I. THE PROPHET'S MESSAGE TO THE KING. (Vers. 7-9.)

1. The prophet's name. Hanani, "Favourable" (Gesenius); otherwise unknown, though conjectured to be the father of "Jehu the son of Hanani," who announced to Baasha the ruin of his house (1 Kings 16:1), and afterwards appeared at the court of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:2), having probably been obliged to flee from the northern kingdom on account of his ill-omened communication.

(1) This was the second time God had sent a prophet to Asa. God usually gives to men "line upon line, and precept upon precept" (Isaiah 28:10).

(2) This was a second prophet God had sent to Asa. God has no lack of messengers to run upon his errands. When a word wants speaking to the Church or to the state, he can always find the man to speak it (Psalm 68:11).

(3) The message God sent by Hanani was different from that sent by Azariah. That was a word of counsel; this, of rebuke. God always suits his communications to the needs of his hearers. "Every Scripture inspired by God is profitable," etc. (2 Timothy 3:16).

(4) Those who serve God faithfully as his messengers are sure to find ample remuneration. Because of this mission well executed, Hanani has obtained a posthumous renown, which will carry his name throughout the world and to the end of time (cf. Mark 14:9).

2. The prophet's sermon.

(1) A great opportunity lost, with the reason of it. The Syrians might have been crushed, whereas they had escaped, because, instead of relying on Jehovah, he, Asa, had relied upon Benhadad (ver. 7). Compare Elisha's language to Joash of Israel (2 Kings 13:19). Nothing commoner than for men to be blind to their own best interests; to be neglectful of the opportunities Providence sets before them for advancing these; and to call in the aid of enemies rather than of friends - of their worst enemy, the devil, rather than of their best friend, Jehovah - when they find themselves placed in some critical situation.

(2) A great victory recalled, with the secret of it. The mighty host of the Ethiopians and the Libyans had been defeated; their horsemen and chariots routed by Judah's spearmen and bowmen, and that, as Asa knew, not by their own prowess or by his generalship, but because, in answer to prayer, Jehovah had entered the field upon his side (ver. 8). It is strange how easily and quickly men forget Divine interpositions on their behalf, and how readily, almost how naturally, they put these to their own credit rather than to God's. "Time hath, my lord, a wallet on his back" (Shakespeare, 'Troilus and Cressida,' act 3. sc. 3). No example better to be followed by a Christian than that of David (Psalm 103:2). A good memory would often save a Christian from foolish blunders.

(3) A great doctrine stated, with the lesson of it. Asa should have known that the eyes of the Lord were ever running to and fro throughout the earth, to show himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts were perfect before him, and that all he had to do was to see that his heart was perfect before God, and to show the same by trusting in him (ver. 9). See homily on "The eyes of the Lord."

(4) A great sin committed, with the disastrous result of it. In turning his back upon Jehovah and repairing to Benhadad, he, Asa, had acted foolishly (ver. 9). He had not only blundered, perpetrated an error in judgment, but done what was inherently wicked; and, as a consequence both of his blunder and of his sin, he "would have wars" - which he had in the continued hostility of the northern kingdom. Observe the double aspect of sin, as an act of folly and a deed of wickedness, and the double aspect of retribution, as at once the natural outcome or result of human folly and the positive infliction of a judicial sentence.

II. THE KING'S ANSWER TO THE PROPHET. (Ver. 10.)

1. He was angry with the prophet. Good men as well as bad may fall into danger, but in both it is sin. If Asa's "heart was perfect all his days," it is clear his life was not. He was "wroth with the seer." Anger is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:20), the passion of a foolish heart (Ecclesiastes 7:9), and the foam of an unbridled tongue (Proverbs 25:28; Hosea 7:16). Outrageous in any (Proverbs 27:4), it is unbecoming in all, but especially in kings, and not allowable in Christians (Colossians 3:8). Asa was angry with Hanani because Hanani told him of his fault. Even good men require large grace before they can say, "Let the righteous smite me," etc. (Psalm 141:5). Yet the rebukes of the righteous should be received submissively (Leviticus 19:17) and with grateful affection (Proverbs 9:8). He who so welcomes them shall be honoured (Proverbs 13:18); get understanding (Proverbs 15:32); exhibit prudence (Proverbs 15:5); and abide among the wise (Proverbs 15:31).

2. He put the prophet in a prison-house; literally, "in a house of stocks," the "stock being an instrument of torture, by which the body was forced into an unnatural, twisted position, the victim, perhaps, being bent double, with the hands and feet fastened together" (Keil). Into some such place of confinement Jeremiah was thrust Jeremiah 20:2; cf. 29:26), and Paul and Silas (Acts 16:24). "The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion" (Proverbs 19:12). If, in Hanani's case, it did not turn out "messengers of death" (Proverbs 16:14), it was because Asa was at bottom a good man, whose hand as well as heart were in the keeping of the Lord (Psalm 76:10).

3. He oppressed those who took the prophet's side. These were, doubtless, the pious section of the people who had not approved of the Syrian alliance. It is seldom that a wicked policy can be entered on by kings or parliaments (at least in a Christian land) without some voice or voices being raised against it. Unhappily, these have often to share obloquy and oppression, as Hanani's supporters did. Yet nothing is more calamitous for a country than to see the best people in it persecuted by its rulers for protesting against their crooked ways. When a policy cannot be defended or carried through without imprisoning those who are opposed to it, that policy is wrong!

LESSONS.

1. The certainty that God sees everything that is done beneath the sun.

2. The goodness of God in reproving wrong-doers.

3. The folly of leaning upon an arm of flesh instead of upon God.

4. The source of all ca]amity among men, viz. sin.

5. The sign of an evil conscience - anger against an accuser.

6. The uselessness of force as a remedy for evils of any kind.

7. The courage required of them who would champion the cause of truth and right. - W.

Sin like Asa's has been the supreme apostasy of the Church in all her branches and through all her generations: Christ has been denied, not by lack of devotion, but by want of faith. Champions of the faith, reformers and guardians of the temple, like Asa, have been eager to attach to their holy cause the cruel prejudices of ignorance and folly, the greed and vindictiveness of selfish men. They have feared lest these potent forces should be arrayed amongst the enemies of the Church and her Master. It has even been suggested that national Churches and great national vices were so intimately allied that their supporters were content that they should stand or fall together. On the other hand, the advocates of reform have not been slow to appeal to popular jealousy and to aggravate the bitterness of social feuds.

(W. H. Bennett, M.A.)