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Asa Reproved by Hanani
v. 7. And at that time Hanani, the seer, came to Asa, king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, placing his trust in flesh, and not relied on the Lord, thy God, for whom it would have been an easy matter to find a way of deliverance, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand, he had lost the opportunity of a victory over the combined forces of Israel and Syria.
v. 8. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, 2Ch_14:9; 2Ch_12:3, with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, He delivered them into thine hand. This experience should have strengthened Asa's faith to such an extent that he would not have thought of making use of the political tricks wherewith he had shown a lack of trust in Jehovah. V. 9. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, He is the omniscient and omnipresent God, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him, who cling to Him with undivided loyalty. His mighty help has never yet abandoned His children. Herein thou hast done foolishly, acted like a fool, without proper understanding; therefore from henceforth, as a punishment for this lack of trust, thou shalt have wars. Both Asa and his successors were entangled in the quarrels of the great powers which were neighbors to Judah.
v. 10. Then Asa, adding to his foolishness, was wroth with the seer and put him in a prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. His pride was offended, he resented the frankness of the prophet. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time, he vented his spite also on others of whom he knew or thought that they agreed in the censure of the prophet.
v. 11. And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, a full account of his reign, lo, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
v. 12. And Asa, in the thirty and ninth year of his reign, was diseased in his feet, probably with the gout or a similar sickness, until his disease was exceeding great, literally, "till it reached a great height," either because it slowly spread upward through his body, or because the pain was exceedingly severe; yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians, His transgression did not consist in his consulting good medical skill, but in placing his trust in these men without first and primarily consulting the Lord, since without His blessing the greatest skill of physicians is useless.
v. 13. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign, having, as it seems, returned to a better state of mind.
v. 14. And they buried him in his own sepulchers, which he had made for himself in the City of David, very likely excavated in the side of a rock, according to the custom then in use, and laid him in the bed, which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices, very costly embalming compounds, prepared by the apothecaries' art; and they made a very great burning for him, of the sweet-smelling substances mentioned, an honor which was shown especially to such kings as were held in general love and esteem, Jer_34:5. Asa, it seems, returned to the Lord in true repentance before his death, 1Ki_15:24. God has patience with the weakness of His children and brings them back from their ways of error.