What other biblical examples show consequences of relying on human alliances over God? Asa Opens the Door to Compromise “ So Asa withdrew the silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace and sent it to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.” (2 Chronicles 16:2) Instead of seeking the LORD who had delivered him earlier (2 Chronicles 14:11), Asa paid a pagan king for protection. Hanani the seer quickly announced the fallout: ongoing wars and missed opportunities for divine help (16:7-9). Scripture repeats this warning through many lives. Repeated Lessons: When Alliances Replace Trust in God • King Ahaz hires Assyria • Reference: 2 Kings 16:7-9; Isaiah 7:1-9; 8:5-8 • Action: Ahaz “sent the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD” (2 Kings 16:8) to Tiglath-Pileser. • Consequence: Assyria gladly took the money, invaded anyway, and Judah became a vassal (2 Chronicles 28:20-21). Isaiah warned that the river of Assyria would “overflow all its channels” (Isaiah 8:7). • Israel’s last king turns to Egypt • Reference: 2 Kings 17:3-6; Hoshea’s secret pact with So king of Egypt. • Action: Hoshea stopped paying tribute to Assyria, counting on Egyptian help. • Consequence: Shalmaneser imprisoned Hoshea, besieged Samaria, and exiled Israel (17:5-6). The Northern Kingdom disappeared from the land. • Jehoshaphat teams up with Ahab (and later Ahaziah) • Reference: 2 Chronicles 18; 19:1-3; 20:35-37. • Action: He married his son to Ahab’s daughter and marched with Ahab against Ramoth-gilead. • Consequence: Nearly killed, rebuked by Jehu the seer (“Should you help the wicked?” 19:2), and later watched his fleet shatter because he partnered with Ahab’s son (20:37). • Amaziah hires mercenaries from idolatrous Israel • Reference: 2 Chronicles 25:6-10, 13, 17-24. • Action: Paid 100 talents of silver for 100 000 troops. • Consequence: A prophet told him, “The LORD is not with Israel” (25:7); when he obeyed and dismissed them, the angry soldiers raided Judah’s cities. Later, Amaziah foolishly challenged Israel’s king and was humiliated. • Solomon’s political marriages • Reference: 1 Kings 11:1-11. • Action: Love-driven alliances with “many foreign women.” • Consequence: “His wives turned his heart after other gods” (11:4). God announced the kingdom would be torn away, setting up centuries of division. • The Tower of Babel—human unity minus God • Reference: Genesis 11:1-9. • Action: “Come, let us build ourselves a city… lest we be scattered” (11:4). • Consequence: The LORD scattered them anyway, confusing the one language they trusted. Human ingenuity could not outmaneuver divine purpose. Prophetic Echoes That Underscore the Point • Isaiah 30:1-3: “Woe to the obstinate children… who set out to go down to Egypt without consulting Me… the protection of Pharaoh will become your shame.” • Isaiah 31:1: “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help… but do not look to the Holy One of Israel.” • Jeremiah 17:5: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Take-Home Observations • God consistently views political or military deals that sideline Him as spiritual adultery. • Short-term relief often masks long-term bondage—foreign armies, idolatry, or exile. • The same resources given to worldly powers could have been laid before the Lord for supernatural deliverance (2 Chronicles 16:7-9). • Each story invites believers to keep their first instinct vertical—seek God, not merely human strategy. |
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