Good King Asa

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest. II Chronicles 14:1-6

Steps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Asa was the third king of Judah after the great division. Asa did well in his relationship with God. Like all men he had his ups and downs. In the closing years of his reign he got into trouble because a prophet reproved him in II Chronicles 16:7-10. He did not repent of this stubbornness and got into trouble. This is the pattern that began to develop in Judah. A king would be raised up by God, do well, and then his son would do better or in some cases worse. Then the next king would hopefully profit from the experience and then repeat the same story over and over again. God raised up many interesting and faithful kings like Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah. God also allowed some interesting scoundrels to reign including Rehoboam, Jehoram, Athaliah – the one female king, Manassah, and Zedekiah. God wanted to give us a good cross sample of these men so that we in turn can learn what it was that pleased God and what it was that displeased Him. Now it is our turn.

Prayer for Today: God, we appreciate Your patience in giving us so many examples, and so much data. We praise Your name for Your willingness to share these things. We also thank You for seeing enough of this data to even ponder about how You conduct business on the plane of mankind. Help us to see enough of You that we want to be with You and worship You. Thank You for Your love.