the land had rest

Yesterday, I read the story of Asa, king of Judah, in 2 Chronicles 14--16. I like reading about the kings in the Old Testament, because their lives so clearly show the long-term consequences of obedience and disobedience to God. Their stories also show the impact of one generation upon another as sons follow in the footsteps of their fathers or choose to go in another path.

The first thing that caught my attention is that during part of Asa’s reign, “the land had rest.” The writer of 2 Chronicles hammers this point, starting Asa’s story thus in chapter 14:

Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered.

In seven verses, rest and peace are mentioned five times; this suggests to me that Asa’s story and actions contain a key to living in rest and peace.

The most obvious key is that Asa eliminated idolatry from Judah. The idolatry can be traced back to his grandfather Rehoboam, and it was continued by his father Abijah, “who walked in all the sins that his father did before him.” From the description we have above, it would seem that Asa did a thorough cleansing, going throughout the land to “all the cities of Judah.” It’s also noteworthy that he “commanded Judah to seek the Lord…and to keep the law and commandments.” The result of this was clear to Asa; look at what he tells his people at the end of the passage above: “The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.”

What I take from this is that, one, I must purge myself of every trace of idolatry, and two, I must do all in my power to have a family that honors God. It’s not enough for me to deal with my own life; I need to actively take responsibility for the spiritual well-being of my family (my “kingdom,” if you will). Neither of these is a great–or new–revelation, perhaps, but it’s useful to be reminded of these principles. We don’t have to read very far in the history of God’s people to see how quickly sin can come in; in fact, we’ll see that Asa took a radical turn for the worse late in his life.

Practically speaking, I see the need to be vigilant and to pray for the Spirit to show me any altars and high places that exist in my life. I’m reminded of David’s prayer in Psalm 123, and it seems a good thing to pray regularly:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

I like the way the Amplified renders “grievous”: “wicked and hurtful” help me to better judge my behavior.

And of course, there’s a third idea to take from this portion of Asa’s life: seek God and He will give “peace on every side.” Again, this is not a new concept–we’ve probably all seen the cliché on a church sign somewhere: “Know Jesus, know peace; no Jesus, no peace.” I’m thankful that God saw fit to not only tell us He brings peace but to show us what both peace and its absence look like in the lives of His people.

Tagged as: Asa, idolatry, Judah, peace, rest, seek-God