Day 135 - 2 Chronicles 13-17

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 135 - 2 Chronicles 13-17 (The Danger of Relying on Man Instead of God)
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"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,  "Let there be a treaty between you and me...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.  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.  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."  (2 Chronicles 16:2-3, 7-9)

In chapter of our Scripture reading for today, we find Asa succeeding his father Abijah as Judah's king.  Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against Judah with an army of one million.  Asa cried out to the Lord his God and said:

         "LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!"   (2 Chronicles 14:11)

God heard Asa's prayer and struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah so much so that they were overthrown and could not recover.  Twenty-six years of peace later, Baasha king of Israel came up against Asa to fight and Asa panicked and took the silver and gold from the house of God and from his own house and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Syria as payment to attack Israel so they will withdraw from Judah.

Herein lies a very important lesson no follower of God can afford to ignore. When Asa cried out to God for deliverance from an army twice the size of his own, God heard him and rescued him.  After twenty-six years of peace and comfort, Asa once again faced the inevitable when Baasha, with the support of Ben-Hadad, comes against him for war.  This time, Asa relied on Ben-Hadad breaking treaty with Baasha and siding with him instead of relying on God as he did when the Ethiopians attacked him with a million strong army.

What did God think of Asa's actions?  As you can read from our text above, God was displeased with Asa and let him know what he missed by not depending on Him - Israel and Syria would have been defeated by him and he (Asa) would have been at peace once again.  But because Asa relied on man instead of God, God sent him adversaries so that he was always at war until his death.

So what is the lesson for us as Christians which we cannot afford to ignore?  It is this: that must rely on God rather than man.  As the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"  (Romans 8:31)  Asa knew that truth once but then failed to believe it the second time, perhaps because the twenty-six years of peace and comfort mad him lose his reliance on God.

I don't know about you, but I desire to put my trust and reliance on God rather than man.  I know it is easier said than done which is why I pray, "Dear God, please help me not to make the mistake that Asa made in relying on man rather than on you.  Help me to trust you when it is so much easier to trust in what I have and on what others can do to help me.  Amen."