Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
The writings of the Old Testament are examples for us. As we read these scriptures, we learn the way of God.
II Chronicles 14 ... And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: 3For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: 4And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest. 7Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
Then at one point an army of Ethiopia came out against him. II Chronicles 14 ... And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. 12So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
God then sent a message (a warning) to Asa by Azariah the son of Oded.
II Chronicles 15 ...And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 3Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. 6And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. 7Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
8And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD. 9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
Asa rejoiced in this word for it seemed to approve him.
But this word was actually a warning from God to Asa.
Asa even removed his mother from being queen.
II Chronicles 15:16 ... And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
But remember the warning from God which warned Asa to seek God?
This is what happened next.
I Chronicles 16 ... In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Benhadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, 3There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 4And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa,
When I read this, I thought, "OH NO ... Asa ignored God's warning and turned to man for help."
After that, God sent a prophet to Asa ...
II Chronicles 15 ... 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, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand. 9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
10Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.
Asa loved it when the message to him was approval from God but when the message was showing that he had done foolishly, he hated the message, he hated and reacted against the prophet who carried the message and he even oppressed some of the people.
I've seen this happen so many times. A person will write to me wanting to be a part of our group. He will approve himself and feel approved. Then he goes on to speak of his works and often there is wrong in his works and I will tell him of the wrong and when that happens he usually will depart from me and go elsewhere. God has shown me when this happens it is a fulfillment of what John spoke in I Jn. 2 ... Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
When a person is really of God he humbles himself giving up his own way to do the truth of the scriptures by the Spirit of God. This person is recreated in the image of God, in the image of the Word carried to him.
When the person reacts to the message in silence, he departs in his heart. He departs from the messenger. He departs from the message. But above all, he departs from God.
So the end of Asa is this:
II Chronicles 16 ... And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. 13And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.
Again Asa fails to turn to God with the problem and he turns to the physicians instead. What we should do with physical problems is turn to God, asking HIM about the problem. Then if God shows us to go to physican this is what we do. But we have sought God first. Asa didn't seek God with the problem. Asa just took his problem to the physicians.