Jeroboam and Asa
A Contrast In Worship
1 Kings 12-16
2 Chronicles 11-16
It is the choices that we make in this life that define our existence and our legacy!
What is the truth that cannot be denied by any people?
1. Sinful life style choices will have an immediate effect on any people!
2. Sinful choices will always produce failure to acknowledge the truth of God!
3. Sinful choices will always bring God's judgment!
Rom 1:32 "Who knowing the judgment of God", that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Remember at the end of last weeks lesson we saw that Jeroboam had already began to rebel against the Word of God given to him by God's prophet Ahijah.
What had God's prophet told Jeroboam?
1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
1Ki 11:38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
How quickly will power cause most men to exalt themselves above the truth of God!
Lets begin:
*****1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
The dictionary says that "history" is an account of facts, respecting nations or states. True History then is an accurate record of the events that have transpired.
What is the real truth of "history"?
True "history" is that God is teaching this entire world by examples from true history!
What have we seen from our past and continue to see in our own lifetime?
Foolish men in power never learn from true history, so history repeats itself over and over again!
Jeroboam had been a man that had been a part of Solomon's abuse of the people of Israel. When he had confronted Solomon about this abuse of people, he had to flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Solomon.
God had taken Jeroboam and made him King of the Northern Tribes of Israel, which were ten tribes and Israel had become a divided nation.
Jeroboam had established his capitol city in Shechem in Samaria. Shechem already held great history for the nation of Israel for it was the place where Abraham had built his first altar in the Promised Land.
Shechem was the place where Abraham had received the covenant promises of God!
Jacob had also bought some land from the children of Hamor and had made this area his home place.
It was at Shechem where the bones of Joseph and Jacob were buried.
It was in this same place where the well of Jacob does still exist and where the Lord Jesus met with a certain woman at a well.
What did Jesus explain to this woman?
Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Jeroboam built Shechem in this place but he also built Penuel.
Penuel is best known for the battle of Gideon with the Midianites.
So we see that even historical places will have a way of revealing themselves in our own actions when we do learn our history very well!
Jeroboam then built his own home in Tirzah which had a history and a reputation for it's beauty for even Solomon recognized the beauty of Tirzah.
Son 6:4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
But once Jeroboam had settled into his royal life, he began to realize that all these things could come to an end just as fast as they had begun.
Jeroboam began to doubt the Word of God as he entered into deep sin and he began to repeat the same things that had divided the nation of Israel to begin with.
In fact Jeroboam began to invent a totally new religion!
Even Solomon had found this to be true of mankind late in his life as he wrote these words:
Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
All Jeroboam had to do was to obey the Word of God, he had received from God's prophet Ahijah.
1.) He needed only to walk in the ways of God, and he already had all the Books of Moses.
2.) He needed only to do right things and not wrong things. God's Word explains this very well even in the first 5 books!
3.) He needed only to realize that God had His eyes on everything that he did!
God keeps good records of all things done on this earth!
God says on Judgment Day those "books" would be opened!
What did Jeroboam do instead?
Jeroboam realized the great power of the Temple that Solomon had built had over the people and he knew that worship could become a most unifying force!
The Radical Muslim movement in our world today also take great advantage of this one thing in our world today!
Jeroboam had been given a great opportunity to unite God's people and to be a witness for Jehovah to the world, but Jeroboam could only think of himself!
The believing Jewish people were to journey to the Temple at the minimum 3 times a year and Jeroboam sought to put an end to these things and to end all contact with God's people
Jeroboam decided that he needed a state sponsored religion so he invented a new man-made religion just as many other have done!
*****1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
We may not know who Jeroboam took counsel with, but Jeroboam had an Egyptian wife and he had spent much time in Egypt and was well aware of false religions of Egypt, just as Moses had been.
Jeroboam caused the Jewish people to remember their own history of the time of Moses and Aaron.
Exo 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Jeroboam decided if he could twist this sad history of the beginning of the nation of Israel around just a little bit, he might be able to substitute an idol in place of the Living God!
Living bulls were important in Egypt and a thing of worship and still are today.
The great basin in the Temple of Solomon had 12 bulls as it's support.
Aaron had made a golden calf as an image of God.
