How to Bring Reformation in America - 2 Chron 15

 

April 16, 2024

 

This blog’s jumping off point is 2 Chronicles 15:17 following along with Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, April 15^th devotional.

Reformation in Judah

Although we’ll cover most of the chapter here, I would encourage you to read the entire Bible chapter on your own or along with this blogpost. Here are the pertinent parts I’d like to cover:

In this Scripture, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Azariah (name means, “the Lord helps”), the son of Oded, the prophet (whose name meant “to sustain, hold or lift up”) to deliver a message to King Asa. And this is crucial for us to know today. He said to Asa, “The lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake Him. He will forsake you.”

In linking this to the New Testament, we can look to Scriptures like James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” By the way, the Lord is speaking to believers who are still living as if they are sinners in the world. This verse come after verse 7, which says, “Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Then 8 telling us to draw near to God. There’s no way you will even want to get closer to God if you still dabbling and playing footsy with the devil. After we submit to God, then we can resist the devil and develop a desire for God.

Idolatry Leads to Catastrophe and Conflict

The verses after that describe how the trouble that came when the people turned their backs on God but how He heard them when they cried out to Him. God sent Asa a message to strengthen him to do the right thing and remove the idols and idol worship that brought them to ruin. He not only removed the idols, but he also called the people to gather to worship the Lord and they came in great numbers, “when they saw that the Lord was with him.” This is proof that we never need gimmicks to lure people to gather when the Lord is with us. The enemy uses lures to deceive and trick people. Therefore, the people of God have no business using hype and other fleshy and demonic methods to lure people to their gatherings. Notice the emphasis is on “their” gatherings.

Covenanting with God -- Again

So, they gathered together, worshipped, and offered the Lord sacrifices. Then, they entered into covenant with the Lord (v.12), “With all their heart and with all their soul.” This is the rededication of a nation that had gone rogue. And we see in this Scripture, “Whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death.” It was that serious. Now, you may think this is harsh, but when you consider what the people had experienced when not serving God and in blatant rebellion in the form of idolatry against God, you see why the weak link had to be eliminated. Now, these are not the methods God uses today because of Christ, Who bore all the sins of mankind in His mortal body. But the situation had been grave, and it had to be dealt with with finality, so whether young or old male or female, those who refused to submit to God and wanted to continue in rebellion had to be put to death.

Swearing an Oath to God --- Again

Then the people (V. 14), “took an oath before God with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns.” This was no, “Oh, I’m worshiping God on the inside” kind of worship. Ever meet those people, who can shout and carry on about a sports team or idol but not for God? Now, I’m not saying it’s never appropriate to commune with God in quiet contemplation and prayer, but that’s, generally, not worship or celebration.

And in v. 15, we see the people rejoicing in their rededication to the Lord. “And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul, and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.”

But even after all of that, some people had to be deposed who had governmental positions, like the king’s mother. Imagine that. Moving onto verse 16, “Also, he removed Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah, and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron.”

However, they still did not cleanse the land all the way, “But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. Then he brought back the sacred things back into the temple of silver and gold and it verse 19, we see the result of this rededication to God of the people and the land: “And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

We have to realize what it took for King Asa to go against the grain of the culture in that time to rededication the nation and the people to God. And although He did not do it perfectly by tearing all of the altar of paganism, God still honored him with 35 years of peace. A miracle in those days. Asa did difficult things including deposing his own mother.

America Needs This Kind of Reformation

Now, I know that America is not Israel, but the Bible shows us the character and methods of God. He deals with nations as He deals with people. Think about it. When we sin, the protocol to restoration is repentance, asking for forgiveness, and consistently walking in obedience never to return to that sin, although we often do. The Scripture describes this as “a dog returning to its own vomit.”  Engaging in recurring sin is like vomiting and eating what you vomited out. Disgusting, yes, but that’s how Peter refers to it in  2 Peter 2:22: “But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit, and a sow having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Applying this pattern to America’s current condition, the nation which was started and covenanted with God to be a Gospel-sending nation to all of the world, now itself needs the Gospel to be sent to it for it has turned it’s back on God, now had enemies within and without, and is on the verge of complete annihilation. We go to sleep at night assuming that the government has it all under control, when in fact, if we are paying attention, we should realize it absolutely does not. In fact, the government is in freefall due to moral turpitude and a complete lack of justice. We are living in Isaiah 5:20 and we need voices like Azariah and Oded to the Asa’s of today.

Now, Asa had a heart to pursue God and to do the right thing. We don’t have that kind of leadership today; at least none that has the power to lead and to encourage change. Our leadership is not godly but patently and openly un-godly, and we are feeling it and will feel it even more before it gets better.

BUT GOD …

You, see, even in our dire condition, God has the answer. He has those in place hidden and in the open ready to speak a word to the arising Asa. But this time, this Asa must remove the high places in addition to repenting and re-covenanting with God and encouraging the people. And, again, the people must see that God is with our Asa. It remains to be seen, if our Asa will do the right thing and cry out to God and openly bring the people together, tossing out those who refuse to bend the knee in submission to do the right thing.

As we do this, we have to stay out of vain arguments with people who are blind and under some kind of spell by the demonic powers now in charge, but as I always say, EVIL HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE. And by God’s amazing grace, no mater how bleak it may look, we will get our Asa and He will do the right thing by God, His fellow countrymen and this nation.

Friends, I had not intended this to have anything to do with America, but as I continued to read yesterday’s devotional Scripture, I realize this is America’s plight. She needs a brave leader like Asa to put away the idols, depose idol-worshipers who refuse to submit, and tear down the altars to pagan entities.

And individually, we also need to turn back to God, destroy our own idols and altars, and walk in submission to Him, and yes, His laws as enable by His Holy Spirit remembering, that Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to do away with it. We need to know the Word for ourselves not through another person, although others can encourage and clarify. We must know His Word for ourselves, and we must know Him for ourselves.

In conclusion, as individuals, we have the responsibility of take heed of 2 Chronicles 7:14. As this chapter showed us the predicament Israel had been in when they cried out to God, He told them what needed to be done, same pattern here. So, again I say, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.” God looks to His people first to repent and come back to Him, just as we just saw in the Scripture in this blog. It’s the people of God that need to initiate this turning away from our own idolatry, and there is plenty, and back to him in repentance, away from our wicked ways, seeking him in prayer and intercession, then …

HE WILL HEAL OUR LAND.

Please join me in humbling, praying, seeking, and turning from our wicked ways.

Finally, not only do we need to 2 Chronicles 7:14 (our responsibility as the Church) but we need to pray that the nation gets a leader who will lead us into 2 Chronicles 15:15 (the responsibility of godly leadership to lead the nation) in committing to God with all our hearts, all our souls, that He will be found by us and give us rest all around.