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54
Royalty and Ruin
A Remarkable Victory Gained by Trusting God
The opposing armies now stood face to face. It was a time of test
and trial to those who served the Lord. Had they confessed every
sin? Did Judah have full confidence in God’s power to deliver? From
every human viewpoint the huge force from Egypt would sweep
everything before it. But in time of peace Asa had not been giving
himself to amusements and pleasure; he had been preparing for any
emergency. He had an army trained for conflict, and he had tried
to lead his people to make peace with God. Now his faith did not
weaken.
[40]
Having sought the Lord in prosperity, the king could now rely
on Him in adversity. “It is nothing for You to help,” he pleaded,
“whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O
Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against
this multitude.”
Verse 11
.
God rewarded King Asa’s faith dramatically. “The Lord struck
the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ...
They were broken before the Lord and His army.”
Verses 12, 13
.
As the victorious armies were returning to Jerusalem, “Azariah
the son of Oded ... went out to meet Asa, and said to him, ... ‘The
Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will
be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.’” “Be
strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be
rewarded!”
2 Chronicles 15:1, 2, 7
.
Greatly encouraged, Asa soon led out in a second reformation.
He “removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and
Benjamin.” “Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God
of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.” “And He
was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.”
Verses
8, 12, 15
.
Some mistakes marred Asa’s long record of faithful service. On
one occasion, when the king of Israel entered Judah and seized
Ramah, a city only five miles from Jerusalem, Asa sought deliv-
erance by an alliance with Ben-Hadad, king of Syria. Hanani the
prophet sternly rebuked this failure to trust God. He appeared before
Asa with the message, “Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a
huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because