What consequences arise when we trust in man rather than God, as Asa did? Setting the Scene—Asa’s Choice 2 Chronicles 16:3 records Asa’s plea to Ben-Hadad: “Let there be a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me”. A king who once relied on the LORD (2 Chronicles 14–15) now leans on human power. What followed shows the predictable fruit of trusting man rather than God. Immediate Political Fallout • God calls the move “foolish” and promises continuing wars (16:9). • Victory that could have been total is forfeited: “the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand” (16:7). • Temporary relief masks a larger loss—peace becomes fragile and short-lived. Loss of Divine Support Hanani’s rebuke (16:7–9) highlights what Asa surrendered: • God’s eyes search “to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him” (16:9). Asa steps outside that covering. • Where reliance on God once brought stunning deliverance from the Cushite horde (14:11–13), reliance on Ben-Hadad brings only partial, man-sized help. Cross-references – Jeremiah 17:5-6 “Cursed is the man who trusts in man…whose heart turns from the LORD”. – Isaiah 31:1 warns Judah against leaning on Egypt’s horses and chariots. – Psalm 118:8-9, Proverbs 29:25 echo the same principle. Spiritual Backslide and Hardness • Asa responds to correction with rage, jailing the prophet and oppressing some of the people (16:10). • An unrepentant heart sets the stage for further decline rather than restoration. • Trust in man hardens the spirit toward God’s word and God’s messengers. Personal Affliction • “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet…yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but only the physicians” (16:12). • A physical ailment mirrors the inner condition: still leaning on human help, still refusing to call on the LORD. • What might have been a prompt for repentance becomes another instance of self-reliance. Missed Opportunities for Greater Victory • God had delivered Asa from a million-man army (14:9-15); He stood ready to defeat Aram as well. • By settling for Ben-Hadad’s assistance, Asa traded a God-given triumph for a man-made compromise. • The kingdom never again experiences the rest described earlier (14:6-7). Timeless Lessons • Trusting human strength may grant short-term solutions but invites long-term instability. • Dependence on man blinds us to divine resources and breeds fear of further threats. • Ignoring God’s correction solidifies spiritual calluses that are harder to break later. • Personal and national well-being are inseparably tied to wholehearted reliance on the LORD. Closing Takeaway Asa’s story illustrates that turning from God to human alliances strips away divine protection, breeds unrest, hardens the heart, and invites personal suffering. The Lord still “roams to and fro over all the earth” (16:9) looking for hearts fully His; those who trust Him experience the strength Asa forfeited. |
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