Disobedience and Death of Asa — Chuck Smith

Welcome to the Word for Today, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse venture through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of the Word for Today, we'll be focusing on the disobedience and death of Asa. As we pick up in 1 Kings 15, verse 21. And now with today's message, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

Asa’s Strategy and Declining Trust in God

Basically what's happened here is that Asa is having war with the king of Israel, Baasha, who built this fortified city. So he sent money to the Syrian king, Ben-Hadad, that he might hire the mercenaries to attack Baasha's kingdom from the north, from the area of Syria, coming down the Golan Heights into the area of Dan and Aion and the upper areas, the area of Galilee on down to the Sea of Galilee.

And it had its desired effect. When Baasha heard that he was being attacked from the north, he withdrew the building of the city of Ramah in order to defend his northern border against Ben-Hadad. And it seems like it was a clever strategy that worked.

And it is interesting that here in the book of Kings, it doesn't really deal completely with this. But when we move into the book of Chronicles, we find that King Asa is rebuked by Hananiah the prophet of the Lord for this bit of strategy.

Though it worked, it showed a deterioration in Asa's trust in God. Now we read of the ascension of Asa, his reformations, and this bit of strategy in hiring Ben-Hadad. And it came to pass, verse 21, when Baasha heard that the northern part was being attacked, that he left the building of Ramah.

And King Asa made a proclamation throughout all of Judah. No one was exempted. All the men were to come and to take apart this city, to take the stones and all that they had cut for the walls. And they made a couple of cities, fortified them.

The city of Mizpah and Geba were fortified with the supplies that they had bought to build this city. So the rest of the acts of Asa, all of his strength and might, all that he did, the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Yes, they are. And we will read them when we get there. Nevertheless, in the time of his old age, he was diseased in his feet, and he slept with his fathers. Now, in Chronicles, it tells us that he had this disease of the feet.

And then it said, and he sought the aid of physicians and did not seek the Lord, and he died. So the implication in Chronicles is, had he sought the Lord, God could have healed him, and God would have healed him, and he could have had an extended reign.

But in seeking the help of man, and that became the pattern in the later years. And there are fabulous lessons to learn from it. And we will learn them when we get to Chronicles. And so, we're going to learn a lot from this guy.

So his son, Jehoshaphat, reigned in his stead. Jehoshaphat, as we will find later, had a successful reign. Now, back up in Israel, going north again. The northern kingdom, Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, began to reign over Israel.

Nadab and Baasha: The Consequences of Persistent Sin

In the second year that Asa was the king of Judah, and he reigned for two years. But he did evil in the sight of the Lord his father, in the sin wherein he made Israel the sin. He followed the pattern of his father, Jeroboam.

And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Ishkar, conspired against him. And Baasha smote him at Gibethon, which belongs to the Philistines, for Nadab and all of his people of Israel had laid siege to Gibethon.

Even in the third year of Asa, the king of Judah, did Baasha slay him and began to reign in his stead. And it came to pass when he reigned that he smote all of the house of Jeroboam. He left not to Jeroboam anyone that breathed until he had destroyed him according to the saying of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah, the Shilohite.

Now, we just studied that. When Jeroboam's wife came in the disguise, he said, hey, God's going to cut off all of the descendants of Jeroboam. This happened just five years after the prophecy. All of the descendants of Jeroboam were wiped out by this Baasha who conspired against the son of Jeroboam, Nadab, and destroyed him and then wiped out all the house.

And there was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel, all of their days. And so the northern and the southern kingdoms are fighting each other. In the third year of Asa, the king of Judah, Baasha began to reign over all of Israel, and he reigned for 24 years.

God’s Patience and the Warning of Judgment

So Asa saw his death, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He walked in the way of Jeroboam. In the sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. So the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, For as much as I exalted thee out of the dust and made thee prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, you've made my people to sin, and you've provoked me to anger with their sins.

Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha. In other words, it's not going to be a continuing dynasty. They're going to be wiped out, even as Jeroboam. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam.

And he that dies of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat. He that dies in the fields shall the vultures eat. So the same prophecy that was given to Jeroboam is now given to Baasha. Now the interesting thing to me is that God is still speaking, and that shows really the patience of God, the compassion of God, the mercy of God.

