In these days of uncertainty, fear, and panic, some real, while others manufactured by those with an agenda, I thought it prudent to investigate the Scriptures to see how those in times past facing impending doom, God’s judgment, or an unwarranted attack that threatened their existence, responded to God.
It is good to know there are others who went before us who faced similar challenges or even greater woe and survived to give praise to God! All men are prone to have a limited perspective based upon the confines of their generation.
As a result, we can’t see the forest in the midst of the trees. Generational thinking allows us to be aghast at the atrocities like slavery and rightly condemn those who practiced it, while turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the atrocities we allow in our generation, like abortion. Generational thinking is somewhat convenient in that regard.
Today, we are going to cast our attention upon King Asa. Like all men, he was a mixed bag. He did good in the sight of the Lord and then pride got a hold of him. God grants grace to the humble, but He resists the proud (James 4:6). Proverbs 16:18 warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
At first, Asa received a glowing report from the Lord. He made the prestigious list of whom God categorized as a “good” king. Out of all the kings of Israel and Judah, only a few made the “good” list. Even those who made the “good” list, however, ultimately failed in their administration due to a big BUT.
The High Places Remain
In the specific battle to end the American holocaust, it is interesting to discover that the high places God warned about in the Old Testament are still with us today. The high places in the Old Testament were one of God’s plumb lines to judge the faithfulness of the kings of Judah and Israel. The other plumb line of judgment was the standard bearer, King David (1 Kings 15:9-15).
Most kings God viewed as wicked. Some He pronounced righteous, but even then, if the high places remained under their administration, they failed the Lord in their civil duty. I believe it was only Hezekiah, Josiah, and Asa who fully obeyed the Lord when it came to the removal of the high places (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 23).
Though man has progressed technologically, we still are enticed and held captive by the same ancient evils, bloody idolatries, and demonically inspired false gods of previous ages. Case in point is Tophet in the valley of Hinnom. It was also known as the Valley of Slaughter. It was the location in Israel where the altars of child sacrifice were set up. Some Old Testament references mention this place as Gehenna, which Jesus taught as a reference to hell, the eternal abode of the wicked. Taken together, the place of child sacrifice was literally hell on earth.
The word Tophet derived its meaning from the word drum. While children were offered in sacrifice, drums beat to drown out their cries. The fire that consumed the helpless babes came roaring from the idol’s hollow belly. Homer W. Smith, author of Man and His Gods explains, “The custom of burning children long persisted at Jerusalem.” Smith describes how the young victims “were rolled from the hands of a bronze image of the god into a pit of fire.”
Baal and Moloch, pagan deities, seduced the children of Israel to pass their children through the fire. Their lying message appealed to the basest nature of men. They convinced many in Israel to place their children upon these pagan altars so all would be well with them. These false gods inspired by demons promised prosperity, if people would shed the blood of their own children.
Though thousands of years have passed, and we no longer have pagan altars, high places, and tree groves of idolatry today, yet, the pagan ritual persists. These ancient rites continue through modern clinics established by organizations, such as, Planned Parenthood in the abortion industry.
The setting has indeed changed, but the lying message and brutal practice remains. Moloch and Baal still whisper, “Give your children to me and all with be well with you.” Can you hear it today? “You are too young.” “You have to think about your schooling and career.” “You cannot afford a baby.” “It will leave stretch marks,” ad nauseam.
This grave evil was such an offense to the Lord that He said, “I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind (Jeremiah 19:5).” What does it mean when the all-knowing God admits this practice never entered His mind?
I promise you that it is not due to a lack of knowledge. This would violate the omniscience of God. No, I believe this cruel act is so foreign to God’s commandments, character, and creative order that He refuses to acknowledge it. In other words, this despicable practice is so far off the charts, so beyond the pale, that God will not dignify it with any sense of rationality. For parents to sacrifice their own children in order to obtain a better life is unthinkable in the mind of God.
Based upon this Biblical criteria, every magistrate today that refuses to stop child sacrifice and abolish the shedding of innocent blood is failing in their duty before God. They may do good in other areas, but their main duty before God is to protect innocent life and stop the shedding of innocent blood.
Back to Asa. He was facing a mighty army intent on wiping out his nation. He was greatly outnumbered and the prospects were bleak. He did what a lot before him and many since have done when faced with annihilation, he cried out to the Lord in prayer.
2 Chronicles 14:11 records, “And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, ‘Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!’ ”
When we are overwhelmed, O God, lead us to the rock that is higher than all (Psalms 61:2).
Lastly, I’ll leave you with this admonishment from Psalms 106. After God’s people committed child sacrifice and other pagan abominations, this angered the Lord. What does that look like in the real world? Those that hates us will rule over us. We will be subject to unjust laws and oppression, whereby we cannot abide. Any of this looking familiar in these days?
Even after all that, God’s Word brings hope:
Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; And for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies. He also made them to be pitied by all those who carried them away captive. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord! -Psalms 106:44-48