In Egypt many bulls were worshipped as being sacred and a resemblance of this idol was first placed at Bethel.
Jeroboam already knew the "history" of Bethel and how the Jewish people had gone to Bethel in times of trouble throughout history.
Jdg 20:26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
Jdg 20:27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Jdg 20:28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
In fact Hosea later wrote that Bethel meaning the "house of God" should be changed to Bethaven the "house of idols" for that is what it had become!
Hos 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
Hos 10:6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
Another false bull idol was placed in Dan.
Again if we remember "history" we will know the story of Micah and how Dan already had a history of idol worship.
Jdg 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Jdg 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
This place of false worship still existed and Jeroboam took advantage of this and the people of the Northern Tribes of Israel fell into the deep sin of idolatry!
*****1Ki 12:30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
Sin can be said to be, when any person expresses their own sinful nature passed down from Adam!
Adam's sin, was that he did not obey the Word of God!
Sin then is anything that goes against the Word of God!
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Sin is the inward habit of the soul that shows in the outward conduct of life, whether by omission or commission!
What is God's number one rule?
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
What is the "Royal Law" of King Jesus?
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Anything we place before the Word of God is an idol and living in deep sin!
Jeroboam did not just stop here!
Jeroboam was on his way to creating an entirely new religion, just as the Atheists have done, and the Evolutionist have done and these people of Climate Change are trying to do now!
Climate change religion is more about the control of the undeveloped countries and the control of population than anything else which is another reason abortion is not eliminated and the gay lifestyle is allowed to fester.
If the entire world was gay, the entire world would die off in one generation.
These evil people take advantage of the fact that when people see things of nature that affect their lives, they hunt something to blame it on whether good or bad!
Evil men also take advantage of the fact that skills are no longer taught in most schools but only philosophy.
They take advantage of the fact that the Word of God has been removed from the schools along with Prayer to the only true God.
This has resulted in the growth of false worship and false priests.
What did Jeroboam do next the same thing our world is doing today!
*****1Ki 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
There were many of the Levite priests that still had their homes in this territory of these ten tribes whom God had placed there for many reasons, but Jeroboam did not allow them to be the priests in this new religion but cast them out and most all of them returned to Jerusalem and to Judah.
2Ch 11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:
2Ch 11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
Jeroboam was afraid that these men of God would go against what he was trying to do, so he created an entirely new order of priesthood again going against the Word of God.
A priest or preacher or pastor who is not God called, is not a true man of God!
In America today, every effort is made by our own government to shut the mouths of our men of God even by causing the Word of God to be included as hate speech!
When the truth becomes hate speech, we are all doomed to evil!
Jeroboam assumed himself to be the highest priest and selected other men who did not follow the Word of God to be the false temple priests.
It is a fact that our own President has surrounded himself with non-believers including the Muslim Brotherhood and has also exalted his own self above the Word of God!
That word lowest would truly mean the most degraded humans he could find.
2Ch 13:9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
Jeroboam needed one more thing, Jeroboam needed some special feast days.
*****1Ki 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
What had Jeroboam devised in his own heart?
Jeroboam had seen in his years that most all people will choose a religion of convenience rather than seek the truth, if seeking the truth required some difficulty on their part!
Jeroboam had seen in his years that many people would not have a problem with substituting an image of God for the invisible God.
Jeroboam decided to set aside the days that God required, for mock holidays that he had determined in his own mind.
Jeroboam devised these things himself, in his own heart.
What does God say?
Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Mat 15:20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
These are all traits of the Antichrist!
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
We know that many Christian holidays, such as the birth of Christ (Christmas), the resurrection of Christ (Easter), and a day of thanks (Thanksgiving), have lost their true meaning and purpose because of commercialism and man's influence, deliberately changing the meaning of these days from the truth.
The Temple in Jerusalem was available for worship everyday of the year but there were 3 specific times that all of Israel were required, if at all possible to return to the Tabernacle and now the Temple to worship the Lord!
1.) The Feast of the Passover was a memorial day, a symbolical memorial to the memory to that very first passover night when Israel escaped from the "iron furnace" of Egypt and freedom.
The meaning is best illustrated in the Book of Hebrews.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
We cannot know true freedom without the "Blood of Jesus"!
