His Story

The first great reformer of Judah: he removed the idols, the high places, and his own grandmother Maachah from being queen because of her idol. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, built fenced cities in the quiet years, and when Zerah the Ethiopian came with a million men, cried, “LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee” — and God smote the Ethiopians before him.

His Sin — How He Displeased the LORD

His ending clouds his record: threatened by Baasha of Israel, he emptied the Temple treasures to buy Ben-hadad of Syria rather than trust the God of the million-man victory; and when Hanani the seer rebuked him, Asa raged, imprisoned the prophet, and oppressed some of the people. Diseased in his feet at the end, “he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12).

The Good He Did

For thirty-five years the land had quiet because Asa sought the LORD with his whole heart and made Judah do the same — covenant renewal at the great assembly in 2 Chronicles 15, when the people “swore with all their heart” and “were glad.” The verdict of Kings stands: he did right in the eyes of the LORD as David did.

The LORD’s verdict

“And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.”1 Kings 15:11 (KJV)

How His Reign Ended

He died after 41 years, honored with a very great burning, and was buried in his own sepulchre in the city of David; his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his stead.

Lessons for Believers Today

• Victories do not carry over: the God who routed a million must be trusted again for the next threat, or yesterday’s faith curdles into today’s self-reliance.
• How a man takes rebuke is the truest measure of his reign — the reformer imprisoned the prophet, and lost his peace.

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