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Chapter 8
National Apostasy
FROM the time of Jeroboam's death to Elijah's appearance before Ahab the people of Israel
suffered a steady spiritual decline. Ruled by men who did not fear Jehovah and who
encouraged strange forms of worship, the larger number of the people rapidly lost sight of
their duty to serve the living God and adopted many of the practices of idolatry.
Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, occupied the throne of Israel for only a few months. His
career of evil was suddenly stopped by a conspiracy headed by Baasha, one of his generals,
to gain control of the government. Nadab was slain, with all his kindred in the line of
succession, "according unto the saying of the Lord, which He spake by His servant
Ahijah the Shilonite: because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made
Israel sin." 1 Kings 15:29, 30.
Thus perished the house of Jeroboam. The idolatrous worship introduced by him had brought
upon the guilty offenders the retributive judgments of Heaven; and yet the
rulers who followed--Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri--during a period of nearly forty years,
continued in the same fatal course of evil-doing.
During the greater part of this time of apostasy in Israel, Asa was ruling in the kingdom
of Judah. For many years "Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the
Lord his God: for he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and
brake down the images, and cut down the groves: and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God
of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. Also he took away out of all the
cities of Judah the high places and the sun [margin] images: and the kingdom was quiet
before him." 2 Chronicles 14:2-5.
The faith of Asa was put to a severe test when "Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a
thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots," invaded his kingdom. Verse 9. In this
crisis Asa did not put his trust in the "fenced cities in Judah" that he had
built, with "walls, and towers, gates, and bars," nor in the "mighty men of
valor" in his carefully trained army. Verses 6-8. The king's trust was in Jehovah of
hosts, in whose name marvelous deliverances had been wrought in behalf of Israel of old.
Setting his forces in battle array, he sought the help of God.
The opposing armies now stood face to face. It was a time of test and trial to those who
served the Lord. Had every sin been confessed? Had the men of Judah full confidence in
God's power to deliver? Such thoughts as these were in the minds of the leaders. From
every human viewpoint the vast host from Egypt would sweep everything before it. But in
time of peace Asa had not been giving himself
to amusement and pleasure; he had been preparing for any emergency. He had an army trained
for conflict; he had endeavored to lead his people to make their peace with God. And now,
although his forces were fewer in number than the enemy, his faith in the One whom he had
made his trust did not weaken.
Having sought the Lord in the days of prosperity, the king could now rely upon Him in the
day of adversity. His petitions showed that he was not a stranger to God's wonderful
power. "It is nothing with Thee to help," he pleaded, "whether with many,
or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy
name we go against this multitude. O Lord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against
Thee." Verse 11.
The prayer of Asa is one that every Christian believer may fittingly offer. We fight in a
warfare, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and against
spiritual wickedness in high places. See Ephesians 6:12. In life's conflict we must meet
evil agencies that have arrayed themselves against the right. Our hope is not in man, but
in the living God. With full assurance of faith we may expect that He will unite His
omnipotence with the efforts of human instrumentalities, for the glory of His name. Clad
with the armor of His righteousness, we may gain the victory over every foe.
King Asa's faith was signally rewarded. "The Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa,
and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him
pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover
themselves; for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before His host." 2 Chronicles 14:12,
13.
As the victorious armies of Judah and Benjamin were returning to Jerusalem, "the
Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: and he went out to meet Asa, and said
unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be
with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will
forsake you." "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your
work shall be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:1, 2, 7.
Greatly encouraged by these words, Asa soon led out in a second reformation in Judah. He
"put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of
the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that
was before the porch of the Lord.
"And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim
and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when
they saw that the Lord his God was with him. So they gathered themselves together at
Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered
unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and
seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their
fathers with all their heart and with all their soul." "And He was found of
them: and the Lord gave them rest round about." Verses 8-12, 15.
Asa's long record of faithful service was marred by some mistakes, made at times when he
failed to put his trust fully in God. When, on one occasion, the king of Israel entered
the kingdom of Judah and seized Ramah, a fortified city only five miles from Jerusalem,
Asa sought deliverance by forming an alliance with Benhadad, king of Syria. This failure
to trust God alone in time of need was sternly rebuked by Hanani the prophet, who appeared
before Asa with the message:
"Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God,
therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. Were not the
Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because
thou didst rely on the Lord, He delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord
run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them
whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from
henceforth thou shalt have wars." 2 Chronicles 16:7-9.
