King Asa, the 3rd king of the southern kingdom of Judah, reigned for 41 years and was one of the more righteous kings of all 19 kings of Judah. But “pride goeth before a fall”, which means “People who are overconfident or too arrogant are likely to fail.” Humility might be the most important thing for sinners who are seeking a right relationship with God. James 4:6 Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” 1 Peter 5:5 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Luke 14:11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Here is a great image of King Asa’s reforms in Judah.

2 Chronicles 14:²  And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. Judah had decayed morally to the point that there were male shrine prostitutes, which Asa remove. He removed pagan altars. Judah had peace with no wars for most of his reign. He bullt walled cities. He had an army of 580,000 men of valor from the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin (which made up the southern kingdom after the kingdom split).

Even when Zerah the Ethiopian attacked Judah with one million men, Asa humbly prayed “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.”  (2 Chronicles 14:11). Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” God gave Asa the victory b/c he was humble and trusted God in battle.

The prophet Azariah told Asa, ““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” (2 Chroniclles 14:2). After hearing those words, Asa immediately responded by tearing down pagan altars throughout Judah. He persuaded all the people of Judah and Benjamin, and even those from some of the northern kingdom tribes who had moved to Judah to get away from the idolatry in the northern kingdom, to enter a covenant to seek the Lord with all their heart and soul. Whoever broke the covenant would be put to death. He even removed Micaah, his own queen mother, from being queen b/c she built a detestable image for Asherah. “The heart of Asa was wholly true all his days” (2 Chronicles 15:17).

But things changed in the 35th year of his 41 year reign. The evil king Baasha of the northern kingdom built Ramah on the border between the two kingdoms in order to stop defectors from leaving the northern kingdom to go to Judah to live. There was war between Baasha and Asa. God would have given Asa victory over Baasha if he had just humbly trusted God like he did in the victory over Zerah. Instead, Asa bribed King Beh-hadad of Syria with gold and silver from the temple to attack Baasha and force Baasha to withdraw from fighting Judah. It worked! Apparently Asa was feeling pretty confident in his ability after that.

Hanani the prophet met Asa and told 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.” (2 Chronicles 15:7-8) How did Asa handle this rebuke from the prophet? Did he humbly repent and ask forgiveness? 2 Chronicles 15:10 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.”

What happened that changed Asa from the humble man who sought God with all his heart to one who would in a rage put God’s prophet in stocks in prison and inflict cruelties upon some of the people? PRIDE. Proverbs 16: ¹⁸ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” In the 39th year of his reign, he was afflicted with diseased feet, but instead of seeking the Lord for help, he only sought his physicians. He died without any record of his repenting of his pride.

It is hard to be humble in America when we have so many resources to rely on. Not all, but most o us Christians have money, medical insurance, retirement funds, prestige at work, and respect at work. But when we have a crisis, like health, money, job, marital, or family problems, who do we turn to first? God has given us doctors and there is nothing wrong in seeking help from doctors. But who do we turn to first in a medical crisis: physicians or The Great Physician. When there is a crisis at work or possibly losing my job, who do I turn to first? In a money crisis, who do I turn to first: a financial counselor or the word of God? In a marital crisis, who do I turn to first: a marital counselor or God? Who do I rely on to help me either solve a problem or cope with the problem? The one you turn to first in a crisis is the one you trust to be fully able to help you in the crisis.

God told Solomon after he built and dedicated the new temple: 2 Chronicles 7:¹⁴ if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” I think that our country is at a critical point right now. We have been blessed with so many material wealth. “In 2023, the mean personal income in the United States was $63,510. The median household income was $80,610.” “According to the World Bank’s classification, the mean income in “third world” countries, categorized as low-income economies, is typically below $1,145 per capita per year, with lower middle-income countries ranging between $1,146 and $4,515 per capita”. “According to data from the World Bank, around 84% of the world’s population lives in “developing countries,” which is often considered synonymous with “third world countries,” meaning the majority of the global population resides in these regions.” Many complain about lack of money, but usually that is b/c of mismanaging money and debt from a high standard of living. The U.S. has more military might and capability than ever before. “The United States military is considered the most powerful in the world, with a large budget, advanced technologies, and a global presence. The US military’s strength is measured by its capability, capacity, and readiness to handle missions.” 70 % in our country say they believe in God, but according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, only 54% of US adults believe in “God as described in the Bible”. So only half of our people believe in Yahweh of the Bible. That other 16% would believe in the god of some of the world religions like Buddhism. Only 30 % attend church. I am not a big proponent of organized churches, but church attendance is still a good indicator of an active faith in God. Only 25% believe that homosexual relations is a morally wrong and a sin. 64% believe that homosexual relations are morally acceptable.

All those statistics sound to me like America is in need of moral reform. If the prophet Azariah was here today, I think he would tell us the same thing he told 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” . That means believing in the Bible as the verbally inspired error free word of God (the orginals were error free and the translations we have are trustworthy). If the Bible says that homosexuality or adultery or drunkenness in a sin, then it is a sin. That means relying on Yahweh as the only true God and Jesus Christ as the only Savior from our sins. That means relying on God for how we live, think, and do. That means humbling ourselves to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That means fellowshipping with other Christians in house churches or even orgainzied churches.

MAGA: “make America great again”. I’m all for that. But I prefer MAHA: “make America humble again.”