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Five Great Reformations - 2 Chronicles
Five Great Reformations - 2 Chronicles
James Smith, writing about Asa, said: "After some two decades of apostasy in Judah, a dedicated worshiper of Yahweh took the throne. King Asa led the first of five great reformations in Judah. Unfortunately, toward the end of his reign this good king experienced a failure of faith."*
What we observed in the book of Judges, continued through the period of the Kings. The people would serve God for a while, but within a generation would forsake Him for idols. We saw it happen many times in the period of the Judges. We watched as Saul started off well but then was unfaithful to the LORD. Solomon had his heart turned away from the LORD by his many foreign wives. Now, as we begin learning about the many kings of Judah, we see the pattern continue. Interestingly, ALL of the kings of Judah are from the family of David, yet many of them are not only unfaithful to the LORD, but openly in rebellion and opposition to Him. The nation would follow the lead of their king as he led them into apostasy, rebellion, and idolatry.
THEN, and we are thankful that there were such periods, the son of an unfaithful King would arise who was faithful to the LORD and did seek to turn the people back to God. They would have several things to accomplish: one, the removal of the idols and all that pertained to the worship of them; two, the restoring of the true worship of God, and three, the turning of the hearts back to loving the Lord with all of their heart, soul, and might.
These great reformers were usually able to accomplish these first two objectives rather easily. The turning of the hearts of the people back to the LORD proved not only problematic, but often impossible. Without turning the hearts back to the LORD, it was just a matter of time, and often very short period of time, before they were again worshiping the idols. Correct forms of worship without a heart that is true to God will result in corruption of the soul. God will see the hypocrisy and emptiness of such religion and reject both it and the worshiper.
Each generation is faced with this same battle. Even when the generation before them has been faithful, it has proven difficult to pass this on to the next generation. Often the reforms of the previous generation end up passing on the 'rituals of religion' but not the fervor of the heart. This means that a still future generation will need to restore both the 'forms' and the 'heart'. It will again be necessary, even as in the days of the kings, to tear down the idols of the heart, establish again the truths of worship toward God, and restore the love of God in the hearts of the people.
Which part of this story are you? Have you only inherited the forms of religion? Have you forsaken God for the idols of your heart? Have you turned to God with all of your heart and begun trying to turn others back to the LORD? Hugh DeLong
*James Smith, Old Testament Survey Series, The Books of History, College Press, Logos edition.
