I’m really enjoying reading through the stories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the Bible. I’ll be honest, there have been many times I have not found this part of Scripture so interesting but hey ho, here we are!

I’ve arrived at the part of history where we met ,ing Asa, who reigned in Judah. Asa was the great grandson of Solomon and reigned in Jerusalem for an impressive 41 years (considering his dad reigned for 3). Where Asa’s dad failed, Asa succeeded. Here’s some of the good things he did.

He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. 5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. 2 Chronicles 14:3-5 (NIV)

The Lord helped him in battle, against the Cushites, and Asa even brought about a reform where Judah returned to the Lord. Good work Asa. However, we are then told about his last years.

The King of Israel, Baasha, declared was against Judah. King Asa didn’t turn to the Lord for help like he had done in the past but instead decided to make a treaty with the King or Aram which meant that the war didn’t happen (I’m skipping a few details here). This displeased the Lord and Asa was told this by a seer;

“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. 8 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. 2 Chronicles 16:7-8 (NIV)

We are told that Asa reacts angrily to this, throws the seer in prison and brutally oppressed some of his people. Asa seems to have changed, his devotion to the Lord seems to be slipping. This is confirmed in verse 12

12 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. 2 Chronicles 16:12 (NIV)

I’m not sure why Asa, after all he had seen the Lord do, decided not to rely on Him at the end of his life. Did he forget God’s goodness and provision? Did he start to rationalise it? Did he get too big for his boots and thought that he could do it on his own?

I don’t know if I have the answers to all of those questions but it does raise an interesting question around why we need to keep a process and a practise of remembering when it comes to our relationship with God. We must pause and remember his intervention in our lives so that we never become people who stop consulting or looking to Him.