Prophets and Kings
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 8: National Apostasy
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Asa commanded that the people put
away the abominable idols out of
all the land of Judah and Benjamin.
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Pacific Press Publ. Assoc. |
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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. {PK 109.1}
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. {PK 109.2}
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 [110] rulers who followed—Baasha,
Elah, Zimri, and Omri—during a period of nearly forty years,
continued in the same fatal course of evil-doing. {PK 109.3}
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. {PK 110.1}
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. {PK 110.2}
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 [111] 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. {PK 110.3}
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. {PK
111.1}
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. {PK 111.2}
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; [112] for
they were destroyed before the Lord, and before His host." 2 Chronicles
14:12, 13. {PK 111.3}
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. {PK 112.1}
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. {PK 112.2}
"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. [113]
{PK 112.3}
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: {PK
113.1}
"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. {PK 113.2}
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. {PK
113.3}
"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. [114] {PK 113.4}
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. {PK 114.1}
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. {PK 114.2}
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 [115] cast out before the children of
Israel." 1 Kings 21:25, 26. {PK 114.3}
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. {PK 115.1}
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. {PK 115.2}
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 [116]
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. {PK 115.3}
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. {PK 116.1}
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. {PK 116.2}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"Elijah the Tishbite"
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