2) The Feast of Weeks, best known as Pentecost, was 50 days from the end of the Feast of unleavened bread which came just after the Passover.
This day was a memorial to the day that God gave the Law to Moses which was 50 days after they had escaped from the bondage of Egypt.
We cannot know freedom without the Word of God!
3) The Feast of the Trumpets, or the Day of Atonement.
This was the only day of the year that the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies and intercede on behalf of the Jewish people.
This was the only day that the "intercessor" for all of Israel, could sprinkle the blood on the "Mercy Seat".
The people were to afflict their souls on this day:
Lev 16:29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
Lev 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
This event was to represent the mourning and sadness of Israel, just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
My day of atonement was the day the Lord Jesus Christ interceded on my behalf and I got saved!
Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zec 12:12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
God had a purpose for all these things and there is no man on earth that can change the things of God!
Jeroboam had placed politics above the truth of God!
Jeroboam had installed his own government ordained religious system born out of selfish motives!
Jeroboam's appeal was that these things were good for the nation of Israel.
How often have we heard this thing?
Israel could now have a religious system that they truly would not have to share with others or any other nation.
Many in Israel have always said that Jehovah was just the God of the Jew and this was a great problem for the early Church!
And then Jeroboam decided that he should be the high priest of his own new religion!
Every false religion in the world was begun by such men as Jeroboam!
BUT, we can be sure God was not going to allow Jeroboam to escape His wrath for this disobedience.
*****1Ki 14:14 Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
1Ki 14:15 For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
1Ki 14:16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
What did God promise to Jeroboam?
1. God would raise up another king who would put and end to the dynasty of Jeroboam. Jeroboam would never have a son to sit very long on the throne of Israel.
2. God would remove His hand of protection from the ten tribes of Israel and allow a foreign power to chasten and punish Israel. We know that history says this was the Assyrians.
3. We think of reeds as plants that grow in a marsh. The Hebrew word "Kaneh" is used here to denote a "reed of any kind".
Reeds give the appearance of being firmly rooted in the ground but by the violence of many storms and the movement of the wind and the waters, they can be uprooted and scattered over and on dry land to die.
That phrase "beyond the river" means that these reeds would be scattered in lands other than the "Promised Land".
SO, How does Jesus say we are to avoid these things?
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Jesus said if we are to be the messengers of the Gospel then we cannot be like a reed that is easily shaken.
Mat 11:7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
Mat 11:8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
Mat 11:9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
Mat 11:10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Israel had become a nation of reeds and God would fulfill this promise as He does them all!
We know these things began with Solomon and Jeroboam had been given an opportunity to restore Israel to the Word of God but Jeroboam had allowed his own lust for power to interfere with the work of God.
Jeroboam had sinned and he had caused Israel to fall even deeper into sin.
AND, Because our own government is so caught up in sin, America is now also caught up in and is falling deeper into sin!
But before Jeroboam died Judah had a new king named Asa.
AND, Asa had a heart for the truth of God!
*****1Ki 15:9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
Asa was the son of Abijah and his grandfather was Rehoboam.
King Asa would rule Judah for 41 years.
We know that Rehoboam had also sinned greatly against the Lord and Abijah his son had followed in his footsteps but Asa was an entirely different man from his two predecessors.
Even though Asa had been raised by parents that rebelled against God, Asa became zealous in maintaining the true worship of Jehovah!
The name Asa means physician and one of the few blemishes in the record of Asa was near his end when he sought the physicians help rather that God's help.
1Ki 15:23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
2Ch 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
This does not mean we are not to go the doctor. It does mean we must not forsake the Lord, by allowing our heart to depart from serving God, even when our health begins to interfere with our daily walk in this life!
The Bible says it takes great strength to handle our elder years:
Psa 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
The Bible also tells us where our strength will come from:
Isa 46:4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
God does not just make us sick so we can then call on Him for healing and God simply does not do bad things to us just to get our attention!
Paul said he once acted like a child but as he grew in the Lord. he did away with childish things!
BUT, God may remove His protective hand and allow Satan to do some things!
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Asa did not have a god-fearing father nor grandfather and Asa did not have a god-fearing grandmother!
*****1Ki 15:10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
Maachah was actually Asa's grandmother or we would say the Queen Mother in this case.
