2 Chronicles 14-16

What’s Happening?

God’s people are in the middle of a civil war. Israel in the north has rebelled against God’s law, temple, and king while Judah in the south remains faithful to God’s words. And Judah’s king Asa proves five times that God responds immediately when a king chooses to listen or not listen to his voice and obey his laws. Asa begins his reign by removing as many pagan shrines and idols as he can find in Judah. He encourages his kingdom to follow God and his laws alone (2 Chronicles 14:1-5). Immediately, God gives Asa’s kingdom a prolonged period of peace that Asa uses to refortify Judah’s military outposts, secure its borders, and rebuild its military (2 Chronicles 14:6-8). But once these refortifications are complete, an enemy tests Asa’s willingness to listen to God and declares war (2 Chronicles 14:9-10). Rather than mobilize his military, Asa asks God for supernatural assistance (2 Chronicles 14:11). God immediately grants this request. A divine terror strikes Judah’s enemies, they retreat, and Asa plunders the abandoned camps of anything valuable (2 Chronicles 14:12-15). God immediately responds to Asa’s willingness to listen and obey. 

A prophet named Azariah meets the victorious Asa back in Jerusalem. He encourages the king to keep seeking God’s voice in prayer and listening when God speaks. If he does so, God will continue to grant Judah peace and victory (2 Chronicles 15:1-7). 

In hope, Asa doubles down on his religious reforms, demands the removal of more shrines, and repairs the altar in God’s temple (2 Chronicles 15:9). Immediately, several tribes that had once rebelled against Judah pledge their loyalty to Asa. Asa even deposes his grandmother for her role in introducing the worship of a foreign god into Judah. God again responds immediately by granting Judah another 20 years of peace (2 Chronicles 15:10-19). 

But 20 years later, Asa's faithfulness is tested once again. Israel attacks Judah and forms a blockade, halting all southbound trade into Judah (2 Chronicles 16:1). But this time, Asa does not ask God for guidance. Instead, he steals from God’s temple’s treasury and buys mercenaries (2 Chronicles 16:2-6). When a prophet confronts Asa, Asa imprisons the prophet and punishes those who agree with him (2 Chronicles 16:7-10). Immediately, Asa’s feet become diseased, and he spends his final years crippled and unwilling to ask God for help (2 Chronicles 16:12-13).

Where is the Gospel?

In the book of Chronicles, very little time passes between a king asking God for help and receiving rescue, or refusing to ask for help and being defeated. The Chronicler wants his readers to understand that a king’s success entirely depends on his willingness to seek God, ask for help, and listen when he speaks. But sadly, no king in Judah or Israel was able to obey consistently. Indeed, no human has ever listened to and obeyed God perfectly, meaning no one can ever experience the success and flourishing God wants to give his people. 

That’s why God came to earth and was born as a son of the royal line of David and Asa. Jesus obeyed all the commands given by God (John 5:19-20). And as he lived, he constantly asked God for guidance and counsel (Luke 3:21, 5:16, 6:12, 22:32). Jesus is the King that God’s people have been waiting for. His obedience means we can expect God to immediately respond to the need, suffering, and testing of his people with success and flourishing. Because Jesus is our listening and obedient King, God promises he will immediately come to our aid!

And we know that God will come to our aid because he came to Jesus in his hour of need. Jesus was killed for his claim to be King, but God raised him from the dead and placed him on a heavenly throne (Acts 7:55). There are no enemies on earth (not even death) that can separate us from God’s plans to bring his Kingdom to come on the earth as it is in heaven. So be confident that God will quickly come to our aid in our times of need and testing. Since he gave us his son, he will most certainly give us everything we need (Romans 8:32). 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who immediately responds to those who are faithful to him. And may you see Jesus as the faithful King who has secured an eternal Kingdom for us to live in.