That even as long as God is speaking, there's a chance to turn. There's a chance to change. I'm amazed with the patience of God continuing to speak to a person long after they've gone downhill. God doesn't forsake them.

He continues to speak, and thus God is continuing to speak to this corrupted king. So the rest of the acts that he did, they're written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. He slept with his fathers, was buried in Terzah.

And Elah, his son, reigned in his stead. And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, came the word of the Lord against Baasha, even against his house, even for all of the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, and provoking him to anger the work of his hands in being like the house of Jeroboam because he killed him.

Now this prophet Jehu was the son of the prophet Hanani who prophesied to Asa in the southern kingdom, and we'll get that when we get to Chronicles. Now, in the 26th year of Asa, the good king in Judah, began Elah, who was the son of Baasha, to reign in Israel, and he reigned for two years.

Zimri’s Coup and the Instability of Israel

And his servant Zimri, the captain of his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Terzah, and he was drinking until he was drunk in the house of Arzah, the steward of the house in Terzah. And so while he was in this drunken stupor, this military officer, military coup, he went in and smote him and killed him in the 27th year of Asa, the king of Judah, and he reigned in his stead.

And it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on the throne, that he killed all of the house of Baasha, and thus the prophecy was fulfilled. He didn't leave a single one of the kinfolks nor of his friends, and thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha according to the word of the Lord.

And this was because of the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah, his son, by which they sinned and by which they made Israel to sin, provoking Jehovah, God of Israel, to anger with their vanities. Now the rest of the Acts of Elah and all that he did, they're written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

And in the 27th year of Asa, the king of Judah, did Zimri reign, and he only reigned for seven days. Did a lot of damage. He wiped out all of the household of Baasha, but he had a very short-lived reign.

It's interesting. This is probably a conspiracy. It was an ambition of his life, you know, my, if we can just take over the throne, you know, what we'll be able to do, et cetera. And seven days of glory.

And the people were encamped against Gibethon, which belongs to the Philistines. And the people that were there heard that Zimri had conspired and had killed the king. Wherefore Israel made Amri the captain of the host, the king over Israel, that day in the camp.

So here was the general, and the people said, hey, we want you to be the king. So Amri went up from this battle against the Philistines at Gibethon, and all of Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was being taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and he set the thing on fire and cremated himself in the house so that he died. For all of the sins which he sinned in doing the evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and his sin which he did to make Israel to sin.

Now the rest of his acts are in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts. Half the people were following Timni, the son of Gennath, to make him the king, and half followed Amri.

Omri and Ahab: Israel’s Descent into Greater Wickedness

So man, now you've got a real problem. You've got two divisions in the northern kingdom. But don't worry, it doesn't last long. The 31st year of Asa, the king of Judah, Amri began to reign over Israel for 12 years.

Six years he reigned in Tirzah, and then he changed the capital from Tirzah to Samaria. He bought the hill of Samaria, and that became the capital of the northern kingdom. After that. So Amri did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

He did worse than all that were, that's hard to, you know, they were bad. This guy's worse. But hey, the next guy is even worse yet. So things are going from bad to worse. He walked in the way of Jeroboam.

The sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke God to anger with all of their vanities. And the rest of the acts of Amri, which he did, his might that he showed, they're written in the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

So Amri slept with his fathers, was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son, one of the most wicked of all, reigned in his stead. And in the 38th year of Asa, the king of Judah, began Ahab, the son of Amri, to reign over Israel.

And Ahab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel from the capital of Samaria for 22 years. And Ahab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. So his dad was the worst, and he outdid his dad.

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, that he took as his wife this gal Jezebel, who was the daughter of Ephbaal, the king of the Sidonians, and he went and served Baal and worshipped him.

So it was through Ahab that the worship of Baal was introduced to the northern kingdom. And he raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove, and Ahab did more to provoke Jehovah, God of Israel, to anger than all of the kings of Israel that were before him.

Joshua’s Prophecy and the Certainty of God’s Word

And in his days did Hael, the Bethelite, build Jericho. He laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in the youngest son, Sigub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua, the son of Nun.

So here, the last verse, is an interesting little insight to the fulfillment of a prophecy that was made some 500 years earlier. In Joshua chapter 6, when they took the city of Jericho, the walls, of course, were thrown down by the hand of the Lord.