Maachah was also David's son Absalom's granddaughter, so we can see that she came from the side of the family that had always rebelled against God.
2Ch 11:20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
2Ch 11:21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
2Ch 11:22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
These things meant that Asa was very young when He assumed the throne of Judah!
SO, What is the biblical truth of King Asa?
King Asa was more like King David than he was of his father or his grandfather!
No doubt Asa had learned much about his heritage as a child.
2Ch 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
*****1Ki 15:11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
Unlike Rehoboam and unlike Jeroboam, Asa sought to please God!
Israel is still today looking for a king that does right in the eyes of God, as did King David!
In fact Israel is still looking for someone to return to the throne of David and remove the threat of all those nations that hate them!
In the time that Asa ruled Judah, Israel would see King Jeroboam die along with all his sons but also King Baasha and his son Elah, King Zimri who was king for just one week, King Omri and King Ahab and the short live throne of King Tibna.
Judah had once again found peace with God, while Israel found turmoil in sin without God!
Good things can always be accomplished when a nation is at peace and is strong enough to keep it that way, and the only way for these things to happen is for that leader to do right in the eyes of God!
How did good King Asa go about making Judah a better nation in the eyes of God?
Asa did things according to the Word of God!
*****1Ki 15:12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
Being a Sodomite did not mean these were descendants of the city of Sodom that was destroyed many years earlier in the time of Abraham.
These Sodomites were all those who practiced the same immoral acts that took place in that city of Sodom!
In America, these Sodomites have even been granted the freedom to be marital partners!
In the time of Jeroboam these sinners made sodomy a religious rite just as they have in America today!
They made unnatural sex acts an open part of their lives, just as the gay movement has done in America today.
They committed abominable sin against the Lord by rejecting the Word of God!
You have to go against the Word of God to approve of such things!
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
To the dismay of these people, God has only one answer for such sin.
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Unless they repent of their sin, they will end up in a burning fiery Hell because they have corrupted their own selves.
People simply are not born this way, this is a lie straight from Hell, they corrupt themselves!
Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things "they corrupt themselves".
This is just the truth of the Word of God and not some hate speech aimed at anyone in particular!
We are always to love all people but we are also to hate all sin including the gay lifestyle!
Asa's answer was not to kill these Sodomites but to remove them for the land.
This should also be the response of our own nation!
BUT, Asa did much more than this one thing!
Asa removed any image or idol that the government of his father and his grandfather had put in place!
The truth is that America was built on the principles of Jehovah God and it is about time we acted like it!
Asa demanded for Judah to remember their heritage.
We need a leader now, who will step up and that America remember her heritage!
2Ch 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
2Ch 14:3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
2Ch 14:4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
2Ch 14:5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.
Regardless what we see in the news and the bold mouths of the gay community, it is only the truth of God that will bring peace to America and only then can America begin to rebuild as a Nation!
2Ch 14:6 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.
Biblical principles bring peace and prosperity to any nation!
Asa could not show the proof of his intentions to restore Judah and if he allowed such sin to be seen in his own household, so Asa began by clearing out his own household!
*****1Ki 15:13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
King Asa removed all the appearances of government involvement in religious practices except those that concerned Jehovah God.
King Asa knew that we cannot know the peace of God until we have peace with God!
King Asa told his nation, let's work together in rebuilding the sure platforms of our nation!
We need a leader today that we can work together with to rebuild the platforms of our own nation!
Our true foundation is still Jesus Christ!
2Ch 14:7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
It was during the time of King Asa that most all the Levites relocated to Judah from Israel.
It was during the time of King Asa that most all believers of the ten tribes of Israel returned to Judah from Israel.
It was during the time of Asa that many of those deep in sin and the sodomites, left Judah to go to other places where they could practice their sin openly.
Israel was in turmoil and at this time, but Judah was at peace!
And King Asa said to all of Judah, let us just seek the Lord!
God did not put all these things in the Bible, just for us to read!
God put all these things in the Bible for us to learn from so we do not make the same mistakes!
History is only useful when we avoid the mistakes of the past that have caused such errors in the lives of mankind!
Now we can just sit by and allow all these things to keep happening in America or we can insists that those we place in leadership positions honor the Word of God.
