From the time of Jeroboam's death to Elijah's appearance
before Ahab the people of Israel suffered a steady
spiritual decline. Ruled by men who did not fear Jehovah
and who encouraged strange forms of worship, the larger
number of the people rapidly lost sight of their duty to
serve the living God and adopted many of the practices of
idolatry.
Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, occupied the throne of
Israel for only a few months. His career of evil was suddenly
stopped by a conspiracy headed by Baasha, one of
his generals, to gain control of the government. Nadab was
slain, with all his kindred in the line of succession, "according
unto the saying of the Lord, which He spake by His
servant Ahijah the Shilonite: because of the sins of Jeroboam
which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin."
1 Kings 15:29, 30.
Thus perished the house of Jeroboam. The idolatrous
worship introduced by him had brought upon the guilty
offenders the retributive judgments of Heaven; and yet the
rulers who followed--Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri--during
a period of nearly forty years, continued in the same
fatal course of evil-doing.
During the greater part of this time of apostasy in Israel,
Asa was ruling in the kingdom of Judah. For many years
"Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the
Lord his God: for he took away the altars of the strange
gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and
cut down the groves: and commanded Judah to seek the
Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah
the high places and the sun [margin] images: and the kingdom
was quiet before him." 2 Chronicles 14:2-5.
The faith of Asa was put to a severe test when "Zerah
the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and
three hundred chariots," invaded his kingdom. Verse 9. In
this crisis Asa did not put his trust in the "fenced cities in
Judah" that he had built, with "walls, and towers, gates,
and bars," nor in the "mighty men of valor" in his carefully
trained army. Verses 6-8. The king's trust was in Jehovah
of hosts, in whose name marvelous deliverances had been
wrought in behalf of Israel of old. Setting his forces in battle
array, he sought the help of God.
The opposing armies now stood face to face. It was a
time of test and trial to those who served the Lord. Had
every sin been confessed? Had the men of Judah full confidence
in God's power to deliver? Such thoughts as these
were in the minds of the leaders. From every human
viewpoint the vast host from Egypt would sweep everything
before it. But in time of peace Asa had not been giving
himself to amusement and pleasure; he had been preparing for
any emergency. He had an army trained for conflict; he
had endeavored to lead his people to make their peace with
God. And now, although his forces were fewer in number
than the enemy, his faith in the One whom he had made
his trust did not weaken.
Having sought the Lord in the days of prosperity, the
king could now rely upon Him in the day of adversity. His
petitions showed that he was not a stranger to God's wonderful
power. "It is nothing with Thee to help," he pleaded,
"whether with many, or with them that have no power:
help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy
name we go against this multitude. O Lord, Thou art our
God; let not man prevail against Thee." Verse II.
The prayer of Asa is one that every Christian believer
may fittingly offer. We fight in a warfare, not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and powers, and against
spiritual wickedness in high places. See Ephesians 6:12. In
life's conflict we must meet evil agencies that have arrayed
themselves against the right. Our hope is not in man, but
in the living God. With full assurance of faith we may
expect that He will unite His omnipotence with the efforts
of human instrumentalities, for the glory of His name. Clad
with the armor of His righteousness, we may gain the victory
over every foe.
King Asa's faith was signally rewarded. "The Lord
smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and
the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were
with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians
were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves;
for the were destroyed before the Lord, and before His
host." 2 Chronicles 14:12, 13.
As the victorious armies of Judah and Benjamin were
returning to Jerusalem, "the Spirit of God came upon Azariah
the son of Oded: and he went out to meet Asa, and said
unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin;
The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek
Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He
will forsake you." "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your
hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded." 2 Chronicles
15:1, 2, 7.
Greatly encouraged by these words, Asa soon led out
in a second reformation in Judah. He "put away the abominable
idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and
out of the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim,
and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch
of the Lord.
"And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the
strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out
of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance,
when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. So
they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third
month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they
offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which
they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand
sheep. And 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 of them: and the Lord gave
them rest round about." Verses 8-12, 15.
Asa's long record of faithful service was marred by some
mistakes, made at times when he failed to put his trust fully
in God. When, on one occasion, the king of Israel entered
the kingdom of Judah and seized Ramah, a fortified city
only five miles from Jerusalem, Asa sought deliverance by
forming an alliance with Benhadad, king of Syria. This
failure to trust God alone in time of need was sternly rebuked
by Hanani the prophet, who appeared before Asa with the
message:
"Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not
relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king
of Syria escaped out of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians
and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and
horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, He
delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord
run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect
toward Him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore
from henceforth thou shalt have wars." 2 Chronicles 16:7-9.
