Bible Study - Godly (1) - Pursue Godliness - 2 Chronicles 14:1-8 - July 21, 2019

Bible Study – Godly (1) – Pursue Godliness – July 21, 2019


This is lesson one (1) in our series entitled “Living A Godly Life in an Ungodly World.”


Our focus scripture is 2 Chronicles 14:1-8.


Make GOD the focus of your life.


This study gives us the opportunity to examine this scripture from historical and individual Christian growth perspectives.


As we consider King Asa and the earthly kingdom he ruled, let’s consider our life, as a Christian, as the king of our personal human kingdom, which we rule every day. We have a personal kingdom to run, so-to-speak, how does JESUS and GOD fit into our personal kingdom? Let’s explore!


Judges 2:2-13, reveals some of the early history of the Israelites disobeying GOD by not clearing out the false religions in the Promised Land. Also, notice GOD’S promise to HIS chosen people. That promise is still active today when we place our faith in JESUS and are born-again Spiritually and eternally into the family of GOD. Yes, Christians are under GOD’S Grace but we are accountable and reign in our individual kingdoms. Do we allow compromise to come into our lives and is it time to confess our sins and ask GOD to clean our house and resolve to allow HIM to reign supreme in our lives? YES!

Judges 2:2-13:

Pattern of Sin and Judgment

2 The Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim^[a] and said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I had promised to your fathers. I also said: I will never break My covenant with you. ² You are not to make a covenant with the people who are living in this land, and you are to tear down their altars.^[b] But you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done? ³ Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. They will be thorns^[c][d] in your sides, and their gods will be a trap for you.” ⁴ When the Angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. ⁵ So they named that place Bochim^[e] and offered sacrifices there to the Lord.

Joshua’s Death

⁶ Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. ⁷ The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived^[f] Joshua. They had seen all the Lord’s great works He had done for Israel.

⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. ⁹ They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel.

¹¹ The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals ¹² and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They infuriated the Lord, ¹³ for they abandoned Him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths (Asherah).

Now let’s fast-forward to 1 Kings 11:

Solomon’s Unfaithfulness to God

11 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women ² from the nations that the Lord had told the Israelites about, “Do not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn you away from Me to their gods.” Solomon was deeply attached to these women and loved them. ³ He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and they turned his heart away from the Lord.

⁴ When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been. ⁵ Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.

⁷ At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom,^[a] the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the Lord had commanded.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this^[b] and did not keep My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. ¹² However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David; I will tear it out of your son’s hand. ¹³ Yet I will not tear the entire kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem that I chose.”

Now to our focus scripture: In the background scripture we see the baggage that comes with the land we occupy. We as humans have to deal with the attitude of the culture and the DNA of our existence in our kingdoms. Only GOD, through faith in JESUS can bring our hearts and minds to align with GOD’S plan and purpose for our lives through the renewing of our minds by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The choice, as Christians is ours to make. How much of our kingdom will we allow GOD to rule? Let’s continue ---

Let’s read 2 Chronicles 14:1-2:

^1 [a]Abijah (Ah bi jah) rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. His son Asa became king in his place. During his reign the land experienced peace for 10 years.

King Abijah died and his son Asa became king.

Let’s consider the baggage Asa inherited from his dad. We need to consider the baggage we, as humans, inherit from our ancestral lineage.

According to 1 Kings 15:3, King Abijah or Abijam (same person):

³ Abijam walked in all the sins his father before him had committed, and he was not completely devoted to the Lord his God as his ancestor David had been.

We may inherit family traits but with GOD’S help and a resolve to overcome them, we can but it takes a decision and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. For those since the passion of JESUS, CHRIST in you is your power, strength and hope.

Romans 12:2:

² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that renews the minds of Christians as we allow HIM. The only way the Holy Spirit indwells a person is by accepting JESUS and HIS sinless death upon the cross by willingly shedding HIS blood, physical death, physical resurrection, physical ascension into Heaven just for you to receive forgiveness for your sins and to be born Spiritually into GOD’S family as HIS Son or Daughter and have eternal life. WOW!

Surely, as GOD’S Child that means I am perfect. Yes, you are but your born-again Spirit is dwelling in the flesh and the flesh must yield to the Spirit, thus the renewing of your mind. Will you allow the Holy Spirit to change you and that is an action of the will! Every person must first accept JESUS as his or her Savior. That is the instant of salvation. The question is are you willing to make JESUS the LORD of your life? These do not necessarily go together but they can.

LORD here I am as I am, I am willing for YOU to make me into your servant upon earth through YOUR strength and power to obediently serve YOU. Amen.

King Asa reigned from 910-869 BC.

Let’s consider some of the history taken from page 103, Bible Studies for Life, LifeWay, summer 2019, Leader Guide.

