Asa was tired of Baasha, the king of Israel fortifying Ramah, so he made a deal with Ben-Hadad, the Aramite king to have Baasha's army conquer some Israelite towns. This scared Baasha off. I guess I don't really get what Asa was so freaked out about, but Baasha was essentially blockading Judah.
Even though Asa had relied on God when the Cushites came rowdy, he didn't apparently bring the Baasha situation to God. Asa didn't fight Baasha either, interestingly enough. Maybe as a result of not consulting God. Maybe he assumed God wouldn't help him, because he wouldn't ask, so he ended up going to Ben-Hadad. Asa would go so far as to involve a foreign ruler to circumvent requesting God's help. What would this say to Ben-Hadad about Asa's faith in God, which, as we read previously, had something resembling a firm foundation considering the reforms he had made.
Verse 9 is pretty interesting as a rudimentary view into the heart of God. His eyes range throughout the earth, looking to strengthen those who are fully committed to him. It's not just that God's always there. God is always there, and wanting to help. The purpose of God's omnipresence is to be our strength, should we commit ourselves to Him. Its a baffling attribute, omnipresence, but a simple help.
Anyway, when Hanani the prophet came to call Asa out on despising God's advice, it kind of turned Asa for the worse. He threw Hanani in the clink and became a jerk to his people. But not too bad of a jerk apparently, because when he died, they still had a huge fire in his honor. That's right, the Bible says "huge." Which is cool.
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