II Chronicles Chapter 15
Please read: II Chronicles 15 –
In the previous chapter we learned that King Asa was a man who sought to live righteously before God and because of it, God blessed him. In this chapter we learn that a prophet or seer came to Asa with a message from God imploring him to do just exactly that, to seek God with his whole heart and live righteously before Him.
We know that the Bible teaches us that God will never forsake us, He is always right there with us. But we also must learn a very important truth that if we forsake God, His hand of protection and blessing will be removed. It will appear to us as if God has forsaken us, but in reality, we walked away from Him and decided to do things our own way. And yet our LORD gently encourages us to remain faithful to Him, to not forsake Him. And that is what King Asa is hearing from God – a sweet message to remain faithful to Him, delivered by the lips of another man who bravely went to deliver this message to the king.
Let's Reflect
1. What was the name of the man who brought this message to King Asa?
2. Spend a moment thinking about verse 7. What does God recognize that it takes for someone to follow wholly after God?
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
3. Under the new covenant the Spirit of God dwells within the heart of the believer continually. Under the old covenant (before Pentecost) how did prophets know what message to bring to someone like King Asa? See verse 1. This does not mean that God could not use prophets today to deliver His special messages, God is God, He can do as He pleases; but we must be very careful with whom we listen to. Today, God speaks directly to the heart of individual believers through the reading and preaching of His Word.
4. Because of this message from God, King Asa began spiritual reforms throughout the kingdom of Judah. The kingdom was made up of two of the twelve tribes, Judah and Benjamin. There were others living amongst them. Who were they and why had they come?
5. The spiritual reforms of King Asa included tearing down all altars built to gods, repairing the altar in front of the temple, and removing the queen mother because she had made replicas of a false god. They made many sacrifices to God, some of it from the spoils of their victorious battle over Ethiopia. The people made a great oath to God that day. How extensive was the oath that they made to Him?
6. The Bible says that God recognized the sincerity of their hearts and what did He do for them?
7. The blessing of question 6 continued until a certain event which we will read about in the next chapter. The protection and blessings of God remained upon Judah at least until what year of King Asa’s reign?
