1Ki 15:9-24 | KingComments | STEP | Asa becomes king of Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam. He reigns for a long time. In 2 Chronicles three chapters are devoted to his history (2 Chronicles 14-16). The name of his mother is also mentioned. It is the same name as that of the mother of his father Abijam. It will be so that Maacah is his grandmother by whom he is raised ( ). Then we see here a happy exception, as we see more often in the first and second books of the Kings. Asa escapes from the influence of his educator and has his own relationship with God. He does what is right in the sight of the LORD, as did his father David. He does not follow the bad example of his father Abijam, but the good example of David. So it can be as well. He puts away people who focus on prostitution. That’s something else than the tolerance and even legalization of all kinds of fornication by today’s rulers. He even removes his grandmother. She is someone with greater influence than just on her family, but Asa loves God more than his closest family. He dedicates his possessions to the LORD.

‏ 1 Kings 15:9-24

Asa King Over Judah

Asa becomes king of Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam. He reigns for a long time. In 2 Chronicles three chapters are devoted to his history (2 Chronicles 14-16). The name of his mother is also mentioned. It is the same name as that of the mother of his father Abijam. It will be so that Maacah is his grandmother by whom he is raised (1Kgs 15:13).

Then we see here a happy exception, as we see more often in the first and second books of the Kings. Asa escapes from the influence of his educator and has his own relationship with God. He does what is right in the sight of the LORD, as did his father David. He does not follow the bad example of his father Abijam, but the good example of David. So it can be as well.

He puts away people who focus on prostitution. That’s something else than the tolerance and even legalization of all kinds of fornication by today’s rulers. He even removes his grandmother. She is someone with greater influence than just on her family, but Asa loves God more than his closest family. He dedicates his possessions to the LORD.

War Between Asa and Baasha

There is war between Asa and Baasha. This leads Baasha to turn Ramah into a fortress that must form a blockade between the two realms, so that his subjects cannot go to Judah. He does so in Ramah, on the border between Judah and Israel, about six and a half kilometers north of Jerusalem.

What is the building of Rama all about? To take away the freedom to worship in Jerusalem. This freedom is also at stake in professing Christianity today. The question is how we react when Christians, fellow believers, want to prevent us from worshiping in the way God has shown in His Word. These hindrances may lie in the insistence on an unbiblical enlargement – the acceptance of methods or persons who are excluded from worship by God’s Word – or the insistence on unbiblical restriction – the hindrances of methods and persons who according to God’s Word should participate in worship.

Then comes the trial. Baasha, the king of Israel, threatens him. Asa’s reaction is unfortunately not a prove of faith. He seeks support from the king of Syria and buys that support with the remaining treasures of the temple. He also appeals to a treaty made between their ancestors. Ben-hadad is bribed. However, he not only breaks his treaty with Baasha, but also deprives him of a number of cities. The consequence of the bribery of Asa is the loss of cities of God’s land.

Asa succeeds in his aim. Baasha gives up his plan and withdraws. What Asa continues to do does not seem right either. He takes the things Baasha has used and with them he will strengthen some cities of his own realm. In the application we can ask ourselves whether God would want us to take means by which the enemy strengthens himself and attacks us, and use them to strengthen ourselves through them. When Jericho was conquered, the people were not allowed to take anything of it, but had to ban everything (Jos 6:16-18). It is possible to use things we have conquered from the world for the Lord. But then these must first be dedicated to Him.

The Death of Asa

The only thing left of Asa seems to confirm the idea that he did not handle Baasha’s material in the right way. He is diseased in his feet. This means, applied, that his walk with God becomes flawed. With Asa we see what we see with many kings: they start well, but at the end they become unfaithful.

Here stops in 1 Kings for a longer time the description of the history of the kings of Judah. From now on, it is mainly about the kings of Israel.