Asa
 Part 1
The Image
It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. (Psalm 144:10)
Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? (Galatians 5:7)
And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: (2 Chronicles 14:2)
The times at hand or where do I live? We cannot live in past history; however, we can gain knowledge from history, but we cannot live in days past. We can only live in the present and hope, God willing, for a better future: this was the thought of Asa.
The Painting of the Picture Begins — The Background is Set
  The time period: a mere 20 years since the death of king Solomon. At the end of Solomon’s life, the whole kingdom of Israel was in distress. It was the son of David, king Solomon, who had become an idolater, and had forsaken the Lord. (1 Kings 11) Where is the wisdom of this world, God takes the wise in their own craftiness. (Job 5:13) It was this man, Solomon, who had been endowed by God with the great gift of wisdom, but even wisdom is not enough when we are dealing with Adam’s race. It was the sin within Solomon that brought him to his lowest point; for the sins of Solomon the kingdom was rent out of the hands of Rehoboam (Solomon’s son). Jeroboam, the exiled servant of Solomon, returned from Egypt and became ruler over 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. In Chapter 11, of 1st Kings, we have Solomon presenting himself to other gods, and we see the perversion of these gods in the very words ‘strange women,’ and ‘strange wives.’ (Verses 1, and 8) But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; (1 Kings 11:1) And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. (1 Kings 11:8) It is quite evident that God did not accept these women for they were from other nations of aberrant* and evil cultures. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. (Leviticus 20:23) And the very words ‘strange’ tells us of their perverted character. In Solomon’s disobedience to God, Solomon refused to obey the writings of Moses given by the Spirit of God: that an Israelite should not marry a woman from the Ammonites, and from the  nations that were driven out of the land by Jehovah.
But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; (1 Kings 11:1)
Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. (1 Kings 11:2)
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:3)
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. (1 Kings 11:4)
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. (1 Kings 11:5)
  Rehoboam’s mother was an Ammonitess, and the Ammonites followed the perversion of the goddess Ashtoreth who was a Zidonian goddess. This background is very important for it builds a picture of what Asa was facing when he came to the throne. Ashtoreth is the perversion that we find later in the Book of Jeremiah as the ‘queen of heaven.’
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. (Jeremiah 7:18)
Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, (Jeremiah 44:15)
As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. (Jeremiah 44:16)
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. (Jeremiah 44:17)
But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. (Jeremiah 44:18)
And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? (Jeremiah 44:19)
  This is that Ashtoreth of Asa’s day; however, it was the wisest man, Solomon, who brought this perversion into the land of Judah, and one day, this perversion would permeate the ten tribes under Jezebel and Ahab. Later it would take over both Jerusalem and Judah in the reign of Athaliah, Jezebels’ daughter. The Lord refused to use the word ‘queen’ with Athaliah; nevertheless, she ruled over Jerusalem and Judah seven years, and yes, her mother, Jezebel, was a Zidonion princess.
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him (Ahab) to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. (1 Kings 16:31)
And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: (1 Kings 11:31)
(But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) (1 Kings 11:32)
Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. (1 Kings 11:33)
The Aberrant Culture
  In Solomon, we see the raging sexual lusts of man. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:3) Throughout history the lusts of man, as a raging fire, has destroyed more kingdoms than war. Although war can be called the lust for blood, the desire of man to pervert himself with women has taken the heart of man away from God. Man would pervert his very being, in the presence of the Almighty God, by his lust for women, men, and beasts. These are heinous sins, for what man is truly declaring before God subconsciously is ‘You made me in your image,’ and man says, ‘I will show you what I will do to this image.’ We have the fullness of the desecration in Solomon, for it was in his day that the sodomites returned to Judah. Man has said to God, I will show you what I will do to your image. The actions of a rebellious heart and mind are recorded in the Book of Romans, Chapter 1:18-32.
  So much of Romans, Chapter 1, can be found in the life of Solomon. By Solomon taking strange wives, he went after strange flesh, and Solomon’s sin never left the kingdom. Only the captivity of Israel and Judah cast out this abomination from the presence of the Lord. The sin of the sodomites became the culture of the land. In fact, it spread to the very throne and the heart of the king, and the kingdom. Solomon’s mount of corruption stood above Jerusalem. It was on a higher level than the mount of God and the holy temple. No one in Jerusalem could escape the shadow of the occult over Jerusalem and its streets. Every dark corner of the city had become a cauldron of wickedness. The children of Judah perverting their bodies in this most dreadful sin. The mount of corruption that Solomon built with its temples to false gods endured for over 300 years. It was destroyed when God raised up a godly king named Josiah. When he came to the throne of Judah, he destroyed Solomon’s mount of corruption as an abomination before the Almighty God.
