Outnumbered: Praying with King Asa

Think about the word outnumbered. It means more in number. Pretty simple right? When we face problems we want simple solutions, like math. If my enemy has 100 soldiers, theoretically I can defeat them with 101. But that’s not how God math works. In Psalm 118 David compares his enemies to being surrounded by bees but declares that help comes from the LORD.

Before the time of Asa’s reign the kingdom had split in two. Asa became King of two southern tribes known as Judah, and Baasha ruled ten tribes in the north called Israel. The northern tribes had neglected God and served idols while Asa tore down false idols and served God. Asa’s life begins with a strong commitment to God but comes to an unfortunate end as he neglects God in his later years. In this passage Judah is attacked by a much larger army from Ethiopia. King Asa handles the problem of this vastly huge army with prayer and faith. Let’s learn how to pray with Asa.

2 Chronicles 14

14 Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. ²  And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. ⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the LORD gave him peace. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars.The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor

⁹ Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, (some versions translate this as 30,000,) and came as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. (a fortified city on the western edge of Judah) ¹¹ And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ¹² So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa was severely outnumbered by his enemies. When it says he was confronted by a million men the literal translation is “thousands of thousands.” Verse 11 tells us “Asa cried to the LORD his God.” This was no quiet, hands folded, respectful prayer. This was gut wrenching, whole-hearted, surrender to God.

Break down of Asa’s prayer.

“There is none like you to help,”

Asa is recognizing a fundamental truth about God. Yaweh is God and there is no other God before him. We don’t pray to an unknown mysterious force in the universe, we pray to the one and only God. There is no other being like him. There is no other God who helps.

“Between the mighty and the weak,”

Asa is praying in humility, recognizing his own weakness. In Psalms David talks about how God has pity on the weak, gives justice to the weak, and rescues the weak. 1 John 4:4 says, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” You plus God equals more strength than the enemy can stand against.

“Help us O Lord, our God”

Asa sees that he needs help. He is outnumbered by his enemies. There is no physical way he can win the battle. Psalm 118:5-13 says,

“Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
All nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me.”

I love that image of being surrounded by bees. So many trials at once, and all of them hurtful. There’s this saying in Christian circles the God won’t give us more than we can handle, but that’s misleading. Very often we are outnumbered, outmatched and overwhelmed. When we feel like we are falling then will see our need and cry out for God’s help.

“For we rely on you”

We don’t rely on keen battle plans. The enemy is vicious. If our enemy can get us to trust ourselves rather than God he’s already won half the battle. In 1 Peter 5:8 he tells us our “adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” We rely on God because man’s help falls so far short of what God can do. God has all knowledge and infinite power, where man has limited knowledge and finite power.

“In your name we have come against this multitude”

In 2 Chronicles 6:34-35 Solomon prayed, “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.” Remember how often Solomon invoked God’s name in his prayer.  Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” and Psalm 138:2 says, “I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” We must approach every battle we face in God’s name so that he gets the glory for the victory. We pray in God’s name and battle in God’s name because his name has all the power.

“O Lord, you are our God”

This is the second time Asa uses the phrase “our God.” This a declaration statement of Asa’s absolute faith. The heathen armies served other gods and idols. But God’s people recognized God in a personal way, as “our God.” They obeyed the first commandment in that they had no other Gods before him. Psalm 18:1-3 says,
“I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.”

This should be our personal statement of faith.

“Let not man prevail against you.”

Zerah and the Ethiopians were not just picking a fight with Asa and the armies of Judah, they picked a fight with the creator God of the universe. Like when little kids fight and say “my dad can beat up your dad,” Asa’s “dad” was the Father of all. Instead of surrendering to his enemies, Asa surrendered to the Lord, just like when David fought Goliath and said, “the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

The Lord took Asa’s army to victory. They were surrounded by bees and God exterminated them. They won so hard they chased every soldier down and killed them all. Every one of the more than million, even the mighty chariots. Then they plundered the cities of the Philistines as punishment for allowing the Ethiopian enemy an inroad to Judah. Flawless victory.

After the battle was won the prophet Azariah came and spoke to Asa. Let’s continue in chapter 15.

Asa’s Religious Reforms

2 Chronicles 15

15 The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: 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. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ⁴ but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. ⁵ In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶ They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. ⁷ But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

⁸ As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD. ⁹ And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. ¹⁰ They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹ They sacrificed to the LORD on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. ¹² And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, ¹³ but that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴ They swore an oath to the LORD with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵ And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.

¹⁶ Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. ¹⁸ And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

So after the battle with the Ethiopians Asa cleaned house and sacrificed war spoil to the Lord. They sought the Lord and made oaths to the Lord and God gave them rest. They had another 20 years of peace. Then in Chapter 16 the pendulum swings the other way.

Asa’s Last Years

2 Chronicles 16

16 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. (This was a border town between Israel and Judah, he blocked it up so that no one else could defect to the south.) ² Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ⁴ And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. ⁶ Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

It seemed like Asa had victory when he made this covenant with the king of Syria, but he ended up paying a pretty hefty price. It cost him the peace of his kingdom.

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. ⁸ Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.

Asa’s life demonstrates both the wonder and power of seeking God for victory and the foolishness of forsaking God when he should have known better.

Even after revival, victories, prosperity and peace, he didn’t pray and seek the Lord when the Northern tribes of Israel came against him. Scripture doesn’t tell us why he didn’t pray and seek God. Maybe all those years of peace made him complacent. Maybe he didn’t take down all the foreign altars and idolatry crept back in. Maybe he was greedy to take back more of the North and wasn’t sure God would support it. He made the covenant with man instead of God, was scolded by the prophet and then punished the very prophet who exposed his sins. Whatever the reasons, it’s important to be watchful in our lives, especially when things are going well. In 1 Corinthians 10:12 Paul warns, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” The enemy can sneak in things that seem like reasonable, logical, good ideas, and if we don’t take the time to pray and ask God’s will and wisdom we can unwittingly serve our enemies rather than God.

¹¹ The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. ¹³ And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign.¹⁴ They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art, and they made a very great fire in his honor.

A Sad End to Asa’s Life

Again he refuses to pray and seek God when his disease was so bad he was dying. The scripture says he only sought the physicians. Of course I’m not saying you shouldn’t go to the doctor when you’re sick. We live in a world of wonderful medical technology, and I believe much of it is inspired by God to help us when we are sick. In James 5:13-16 he says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” Do we believe this? Or is this one of those scriptures we hurry past thinking it’s too good to be true? We must be as willing to pray in our suffering and sickness as we are to pop a painkiller or take antibiotics. Even if it’s just to thank God for our medical system and pray that our medications are effective.

It’s hard to see one man as a shining example of prayer and relying on God’s power and then see him fall and fail to pray later. An example of both seeking God and seeing the blessings and victory, then forsaking God and seeing the consequences of a hardened heart. Whatever you do, don’t give up on praying. We are surrounded by enemies like bees and there is only one God, our God, who will help us.