Picture: National Apostasy Brings National Ruin 2TC 52.1
From Jeroboam’s death to Elijah’s appearance before Ahab, Israel experienced a steady spiritual decline. The majority of the people rapidly lost sight of their duty to serve the living God and adopted practices of idol worship. 2TC 52.2
Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, who occupied the throne of Israel for a few months, was suddenly killed with all his relatives in the line of succession, “according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin.” 1 Kings 15:29, 30. 2TC 52.3
The idolatrous worship that Jeroboam had introduced brought the judgments of Heaven, and yet the rulers who followed—Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri—continued the same fatal course of evildoing. 2TC 53.1
During the greater part of this time, Asa was ruling in Judah. He “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and ... commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. ... And the kingdom was quiet under him.” 2 Chronicles 14:2-5. 2TC 53.2
The faith of Asa was put to a severe test when “Zerah the Ethiopian ... with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots” invaded his kingdom. Verse 9. In this crisis Asa did not put his trust in the “fortified cities in Judah” that he had built, with “walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars,” nor in the “mighty men of valor” in his army. Verses 6-8. The king’s trust was in Jehovah. Setting his forces in battle array, he sought the help of God. 2TC 53.3
The opposing armies now stood face to face. It was a time of test and trial to those who served the Lord. Had they confessed every sin? Did Judah have full confidence in God’s power to deliver? From every human viewpoint the huge force from Egypt would sweep everything before it. But in time of peace Asa had not been giving himself to amusements and pleasure; he had been preparing for any emergency. He had an army trained for conflict, and he had tried to lead his people to make peace with God. Now his faith did not weaken. 2TC 53.4
Having sought the Lord in prosperity, the king could now rely on Him in adversity. “It is nothing for You to help,” he pleaded, “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.” Verse 11. 2TC 53.5
God rewarded King Asa’s faith dramatically. “The Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ... They were broken before the Lord and His army.” Verses 12, 13. 2TC 54.1
As the victorious armies were returning to Jerusalem, “Azariah the son of Oded ... went out to meet Asa, and said to him, ... ‘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.’” “Be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!” 2 Chronicles 15:1, 2, 7. 2TC 54.2
Greatly encouraged, Asa soon led out in a second reformation. He “removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin.” “Then 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 by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.” Verses 8, 12, 15. 2TC 54.3
Some mistakes marred Asa’s long record of faithful service. On one occasion, when the king of Israel entered Judah and seized Ramah, a city only five miles from Jerusalem, Asa sought deliverance by an alliance with Ben-Hadad, king of Syria. Hanani the prophet sternly rebuked this failure to trust God. He appeared before Asa with the message, “Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. ... You have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 2 Chronicles 16:8, 9. 2TC 54.4
Instead of humbling himself before God, “Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison. ... And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.” Verse 10. 2TC 54.5
“In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.” Verse 12. The king died in the forty-first year of his reign and was succeeded by Jehoshaphat, his son. 2TC 54.6
Two years before the death of Asa, Ahab began to rule in Israel. From the beginning a strange, terrible apostasy characterized his reign. He“did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him,” acting “as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” 1 Kings 16:33, 31. He boldly led the people into the grossest heathenism. 2TC 55.1
Having married Jezebel, “the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians” and high priest of Baal, Ahab “served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.” Verses 31, 32. 2TC 55.2
Under the leadership of Jezebel, Ahab set up heathen altars in many “high places,” until nearly all Israel followed after Baal. “There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.” 1 Kings 21:25. Ahab’s marriage with an idol-worshiping woman brought disaster both to himself and to the nation. The determined spirit of Jezebel easily molded his character. His selfish nature was unable to appreciate the mercies of God to Israel and his own obligations as guardian and leader of the chosen people. 2TC 55.3
Under Ahab’s rule Israel wandered far from the living God. The dark shadow of apostasy covered the whole land. Images of Baal and Ashtoreth were everywhere. Idolatrous temples multiplied. The smoke of sacrifices offered to false gods polluted the air. Hill and valley resounded with the drunken cries of a heathen priesthood who sacrificed to the sun, moon, and stars. 2TC 55.4
The people were taught that these idol gods were deities, by their mystic power ruling the elements of earth, fire, and water. The running brooks, the streams of living water, the gentle dew, the showers of rain which caused the fields to bring forth abundantly—all were credited to the favor of Baal and Ashtoreth instead of to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The people forgot that the living God controlled the sun, the clouds of heaven, and all the powers of nature. 2TC 55.5
Through faithful messengers the Lord sent repeated warnings to the apostate king and the people, but these words of reproof were in vain. Captivated by the gorgeous display and the fascinating rites of idol worship, the people gave themselves up to the intoxicating, degrading pleasures of sensual worship. The light God had so graciously given them had become darkness. 2TC 56.1
Never before had the chosen people of God fallen so low in apostasy. Of the “prophets of Baal” there were four hundred fifty, besides four hundred “prophets of Asherah.” 1 Kings 18:19. Nothing short of the miracle-working power of God could preserve the nation from complete destruction. Israel had voluntarily separated from Jehovah, yet in His compassion the Lord still yearned after those who had been led into sin, and He was about to send them one of the mightiest of His prophets. 2TC 56.2