Either way we deserve the results that we get!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
A Contrast In Worship
1 Kings 12-16
2 Chronicles 11-16
It is the choices that we make in this life that define our existence and our legacy!
What is the truth that cannot be denied by any people?
1. Sinful life style choices will have an immediate effect on any people!
2. Sinful choices will always produce failure to acknowledge the truth of God!
3. Sinful choices will always bring God's judgment!
Rom 1:32 "Who knowing the judgment of God", that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Remember at the end of last weeks lesson we saw that Jeroboam had already began to rebel against the Word of God given to him by God's prophet Ahijah.
What had God's prophet told Jeroboam?
1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
1Ki 11:38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
How quickly will power cause most men to exalt themselves above the truth of God!
Lets begin:
*****1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
The dictionary says that "history" is an account of facts, respecting nations or states. True History then is an accurate record of the events that have transpired.
What is the real truth of "history"?
True "history" is that God is teaching this entire world by examples from true history!
What have we seen from our past and continue to see in our own lifetime?
Foolish men in power never learn from true history, so history repeats itself over and over again!
Jeroboam had been a man that had been a part of Solomon's abuse of the people of Israel. When he had confronted Solomon about this abuse of people, he had to flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Solomon.
God had taken Jeroboam and made him King of the Northern Tribes of Israel, which were ten tribes and Israel had become a divided nation.
Jeroboam had established his capitol city in Shechem in Samaria. Shechem already held great history for the nation of Israel for it was the place where Abraham had built his first altar in the Promised Land.
Shechem was the place where Abraham had received the covenant promises of God!
Jacob had also bought some land from the children of Hamor and had made this area his home place.
It was at Shechem where the bones of Joseph and Jacob were buried.
It was in this same place where the well of Jacob does still exist and where the Lord Jesus met with a certain woman at a well.
What did Jesus explain to this woman?
Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Jeroboam built Shechem in this place but he also built Penuel.
Penuel is best known for the battle of Gideon with the Midianites.
So we see that even historical places will have a way of revealing themselves in our own actions when we do learn our history very well!
Jeroboam then built his own home in Tirzah which had a history and a reputation for it's beauty for even Solomon recognized the beauty of Tirzah.
Son 6:4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
But once Jeroboam had settled into his royal life, he began to realize that all these things could come to an end just as fast as they had begun.
Jeroboam began to doubt the Word of God as he entered into deep sin and he began to repeat the same things that had divided the nation of Israel to begin with.
In fact Jeroboam began to invent a totally new religion!
Even Solomon had found this to be true of mankind late in his life as he wrote these words:
Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
All Jeroboam had to do was to obey the Word of God, he had received from God's prophet Ahijah.
1.) He needed only to walk in the ways of God, and he already had all the Books of Moses.
2.) He needed only to do right things and not wrong things. God's Word explains this very well even in the first 5 books!
3.) He needed only to realize that God had His eyes on everything that he did!
God keeps good records of all things done on this earth!
God says on Judgment Day those "books" would be opened!
What did Jeroboam do instead?
Jeroboam realized the great power of the Temple that Solomon had built had over the people and he knew that worship could become a most unifying force!
The Radical Muslim movement in our world today also take great advantage of this one thing in our world today!
Jeroboam had been given a great opportunity to unite God's people and to be a witness for Jehovah to the world, but Jeroboam could only think of himself!
The believing Jewish people were to journey to the Temple at the minimum 3 times a year and Jeroboam sought to put an end to these things and to end all contact with God's people
Jeroboam decided that he needed a state sponsored religion so he invented a new man-made religion just as many other have done!
*****1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
We may not know who Jeroboam took counsel with, but Jeroboam had an Egyptian wife and he had spent much time in Egypt and was well aware of false religions of Egypt, just as Moses had been.
Jeroboam caused the Jewish people to remember their own history of the time of Moses and Aaron.
Exo 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Jeroboam decided if he could twist this sad history of the beginning of the nation of Israel around just a little bit, he might be able to substitute an idol in place of the Living God!
Living bulls were important in Egypt and a thing of worship and still are today.
The great basin in the Temple of Solomon had 12 bulls as it's support.
Aaron had made a golden calf as an image of God.
In Egypt many bulls were worshipped as being sacred and a resemblance of this idol was first placed at Bethel.
