Kings and Chronicles: The rest of the story

            The book of I Kings is a story about the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah and their sons.  It is a story about treachery, evil, and evil that increases with the next generation.  The sins of the fathers and mothers in Kings is like a map that leads to destruction and further despair for this divided Kingdom.  Only a few times will a son “do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord.”  Most often the theme is, “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father’s sin which he made Israel to sin, and did more evil than all that were before him.”

            The pattern is consistent; the sons sin more than their fathers—except for Asa.  “And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done.”  It is noteworthy that Asa’s father is not mentioned but his great, great, grandfather King David. The question is, how did Asa do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord when his father was so wicked? One explanation is that his father did not have too much time to influence his son because he only reigned three years.  If anything he had to be more concerned about the evil influence of his grandmother Maacah. 

            First there seems to be a discrepancy over the spelling of Asa’s father’s name.  In I Kings 15:1, his name is Abijam.  He is the son of the Maaca (really his grandmother), daughter of Abishalom.  In 2^nd Chronicles 13:1 his name is spelled Abijah, and his mother’s name was Micaiah, daughter of Absalom (11:20).  Notice that the spelling of Maacah is also different in Chronicles, as well as Absalom, from Abishalom.  In is interesting that this Queen Mother is mentioned each time with emphasis.  As the daughter of Absalom, she already had the genes of rebellion in her blood as Absalom demonstrated when he tried to kill his own father, King David.

            The question remains, “How did Asa do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord” when his father was listed walking in all the sins that his fathers did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as David his father.” I Kings 15:3  Well I believe there are two factors.  The first is found in 2^nd Chronicles 13.  An entire chapter describes Abijah’s passion to keep the Word of the Lord.  Note his words: “For we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him.  Behold, God is with us at our head…”  This doesn’t seem to fit the description of a man who walked in all the sins of his father.  I am thankful that the record of I Kings is not the last word.  The books of Chronicles is like reading the “rest of the story.”  In a sense, the two records of the same lives found in Kings and Chronicles, may suggest that the story of our lives can have added chapters, and a different ending.

            In I Kings 15 we have the second factor that contributed to Asa doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  “Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”  It appears that God is preserving for Himself a “Lamp” because of the relationship that he had with righteous David (even though his adultery and murder is not to be forgotten).  Our relationship with the Lord today may be the greatest influence upon generations to come.  We must overcome sin at all cost.  Our relationship with the Lord does make a difference for generations to come.