(2 Chronicles 16:1-14) In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and sent it to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3 “A treaty must be made between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” 4 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and put an end to his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with it he fortified Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, for that reason the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He handed them over to you. 9 For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at the same time.
11 Now, the acts of Asa from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. 13 So Asa lay down with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and they made a very great fire for him.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
When we buy someone's alliance, we have to know that for a higher price, they can very easily betray us and turn against us. The same thing can happen if we buy our friendships with favors and treats. As soon as we are no longer able to sustain our (self-serving) generosity, or someone more (self-servingly) generous comes along, those friends will most likely disappear and/or turn against us. But when we rely on the Lord completely, we make Him our ally and best friend - a Friend who is sovereign, faithful, gracious, patient and wants the best for us.
Verse 9 has an amazing message from the Lord to Asa (and everyone)...
"...For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.”
Asa reacted very much in the way that so many people do, today. I have a friend who believes that her "made-up Jesus" represents love AND complete acceptance and approval, while the God of the Bible is very hateful and unreasonable. It would appear to be so if (for example) one was only looking at the second half of this verse, and then, only if they weren't thinking rationally. Because, how can someone not understand - that - if one acts foolishly, there will be consequences. Therefore, even in that, these people would not even be seeing the second half of the verse correctly.
Now let's consider the first half of this verse. This is amazing news!!! If only Asa would have heard the message rationally and in its entirety!!! Here was his chance to turn back to the Lord and rely on Him completely!!! And the Lord would have then strongly supported Asa, as Asa had already experienced in the past. In other words, God could have stopped some of the wars, and faithfully helped Asa through the others. But because he decided to continue acting foolishly (which included avoiding going to the Lord), God allowed more consequences into his life.
Another typical thing Asa did was punish the messenger. Like, my friend who had been saying some very negative things about "Christians" and "Christianity" which were false. While what she said was very offensive, I didn't take any personal offense. My hope was to at least help her understand that there are many people who SAY they are Christians, but the actions and words of these religious radicals don't align with Christianity according to the Bible. Obviously, I'm not the ultimate judge who can see or know the hearts and minds of ANYONE, and Christians will still stumble and make mistakes, I can safely ascertain which beliefs, actions and statements are contrary to the Bible.
Now, this friend has not messaged me in over a week. I'm praying that she is really thinking about things and questioning her personal worldviews. And hopefully, she will remember past conversations when I have shared the gospel message and other things of the Bible - many, many times, in many, many ways. My hope and prayer is that she will (eventually) understand and come to know and have a personal relationship with the true Lord God of the Bible!
Although, as in the past, my friend might just be angry with the situation and is trying to punish me in some way, but I'm actually "okay" with all of this. Not everyone is going to like us or appreciate what we say. There will even be people who hate us for being a Christian. NOT that we should go out of our way to be offensive! The gospel message is offensive enough. We are always to share God's words: gently, tenderly, compassionately, and all in His love, wisdom and guidance.
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