“The pagan worship of Baal and Asherah was imported into Israel through marriage. King Ahab (874-853 BC), a contemporary of both King Asa and his son Jehoshaphat (872-848 BC), married Jezebel, daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon. She brought her worship of Baal and Asherah. As the Book of 1 Kings records, after marrying Jezebel, Ahab devoted himself to the worship of Baal, building a temple to Baal in the capital of Samaria and making an Asherah pole (1 Kings 16:30-33).

This led to the famous showdown at Mount Carmel between the Prophet Elijah and the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. The Baal prophets went into a frenzy but their false gods remained silent and accomplished nothing. When Elijah prayed, however, the LORD’S fire fell from heaven consuming his altar and sacrifice. Elijah then ordered the executions of 850 prophets (1 Kings 18:17-40). Eventually, Ahab and Jezebel both met violent deaths in disgrace (1 Kings 22:29-40; 2 Kings 9:30-37).

GOD had on multiple occasions ordered Israel to totally destroy all such shrines of pagan worship (Exodus 23:24; 34:13; Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3). Asa took those commands seriously as he began his reform early in his reign. By the end of his reign, however, at least some of the high places either remained or had been rebuilt (2 Chronicles 15:17).”

When we get serious with obediently serving GOD through faith in JESUS that is when GOD works mightily in our lives.

King Asa made a decision to ------

Judah’s King Asa

^2 [b]Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God.

We learn that King Asa had the right relationship with GOD which is the relationship Christians can choose to have with GOD through faith in JESUS. Christians have a choice of how much of their will they are willing to yield to GOD to serve HIM. Obediently serving GOD is a choice. We read that King Asa chose to practice what the scripture instructed him to do to be in unity and fellowship with GOD.

We get to study how King Asa’s commitment to obediently serve GOD served the people and the area in which he was responsible. We, as Christians, are also king’s over our lives and kingdom.

Let’s read 2 Chronicles 14:3-5:

³ He removed the pagan altars and the high places. He shattered their sacred pillars and chopped down their Asherah (A she rah or A sher ah) poles. ⁴ He told the people of Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors and to carry out the instruction and the commands. ⁵ He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom experienced peace under him.

As Christians, is it our nature to get rid of all the things in our lives that could compromise our relationship with GOD through faith in JESUS?

We read in our focus scripture that King Asa removed the pagan altars and the high places. GOD had instructed the Israelites to clean the Promised Land of all false worship as they entered. They did not and as a result, the Israelites began mixing pagan worship with the worship of The One True GOD, Yahweh. King Asa took action by having the pagan altars and the high places of pagan worship removed.

The Israelites had also worshipped in high places thinking they were closer to GOD but they had compromised their worship to embrace pagan religion.

What has the Holy Spirit brought to your mind as you read this? Has HE brought to your mind something that you have embraced that you know GOD does not approve of that compromises your relationship with HIM? If so, what are you going to do about it? Are you willing to tear down the pagan altar in your life?

The Israelites had adopted the pagan practice of worshiping sacred stones and Asherah poles. These were objects of worship connected to the god of fertility, Asherah. Asherah was a fertility goddess and the mother of Baal, the Canaanite fertility god. Her veneration was often tolerated in both Israel and Judah.

How many Christians read their horoscopes every day or go to fortune tellers, palm readers or tea leaf readers? Often, I hear, “Oh, I just read it for fun.” DO NOT DO IT EVEN FOR FUN!

When we, as Christians get serious about obediently serving our LORD and Savior JESUS as GOD to reveal all the things that you need to toss out of your life and make room for the indwelling Holy Spirit reign in your kingdom.

What takes place as you clean house. Let’s read on ----

Let’s read 2 Chronicles 14:6-8:

⁶ Because the land experienced peace, Asa built fortified cities in Judah. No one made war with him in those days because the Lord gave him rest. ⁷ So he said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, with doors and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God. We sought Him and He gave us rest on every side.” So, they built and succeeded.

The Cushite Invasion

⁸ Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin bearing regular shields and drawing the bow. All these were brave warriors.

The land of Judah experienced peace and the rebuilding of the cities took place. In the lives of Christians, when we get serious about cleaning out the things in our lives that do not please GOD and welcome the Holy Spirit to occupy every part of our being, the peace that only GOD can provide comes into our lives. Rebuilding can take place through the renewing of our minds to know that GOD is the only power in our lives and HE is truth that we can rely upon to meet every situation we encounter.

Let’s read again part of verse 7, “The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God. We sought Him and He gave us rest on every side.” So, they built and succeeded.

As a Christian, we still have our physical body but we have yielded our kingdom to GOD and we have resolved to obediently serve HIM and HE gives us rest on every side. Peace is the result when we decide to clean house and allow the Holy Spirit to move into every area of our lives.

Blessings!!!