Jeroboam already knew the "history" of Bethel and how the Jewish people had gone to Bethel in times of trouble throughout history.
Jdg 20:26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
Jdg 20:27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Jdg 20:28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
In fact Hosea later wrote that Bethel meaning the "house of God" should be changed to Bethaven the "house of idols" for that is what it had become!
Hos 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
Hos 10:6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
Another false bull idol was placed in Dan.
Again if we remember "history" we will know the story of Micah and how Dan already had a history of idol worship.
Jdg 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Jdg 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
This place of false worship still existed and Jeroboam took advantage of this and the people of the Northern Tribes of Israel fell into the deep sin of idolatry!
*****1Ki 12:30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
Sin can be said to be, when any person expresses their own sinful nature passed down from Adam!
Adam's sin, was that he did not obey the Word of God!
Sin then is anything that goes against the Word of God!
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Sin is the inward habit of the soul that shows in the outward conduct of life, whether by omission or commission!
What is God's number one rule?
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
What is the "Royal Law" of King Jesus?
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Anything we place before the Word of God is an idol and living in deep sin!
Jeroboam did not just stop here!
Jeroboam was on his way to creating an entirely new religion, just as the Atheists have done, and the Evolutionist have done and these people of Climate Change are trying to do now!
Climate change religion is more about the control of the undeveloped countries and the control of population than anything else which is another reason abortion is not eliminated and the gay lifestyle is allowed to fester.
If the entire world was gay, the entire world would die off in one generation.
These evil people take advantage of the fact that when people see things of nature that affect their lives, they hunt something to blame it on whether good or bad!
Evil men also take advantage of the fact that skills are no longer taught in most schools but only philosophy.
They take advantage of the fact that the Word of God has been removed from the schools along with Prayer to the only true God.
This has resulted in the growth of false worship and false priests.
What did Jeroboam do next the same thing our world is doing today!
*****1Ki 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
There were many of the Levite priests that still had their homes in this territory of these ten tribes whom God had placed there for many reasons, but Jeroboam did not allow them to be the priests in this new religion but cast them out and most all of them returned to Jerusalem and to Judah.
2Ch 11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:
2Ch 11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
Jeroboam was afraid that these men of God would go against what he was trying to do, so he created an entirely new order of priesthood again going against the Word of God.
A priest or preacher or pastor who is not God called, is not a true man of God!
In America today, every effort is made by our own government to shut the mouths of our men of God even by causing the Word of God to be included as hate speech!
When the truth becomes hate speech, we are all doomed to evil!
Jeroboam assumed himself to be the highest priest and selected other men who did not follow the Word of God to be the false temple priests.
It is a fact that our own President has surrounded himself with non-believers including the Muslim Brotherhood and has also exalted his own self above the Word of God!
That word lowest would truly mean the most degraded humans he could find.
2Ch 13:9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
Jeroboam needed one more thing, Jeroboam needed some special feast days.
*****1Ki 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
What had Jeroboam devised in his own heart?
Jeroboam had seen in his years that most all people will choose a religion of convenience rather than seek the truth, if seeking the truth required some difficulty on their part!
Jeroboam had seen in his years that many people would not have a problem with substituting an image of God for the invisible God.
Jeroboam decided to set aside the days that God required, for mock holidays that he had determined in his own mind.
Jeroboam devised these things himself, in his own heart.
What does God say?
Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Mat 15:20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
These are all traits of the Antichrist!
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
We know that many Christian holidays, such as the birth of Christ (Christmas), the resurrection of Christ (Easter), and a day of thanks (Thanksgiving), have lost their true meaning and purpose because of commercialism and man's influence, deliberately changing the meaning of these days from the truth.
The Temple in Jerusalem was available for worship everyday of the year but there were 3 specific times that all of Israel were required, if at all possible to return to the Tabernacle and now the Temple to worship the Lord!
1.) The Feast of the Passover was a memorial day, a symbolical memorial to the memory to that very first passover night when Israel escaped from the "iron furnace" of Egypt and freedom.
The meaning is best illustrated in the Book of Hebrews.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
We cannot know true freedom without the "Blood of Jesus"!
