nations were being crushed by one another and cities by one another because God was troubling them. The reason was because they weren't following God. "But as for you," he said, talking to the folks coming back from the battle here, "As for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."

It's funny when God tells you not to give up after you just won. You'd think He would tell you not to give up before the battle, not after. We're fighting into the battle, don't give up. You're going to fight the battle, don't give up. But here they're coming back. They have all this booty, all these animals, probably gold and silver and all kinds of things. What's the guy talking about telling us not to give up? We already won. We don't need to worry about giving up.

But there's always the next battle. There's always the next thing coming down the pike. In fact, I think this King here would have been well to follow this advice, which he didn't follow for long. Actually, he did follow it for long, but eventually he got off from it. When God tells you not to give up, that means that there's the chance that you might give up. If God's telling you not to do something, then maybe there's a risk that you're going to do it.

When God says, "Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded," then you better start to think, "If God's telling me not to give up here, I guess I'm going to be tested again. And maybe the next time it won't be so easy." So I've got to pay attention when God speaks. Everything He says is worth hearing. He doesn't have idle chatter like we all have in our lives. He doesn't put His mouth in motion before He puts His brain in gear. He doesn't say anything that doesn't matter. His words all matter.

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord's temple. So this guy was greatly encouraged by hearing these words. He prayed and he knew God was with him, and God gave him the victory.

Now God actually sends someone to him to deliver a message. How many times we might pray, "Lord, just give me an understanding of what You want me to do here. Give me vision. Send me a sign or something. Help me to make up my mind. I can't decide what to do, Lord." Here, the guy wasn't even asking for God to speak to him and God sent a prophet and spoke to him. He was encouraged by that. God talking to me. And now he got out there and even more so than previously, removing idols from the whole land.

It said before he already did that. Well, obviously he didn't do it all. There were more of them left. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim, the towns he had taken. Some people think maybe it might be referring to the towns his father had taken. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord's temple. It had fallen into some disrepair, and he fixed that up.

Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. Remember, the Northern Kingdom had pretty much left the Lord long before this. Many of the people in the Northern Kingdom had already moved down to the South, but now many more people looked down to the South and they see that these people are really walking with the Lord.

"That's what we want for ourselves. We're going to get out of here and move down there with them." So large numbers of people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon had come down and settled with them because they saw the Lord was working in the Kingdom of Judah and they wanted to get out of the Northern Kingdom, get down to the Southern Kingdom, and be in a place where God was working. I think we can learn a lesson from that also, which is we want to be where God is doing things.

When we see God working, when God puts something in front of us that He's doing, if He's showing you that He's working somewhere, then that's probably His invitation for you to get involved in what He's doing. They saw God working and they wanted to get involved. They didn't want to be off doing their own thing, pretending, going through the religious motions. They weren't just going to go to church on Sunday and dress up for it and act nice and make the neighbors all think they were real nice people. They wanted to be in a place where the people really were relying on God and where God was really blessing.

So all these people are moving down from the Northern Kingdom, immigrating into the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the 15th year of Asa's reign. Now look, remember it said he had 10 years of peace. So this battle that we just read about came sometime after the 10th year. And now we're up to the 15th year of his kingdom. Just so you know, he reigns for like 41 years, so we're not even to the halfway point yet. But these events take some time to happen. They don't all happen in the same week.

They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the 15th year of Asa's reign. At that time, they sacrificed to the Lord 700 head of cattle and 7,000 sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. So they just get together and have this enormous worship service. They're just praising God and worshipping Him in the biggest way that they know how. They make this enormous sacrifice, 7,700 animals. Imagine how long it took for the priest to do all that work.

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They agreed together under the leadership of this king. We're going to seek God together. We're going to follow Him together. Imagine what would happen in America if our leaders said, "Hey, we're going to seek God."

You say that could never happen. Well, it happened when they fought the Revolutionary War. Over there in Independence Hall, they were all sitting over there seeking God, praying for God to work. And He did. What a novel idea. Now if you try to do that, they say we can't have those sectarian prayers here. Might offend somebody. These people got together and made a covenant to seek the Lord, which almost sounds like what was done 200 and some years ago in Philadelphia when we were fighting the Revolutionary War, meeting together to pray that God would work.

And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers. Look, I'm not saying America is the chosen land or the chosen people or anything. I'm just saying when people seek God, He honors that. It doesn't matter if you're in America, Russia, South America, Africa, at the North Pole or the South Pole, or on the moon. God honors it when people seek Him. They got together and they agreed together. We're going to seek the Lord. They were stoked here. They won the battle, they had the plunder, all these things had happened. They were stoked.

And they decided we're going to work together here to seek the Lord with all of our heart and soul. All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. No favorites here. They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. In other words, they had a band going on here, a worship team. And they were singing and shouting and playing music. It doesn't sound like it was real organized.

