2 Chronicles 16: 1 – 14
Stay Faithful to the end
16 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.” 4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah. 7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. 11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. 13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.
It is of great comfort to come to know One Who Is ever faithful, God Himself. Faithfulness is one element in God’s attribute of truth (Isaiah. 65:16), for the Lord Himself declared that He Is One Who abounds in faithfulness (Exodus 34:6).
The Lord is not only a God of faithfulness, truthfulness, and trustworthiness, but also acts in accordance with his basic character. As Moses declared in Psalm 100:5; “The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without wrongdoing, He Is righteous and upright.” (Deuteronomy 32:4).
One of the outstanding examples of God’s faithfulness is in his covenant relation to Israel. Accordingly, Psalm 98:2-3 declares, “The Lord demonstrates His power to deliver; in the sight of the nations He reveals His justice. He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.
How blessed, then, is Israel to be God’s covenant people who as his faithful follower’s experience God’s justice and know him as their king, “the Holy One of Israel”. But there is more, God’s faithfulness is ever to be channeled through his servant David. “For the Lord declared, I will always extend my loyal love to him, and my covenant with him is secure.”
This covenant is an everlasting one and will remain in effect for his heirs. Even though some of David’s heirs may prove to be unfaithful, with the result that God must punish them for their sins, the Lord reinforced his promise about His covenant with David that,
“Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, there shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.” (1 Kings 9: 5)
Faithfulness to the Lord and His standards is a prime necessity for believers. Therefore, David admonishes his hearers, “Trust in the Lord and do what is right!” Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! (Psalm 37:3).
The word “integrity” is a common word for faithfulness. Thus, a belief in the Lord that involves total trust will result in faithfulness to him and the principles of God’s Word. The believer who has a firm, unreserved belief in the Lord, one which involves absolute trust, will find his “delight” in the Lord, and devote himself to God’s will and purposes for his life. This kind of faith begins and ends in a total trust, which finds such complete confidence in the Lord that the believer can rest his entire life and future in the Lord. He understands that they are in the caring hands of Him Who Is ever faithful (Ps 100:5).
As Christ’s followers’ believers should likewise be faithful in all things, even in such matters as the course of their daily tasks, and contacts. This should be their constant, consistent goal and desire throughout their lives.
As Asa grew older and was involved in the continued running of his country his faith began to diminish. He became slack in his attitude towards YHWH God. No longer did he have the keen dependence on Him that he had once had. Thus when, in the thirty sixth year of his reign Baasha the king of Israel began to fortify Raamah so as to prevent free movement of peoples between Israel and Judah, Asa, instead of looking to YHWH and depending on Him, sought rather for a political solution and looked for help to the king of Aram, using bribery in order to obtain his assistance. The ploy was successful, but sadly for Asa it would prove not to be pleasing to our Holy God YHWH.
Similar situations occur in our own day. So very often the keen edge of men’s faith is blunted by a combination of being taken up with God’s work instead of God Himself, and of relying on men’s wisdom and association with less godly people rather than on God.
16 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
For much of his reign Asa had reigned at peace. Certainly, there had been continuing skirmishes on his border with Israel (which he had established well beyond the borders of Judah and Benjamin). (1 Kings 15.16). And no doubt other borders had had to be continually watched and had experienced minor problems, the only real threat having been dealt with by the defeat of Zerah the Ethiopian. But Judah had experienced quiet and rest. However, in his ‘thirty sixth year’ things were to change. Baasha the king of Israel had somewhat restored Israel’s strength and determined that he would stop the flow of Israelites into Judah. He thus fortified Ramah, a city which guarded the most common route into Judah, from which no doubt guard posts were set up on the road leading to Jerusalem.
Ramah was a city in the territory of Benjamin described as being between Gibeon and Beeroth (Joshua 18.25). It was 5 miles north of Jerusalem. From this it is apparent that Baasha had, at least temporarily, claimed back much of the territory lost to Judah, and had been able to seize territory in Benjamin. This was the first time during the reign of Asa that war had visited Judah-Benjamite territory.
2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
When Asa saw that his territory was being invaded, and part of it seized, by King Baasha of Israel he saw it as a time for taking desperate measures, and so low had he sunk spiritually that he thought, not in terms of looking to our Loving and Protector God YHWH, (Who we learn would undoubtedly has helped him numerous times) but of looking for aid to a foreign idolatrous king, Benhadad, the King of Aram (Syria) who ruled from Damascus.
In order to achieve his objective Asa stripped the house of YHWH and his own house of most of the silver and gold that they contained and sent it to the King of Aram in order to persuade him to come to his assistance against Israel.