As they destroyed the city of Jericho, Joshua uttered a prophecy cursing the man that would rebuild the city, and told, actually, how he would begin to build the walls in his firstborn and how they would be finished in the latter.

Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and builds this city Jericho. He shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

And so, just as was predicted by Joshua some 500 years earlier, so now the prophecy is being fulfilled. But interesting, God's sure word of prophecy. And this is one of the strong apologetics for the Scriptures, one of the proofs that the Bible is divinely inspired, and one of the proofs of the eternal character and nature of God.

God being eternal and God being omniscient can speak of things before they ever take place with tremendous accuracy. Here are all of these prophecies that were literally fulfilled. And as we go through the Bible, we are bound to notice how much of the Bible is devoted to prophecy, the foretelling of events before they ever take place.

And we are bound to be amazed at the absolute accuracy of prophecy, so that it can be said not one good word has failed of all that God said. That is, God has completely kept his word all the way along, not once has there been one word of God that has failed.

Daniel, Prophecy, and God’s Faithfulness in Israel’s Decline

Prophecies up to this point have all been fulfilled. And that is what makes, of course, the Bible such an interesting book in the days in which we live. Because the Bible speaks so implicitly of our days.

And as Daniel is prophesying of things that we see now shaping up in the world, Daniel said, and these words are true. And we can see some 2 ,500 years after Daniel, the words that he spoke that relate to the day in which we live.

We can see them coming to pass. So as we move through now, and we get into the area of prophecy where it really begins to actually become a ministry in the nation of Israel, in the next chapter we're introduced to the man Elijah, this tremendous prophet of God.

Elijah and the Prophetic Ministry During Israel’s Decline

And we begin to see now how that God is going to begin to speak through his prophets. At this time of Israel's decline and failure, God will continue to speak to the people, raising up prophets to deal with the national issues.

And the first of them, and one of the most powerful of all of them, is this prophet Elijah. So now the lessons are going to shift gears a bit where we had to go through this shuffling of the kingdoms and back and forth with the North and the South, a little hard to handle, but you did well.

You came through it. Now we're going to get into some pretty exciting areas as we get into the prophecies of Elijah and then the subsequent prophecies of Elisha, which of course will take us through the rest of the book of Kings and on into 2 Kings as we deal with these fascinating prophets of God who are raised up for this important ministry to speak to the nation of Israel during their period of spiritual decline.

Again, God's faithfulness in continuing to warn the people, though they were not faithful, God remains faithful. That is always true. We may not be faithful to do all the things that we should do for the Lord, but thank God he remains faithful and God will be faithful to keep his word and his promise to us as we trust in him.

We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse study through the book of 1 Kings in our next lesson, as we continue with the prophecy of the drought, and we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now, I'd like to remind you that if you missed any part of today's message or perhaps you'd like to order a copy for that special friend or loved one, you can do so by simply contacting one of our customer service representatives, and they'd be more than happy to assist you with the ordering details.

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That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. And now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith with today's closing prayer.

Prayer Against Disobedience and False Worship

Father help us, we pray, to learn the lessons, the lessons of human failure, especially when man turns his back upon you, how we are just courting disaster for our life. Lord, we pray that we would not be guilty of forsaking your ways, that we would not be guilty of worshiping and serving other gods, that we would not allow, Lord, anything to come between our relationship with you.

But, oh Lord, help, we pray, that you might ever be first and foremost in our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. As your pastor, it's my responsibility to witness the truth of Jesus Christ to you. So, as we're about to talk about this year's prophecy update, it's necessary to be faithful in giving these warnings to declare what God has said so that you may be alert to the things that are about to happen.

Listen and watch Pastor Chuck's Prophecy Alert for 2012 with special guests Pastor Steve Apple of Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv and Eria Eldad from the Israeli Defense Force.

You know, we've been saying last times, last days for a long time, obviously, but that event in 1948 changed everything.

To order Prophecy Alert 2012, please contact The Word for Today at 1 -800 -272-WORD or visit us online at thewordfortoday .org.

Be alert. We are in a constant battle facing an enemy. Live in that sense of urgency for these are desperate days.

This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today in Costa Mesa, California.