Focus Chapters:
- 1 Kings 15:16-22
- 2 Chronicles 16:1-10
- 1 Kings 16
- 1 Kings 15:23-24
- 2 Chronicles 16:11-14
- 2 Chronicles 17
- 1 Kings 17:1-7
Standout Verse(s):
THE ACTION
2 Chronicles 16:1-4 NLT
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.
Asa responded by removing the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:
“Let there be a treaty between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”
Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the store cities in Naphtali.
THE REACTION
2 Chronicles 16:7-9 NLT
At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”
Observation (s):
- Asa’s first reaction was to rely upon himself to get his nation out of trouble.
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.
Asa responded by removing the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:
“Let there be a treaty between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”
- Through Asa’s self-reliance he got his immediate desired result.
Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the store cities in Naphtali.
- Asa’s self-reliance made him a fool. It cost him the opportunity to fully conquer his two enemies. This was an opportunity that God-reliance would have given him.
At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”
Application:
We posit the myth of self-reliance with pride. For many of us, our first instinct, in the midst of trouble or as go-getters, is to rely upon ourselves. Only after we have tried self-orchestrated Plans A-Z do some of us decide to rely on God.
Here is what happens when you don’t rely on God, from the outset. Saul was deemed foolish when he took matters into his own hands and failed to wait on Samuel, God’s representative. Asa was labelled a fool when he sought to help himself by allying with his enemy instead of appealing to God. Are you a fool? Do you keep trying to do the things you are appointed to do without the anointing or backing of God? Saul lost God’s anointing, his appointment and the establishment of his lineage because of his foolishness. Asa lost the opportunity to fully conquer not one but two of his enemies (King Baasha of Israel and King Ben-hadad of Aram) because he was a fool who chose to rely upon himself. What have you lost or are on the verge of losing because you have chosen to not rely on God and have sought to accomplish your appointment and purpose by yourself?
Don’t be a fool! Rely on God not yourself.