There is something dramatically ironic here as we compare this verse with chapter 15.18 which shows forth a wholly dedicated and trusting Asa, full of spiritual enthusiasm. In his devotion to Yahweh he had brought into the house of God the treasures which he and his father had dedicated to God. It had been a moment of trust and obedience towards The God of Israel – YHWH, enacted by a king whose heart was fully set on seeking and knowing God and who had experience of the protection and the enrichment of the kingdom at God’s hands. Now a very much spiritually diminished Asa, no doubt somewhat reluctantly, brought those treasures out of the house of YHWH, to give them to the new object of his trust, the king of Aram, thereby impoverishing the kingdom. Nothing could better bring out how seriously his faith had collapsed, and his attitude had changed during the period between the events. He had become a totally different man. He had declined into being a spiritual pauper.
The negotiations which took place are abbreviated. No doubt many of the arrangements that were made were agreed on prior to the sending of the silver and gold (it would have been folly to send such a huge amount without some indication that it would achieve its purpose). This statement thus came at the end of a long period of negotiations. The crux of the matter was that Asa was calling on Benhadad to renew an old treaty which his ‘father’ had had with Benhadad’s father. This may have been a treaty with Abijah, or it may refer to an earlier treaty. He was using this treaty as giving King Benhadad moral grounds for breaking his treaty with Israel claiming Israel by its belligerence had nullified that treaty by attacking a country already in league with Aram (Syria). And he was asking Benhadad to put military pressure on Baasha so that he would have to withdraw from Benjaminite territory.
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.
Benhadad found the huge amounts of silver and gold sent to him by Asa a powerful incentive to aid him in his decision, especially as the negotiations had given him a moral grounds for doing so. He thus sent the commanders of his armies to invade Israel who smote Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. It was not a major invasion. The three towns were northernmost towns in Israel. However, the reference to the store cities of Naphtali indicated Benhadad’s intention to obtain great spoil. It was an opportunity not to be wasted.
5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work.
2.16.5 ‘And it came about that, when Baasha heard of it, he left off building Ramah, and let his work cease.’
When messengers arrived and Baasha learned about the Aramean (Syrian) invasion to the north he recognized that he would have to withdraw his forces from Ramah to meet this new threat. The invasion of Judah/Benjamin had stretched his resources to the limit. He thus had to cease fortifying Ramah and withdraw his forces.
6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
Outwardly it appeared that Asa’s strategy had been successful, although at heavy cost. He was able to enter Ramah, and with the assistance of his own people carry away the stones and timbers with which Baasha had been fortifying Ramah, and advance on Geba and Mizpah a few kilometers to the north and use the materials to fortify them, securing Benjamin’s borders now that Israel had grown stronger. But what Asa had done, and failed to do, had been noted by YHWH.
The way in which Asa’s heart had become spiritually hardened now comes vividly to the forefront. The prophet Hanani reproaches Asa because instead of looking to YHWH for help against Israel, he had relied on the King of Aram (Syria).
In those days all nations saw their victories as being a consequence of the activities of their gods. Thus, what Asa had virtually done was put his confidence in the gods of Aram rather than in YHWH. Wow! So, it was more serious religiously than it looked at first sight and explains our Majestic Holy God YHWH’s anger. The covenant king had looked outside the covenant for help. YHWH had been sidelined.
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
What Asa had done had not gone unnoticed by YHWH. So, He sent the prophet Hanani to rebuke Asa. Nothing further is known about this prophet, but his activity reminds us that YHWH Father God had a long string of prophets through the centuries who would speak on His behalf. The significance of the complaint was that instead of relying on The Faithful and Loving God YHWH, Asa had relied on the King of Aram (Syria) for assistance, thus demeaning the only real and Holy God YHWH by suggesting that He was not able to deliver, so he therefor put his trust in the gods of Syria.
Take a look again at the statement, “Therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand.” At first sight this statement appears to be at variance with the facts. It was the host of Israel under Baasha that would have been under threat, not the host of Syria. But it is perfectly correct, for the prophet’s point was that the host of Syria which had been called on were no more capable of resisting Asa than Baasha would have been, if he had had YHWH on his side. They and their gods were equally helpless before YHWH. He had called on, and paid tribute, to a king whom he could have defeated.
There may also be an indication that the prophet and Asa were aware that the king of Syria had had plans in mind for the invasion of both Israel and Judah. This would explain why Asa had paid such huge tribute in order to put himself right with the king of Syria. And it would make doubly significant the assurance that had the king of Syrian invaded a believing Asa, the king of Syria would have been defeated.
8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.
Hanani pointed back to history of our Faithful Holy YHWH’s deliverance. He pointed out that Asa in his own experience the power to protect was done by YHWH. For when the Ethiopians and the Lubim (the Libyans) had come against Judah with a huge host, YHWH had delivered them into Judah’s hands, because Judah had depended on YHWH. How much more then could He have delivered them from the king of Syria.
It will be noted that the Libyans are mentioned for the first time. Thus, YHWH dealt with two opponents at the same time. This may suggest that he was aware that initially two opponents, Israel and Syria, had ganged up on Judah (Asa earlier mentioned a league between Israel and Syria), which was why Asa had panicked and had basically paid tribute to Syria to divide the coalition. The prophet’s point is that he had had no reason for doing so because YHWH was quite capable of defeating both at the same time, and he was thus guilty unfaithfulness to Yahweh.
