II Chronicles 16:7: “At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.”
Asa was a Godly king. The prophet came to Asa in II Chronicles 15:2 and said: “The Lord is with you, while you are with him. If you seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” Asa then led the nation of Judah into a covenant to seek the Lord with all their hearts and with all their souls. In fact anyone who did not seek God were put to death. The Bible tells us in verse 15 that the nation found God and God gave them rest. Asa even removed his mother from her position as queen because she made an idol. Asa cut the idol down and burned it. He brought gold and silver into the temple and dedicated it to the Lord. For 35 years Judah lived in peace and prosperity and there was no war.
Then Baasha, the king of the Northern kingdom of Israel built a city called Ramah which cut off all trade to Judah. Suddenly the economy of Judah was about to collapse, their food and water supply were under threat. After 35 years of trusting God, seeking God with all his heart, he fell into fear. He and Judah had lived 35 years in peace and prosperity and now with the threat of that prosperity ending, he fell into panic. Instead of going to the God, who had promised peace and prosperity and in 35 years never failed in that promise, Asa went to the temple, not to seek God, but to strip it of all the silver and gold and bring it to Syria pleading for their help. Syria was not necessarily an ally, but they were not an enemy. They were a potential threat to Judah and history proves this threat was real. Syria was to Judah what China is to the United States. Not an ally, not an enemy, but a definite threat.
Well, the plan worked. Bassha dismantled the city of Ramah and peace and prosperity returned. But the prophet came to Asa in 16:7 and told Asa that because he relied on Syria rather than God , Syria will one day destroy Judah. Asa, in a rage, had the prophet thrown into prison. Four years later Asa came down with a disease in his feet. It is believed that he developed an infection that spread throughout his body and for two years he lived in agony until he finally succumbed to the disease.
I am looking at only one Hebrew word today. It is the word nishe’aneta to rely upon. Asa relied on Syria not God. This from the root word sh’an. The word is spelled Shin Ayin Nun. The Shin, and Ayin represents peace through spiritual insight. The final letter is Nun which represents faith. Asa sought peace by placing his faith in his own insight. For 35 years Asa knew the blessings of God. After 35 years he grew comfortable with the blessings and forgot where the blessings came from and when he faced the threat of losing that blessing, when the economy of Judah was about to collapse he became fearful he fell to his own reasoning or insight and ran to a godless nation for help. He placed his faith in man, in the arm of the flesh. He used the gold and silver, that he 35 years earlier had dedicated to God, to bribe this man this nation for help.
We must never lose sight of where our blessings come from. Every time we eat a meal we need to thank God, every paycheck we get we need to thank God, every day we go to a job, we need to thank God so we never forget where that meal comes from, or where that job comes from. For we are no different than Asa, we are blessed and if ever there is a threat to losing that blessing, we could easily forget where that blessing came from and run to human circumstance for a solution rather than to God. Twenty four hours can change your life. It did for Liz.
Today I drove a woman named Liz to her doctor. As soon as she got on the bus she asked me to pray for her 21 year old granddaughter who was in a terrible auto accident last evening on her way to Florida. She was in surgery at that very moment. So we prayed and I drove Liz to her appointment. When I picked her up I knew the news was bad. She told me her granddaughter passed away during surgery. Liz broke down and cried and then said: “We take so much for granted. Yesterday we were all so happy and excited for Alice and now today she is gone and we are so lost.” Liz asked me again to pray, this time that she keeps her faith in God.
I just prayed and poof! God answered and we felt His sweet presence. No we don’t understand. Fifty years from now Jesus and I are going to sit on a street corner in heaven and He is going to explain things to me, but for now we need to learn not to go to the arm of the flesh. I took Liz back to ancient Judah where she met Asa. From him she was reminded that we could just rest in Him or we could sh’an rely upon Syria. She could seek comfort in the arm of the flesh, escape through drugs or alcohol which had been a problem for her in the past until she met Jesus. She knew her granddaughter loved Jesus and she is with Him, she also knows that she will mourn with her daughter but she also knows that there comes a time when you can shake your fist at God and ask why or you can let Him weep with you as Jesus wept with those who mourned the death of Lazarus.
No matter how strong you feel your faith is, it could not be any stronger than Asa’s but the enemy knows where to strike you. He will hit you where it hurts the most. Your first impulse will be to seek the arm of the flesh, but don’t run away from the open arms of God. He knows what a broken heart feels like, I believe each one of has broken His heart at some time. That is why He is close to the broken hearted Psalms 34:18. Liz is a tela. Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with young. This word for lamb is used only once in the Old Testament. There are other words for a lamb but this one is special. This is the wounded lamb, the one the shepherd carries, the one he feeds with his own hands and scoops up water in the palm of his hand to let the tela drink. Liz has a special place with Jesus right now because she is a tela a wounded lamb who is being carried by her Shepherd, fed from His hand and drinking water from his palm.
Are you also a tela, a wounded lamb? Don’t make the mistake Asa made by running to the arm of the flesh. Go to your Shepherd, He is ready to give you that special placed reserved for the telas the wounded lambs.
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