All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and He was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side. They won this battle, they passed this test with flying colors. They were seeking God with everything they had, and the Lord now blessing them, rest. No battles, no more enemies, nobody marching up against you.

King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. And there was no more war until the 35th year of Asa's reign.

Twenty more years of peace here. Look, even his own grandmother. Now he had been the king for 15 years. She was the queen mother, but she had made this repulsive Asherah pole, an idol that she worshipped in some way. Asa deposed her, took her out of her position as queen mother. He didn't kill her. He took her out of her position. He cut the pole down. He broke it up and burned it and said, "That's the end of that."

Now you see, we saw back in the beginning of chapter 14 he was removing the high places and the incense altars, but this pole was still there. And then we saw earlier in the beginning of chapter 15 around verse eight or so, he was removing more idols. But this pole was still there. So we see it was a progressive thing where he didn't really get everything at once. His own grandmother got away with this detestable idol for quite some time here. Or who knows, maybe she had just made it. Maybe she was making this thing because now that they won the battle, she's going to set up her own Asherah pole and thank her idols that they won the battle.

He cut it down, broke it up, fired her from her job, and burned it. Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, we're going to see he didn't quite do the whole job completely. These were the places where they worshipped God, but they did it improperly. They were to worship God only at the temple and only in the prescribed manner. They were to go to the festivals at the temple. They'd bring their animal to the temple. If they wanted to make an offering, they brought that to the temple and they had the priest would offer it.

They worshipped God through the proper way, and God was honored by that. But when you worship God the wrong way, well, He didn't want them to do that. And this guy didn't quite carry it far enough. He didn't remove the high places, which were the places where they were going to worship. They were worshipping the real God, just in the wrong place, maybe perhaps in the wrong way. It wasn't a problem of his heart, though, because his heart was fully committed, it says, to the Lord all his life.

He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. What he had, he gave to God. His life was dedicated to Him. He was 100 percent sold out for the Lord. And there was no more war for 20 more years. That's a long time. When you think about it, that's the term length of five presidents in America, five four-year terms if you will, until he had been in office for 35 years, which was roughly equivalent to a president being elected nine times. This guy had been around a long time.

Somewhere during that time, I want to suggest to you that perhaps he started to think it was because of him that he had won these battles. I think maybe he was beginning to give himself the credit. "Boy, I'm some kind of a great king. Look at what I've got going here. Isn't this amazing? God did all this, but I must be pretty special for God to be using me in this way." Look what happens in chapter 16. In the 36th year of Asa's reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

In the 36th year, the King of Israel goes up against them and sets up, if you will, a blockade to prevent anybody from Judah from leaving or entering their land. Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord's temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. "Let there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me."

So here we have the situation where the Northern Kingdom here has a treaty going with Ben-Hadad over in Aram, and he's helping them blockade the Southern Kingdom of Judah. So Asa's response should have been to do what? To ask God for advice. "Hey God, should I go up against these people? Are You going to give me the victory? How should I handle this? What do You want me to do here?" But he doesn't seek God at all. Doesn't mention that he prays. Doesn't mention he doesn't call a priest. Doesn't make an offering. Doesn't ask God what to do.

No, he goes completely to the human way of doing things, completely to the flesh. And here he is, he goes to Ben-Hadad, who used to be friends with his father. Ben is now in cahoots with the Northern Kingdom, and he buys him off with God's money. He takes the silver and gold out of the temple, sends it on up to Ben-Hadad, this probably big caravan with all kinds of silver and gold and says, "Hey, remember me? You knew my father. You were probably here when I was a little boy. And here's a bunch of silver and gold. It's not much, but it's all I have. I want you to be my buddy instead of being the buddy of the King of Israel."

He bought him off, paid him off, took God's money out of God's treasury without even asking God for help. And he went and paid off this guy when God would have given him a great victory, I have no doubt, if he had asked God for it. Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. So he got this guy to flip. He got Ben-Hadad to flip now. And now Ben-Hadad is on his side fighting against Israel.

They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. So when the King of Israel heard that his ally had been bought off by the Southern Kingdom, he pulled back. He stopped working in Ramah, which was the city that they were using to blockade the South. He pulled out, abandoned his work, stopped what he was doing.

Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah. So he gets Ben-Hadad to break the treaty. Ben-Hadad is now on his side, fights against Israel with him. Israel pulls out, and Asa is able to go in and take all those building supplies out of that town Ramah and bring them back down and fortify some of his cities.

