1 Kings 15:1-24
Kingdom, Come • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture Reading: Luke 11:5-10
Introduction
Introduction
As is a Theme in the Period of the Divided Kingdom of Israel…
Our Text Tonight has a Very Depressing Ending to it
But Our Lesson to Take Away from this Story is:
Our Story Doesn’t have to have a Depressing Ending
1 Kings 15:1-24
1 Kings 15:1-24
Last Time We Saw the End of Both Kings of the Divided Kingdom
(Jeroboam of the North & Rehoboam of the South)
They were Both Very Wicked Kings…
Who Led Their People to Live Sinful Lives
Now the Author is Going to Start Showing Us…
The Subsequent Kings of Both Kingdoms
(Kings of Judah Up Top and Kings of Israel at the Bottom)
Tonight, We’ll Look at the 2nd & 3rd Kings of Judah
After Rehoboam’s Death, His Son Abijam Became King Over Southern Judah
He would Only Reign for 3 Years
1 Kings 15:3–5 (NET)
3 He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been.4 Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God maintained his dynasty in Jerusalem by giving him a son to succeed him and by protecting Jerusalem.5 He did this because David had done what he approved and had not disregarded any of his commandments his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite.
Kings has Nothing Good to Say about Abijam
He was Just as Bad as His Father Rehoboam
But 2 Chronicles 13 Tells Us of a Time Where He Trusted God…
And God Gave Him a Great Victory Over Jeroboam & Northern Israel
Judah and Israel were Constantly Fighting with One Another
So, Abijam had His Moments, But Overall, He was a Sinful King
After 3 Years of Reigning as King of Judah, Abijam Dies…
And His Son Asa Becomes King of Judah
Asa would Reign for 41 Years in Judah
Asa will Outlive 5 of Israel’s Kings
Asa was One of the Few Good Kings in Judah’s History
1 Kings 15:11–14 (CSB)
11 Asa did what was right in the Lord’s sight, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He banished the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all of the idols that his ancestors had made. 13 He also removed his grandmother Maacah from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa chopped down her obscene image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 The high places were not taken away, but Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his entire life.
Asa was Good
Chronicles Gives Us Even More Details:
2 Chronicles 14:2–7 (CSB)
2 Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the pagan altars and the high places. He shattered their sacred pillars and chopped down their Asherah poles. 4 He told the people of Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors and to carry out the instruction and the commands. 5 He also removed the high places and the shrines from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom experienced peace under him.
6 Because the land experienced peace, Asa built fortified cities in Judah. No one made war with him in those days because the Lord gave him rest. 7 So he said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, with doors and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God. We sought him and he gave us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded.
He Commanded Judah to Seek God
And Because He Sought God…
God Gave Judah Rest/Peace from Their Enemies for 10 Years
When that Period of Peace was Over…
The Cushites/Ethiopians Came to Battle with Judah
The had a Massive Army (“A Thousand Thousands”)
Asa Turned to God for Help:
2 Chronicles 14:11–12 (NASB95)
11 Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” 12 So the Lord routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
Asa Trusted in God’s Ability/Willingness…
To Help the Helpless Who Trust in Him
God Even Sent a Prophet to Encourage Asa to Continue Trusting Him
2 Chronicles 15:1–2 (NASB95)
1 Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
This Led to Asa Commanding Even More Spiritual Restoration in Judah
2 Chronicles 15:8–15 (NASB95)
8 Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord.
9 He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought.
12 They entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; 13 and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 Moreover, they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.
This Restoration that He was Commanding was All About:
Seeking God
Asa is Known as a King Who Sought God
And When You Seek God…
He will Let You Find Him
But, Unfortunately, King Asa wasn’t Perfect
He Didn’t Remove All the High Places
After Dedicating Gold, Silver, & Utensils to the Temple…
In His 36th Year of Reigning as King…
He Took Them Back and Gave Them to the King of Aram…
In Order to Acquire a Treaty with Him
Why Did He Want a Treaty with Aram?
The King of Aram had a Treaty with Northern Israel…
And Northern Israel, Under the Rulership of King Baasha…
Had Taken a City of Judah, Ramah
So the King of Aram Broke His Treaty with Baasha, King of Israel…
And Formed a Treaty with Asa, King of Judah
Then the King of Aram Began Attacking Cities of Israel
This Caused Baasha of Israel to Back Off From Ramah…
And Go to His Own City of Tirzah
Asa’s Treaty Accomplished What He Wanted…
But God wasn’t Happy About it
And What Chronicles Tells Us Next is So Disappointing:
2 Chronicles 16:7–12 (NLT)
7 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. 8 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.
9 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.” 10 Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison and put him in stocks. At that time Asa also began to oppress some of his people.
11 The rest of the events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord’s help but turned only to his physicians.
Application
Application
Asa has Been the Best King We’ve Seen in a Long Time
He Started a Massive Restoration in Judah from Idolatry and Sin
He Trusted God
He Obeyed God
And He Sought God
But as Time Went on, He Began to Move Away from God
Asa Stopped Trusting God
Asa had Been Incredibly Outnumbered By the Ethiopians…
But He Won Because He Trusted God to Win the Battle for Him
But Later in His Reign…
He Began to Trust in Military Alliances, Instead of God
Asa Stopped Obeying God
Unlike His Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather…
Asa Commanded the People of Judah to Obey God
He was a Faithful & Righteous King…
Who Led His People in Obedience
But After Being Rebuked for Not Trusting in God…
He Became Angry and Turned from Obedience
He Threw a Prophet in Prison…
For Delivering a Message From God to Him that He Didn’t Like
Then He Started Mistreating Others of His People as Well
He’s Become Disobedient & Tyrannical…
Just Like His Fore-Fathers
Asa Stopped Seeking God
His Reign for Over 30 Years…
Was Characterized By Seeking God
He Sought God in All Circumstances of Life
He Knew God could Defeat Giant Warriors with Slings and Stones
He Knew God could Defeat an Army of a “Thousand Thousands”…
With a Significantly Less Army
He Faithfully and Obediently Sought God His Entire Life
But Then He Completely Stopped
He wouldn’t Even Seek God’s Help for a Foot Disease
King Asa is One of the Most Disappointing Stories in the OT
In Him, We See Just How Quickly & Disastrously…
Someone can Fall
He was as Faithful and Obedient as They Come
He Sought God in All Aspects of Life
But He Ended His Life in Faithlessness & Disobedience
He Stopped Seeking God
What an Absolutely Depressing Story
There’s Absolutely No Reason Our Story has to End Like Asa’s
We can Remain Faithful
We can Remain Obedient
And We can Keep Seeking God…
Because We Know that Those Who Seek Him will Find Him
Whatever Life is Throwing at You or Will Throw at You…
Don’t Stop Trusting God
Don’t Stop Obeying Him
Don’t Stop Seeking Him
King Jesus is Coming and He’s Going to Restore All Things
He’s Going to Fix Your Brokenness and All Brokenness
Don’t Give Up on Him
Don’t Stop Seeking Him
His Kingdom is Coming