And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. (2 Kings 23:13) And he (Josiah) brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. (2 Kings 23:14)
The Last Two Queens in Scripture
  This same corruption went through the northern kingdoms like a fire under Ahab and Jezebel (the Zidonian princess). In verse 7 of 2 Kings 23, the connection with Ashtoreth and the queen of heaven,’ is brought to light by the hangings of the women. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. (2 Kings 23:7) In Jeremiah, these weavings were to the ‘queen of heaven,’ as we have quoted from Jeremiah 7, and in Chapter 44. To look back to the Old Testament and say that these things are past, would be wrong: for the last mention of Jezebel, and the queen of heaven, is in the book of prophecy, the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We have Jezebel with all of her perversions, as a Zidonian princess, worshiping Ashtoreth and perverting the servants of God by seducing them by her blasphemous actions and teachings.
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.(Revelation 2:20)
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (Revelation 2:21)
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. (Revelation 2:22)
And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:23)
  We also see the last mention of the queen of heaven. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. (Revelation 18:7)
  These two queens in the Book of the Revelation, Jezebel (the first queen) perverted the church; the second queen, the queen of Babylon the Great, perverts the whole earth with her lascivious debauchery. These are magnified in the kingdom of the beast, and are judged by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. All these perversions are seen in Revelation 17:4-5. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (Revelation 17:4) And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelation 17:5)
  The church has been swallowed up by Jezebel and the queen of heaven. This perversion is all around us. We would do well to bow our knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, and continually beseech Him to preserve us from these perversions that are world wide and around us. Scripture is the written eye of God to let us see the dangers all around. It is the only way that we can see the world for what it really is, the den of iniquity. Jezebel in the Old Testament was only a tool of Ashtoreth; she became the queen of heaven, and was a tool of Satan; that’s right, that old serpent the Devil. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9)
The Painting Continues — The Brush Strokes of the Background
  In Isaiah, Chapter 14, we have the fall of Satan. Lucifer is cast down for his sin against God. He is stripped of his glory and is placed as a serpent upon the earth. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (Genesis 3:14) The history of Satan runs through the length of the word of God until he is cast into the lake of fire, but while on earth, he beguiles the senses of man. He perverts man’s judgments; he enchants man’s imagination and mind. Our eyes need to be opened in the Garden. Did Satan try to destroy, or tempt God? no, for God cannot be tempted. Then what was Satan’s agenda at this particular place (the Garden of Eden) and at this exact time?
The Visible Target and The Hidden Agenda of Satan
  Man was Satan’s target. Man was made in the image of God, and this is the image that Satan wanted (and wants) to destroy. By tempting man Satan brought sin into play: 1) Satan beguiled all of Adam’s senses; 2) Satan perverted Adam’s ability to discern, and 3) Satan enchanted the minds of Adam and Eve. Sin would destroy the image of Adam, and so it did — and so it does. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Satan’s agenda in the Garden was not a direct assault on Jehovah, no, Satan went to the created man (made in the image of God) to destroy that image.
