Transcript Document

How the Mighty Fall
Fallen Heroes of the Old Testament
Asa
Saul
Adonjah
David
Absolom
Solomon
Rehoboam
The Kings of
Judah
Maacah (Wife)
Abijah
ASA
Jehosephat
Athalish
Jehoram
Ahaziah/Jehoahaz
Jeoash
Amaziah
Uzziah
Jotham
Ahaz
Hezekiah
Manasseh
Amon
Josiah
Jehoiakim
Joahaz
Zedekiah
Jehoiachin
Kings and Chronicles
2nd Samuel and Kings
• Focus: Kings of Israel
• Political history of Israel
• Prophetic and Moral
Perspective
• Gives us the facts
Chronicles
• Focus: David’s Dynasty in Judah
• Religious History
• Priestly and Spiritual
Perspective
• Adds the feelings
Israel and Judah
Israel – The Northern Kingdom
Judah – The Southern Kingdom
• 10 Tribes
• Two Tribes (Judah and
Benjamin)
• Davidic Dynasty – 350 Years
• 20 Kings – Eight Were Godly
• Nine Dynasties – 250 Years
• 19 Kings – None Godly
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Asa
Jehosophat
Joash
Hezekiah
Josiah
1 Kings 15
"And Asa did that which was right in
the eyes of the LORD, as did David his
father.“ (1 Kings 15:11)
“…the heart of Asa was wholly devoted
to the Lord all his days.”
(1 Kings 15:14)
1 Kings 15 – No Mention of…
• The fact that Asa’s strategy against Baasha
may not have been a good plan in God’s eyes
• No mention of the great Ethiopian victory
• No mention of Asa’s poor finish in life
God’s Tests
• Often “Pop Quizzes”
• Always, Open Book
TEST #1 : “How well you handle power and
leadership responsibility with God’s people”
– Removed foreign altars, high places, and sacred
pillars (2 Chronicles 14:3)
– Commanded Judah to seek God and follow His
commandments
– Taking advantage of a sustained period of peace
the God provided, he built fortified cities
throughout Judah
Test Grade…
Zerah, the Ethiopian
Arrives Unannounced
Very Uneven Odds
The Ethiopians
• 300 War Chariots
• 1,000,000 Soldiers
Judah
• 300,000 Spearmen
• 280,000 Bowmen
2 Chronicles 14:11
“Lord, there is no one like you to help the
powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord
our God, for we rely on you, and in your
name we have come against this vast army. O
Lord, you are our God; do not let man prevail
against you."
• (Praise) --“Lord, there is no one like You”
• (Petition) -- “Help us, O Lord our God”
• (Faith) -- “We rely on You”
• (Relationship) -- “You are our God”
The Laws of Warfare
Deuteronomy 20:1-4
1 "When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses
and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid
of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land
of Egypt, is with you.
2 "When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near
and speak to the people.
3 "He shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the
battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not
be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them,
4 for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for
you against your enemies, to save you.'
Isaiah 41:10
'Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am
your God.
I will strengthen you,
surely I will help you,
surely I will uphold you with My righteous
right hand.'
Pop Quiz Grade…
A Powerful Admonition
2nd Chronicles 15:2
"Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin.
The Lord is with you when you are with him. IF
you seek him, he will be found by you, but IF
you forsake him, he will forsake you.”
TEST #2 : “Responding to God’s Instruction - Obedience”
• Removed all of the abominable idols from the
land
• Restored the altar of the Lord
• Motivated the people to covenant to seek the
Lord with all of their heart and soul
• Removed Maacah, his grandmother and
queen mother because of a particularly horrid
image she had made of Asterath (the
Canaanite goddess of fertility, love, and war)
The High Places Were Not Removed
2nd Chronicles 15:17
“Nevertheless
Asa’s heart
was blameless
all his days…”
Test Grade…
2nd Chronicles 15:9
“Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and
the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and
Simeon who had settled among them, for large
numbers had come over to him from Israel when
they saw that the Lord his God was with him.”
TEST #4 : “How Do You Do When You Can
Do It?”
2 Chronicles 16:1
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha king
of Israel came up against Judah and fortified
Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out
or coming in to Asa king of Judah.
The Berlin Wall
Ramah
Galatians 3:3
”Are you so foolish? Having begun
by the Spirit, are you now being
perfected by the flesh?”
A Few Problems with His Strategy
1. Stole Treasure from the temple
"Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!”
Malachi 3:8
2. Made an Alliance with a pagan king
“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for
what partnership have righteousness and
lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with
darkness?”
2 Corinthians 6:14
Goose Gossage
“I came into situations that God
couldn’t get out of, and I got out
of them. I’m not blowing my own
horn, but this is just fact. Nobody
did it like me.”
Pop Quiz Grade…
TEST #5 : “Handling Feedback”
2 Chronicles 16:7-9
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to
him, "Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not
relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of
Aram has escaped out of your hand.
"Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with
very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the
Lord, He delivered them into your hand.
"For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth
that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely
His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will
surely have wars."
“Both Barrels”
• Indictment: “You didn’t rely on God”
• Consequences: “The army of the king
of Aram has escaped out of your
hand”
• Precedent: “He saved you from the
Ethiopians”
• God’s intentions: “For the eyes of the
Lord move to and fro throughout the
earth that He may strongly support
those whose heart is completely His.”
• Judgment: “From now on you will
surely have wars”
“You Got to Be Kidding… I Got This
Right…”
Then Asa was angry with the seer and
put him in prison, for he was enraged at
him for this. And Asa oppressed some of
the people at the same time.
(2 Chron 16:10)
Spurning Feedback…Bad Idea
• Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But
he who hates reproof is stupid. (Prov 12:1)
• A rebuke goes deeper into one who has
understanding Than a hundred blows into a
fool. (Prov 17:10)
• He who neglects discipline despises himself,
But he who listens to reproof acquires
understanding. (Prov 15:32)
Test Grade…
Make-Up Exam
2 Chron 16:12-13
12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa
became diseased in his feet. His disease
was severe, yet even in his disease he did
not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 So Asa slept with his fathers, having
died in the forty-first year of his reign.
Spiritual Stubbornness…
• “For we are going to follow our own plans,
and each of us will act according to the
stubbornness of his evil heart.’ (Jer 18:12)
• “…because of your stubbornness and
unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath
for yourself…” (Rom 2:5)
Hezekiah
2 Kings 20:5
“I have heard your prayer, I have
seen your tears; behold, I will heal
you.”
Make-up Test Grade…
As an Example and Instruction for Us
1 Corinthians 10:11-13
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they
were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the
ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he
does not fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to
man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide
the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
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