2) The Feast of Weeks, best known as Pentecost, was 50 days from the end of the Feast of unleavened bread which came just after the Passover.
This day was a memorial to the day that God gave the Law to Moses which was 50 days after they had escaped from the bondage of Egypt.
We cannot know freedom without the Word of God!
3) The Feast of the Trumpets, or the Day of Atonement.
This was the only day of the year that the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies and intercede on behalf of the Jewish people.
This was the only day that the "intercessor" for all of Israel, could sprinkle the blood on the "Mercy Seat".
The people were to afflict their souls on this day:
Lev 16:29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
Lev 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
This event was to represent the mourning and sadness of Israel, just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
My day of atonement was the day the Lord Jesus Christ interceded on my behalf and I got saved!
Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zec 12:12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
God had a purpose for all these things and there is no man on earth that can change the things of God!
Jeroboam had placed politics above the truth of God!
Jeroboam had installed his own government ordained religious system born out of selfish motives!
Jeroboam's appeal was that these things were good for the nation of Israel.
How often have we heard this thing?
Israel could now have a religious system that they truly would not have to share with others or any other nation.
Many in Israel have always said that Jehovah was just the God of the Jew and this was a great problem for the early Church!
And then Jeroboam decided that he should be the high priest of his own new religion!
Every false religion in the world was begun by such men as Jeroboam!
BUT, we can be sure God was not going to allow Jeroboam to escape His wrath for this disobedience.
*****1Ki 14:14 Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
1Ki 14:15 For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
1Ki 14:16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
What did God promise to Jeroboam?
1. God would raise up another king who would put and end to the dynasty of Jeroboam. Jeroboam would never have a son to sit very long on the throne of Israel.
2. God would remove His hand of protection from the ten tribes of Israel and allow a foreign power to chasten and punish Israel. We know that history says this was the Assyrians.
3. We think of reeds as plants that grow in a marsh. The Hebrew word "Kaneh" is used here to denote a "reed of any kind".
Reeds give the appearance of being firmly rooted in the ground but by the violence of many storms and the movement of the wind and the waters, they can be uprooted and scattered over and on dry land to die.
That phrase "beyond the river" means that these reeds would be scattered in lands other than the "Promised Land".
SO, How does Jesus say we are to avoid these things?
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Jesus said if we are to be the messengers of the Gospel then we cannot be like a reed that is easily shaken.
Mat 11:7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
Mat 11:8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
Mat 11:9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
Mat 11:10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Israel had become a nation of reeds and God would fulfill this promise as He does them all!
We know these things began with Solomon and Jeroboam had been given an opportunity to restore Israel to the Word of God but Jeroboam had allowed his own lust for power to interfere with the work of God.
Jeroboam had sinned and he had caused Israel to fall even deeper into sin.
AND, Because our own government is so caught up in sin, America is now also caught up in and is falling deeper into sin!
But before Jeroboam died Judah had a new king named Asa.
AND, Asa had a heart for the truth of God!
*****1Ki 15:9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
Asa was the son of Abijah and his grandfather was Rehoboam.
King Asa would rule Judah for 41 years.
We know that Rehoboam had also sinned greatly against the Lord and Abijah his son had followed in his footsteps but Asa was an entirely different man from his two predecessors.
Even though Asa had been raised by parents that rebelled against God, Asa became zealous in maintaining the true worship of Jehovah!
The name Asa means physician and one of the few blemishes in the record of Asa was near his end when he sought the physicians help rather that God's help.
1Ki 15:23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
2Ch 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
This does not mean we are not to go the doctor. It does mean we must not forsake the Lord, by allowing our heart to depart from serving God, even when our health begins to interfere with our daily walk in this life!
The Bible says it takes great strength to handle our elder years:
Psa 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
The Bible also tells us where our strength will come from:
Isa 46:4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
God does not just make us sick so we can then call on Him for healing and God simply does not do bad things to us just to get our attention!
Paul said he once acted like a child but as he grew in the Lord. he did away with childish things!
BUT, God may remove His protective hand and allow Satan to do some things!
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Asa did not have a god-fearing father nor grandfather and Asa did not have a god-fearing grandmother!
*****1Ki 15:10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
Maachah was actually Asa's grandmother or we would say the Queen Mother in this case.
