We are continuing on with our study of King Asa of Judah, the great-great grandson of King David. Yesterday we learned that Asa was more like David than any of the other kings have been so far. The author of 1 Kings said, "Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life." What better thing could be said of any of us than that our hearts were fully committed to the Lord all our lives?
As the author of 2 Chronicles said, Asa "commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey His laws and commands". Asa not only served the Lord himself but encouraged everyone else to do likewise.
During his first ten years as king there was peace in the nation. But he didn't become complacent. He knew there were other nations who would love to sweep in like a flood to take over his country. He also knew he had to be on guard against the northern kingdom of Israel, for King Jeroboam had made war with his father Abijah and with his grandfather Rehoboam. So he spent those years building tall, thick walls around his cities and placing guard towers on the walls. He built up an impressive army too. "Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men." (2 Chronicles 14:8)
A great army from Cush (modern day Ethiopia) comes out against him after his first ten years as king. There appears to have been no provocation for the aggression of the Cushites against the kingdom of Judah. I assume the Cushites come out to fight against the people of Judah for the same reason so many nations have attacked others throughout history: because they want what someone else has. The Cushites want to incorporate the kingdom of Judah into their own nation and to subjugate the people and demand tribute from them. "Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah." (2 Chronicles 14:9-10) Some translations of the Bible render "thousands upon thousands" as "a thousand times a thousand" which would be a million soldiers. Asa has a total of 580,000 soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, so he's outnumbered two to one in this battle.
Asa knows that no matter how badly he's outnumbered, the Lord can give him victory. Even if the Cushite army contained a million times a million men, the Lord could give Judah victory. No one can stand against the Lord, so Asa prays to Him: "Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, 'Lord, there is no one like You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, You are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against You.'" (2 Chronicles 14:11)
Asa knows he can't win this battle with a little over half a million troops, not if the Lord isn't on his side. He's done what he could to build defenses around his cities and he's done what he could to train his army. But the rest is up to the Lord. As we said in our last study, we do have a responsibility to be good stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with. We should take care of what He's given us and we should take practical measures to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our belongings. But ultimately our safety and security depend on the Lord. There's only so much we can do in our human weakness in a world where people do wicked things and in a world where disasters, illnesses, and diseases exist. Asa knows his nation's safety and security depend on the Lord and it is to the Lord he calls for help.
The Lord answers. "The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and His forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem." (2 Chronicles 14:12-15) Gerar was located in the lower portion of the nation, on the way to Egypt, and may have been under Cushite or Egyptian control at the time. The Cushites and Egyptians were allies during Old Testament times and we will find their troops fighting together in some battles of the Bible. There must have at least been some Cushite settlements around Gerar since we find the army of Judah attacking and plundering these settlements.
The Cushites are badly defeated. By contrast, the Lord's people have actually benefited from this unprovoked enemy attack. They've benefited by having their confidence strengthened in the Lord. They've benefited by having the enemy fear them and fear their God. They've benefited materially from the plunder they took. The Lord is able to cause any of His children to benefit somehow from any hardship they face in this world. The things that happen here aren't always good in themselves but the Lord is able to take those experiences and use them for our spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, or material good. Being attacked by the Cushites wasn't a good thing for Judah, not from a human standpoint. It's never pleasant to come under enemy attack. But the outcome of trusting in the Lord caused the people of Judah to prosper spiritually and materially---and perhaps in many other ways as well. I'm going through a very sad time right now and the thing that made me sad was a bad thing to have happen. But the Lord will still bless me. I don't know how He'll use this season of my life for my spiritual good but I know He can and I know He will.
No comments:
Post a Comment