2 Chronicles 15:16-19 (ESV)
Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
2 Chronicles is a chronicle (a factual written account) of all the kings of Judah. When Israel split between the ten northern tribes (lead by Jeroboam and referred to as Israel) and the two southern tribes (lead by Rehoboam and referred to as Judah), the kings of Israel were all evil kings but the kings of Judah were both good kings and evil kings. Note what the chronicle writer says about Asa, the third king after Rehoboam:
2 Chronicles 14:2 (ESV)
And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.
Asa was Rehoboam’s grandson. He obeyed God until the very end of his kingship. He would eventually fail God by trusting in a foreign leader and not God. As a result he was stricken by God with a disease in his feet and die. But as we read in the above passage, Asa did some outstanding things to honor God and lead the kingdom toward God. Remember, their brothers to the north were always leading their people to forget God and to join with foreign gods. Asa not only stood up to them, but he also stood up to his own mother. He destroyed her god. We have no background about this god and why she worshipped it. But Asa had no problem correcting the false worship of even his mother. It is often easy to correct others, but it is tough to correct family, especially a mother. Yet, Asa was so on fire for God he was willing to stand tall in the slouching world of his own home. That is what leadership does. They stand for God no matter who they are standing against.
No comments:
Post a Comment