Two Greats & A Grand, Down the Line (Part 2)

What's happening: Good King Asa rules the kingdom of Judah. He tears down all the idols to other detestable false "gods", and embarks on a big campaign to get Judah back to worshiping the one true God. When faced in battle by an army many times his size, Asa trusts God. God delievers, and the tiny army of Judah defeats the very large army! God then sends his prophet Azariah son of Oded to encourage Asa and all of Judah. 

Greatly encouraged by Azariah’s words, Asa continued his campaign against false worship in Judah. He continued to tear down the repulsive altars and crush the detestable Asherah poles. Moreover, the godly king repaired the true God’s temple, set the true God’s altar back in place, and reinstated worship of the true God.

To highlight all of this, Asa gathered all of Judah to Jerusalem to make a covenant with the Lord. Not only did the tribes of Judah and Benjamin show up, but also tribesman of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. It’s natural that the countrymen of Judah—the tribes of Judah and Benjamin—would show up, but why Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon?

That’s where I think this story gets really cool. Let’s check out 2 Chronicles 15:9--

Then [Asa] assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

Is that neat or what? People living in the northern kingdom saw how crummy their own kings were, and how godly good King Asa was. So, secretly—I’m sure that this was illegal—they crossed the border and settled in the southern kingdom, Judah. And evidently it wasn’t just a few from the northern kingdom who did this. There were large numbers!

Let’s let the Bible continue narrate the story:

They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. ~2 Chronicles 15:10-14

So with great rejoicing, God’s people remember and re-commit themselves once again to God. That’s a wonderful thing to do, you know. It seems that I hear a lot that we need to commit our lives to God. Well we do, and I’m not downplaying that! However, that’s not enough. We need to re-commit our lives to God, and keep doing that each day.  

I think one of the key ideas is found in verse 14, which I’ll share with you in a minute. Remember what Azariah the prophet said? Look back a few verses in 2 Chronicles 15 and you’ll see it. Part of Azariah’s commendation went something like this:

“If you seek [God], he will be found by you…” (verse 2)

Encouraged by that, Asa and all of Judah, plus some from Israel, came to Jerusalem and re-dedicated themselves to God. And so I just love how verse 15 sums it all up:

“All Judah…sought God eagerly, and he was found by them.”

God can still be found by you! He is still there and more than willing. If we confess our sins and re-commit our lives to Him, in other words if we seek Him, He will be found by us. Isn’t that great news?

Here’s another lesson, pertaining to the people of Israel migrating over to Judah: Whether we think so or not, people are watching us. Watching us to see what we do, see how we talk, or more importantly what we don’t do or don’t say. Even if we don’t say a word, we can still be good witnesses for God. Today, take a good long, deep look at your life. What kind of witness are you?

Next week we’ll conclude our study on Asa. Be sure to come back then to read the final installment!