Examples of King Asa
Christian Religious Studies SS2 Second Term
Week 1
Topic: Examples of King Asa
Performance objectives
Pupils should be able to:
- Describe how king Asa and his son Jehoshaphat pleased God
- Explain why children should live godly lives.
- Indicate the rewards of obedience to divine laws
- Point out some rewards of obedience to civil laws
Content
A. King Asa pleased God (1kings 5:15)
Asa became king of Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam of Israel’s reign (Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the kingdom divided).
Asa’s father, Abijah, had done much evil in God’s sight and only ruled for three years. Asa’s grandfather, Rehoboam, had also done evil in God’s sight. But King Asa instituted reform; he removed the male shrine prostitutes, cut down Asherah poles, and even deposed his grandmother from her position as queen mother because of her involvement with Asherah worship. Asa also commanded his people to follow the Lord (2 Chronicles 14:4). “Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life” 1 Kings 15:14.
Judah was at peace with surrounding nations for ten years during Asa’s reign (2 Chronicles 14:1). 2Chronicles 15 describes a time when Azariah, a prophet, told Asa that, if he sought the Lord, God would be with him. This encouraged Asa to remove idols and to repair the altar at the Lord’s temple. He assembled the people together to sacrifice to the Lord: “They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, 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 took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting, and with trumpets and horns. 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.”
(2Chronicles 14:12–13) Asa built up the fortified cities, and Judah enjoyed a time of prosperity. When Zerah the Cushite marched out to make war against Judah, Asa called on God for aid. “The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.”
Unfortunately, in the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign, he made some mistakes. When King Baasha of Israel fortified Ramah so as to isolate the territory of Judah, Asa made a treaty with Ben-Hadad, king of Aram. The treaty was effective in stopping Israel, and the Judahites took supplies from Ramah and built up Geba and Mizpah, but the treaty with Aram was not pleasing to God. Hanani, the seer, visited Asa and reminded him of the way God had conquered the Cushites. He chastised Asa for relying on Ben-Hadad instead of God. Rather than repent of his sin, however, Asa became angry; at the same time he began to oppress some of his people, for the remainder of Asa’s reign, his kingdom was at war.
In the thirty-ninth year of Asa’s reign, he got a severe foot disease, but he looked only to the physicians for help and not God. In the forty-first year of his reign, Asa died and was buried with great honor.
B. King Jehoshaphat follows his father’s way of life
Despite a less-than-ideal end to his reign, Asa is considered a Godly and good king. His son, Jehoshaphat, succeeded him and ruled for twenty-five years. Jehoshaphat was also a Godly ruler, following in his father’s footsteps and seeking the Lord, yet he also made foolish alliances with those who did not follow the Lord.
C. Joseph was rewarded for obeying God’s law (Ex 20:14)
Joseph was rewarded for Obeying God's Law, God commanded saying, and “Thou shall not commit adultery”. Joseph obeyed this command. While he was serving Potiphar, his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said 'Lie with me. But Joseph fled and God rewarded him by making him a governor.
D. David was rewarded for respecting a civil rule
David and Abishai the son of Zeruiah went to the camp by night; they saw Saul sleeping within the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. His army lay around him. Abishai said to David, God has given your enemy into your hand this day; now therefore let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice but David said unto Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put forth his hands against the lord’s anointed, and be guiltless.” David said “As the Lord lives, the Lord will smite him or his day shall come to die or he shall go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbids that I should put forth my hands against the lord’s anointed, but take now the spear and the jar of water, and let us go”. (1sam.26:8-11). So David took the spear and jar of water from Saul’s head and they went away. No one saw it or woke up from sleep because a deep sleep from the Lord fell on them.
David obeyed the law of God in Exodus 20:13 “thou shall not kill.”
E. The three Hebrew youth escaped death for obeying God to avoid idolatry (Daniel: 3:1-30, Ex.20:13)
An image 90 feet by 9 feet was erected near Babylon, the officials of the king’s realm attended the dedication and all the people were commanded at the sound of music to worship the image, but, the three Hebrew boys refused. Because of this, they were accused of disregarding the king’s command and his gods, the king, in a rage, sentences them to the fiery-furnace, as his anger knew no bounds when he was confronted with the Hebrews’ fearless assurance of the omnipotence of the God of Israel. The furnace was heated seven times more than it was ever seen to be heated. Fully clothed, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were cast into the furnace, and their executioners are slain, the strongest men of the army, those to be most feared, were slain by the heat. The captives fell down bound into the midst of the fiery furnace. Later, when the king looked into the furnace, he saw not three but four men; and the form of the fourth was like the Son of God. Again God’s mercy was revealing the power of the true God to this haughty monarch. The captives in the furnace found that the fire had only released them from their bonds, and they arose and walked.
The king shouted in surprise “Lo, I see four and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” The Hebrew boys came forth before all without the smell of fire, and this made Nebuchadnezzar to pay tribute to the God of Israel, and God’s faithful servants were promoted.
F. Esther obeyed Mordecai (Esther 4:1-16)
Modecai was the protector of Esther, his cousin, who was the daughter of his uncle Abihail. She was like a daughter to him.
Esther was chosen by Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to be his queen. Ahasuerus was the king of Persia, at the time of the choosing of the queen, Mordecai warned her not to reveal that she was a Jewess. He kept in constant contact with his cousin and became a prominent man himself, sitting in the gate of the king.
Esther obeyed Mordecai as a child would obey her father and was subject to his will. In those days after she became queen, Mordecai overheard a plot against the king by two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh. He reported this plot to Esther, and the king successfully thwarted their plan. At that time, providentially, no further recognition or reward was given to Mordecai, but his deed was recorded in the official records of Persia.
Mordecai would not bow in those days to the king’s favorite prince, named Haman. Like Daniel and the three Hebrew children of the Book of Daniel, he would not bow, being a Jew.
Haman became angered and sought to destroy all Jews because of Mordecai’s faithfulness to his God. When Mordecai learned of this evil plot he went into mourning. This attracted Esther’s attention and, on inquiry, she learned of the plight of the Jews.
Bravely, Mordecai ordered Esther to go to the king for the sake of her people. He did this in spite of the great risk to her should she earn the king’s displeasure. The hate between Mordecai and Haman increased that Haman planned to have Mordecai hanged on a gallows he would make.
Providentially again, God stirred the mind of the king to have the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Persia read to him on a sleepless night and the Chronicler read aloud the record of Mordecai’s uncovering the plot against his life some years before. That night the king determined to reward Mordecai.
Ironically, Haman was ordered by the king to honor Mordecai before all the people (6:11). That same evening, at Esther’s banquet, it was revealed that Haman plotted to destroy her people. The king was so enraged by this news that he had Haman hanged on his own gallows. The authority and glory that once had belonged to Haman now was given to Mordecai.