Instead of humbling himself before God because of his mistake, "Asa was wroth with
the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this
thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time." Verse 10.
"In the thirty and ninth year of his reign," Asa was "diseased in his feet,
until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but
to the physicians." Verse 12. The king died in the forty-first year of his reign and
was succeeded by Jehoshaphat, his son.
Two years before the death of Asa, Ahab began to rule in the kingdom of Israel. From the
beginning his reign was marked by a strange and terrible apostasy. His father, Omri, the
founder of Samaria, had "wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all
that were before him" (1 Kings 16:25); but the sins of Ahab were even greater. He
"did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel
that were before him," acting "as if it had been a light thing for him to walk
in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Verses 33, 31. Not content with
encouraging the forms of religious service followed at Bethel and Dan, he boldly led the
people into the grossest heathenism, by setting aside the worship of Jehovah for Baal
worship.
Taking to wife Jezebel, "the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians" and high
priest of Baal, Ahab "served Baal, and worshiped him. And he reared up an altar for
Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria." Verses 31, 32.
Not only did Ahab introduce Baal worship at the capital city, but under the leadership of
Jezebel he erected heathen altars in many "high places," where in the shelter of
surrounding groves the priests and others connected with this seductive form of idolatry
exerted their baleful influence, until well-nigh all Israel were following after Baal.
"There was none like unto Ahab," who "did sell himself to work wickedness
in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in
following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord
cast out before the children of Israel." 1 Kings 21:25, 26.
Ahab was weak in moral power. His union by marriage with an idolatrous woman of decided
character and positive temperament resulted disastrously both to himself and to the
nation. Unprincipled, and with no high standard of rightdoing, his character was easily
molded by the determined spirit of Jezebel. His selfish nature was incapable of
appreciating the mercies of God to Israel and his own obligations as the guardian and
leader of the chosen people.
Under the blighting influence of Ahab's rule, Israel wandered far from the living God and
corrupted their ways before Him. For many years they had been losing their sense of
reverence and godly fear; and now it seemed as if there were none who dared expose their
lives by openly standing forth in opposition to the prevailing blasphemy. The dark shadow
of apostasy covered the whole land. Images of Baalim and Ashtoreth were everywhere to be
seen. Idolatrous temples and consecrated groves, wherein were worshiped the works of men's
hands, were multiplied. The air was polluted with the smoke of the sacrifices offered to
false gods. Hill and vale resounded with the drunken cries of a heathen priesthood who
sacrificed to the sun, moon, and stars.
Through the influence of Jezebel and her impious priests, the people were taught that the
idol gods that had been set up were deities, ruling by their mystic power the elements of
earth, fire, and water. All the bounties of heaven--the running brooks, the streams of
living water, the gentle dew, the showers of rain which refreshed the earth and caused
the fields to bring forth abundantly--were ascribed to the favor of Baal and Ashtoreth,
instead of to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The people forgot that the hills
and valleys, the streams and fountains, were in the hand of the living God, that He
controlled the sun, the clouds of heaven, and all the powers of nature.
Through faithful messengers the Lord sent repeated warnings to the apostate king and the
people, but in vain were these words of reproof. In vain did the inspired messengers
assert Jehovah's right to be the only God in Israel; in vain did they exalt the laws that
He had entrusted to them. Captivated by the gorgeous display and the fascinating rites of
idol worship, the people followed the example of the king and his court, and gave
themselves up to the intoxicating, degrading pleasures of a sensual worship. In their
blind folly they chose to reject God and His worship. The light so graciously given them
had become darkness. The fine gold had become dim.
Alas, how had the glory of Israel departed! Never before had the chosen people of God
fallen so low in apostasy. Of "the prophets of Baal" there were "four
hundred and fifty," besides four hundred "prophets of the groves." 1 Kings
18:19. Nothing short of the miracle-working power of God could preserve the nation from
utter destruction. Israel had voluntarily separated herself from Jehovah, yet the Lord in
compassion still yearned after those who had been led into sin, and He was about to send
to them one of the mightiest of His prophets, through whom many were to be led back to
allegiance to the God of their fathers.
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