  Although we do not bear the very image of the man of the Garden of Eden before sin, there are those today who are continually trying to destroy the outward image of man. Adam and his descendants have been trying to destroy the image of God ever since; for in man’s twisted perception of the destruction of the image of God, man is actually destroying his own body and spirit. In reality, mankind has always attempted to destroy his own flesh: his own spirit, and his own image by any means possible; and so, tattoos, piercing, scarring’s, and cuttings is just another tool of effacement. Twisted imaginations and senses may call it by what is considered to be pleasing and acceptable terminology such as: body art, expression, scarification, branding, body modification, cultural or religious realization; nevertheless, it is still the outward destruction forged by the inner subconscious (and sometimes not subconsciously, but deliberately and willfully) hatred against God for being made in the image of God. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27) As abortion destroys the image before the image becomes visible, all attempts to remake, remodel, refashion, and mutilate the body (the image) is an outward assault against the very existence of God. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:28) Any defacing of the human body was never acceptable to Jehovah. The body was created by God, and belongs to God. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
The Image — Rejected, Hated, Crucified
  Why is this image of man so important to God? Because God always knew that His Son would come forth in the likeness of human flesh; and that the Son of God would be manifest in the flesh to take away the sin of the world. For as man was created in the image of God, Jesus Christ brought that image back to earth (as the second man, The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. [1 Corinthians 15:47] ), and man rejected that image, hated that image, and crucified that image. There were three crosses at Calvary, two thieves, and the Son of God. There is no record of either one of the thieves being beaten with rods, spit upon, punched in the face, and the hairs pulled from their faces, but God the Father made sure that there was a record of what man (in his hatred for the image of God) did to His beloved Son. (Psalm 22:16; Isaiah 53:5,10; Isaiah 50:6; Micah 5:1; Zechariah 12:10)
  There was no mystery of man’s attempt to mar his flesh in the Lord’s days when He walked on earth. He came across the man in the tombs who had cut cutting himself and marring his image at the direction of Satan for Satan hates the image of God. Consider the abuse that Christ endured: read Chapter 53 of the Book of Isaiah. This was the prophetic voice of the Spirit of God declaring the sin bearer and His sufferings, the Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the One that the Book of Hebrews declares is the glory of God and the express image of His Person. (Hebrews 1:3) We also must consider Isaiah, Chapter 50, verse 6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. And if you can bear the immense suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross, you should read Psalm 22. Satan reasoned that he would use man to destroy the image of God from the Garden of Eden to the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, and even now the Body of Christ (the true Church on earth) is still feeling the effects of Satan’s actions trying to destroy the Body of Christ. Today with every believer, the Devil, is still trying to destroy the image of Christ. As a believer, I belong to the Body of Christ. This is the glorified body, His resurrected body, the glorious image of God Himself, and this body is reflected through every believer on planet Earth. Don’t think that Satan does not want to tarnish or destroy that image.
Our True Image as God Sees Us
  We are partakers of the divine nature according to Peter and John. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9)
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4)
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
  We are priests, and kings before the Almighty God, thus, we are the only stay on earth from the wickedness and the abominations of Satan. Satan desires not only to destroy the image of God, but he also wants a kingdom; and those of his kingdom also desire to destroy the image of God which make up the glorious church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Devil is working overtime to destroy that very image.
The Painting Continues — Stroke by Stroke
  In the days of Asa, only Judah and Benjamin were ruled by the king of Judah. Solomon’s sin was so great that he took a wife of the Ammonites, and this would be the mother of his son; thus, Rehoboam would be a child of the occult. The root of the Ammonites stemmed from an incestuous act, an evil root nurtures an evil tree, an evil tree yields an evil branch, an evil branch produces evil fruit. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. (Genesis 19:36) And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. (Genesis 19:37) And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. (Genesis 19:38)
The Brush Stroke Widens                                         
And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. (1 Kings 14:21)
And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. (1 Kings 14:22)
For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. (1 Kings 14:23)
And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. (1 Kings 14:24)
  Rehoboam went further down the path of the occult, and he also (as Solomon, his father) had many wives. He took Maachah the daughter of Absalom (his uncle). Absalom was the rebellious son of King David, he usurped the kingdom from David his father, and the rebellion could only be quenched by Absalom’s death. He also was an idolater, for he raised a statue to himself in the king’s dale; and Maachah continued that rebellious family trait through Rehoboam’s reign, Abijam’s reign, and into Asa’s reign. Asa finally had to remove Maachah from the throne because of her idolatry. Maachah was Abijam’s mother, and Abijam had her as wife as well. This made Asa both her son and her grandson by incest. (Remember the root of the tree of Ammon. The proverbial acorn doesn’t fall too far from the tree.) This was the abomination that Asa faced when he came to the throne. Compare 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 with Asa’s life and day.