Maachah was also David's son Absalom's granddaughter, so we can see that she came from the side of the family that had always rebelled against God.
2Ch 11:20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
2Ch 11:21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
2Ch 11:22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
These things meant that Asa was very young when He assumed the throne of Judah!
SO, What is the biblical truth of King Asa?
King Asa was more like King David than he was of his father or his grandfather!
No doubt Asa had learned much about his heritage as a child.
2Ch 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
*****1Ki 15:11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
Unlike Rehoboam and unlike Jeroboam, Asa sought to please God!
Israel is still today looking for a king that does right in the eyes of God, as did King David!
In fact Israel is still looking for someone to return to the throne of David and remove the threat of all those nations that hate them!
In the time that Asa ruled Judah, Israel would see King Jeroboam die along with all his sons but also King Baasha and his son Elah, King Zimri who was king for just one week, King Omri and King Ahab and the short live throne of King Tibna.
Judah had once again found peace with God, while Israel found turmoil in sin without God!
Good things can always be accomplished when a nation is at peace and is strong enough to keep it that way, and the only way for these things to happen is for that leader to do right in the eyes of God!
How did good King Asa go about making Judah a better nation in the eyes of God?
Asa did things according to the Word of God!
*****1Ki 15:12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
Being a Sodomite did not mean these were descendants of the city of Sodom that was destroyed many years earlier in the time of Abraham.
These Sodomites were all those who practiced the same immoral acts that took place in that city of Sodom!
In America, these Sodomites have even been granted the freedom to be marital partners!
In the time of Jeroboam these sinners made sodomy a religious rite just as they have in America today!
They made unnatural sex acts an open part of their lives, just as the gay movement has done in America today.
They committed abominable sin against the Lord by rejecting the Word of God!
You have to go against the Word of God to approve of such things!
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
To the dismay of these people, God has only one answer for such sin.
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Unless they repent of their sin, they will end up in a burning fiery Hell because they have corrupted their own selves.
People simply are not born this way, this is a lie straight from Hell, they corrupt themselves!
Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things "they corrupt themselves".
This is just the truth of the Word of God and not some hate speech aimed at anyone in particular!
We are always to love all people but we are also to hate all sin including the gay lifestyle!
Asa's answer was not to kill these Sodomites but to remove them for the land.
This should also be the response of our own nation!
BUT, Asa did much more than this one thing!
Asa removed any image or idol that the government of his father and his grandfather had put in place!
The truth is that America was built on the principles of Jehovah God and it is about time we acted like it!
Asa demanded for Judah to remember their heritage.
We need a leader now, who will step up and that America remember her heritage!
2Ch 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
2Ch 14:3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
2Ch 14:4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
2Ch 14:5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.
Regardless what we see in the news and the bold mouths of the gay community, it is only the truth of God that will bring peace to America and only then can America begin to rebuild as a Nation!
2Ch 14:6 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.
Biblical principles bring peace and prosperity to any nation!
Asa could not show the proof of his intentions to restore Judah and if he allowed such sin to be seen in his own household, so Asa began by clearing out his own household!
*****1Ki 15:13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
King Asa removed all the appearances of government involvement in religious practices except those that concerned Jehovah God.
King Asa knew that we cannot know the peace of God until we have peace with God!
King Asa told his nation, let's work together in rebuilding the sure platforms of our nation!
We need a leader today that we can work together with to rebuild the platforms of our own nation!
Our true foundation is still Jesus Christ!
2Ch 14:7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
It was during the time of King Asa that most all the Levites relocated to Judah from Israel.
It was during the time of King Asa that most all believers of the ten tribes of Israel returned to Judah from Israel.
It was during the time of Asa that many of those deep in sin and the sodomites, left Judah to go to other places where they could practice their sin openly.
Israel was in turmoil and at this time, but Judah was at peace!
And King Asa said to all of Judah, let us just seek the Lord!
God did not put all these things in the Bible, just for us to read!
God put all these things in the Bible for us to learn from so we do not make the same mistakes!
History is only useful when we avoid the mistakes of the past that have caused such errors in the lives of mankind!
Now we can just sit by and allow all these things to keep happening in America or we can insists that those we place in leadership positions honor the Word of God.
Either way we deserve the results that we get!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
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