2 Chronicles 16: Royalty Reprimanded

Chapter Summary by Matthew Henry: “This chapter concludes the history of the reign of Asa, but does not furnish so pleasing an account of his latter end as we had of his beginning. I. Here is a foolish treaty with Ben-hadad king of Syria, 2 Chronicles 16:1-6. II. The reproof which God sent him for it by a prophet, 2 Chronicles 16:7-9. III. Asa's displeasure against the prophet for his faithfulness, 2 Chronicles 16:10. IV. The sickness, death, and burial of Asa, 2 Chronicles 16:11-14.”

I. Verse 1: “In the thirty-sixth 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.” Remember, at this time in the history of God’s people, the kingdom has been split. In chapter 15, we found that many were leaving the northern kingdom to join Asa’s reform in the southern kingdom. So, here, Baasha is building a fortification to prevent his people from deserting to Asa.

II. Verses 2-4: “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… Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.’ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali.” A. Remember from last week, chapter 15, Asa was warned by the prophet Azariah, “The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” Up to this point, Asa completely trusted the LORD; he sought Him, and therefore found Him; he was with God and therefore God was with him. However, God had promised he would also forsake Asa if Asa committed a sin like turning to man-power rather than God-power to win battles. How guilty we are of the same sin! B. Not to mention, back in chapter 14, “Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots…The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah.” A giant force came at Asa and his people, and Asa trusted the Lord, and therefore God took care of a much larger enemy than Baasha. When Asa trusted in God-power over man-power…miraculous things happened! C. When Peter kept his eyes on Christ, he walked on water. When he noticed the frightening waves, he took his eyes off Christ, and he sank. Peter wasn’t a perfect man; Asa wasn’t either. What we have here is how a great man, like Peter (like us) took his eyes off of the source of real power, became focused on the battle instead of the Captain, and it will cause him to sink. We cannot become focused on our circumstances, or we will be consumed by them, just as Satan intends! D. Spurgeon says it like this, “…but the greatest faith of yesterday will not give us confidence for today, unless the fresh springs which are in God shall overflow again.” We must constantly feed our spirit, or our flesh will win out.

III. Verse 5-6: “When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work.” A. It seems that Asa’s decision to turn to man-power instead of God-power “worked.” King Baasha hears about Ben-hadad helping Judah, so he leaves. But, this success is momentary and part of the Great Deceiver’s plan. B. “Things which appear successful may be, in the life of faith, most disastrous.” (Morgan) C. Spurgeon perhaps explains it best when he claims, “Now, many people in the world judge actions by their immediate results. If a Christian does a wrong thing, and it prospers, then at once they conclude he was justified in doing it; but, ah! Brethren, this is a poor, blind way of judging the actions of men and the providence of God. Do you not know that there are devil’s providences as well as God’s providences?”

IV. Verse 7: “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.” A. I was impressed by Azariah (chapter 15), who spoke God’s word to King Asa when Asa had a willingness to follow. But, Hanani is called to speak to a disobedient King Asa. How frightening, yet how encouraging to see such bold obedience! This little-known prophet is one to imitate! God expects obedience regardless of the circumstances; if only Asa would’ve accepted that truth… B. Asa didn’t know that God had a plan for him to defeat the very man-power that he turned to in order to defeat the northern kingdom! God-power works such miracles when we do not take his treasure and give it to the enemy he intends for us to defeat! C. David Guzik explains that “Compromise blinds us to who our true enemies are, and it leads us into alliances with those whom God would rather give us victory over.”

V. Verses 8-9: “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." A. God tested Asa more than once in his life; when he tested him to see if he would trust God to deliver the Cushites and Libyans into his hands, God fulfilled his promise and delivered them because Asa believed. The result was many years of peace. B. This later test reveals a man who, after many years of peace, fails the test. We are such sad creatures to need turmoil to keep us trusting the Lord. Asa is a prime example of the answer to “Why do bad things happen to good people?” How many people do you know who only turn to God when things really get bad? C. “Now, dear reader, this is very pertinent for your life and mine. We often complain that we are deprived of help, and send off for Ben-hadad. And all the while the eyes of the Lord are looking pitifully and longingly at us. Nothing would give Him greater pleasure than to show Himself strong on our behalf. This, however, He cannot do until renouncing all other confidants and helpers, our heart is perfect in the simplicity and frankness of its faith…It is for lack of this that we remain unhelped, and spend our days in the midst of wars and tumults.” D. When Asa fails this 2nd test by trusting man rather than God, he is promised war. The true peace of God comes from trusting him regardless of the circumstances, and true peace will remain if we trust God in the midst of all threats!

VI. Verse 10-14: “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... In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians.” A. How rare it is for people to respond positively to correction! Here is a man, who is described in chapter 15 as one whose “heart was fully committed to the LORD,” throwing a royal tantrum, punishing the messenger and anyone else who agreed with the messenger. B. Here, we also have another example of Asa trusting man-power over God-power: he didn’t seek God at all when he was ill. Overall, the Bible is positive about the role of physicians and medical care (Colossians 4:14, Acts 28:9, James 5:14-15, and 1 Timothy 5:23). However, it is never right to seek the physicians instead of the LORD. One may rather trust the LORD and when appropriate, see His hand move through a physician (Guzik). C. Despite his bad behavior being recorded for all of history to see, Asa is nonetheless described as one whose heart was fully committed to God all of his life. He, like David, was a man who never turned his heart away from God toward idols despite his fallible nature and bad decisions. D. “The best and holiest men have been betrayed for a time into sins, but through repentance have risen again; and as Asa is pronounced a good man (2Ch 15:17), it may be presumed that he also was restored to a better state of mind” (Jamieson).

Not one of us is perfect, and we’re thankful that our mistakes aren’t recorded for all of history to read. May we all pray to have hearts that, despite our tendency to seek man-power over God-power, will nonetheless one day be described as remaining fully committed to the LORD. Pray the Father reprimands us when we turn to anything/anyone else in our times of need. Relying on man will only bring us heartache. Relying on God will bring power and victory.