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. (1 Corinthians 5:1)
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. (1 Corinthians 5:2)
For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, (1 Corinthians 5:3)
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 5:4)
To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5:5)
The Setting May Change — But God Changes Not
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:6)
The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. (Leviticus 18:7)
The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. (Leviticus 18:8)
The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. (Leviticus 18:9)
The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness. (Leviticus 18:10)
The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. (Leviticus 18:11)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman. (Leviticus 18:12)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman. (Leviticus 18:13)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. (Leviticus 18:14)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. (Leviticus 18:15)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness. (Leviticus 18:16)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. (Leviticus 18:17)
The Painting Continues – From Background to Foreground
  Let’s see the progression of events in Solomon’s life that led to the destruction of Israel. The first step: he turned away from the word of God, the writings of Moses. The second step: he married strange wives. The third step: he built temples for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon. The fourth step: he worshiped heathen gods. He established the entire mount of corruption as a place of worship to the abominations of pagan gods. Solomon forged a trilogy of pagan gods in Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom; this was the uniting of the occult. As we mentioned, this abomination lasted 300 years to the days of Josiah. (2 Kings 23)
  Asa could look out over Jerusalem and Judah and see the mount of corruption, and all the wickedness that was taking place in Jerusalem and Judah. Let’s reflect on Asa’s position: he was a descendant of Solomon, of Rehoboam, and of Abijam (all corrupt kings). The progression of this corruption from Solomon to Asa’s father had brought every perversion into Jerusalem and Judah. God does not give Asa’s age, only that he reigned for 41 years. This was one year longer than David, and of the reign of Solomon. If Asa had been 20 years old at the time of his ascension to the throne, he would have been well aware of all the sins of Solomon, Rehoboam and his father Abijam, and also very cognizant* of God’s judgment against these sins in dividing the nation of Israel into two separate nations. He knew that his grandfather, Rehoboam, continued in the sins of Solomon, and that his father (Abijam) also followed after his father Rehoboam. Abijam’s wickedness and trespasses against God was so evil that God cut him off after three years on the throne. Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah. (1 Kings 15:1) Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. (1 Kings 15:2) All this corruption began with Solomon. Read 1st Kings, Chapter 11, verses 1-5. I will quote verses 6 thru 8.
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. (1 Kings 11:6)
Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. (1 Kings 11:7)
And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. (1 Kings 11:8)
  From Solomon to Abijam we not only see the growth of perversion and sin, but we also see the proof of Scripture. For in this brief time period, we see the sins of the fathers, and the judgment visited upon the sons. Solomon’s sin brought forth the division of the nation under his son, Rehoboam. Rehoboam’s sin brought the perversion of his son, Abijam. And Abijam’s sin, as sin does, brought forth his death. For this wicked sin with his mother, he was cut off out of the land of the living. This is what Asa was born into. He had a perverted father, and a perverted mother who was queen. There is a God in heaven, and He looks down upon the children of men. Time had come for God to divinely act, and He chose a man to be king over Judah by the name of Asa (his name means ‘healer’). The time had come for a man of God who would do that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. (1 Kings 15:11) Asa is the first king to be compared with David: look at the culture of sodomy all around him. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. (1 Kings 15:12)
  The Spirit of God is comparing Asa in a good way to king David. Why is the Spirit of God taking us back to David? He is bringing us back before the corruption of Solomon. He is revealing to us that as God was with David, He would also be with Asa. This was the intervention of grace and mercy by the Lord God of Israel, not only for His king, but for the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The son of Abijam, Asa, with so much against him could only cast himself on Jehovah. He would rule for his God, and not for the corrupted populace; consequently, God gave Asa quiet, peace, and rest in his kingdom for ten years. Asa moved the people to put away the strange gods that they had come to worship.
So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. (2 Chronicles 14:1)
And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: (2 Chronicles 14:2)
For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: (2 Chronicles 14:3)
And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. (2 Chronicles 14:4)
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. (2 Chronicles 14:5)
How the Infiltration of Sin Changes a Culture
  Let’s examine this progression in Asa’s reign. He began with the outward, that which was visible. He took away the idols and the groves, but there was much more. He also took away the sodomites out of the land. He removed the culture of Sodom. This is a hard thing for it was brought in by Solomon, continued by Rehoboam, and continued by Abijam (Asa’s father). It is proven from the days of Abraham (and before) that man will go whoring after strange flesh. In the day of Abraham, when it came time to rid the world of the city of Sodom, God sent down fire from heaven to cut off the wicked, and to cut off the culture of Sodom.