9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”
Hanani now described the careful watch that YHWH kept on those Who trusted in Him. Indeed, His eyes ran to and from throughout the whole earth so that He was ready to act on behalf of those whose hearts were perfect towards Him, in other words on those whose hearts were fixed on Him in faith and obedience. There was no letup in God’s concern for His own. Asa should therefore have trusted in YHWH to act on his behalf, whatever the threat. And because he had not done so but had trusted in someone who depended on and worshipped foreign gods who could not help at all, he had done foolishly. And the consequence from now on would be that instead of enjoying rest and quiet as they had in the past. Asa and Judah would experience unrest. There would be wars. Had Asa immediately repented, which was probably Hanani’s hope, none of this need have come about. But far from repenting Asa’s attitude was one of fury. His heart had become hardened.
10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
It is a continuing indication of Asa’s spiritual decline that instead of repenting and admitting his failure, he rather responded in anger. He was so furiously angry with Hanani and his words that he had him put in the prison house. This was probably the prison house in the court of the king’s palace, a place which would later be occupied by other prophets, including Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38.13, 28).
Please notice also the words, ‘And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.’ It is clear from this that Hanani was not the only one who objected to Asa’s actions. It seems that quite a few of his people supported Hanani and resented the payment of such heavy tribute to the king of Aram (Syria). They too were dealt with summarily. Asa’s spirituality had collapsed. It is sad that the reign of such a great and godly king should continue such an unfortunate note. After this nothing good is said about him. It is a warning to us all that we should not allow maturity and worldly wisdom, and the attacks of the Enemy, to interfere with a wholehearted dedication towards God.
We must learn to not trust any human person. We must put all our Hopes and Trust in our Great God El Shaddai.
A lesson to learn from this action of putting our trust in our own schemes that the Enemy will allow a brief time of success. This is done to lock us into the thought that we can do similar in the future. The sad consequence of this set up is that ultimately, we are going to suffer severe trouble. Write this fact down for future reminders.
We see here that his actions had delivered Judah from the predatory invasion of Baasha and had resulted in his restoring his borders and retaining control over the cities of Ephraim (17.2), although Hanani’s point was that that would have happened anyway. Furthermore, it had seemingly made him sufficiently strong to persuade Omri, a powerful king of Israel respected by Assyria, to leave him alone (1 Kings 16.21-28).
11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
This is the first reference to the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel was probably an official record and not the Book of Kings that we have. It would contain not only detailed records of the king’s reign from year to year.
12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.
Four years after Asa’s fatal decision to call for assistance on the king of Aram (Syria) and his imprisoning of Hanani the prophet, he became diseased in his feet.
The disease was drawn attention to because it was very severe, sufficiently severe to be worthy of comment. We are given no indication of what it was, but it was presumably crippling. We cannot doubt that he suffered continual and unrelenting pain. But the point that is made is that in his distress he did not look to YHWH but to physicians. And the implication is that it did him no good.
I have learned personally in my life that when we have gone astray from our Holy God, He will allow troubling things to come into our lives in order for us to come back to Him as we learned in the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 7, “14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
However, what we do a lot is get mad at our Great and Holy God. We refuse to come humbly back to Him. So, the consequence will result in more things going wrong against us.
13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.
Asa survived with his crippling disease for a year or two, dying one or two years later, ‘in the forty first year of his reign’.
What a way to end your life. You started out so faithful and loving to our Holy God Who did not but great things repeatedly for you, but you end being unfaithful. I pray for you and me that we end our course faithful to the One Who Loves us and gave His life for us.
14 They buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.
There may here be a further indication of disapproval of Asa’s final years. The verse is unique to the books of Chronicles. Instead of the usual ‘he was buried in the city of David’ The chapter points out that he had hewn out his own sepulchers, an act of self-magnification. It was not enough to him to be buried as other kings had been buried. He wanted his own space and monument. We read in the book of Isaiah 22.16-17 where a similar attitude is condemned. It all went along with the superior attitude he had previously shown towards YHWH. We are also probably to see that he made specific preparations for his own burial, outlining his requirements that his bed be filled with sweet odors and perfumers’ spices. This may have been to counteract the odor of his diseased feet. But it would do him no good. What he had become stinky before God, and no perfume on earth could hide it.
The following statement then seems like a conflict, ‘And they made a very great burning for him.’ This does not indicate that he was cremated, which would be very unlikely. It refers rather to a regular honorific rite that accompanied the deaths of kings, a kind of magnificent bonfire (Jeremiah 34.5). The fact that it is positively mentioned only here in Chronicles points to the self-glorifying nature of the verse. He was supremely honored by men.
God’s verdict on the last part of his reign was very different. Men glorified him, but they could not hide the truth that God had brought out about him. His last days had been days of spiritual decline. A magnificent funeral might bring honor to a dead man, but not before God. It was a sad end to a life that had accomplished so much, a warning against the danger of spiritual unfaithfulness.