But there's no mention here at all that he sought the Lord. It doesn't say he asked God at any point what he should do. At that time, Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him... Now another guy who's a prophet, another message comes to him. You remember some 20 years earlier Azariah son of Oded came to him with a good word that was encouraging. This guy comes to him with a bad word that is discouraging. Remember what the Lord had told him previously? If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you will forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Look, when He tells you that, when God tells you if you forsake Me, I'm going to forsake you, and you think, "Oh, that'll never happen. I've been a strong believer all these years. I've seen other people go by the wayside, but it would never happen to me." He wouldn't say it if it might not happen, if it wasn't a possibility. And here was a guy who was a strong believer and yet he's being warned. Don't forsake God. And in fact, he should have paid attention to the warning. He did forsake God.

At that time Hanani the seer, we're up to verse seven now in chapter 16, at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand." You relied on this guy. You made him your friend. And now his army has escaped from you. You could have defeated them, I think is what God is saying here.

If you had called on Me, let Me work, you could have defeated that army. But because you made a deal with the enemy, so to speak, you bought off the enemy, sooner or later they're going to be your enemy again and they're still going to be around because you didn't do what you could have done. The army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Sometimes what seems to be the most expedient isn't always the best in the long term, either.

And what seems to be the natural thing, you get your dander up, something happens, and you're just going to get right out there and take care of it in your flesh and just do what you know how to do. And you can say, "I did that before, I know how to do it. It's happened to me before. I went to college too, you know. And this is what we're going to do." You can talk and talk and talk. But did you really seek God and ask God what He wanted you to do?

"The army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war."

Look, the prophet here telling them, "Didn't you beat the Cushites some 20-some years ago? Was it because you paid somebody off? Was it because of your skill? Was it because you went to the war college and learned the proper techniques? Was it because you had maps and better intelligence and more sophisticated technology and all that other kind of stuff? No, it was because you relied on the Lord, and He delivered them over to you. But now you've stopped doing that."

I love this verse: For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those hearts who are fully committed to Him. In other words, He's always on the lookout for someone who's committed to Him. That can be you. That can be me. That can be any one of us today. He's on the lookout to strengthen those who are fully committed to Him. You look out there and you say, "I can't get through the next day or the week or the next month. I have to see the doctor. I didn't get the good results. I'm having trouble in my household. The boss has been picking on me. I'm about to lose my job and business hasn't been so good right now and they're laying off people."

The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are looking around to strengthen those who are fully committed to Him, fully committed to Him. Not just doing it for show once a week on Sunday morning, trying to impress everybody. "I hope the neighbors see that I go to church while they're cutting their grass and having breakfast in bed." No, to those who are fully committed to Him, who rely on Him, who cling to Him, who are sold out for Him. This prophet tells Asa, "You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war."

What would the correct response have been here? What should he have done? When Nathan said to David, "You are the man," David repented immediately. Immediately. He still paid a hefty price, but he repented. And David is described as a man who was after God's own heart. He loved God with everything that he had. This King Asa here could have repented at this point. He could have said, "Holy cow, you're so right. How could I be such a fool? What kind of a crazy nut am I?"

He could have been bowed down on the ground before the Lord. "Call everybody in, let's make some more sacrifices. Let's ask God to forgive us." I guarantee the outcome would have been different if he had done that. What does he do? He gets angry with the prophet. Asa was angry with the seer because of this. He was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time, Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

Look, there was Ahab, who didn't like what the prophet always had to say. When he was trying to hook up with the King from Judah, the King from Judah said, "Well, don't you have all these prophets here? Do you have any prophets of God?" And Ahab said, "Well, there's the one guy, but I don't like the guy. He never says anything good about me." Well hello, maybe you should think about what you're doing then.

Isn't it interesting when the King of Israel, I think it was Jehoshaphat, said to Ahab, "Do you have any prophets of God?" Ahab knew who he was talking about. He knew who the prophets of God were and who the false prophets were. He just liked the false prophets because they told him what he wanted to hear. Here was Asa the same way. He was angry. He was so enraged that he put the guy in jail. Lock him up because he brought a message from God.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Hope From the Word. We're currently in a study of 2 Chronicles. You can hear this message or more Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann by going to ccmarlton.org. Pastor Bill's messages can also be found by downloading the Hope FM app on your smartphone or tablet.

If you prefer to listen via podcast, you can find Hope From the Word wherever you find your podcasts. We'd love to have you join us at Calvary Chapel of Marlton, either in person or online. Our Sunday service begins at 10:00 a.m. and there's a Wednesday evening service at 7:00. To catch us online, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel of Marlton or just go to our website for the link: ccmarlton.org.

And if you'd like to take a moment to write to Pastor Bill, it would be such a blessing to us. We're thankful each and every time we hear what God is doing through our listeners' lives, and we want to pray for you too. Either email us through the website at ccmarlton.org or call 856-983-1662. We'll continue our study in 2 Chronicles next time on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann, a presentation of Calvary Chapel of Marlton.