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. (Genesis 19:15)
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; (Genesis 19:24)
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. (Genesis 19:25)
  The sin of sodomy was so great in the days of Abraham that God had to destroy both Sodom and Gomorrah, in fact, all five cities of the plain were annihilated. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7) (The words ‘strange flesh’ connects us to the ‘strange wives,’ and ‘strange women’ in the Scriptures dealing with king Solomon). Throughout the course of history, man has refused to consider the devastation, and the destruction that this heinous sin of sodomy brings to a nation, and even the world, as it was in the days of Noah. It is sodomy’s attempt to not only destroy the image of God, but to destroy what is left of the spirit of man within himself. The Holy Spirit in the Book of Jude brings before us the conclusion of this wicked perverted sin. For God speaks of the destruction of Sodom as the vengeance of eternal fire: meaning, they are still under the burning and the judgment of that eternal fire. This sin of sodomy in Sodom was so great that God even destroyed the ground around it. God cursed the ground. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. (Genesis 19:25)
The Witness of Judgment
  God told Abraham, His servant, to rise up early in the morning to be a witness of the great judgment, and I am sure, Abraham told his descendants of the destruction of these cities of the plain. He would tell his descendants how He saw the fire of God and the pillar of smoke rise up over the cities of the plain. They would also see the cursed ground that was left behind in the wake of this judgment. This would be a witness of God’s judgment to the descendants of Abraham, and to the world that God hates the perversion of flesh among man. This will always be God’s intent to destroy such flesh, for it is an abomination to the Lord. In the days of Noah, God destroyed all flesh: man, woman, and beast, and brought in the flood to cleanse the land. Only eight souls were saved because of Noah. In Abraham’s day, God destroyed all the men, the women, and yes, even the beasts. And as we read (for us in this day) Jude reminds us of the judgment of eternal fire.
The Beginning and End of Lot — His Legacy — Incest
  Remember when Lot and Abraham separated because of the strife between their two camps; both Abraham’s men and Lot’s men were at odds with each other. Lot was given the choice of the land, and when he looked out over the well-watered plains of the Jordan, he had no thought of his uncle, Abraham, who had cared for him, and had most likely given him most of his flock. Lot in his vanity and pride took the best of the land. This was the heart of Lot. This was his beginning without Abraham. And as we follow Lot’s life, we find him dwelling in Sodom in the midst of the perversion of the Sodomites without his herds, and without his flocks. The last words that are recorded of this man Lot finds him existing in a cave, all his possessions, and his family dead except for two daughters. His selfish heart had corrupted his own family, and this corruption was his legacy. We see the result of Lot’s life in his descendants with both Moab and Ammon (the product of incest), they were continually a thorn in the side of Israel and fought against Israel. Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, fought many battles with the descendants of Lot: the legacy of Lot, physically and spiritually, continues on.
  Sodom was not only a city but became a culture, and God judged both city and culture. God established from that city the word sodomite to always describe the wicked perversion of that city and that culture. This would be an example to all cities of the world, and hopefully the world and its cities would profit from the understanding that God hates this abomination of sodomy. This is what Asa found when he took the throne. Do you think that this was easy? Do you think that he didn’t receive threats? Suppose in this world today, a ruler of a nation spoke out against sodomy, and attempted to drive them out of the land; I can hear the news of evil (or the evil news — the voices of Satan) clamoring against this action. This leader would be condemned, reviled, hated, and even possibly cast out of his office. Would Sodom give up? no. Even after they were judged before the world, and there was a personal witness of Abraham, we find the same abomination in the days of Asa. He did the best he could in following after God; yet, according to 1st Kings 14, verses 21 thru 24, this sodomy that had increased under Rehoboam (the son of Solomon), and Abijam (Rehoboam’s son), Asa’s work would not extinguish this wicked sin. For in Jehoshaphat’s day the sodomites were still in the land.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (1 Kings 22:45)
And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. (1 Kings 22:46)
  Is it over? no. Has this sin come to an end? no. If we travel all the way to the last godly king in Israel, Josiah (who walked in the ways of David, his father) the same ugly head of sodomy, the abomination of the flesh, had once again come into the land to the extent that they built their houses next to the temple of God. This sin seeks to attach itself to the things of God, to influence, to have a voice, and to control the domain of God; yea, sodomy, like Satan himself would like to be god. Josiah, therefore, destroyed their houses and burnt them, and their bones in the fires that he made to destroy the idols of the land. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. (2 Kings 23:7) This horrible sin that Solomon brought in with strange women, and strange wives kept repeating itself throughout the entire history of Israel before the captivity.
