Explorations in Kingdom Rest: Lessons from King Asa

By Apostle Aje Pelser, preached at Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town, 18/09/2011

Meditation based on 2 Chronicles 14 – 17

Asa’s Initial explorations in Kingdom rest

• Land was at rest 10 years
• Did what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God.
• Took away foreign altars, high places, idols pillars and obelisks and Ashera poles.
• Commanded Judah to Seek the Lord – God of their fathers; to inquire of Him and for Him, to crave Him as a vital necessity.
• Removed idolatrous high places and incense altars from the cities
• Kingdom had rest under his reign
• Built fortified cities in Judah – for the land had rest; good time to build when there is no war.
• 2 Chronicles 14:7 “Therefore he said to Judah, Let us build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the lord our God; we have sought Him [yearning for Him with all our desire] and He has given us rest and peace on every side. So they built and prospered.
• He had an army of 300 000 men of Judah and 280 000 men of Benjamin, mighty men of courage who bore shields and drew bows.
• Faced Zerah the Ethiopian with a host of a million, too many to be numbered. Asa went out against him and set up his lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah:
• Zephathah H6859 tsepha^tha^h

BDB Definition:

Zephathah = “watch-tower”; a valley in western Judah

• Mareshah H4762 mar'e^sha^h / mare^sha^h

BDB Definition: Mareshah = “crest of a hill”; one of the cities in the lowlands of Judah

• Asa cried to the Lord his God. See calling on the name of the Lord and being saved in Romans 10.
• “O Lord, there is none besides You to help, and it makes no difference to You whether the one you help is mighty or powerless. Help us, O Lord our God! For we rely on You, and we go against this multitude in Your name. O Lord, You are our God; let no man prevail against You!”
• The Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah and the Ethiopians fled – pursued them to Gerar: overthrown, destroyed and none remained alive.
• Gerar H1642 gera^r BDB Definition:

Gerar = “a lodging place” a Philistine town south of Gaza, modern ‘Umm’

• So during battle a watch tower of prayer in the valley, based at the crest of the hill the church sets up the spiritual battle for rest, and the lodging place of evangelism is where we win the victory and take the spoils of war. Jesus sent His disciples out and told them to lodge with a house where there was peace:

Mat 10:7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Mat 10:12 And when you go into a household, greet it.

Mat 10:13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

• After smiting the Ethiopians they plundered the cities round about Gerar, for het fear of the Lord came upon them, they plundered all the cities for there was much plunder in them.
• They smote cattle encampments and carried away sheep in abundance and camels; they returned to Jerusalem.
• Asa heeded one prophet Azariah and was angry with another – Hanani
• Oded the Prophet as Azariah was referred to (He was the son of Oded.) his prophecy contained some keys for Kingdom rest:
• Know the Lord is WITH you
• Seek Him
• Inquire of Him
• If you Forsake Him, you are forsaken
• Israel’s spiritual condition is summarized: without the true God; no teaching priest, law.
• In trouble, they turned to God – and He was found by them
• No peace in the land
• Vexing Afflictions
• Disturbances upon inhabitants of the countries
• Nations broken in pieces against nation, cities versus cities
• God vexed and troubled them with all sorts of adversity because they forsook Him
• Azariah encouraged Asa to be strong, let not your hands be weak and slack, for your work shall be rewarded.
• Asa’s reaction to the prophecy includes dome obedient actions of a reformer:
• Took courage
• Put away abominable idols from the land
• Repaired the altar of burnt offering of the Lord in front of the house of the Lord
• Gathered all Judah and Benjamin
• People came over to Asa from Israel – formerly estranged, tribes that were torn away during Rehoboam’s reign returned – for they saw the Lord His God was with them. 1 Kings 12.
• Gathered in Jerusalem – New testament this speaks of the gathering of Church; Hebrews 10:25
• Sacrificed to the Lord from the spoil they had brought

Explorations in Prophetic rest

Asa’s Acts of Reformation

700 oxen, 7000 sheep. New Covenant equivalent includes: Heb 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Heb 13:16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. We will also see many “sheep” come in and be saved!

• Entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, God of their Fathers, to yearn for Him with all their heart’s desire and with all their soul
• Took an oath – New testament equivalent is to confess Jesus Christ as Lord over all
• Judah rejoiced
• The Lord gave them rest and peace round about
• Cut down, crushed and burnt the obscene Ashera idol of Asa’s mother, removed her from being queen.
• Brought vessels of silver and gold dedicated to the house of the Lord.
• No more war until the 35th year of Asa’s reign.
• Baasha king of Israel came against Judah and Asa brought treasuries out of the house of the Lord to the king of Syria.
• Went into a league with foreign nation, Syria and their king Ben-Hadad, a nation that did not serve God.
• The cities of Israel suffered as a result.
• Hanani the seer came and pronounced judgement against Asa:
• “Because you on the king of Syria and not on the lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.
• Hanani reminded Asa of God’s intervention against the Ethiopians.
• “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him.
• Asa did foolishly in this. Receive correction from the sent ones in your life and you will be prosperous in what you do. Chastisement yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Heb 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Also
• Asa was angry with God’s prophet and put him in prison, Asa also started to oppress some of his people when he backslid in his relationship with God. Note the difference in David’s attitude when he was corrected by Nathan the seer: 2Sa 12:13 So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.' And N