Instead of humbling himself before God because of his
mistake, "Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a
prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this
thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same
time." Verse 10.
"In the thirty and ninth year of his reign," Asa 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." Verse 12. The king died in the forty-first year
of his reign and was succeeded by Jehoshaphat, his son.
Two years before the death of Asa, Ahab began to rule
in the kingdom of Israel. From the beginning his reign
was marked by a strange and terrible apostasy. His father,
Omri, the founder of Samaria, had "wrought evil in the
eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before
him" (1 Kings 16:25); but the sins of Ahab were even
greater. He "did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel
to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him,"
acting "as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Verses 33, 31. Not
content with encouraging the forms of religious service
followed at Bethel and Dan, he boldly led the people into
the grossest heathenism, by setting aside the worship of
Jehovah for Baal worship.
Taking to wife Jezebel, "the daughter of Ethbaal king
of the Zidonians" and high priest of Baal, Ahab "served
Baal, and worshiped him. And he reared up an altar for
Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria."
Verses 31, 32.
Not only did Ahab introduce Baal worship at the capital
city, but under the leadership of Jezebel he erected heathen
altars in many "high places," where in the shelter of
surrounding groves the priests and others connected with this
seductive form of idolatry exerted their baleful influence,
until well-nigh all Israel were following after Baal. "There
was none like unto Ahab," who "did sell himself to work
wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife
stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols,
according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord
cast out before the children of Israel." 1 Kings 21:25, 26.
Ahab was weak in moral power. His union by marriage
with an idolatrous woman of decided character and positive
temperament resulted disastrously both to himself and
to the nation. Unprincipled, and with no high standard of
rightdoing, his character was easily molded by the determined
spirit of Jezebel. His selfish nature was incapable
of appreciating the mercies of God to Israel and his own
obligations as the guardian and leader of the chosen people.
Under the blighting influence of Ahab's rule, Israel
wandered far from the living God and corrupted their ways
before Him. For many years they had been losing their sense
of reverence and godly fear; and now it seemed as if there
were none who dared expose their lives by openly standing
forth in opposition to the prevailing blasphemy. The dark
shadow of apostasy covered the whole land. Images of
Baalim and Ashtoreth were everywhere to be seen.
Idolatrous temples and consecrated groves, wherein were
worshiped the works of men's hands, were multiplied. The air
was polluted with the smoke of the sacrifices offered to false
gods. Hill and vale resounded with the drunken cries of a
heathen priesthood who sacrificed to the sun, moon, and
stars.
Through the influence of Jezebel and her impious priests,
the people were taught that the idol gods that had been set
up were deities, ruling by their mystic power the elements
of earth, fire, and water. All the bounties of heaven--the
running brooks, the streams of living water, the gentle dew,
the showers of rain which refreshed the earth and caused
the fields to bring forth abundantly--were ascribed to the
favor of Baal and Ashtoreth, instead of to the Giver of every
good and perfect gift. The people forgot that the hills and
valleys, the streams and fountains, were in the hand of the
living God, that He controlled the sun, the clouds of heaven,
and all the powers of nature.
Through faithful messengers the Lord sent repeated warnings
to the apostate king and the people, but in vain were
these words of reproof. In vain aid the inspired messengers
assert Jehovah's right to be the only God in Israel; in vain
did they exalt the laws that He had entrusted to them.
Captivated by the gorgeous display and the fascinating rites of
idol worship, the people followed the example of the king
and his court, and gave themselves up to the intoxicating,
degrading pleasures of a sensual worship. In their blind
folly they chose to reject God and His worship. The light
so graciously given them had become darkness. The fine
gold had become dim.
Alas, how had the glory of Israel departed! Never before
had the chosen people of God fallen so low in apostasy. Of
"the prophets of Baal" there were "four hundred and fifty,"
besides four hundred "prophets of the groves." 1 Kings 18:19.
Nothing short of the miracle-working power of God could
preserve the nation from utter destruction. Israel had
voluntarily separated herself from Jehovah, yet the Lord in
compassion still yearned after those who had been led into sin,
and He was about to send to them one of the mightiest of
His prophets, through whom many were to be led back
to allegiance to the God of their fathers.