The Seed Produces
  In the days of Manasseh, this wicked culture reached it’s peak not only in defiling their own bodies but destroyed themselves by offering their children to the fire god Molech. They threw their children into these fires alive. All this was brought on by the seed of idolatry that Solomon had sown. This wicked abomination continued through the history of the nation of Israel. God worked in stages of judgment. First, He divided the kingdom because of the sin of Solomon. Then God sent the ten tribes into captivity for these same wicked sins, and they were scattered throughout the nations, never to return to their own land; and yet, Judah and Benjamin would not learn from the destruction and the captivity of the northern kingdom. The kingdom of Judah continued to allow idolatry and the sins of Manasseh until they too were removed and sent into captivity to Babylon. We face the same wickedness today. We face the queen of heaven, we face sodomy all around us, and as the children of God, we are in the minority. This filthiness has corrupted the whole world, and soon, the world will have to come to it’s final judgment. For the Lord of lords, and the King of kings will not fail to remove this wickedness from His earth. What man would not do, and cannot do, God will do by His own divine hand!
  As Asa reflected in his time with Jehovah that this would be no easy task because the stink of sodomy was all around him, and the sinful idolatrous religions of man had not only become buried deep in the hearts of the people but had become a part of their very fabric and makeup. God had removed Asa’s father from the throne in judgment for his father’s rebellious perversion. What did the Lord tell the children of Israel about Lot’s legacy?
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever: (Deuteronomy 23:3)
Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. (Deuteronomy 23:4)
Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. (Deuteronomy 23:5)
Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever. (Deuteronomy 23:6)
The Panorama Unfolded — The Big Picture
  Are you beginning to see the big picture? I hope so, for God is watching the children of man. Any nation that gives itself over to this perversion can only expect judgment from the Almighty God. Don’t blame God for it was Adam who put us into this mess. You want to lay the blame at someone’s door step, then Adam is your man. It is not God who has given us this perversion, but the descendants of Adam. There will continually be wicked men, doing these wicked acts in this world. God has warned us through past judgments, through His word, and even in the prophecy of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Deuteronomy, Chapter 18, the Lord gives a stern warning in verses 9 and 10.
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. (Deuteronomy 18:9)
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, (Deuteronomy 18:10)
Also consider the words of God . . . . . .
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:21)
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Leviticus 18:22)
Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. (Leviticus 18:23)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (1 Corinthians 6:9)
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (1 Timothy 1:10)
The Watcher
  The God of heaven has been watching us for a long time. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; (Daniel 4:13) (also read Daniel 4:23) This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. (Daniel 4:17) He knows the hatred of man for the image of God in His dear Son. Man is so corrupt, if God had not intervened through history, man would already have destroyed himself. It is only through the mercy of God that we find a man named Noah; and it is only through the mercy of God that His Son, Jesus Christ, walked upon this earth, and gave Himself for the sin of the world. Man likes to think that he came from a beast, this throws away all moral responsibility, but in fact, man was created in the image of God. Man was created walking upright (Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Ecclesiastes 7:29), but as we have found man did not come from a beast but has become one. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49:20) As God sees man in the end times, in the Book of the Revelation, God describes the last kingdom of the world as the kingdom of the beast. It is the beast that will rule this kingdom of perverted flesh, the strange flesh of Satan, and in this kingdom, men will worship the image of the beast. The deception that man was not created in the image of God, but in the image of a beast will come to its completion when mankind will worship the image of his own making. This will be the last kingdom under Adam’s rule, for at the end of Adam’s kingdom, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings will destroy the kingdom of the beast. And God will set up His glorious kingdom of His Christ as the image of God. God calls out in our day for men to repent of their sins and to call out for mercy, and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ: for the last times are at hand. Looking at the panorama of the odyssey of mankind throughout history, we see him on foot, on beasts, in chariots, wagons, cars, and planes, yes, even rockets; and what we see and hear is that God has put a voice in every man, it speaks softly through the conscience that men should repent and turn to God. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent; in the image of God created He them.
  As Solomon allowed the Devil to bring in every abomination (and Satan’s trilogy of evil) into Solomon’s kingdom, it was truly the mind of the Devil to destroy what God had claimed for His own; for He set His name in Jerusalem, and His temple was to be a forerunner of the image of God in Jesus Christ which was fulfilled in the fullness of time. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)
  We, like Asa, have come to the birth in dark days. So where do we begin? We begin like Asa began we seek after the mind of God. We cast out all vain imaginations, we cast off the filthiness of the flesh, and we cling to Christ who is the image of God. Amen.
Coming soon: Asa’s beginning, Asa’s wars, Asa’s failure.
* aberrant – not normal or right as in behavior.
* cognizant – knowledgeable of something especially through personal experience.
© Copyright 2017, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJV)