…David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.
May the same be said of me, Lord – but without the caveat.
He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley.
The terrible ideas that come out of the heart are like the monsters that come out of the sea (Apocalypse 12:18-13:1).
Baasha invaded Judah and started to fortify Ramah in order to cut off all traffic in and out of Judah. So King Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the Temple and the palace, and sent it by some of his officials to Damascus, to King Benhadad of Syria… King Benhadad agreed to Asa’s proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel.
Sometimes you have to push all your chips to the center of the table. I did that with my profession but unfortunately for me…
When King Baasha heard what had happened, he stopped fortifying Ramah… Then King Asa sent out an order throughout all of Judah requiring everyone, without exception, to help carry away from Ramah the stones and timber that Baasha had been using to fortify it. With this material Asa fortified Mizpah and Geba, a city in the territory of Benjamin.
Asa seized the moment. It wasn’t enough to be content with the cessation of Baasha’s fortifications; the need was to convert the circumstances into a strategic gain. May I act accordingly, Lord.
Everything else that King Asa did, his brave deeds and the towns he fortified, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. But in his old age he was crippled by a foot disease.
I truly wonder what will be written of me, Father…