And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
Baasha's answer to losing people was not an army but a wall: he fortified Ramah on the border to stop all movement between his kingdom and Asa's. Two questions follow — why did Israel's king fear that traffic so much, and why did Judah's king answer a wall by buying a foreign army?
Baasha's aim was to seal his own people in. One writer sees the same instinct at work long after his reign:
Baasha had lost several of his cities. So he built Ramah to cut off all contact from then on, "that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah." He could not attack Asa without putting himself in danger. So he set out to stop his own subjects from leaving him and joining God's testimony... This pattern shows up again and again. People like Baasha still keep up a profession of true religion, though it is mixed with deadly errors — and they cannot bear a testimony near them that attracts souls.
Baasha picked Ramah for where it stood, on the main road between the two kingdoms. One writer also weighs the timing, since the thirty-sixth year does not fit the other dates given for Baasha:
Compare this verse with 1 Kings 15:33 and 16:8 and you meet a problem with the dates. By those references Baasha must have been dead ten years before the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign... The only apparent way out is to date "the thirty-sixth year" from the beginning of Judah as a kingdom separate from Israel. That would place the event in the sixteenth year of Asa's actual reign... Ramah stood on the main road from the northern kingdom. It would be only natural for Baasha to move at once and fortify this key city on the border, and so stop any more of his people going over to Asa.
Commentators differ here. Rossier suggests the date "may be a simple copyist's error."
So what was pulling Israelites across the border? One writer names it:
Baasha and Asa king of Judah were at war all their days. Baasha made a treaty with Benhadad king of Syria, and he built up Ramah as a fort on his southern border. He wanted to stop, if he could, the flow of his own subjects into Judah, where the prosperity under Asa was drawing them.
The buffer zone paints a picture, and then the same writer turns the question on Asa:
Baasha, king of Israel, had become alarmed at the thought of some in Israel defecting to Judah. So he came and built Ramah as a buffer between the two companies. What a picture this is! Those who have left the Lord's center will do all they can to keep their followers from returning to the place the Lord has for them. This was not a direct attack on Judah, but Asa took it as an offense. Why then did he not appeal to God, as he did when the Ethiopians attacked?
Shut in by the new fortress, Asa bought foreign help. It worked, and it cost him:
Baasha, the king of Israel, comes up against Judah and starts to build Ramah. His goal is to shut Asa up in his kingdom so that he cannot get out. To block this, Asa leans on Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria. He sends him gifts, courts his alliance, and uses him to drive Baasha away. The plan looked like a success: the king of Israel abandoned Ramah... But what unfaithfulness in this godly king! He had defeated Zerah the Ethiopian and his army of a million men, yet he failed to commit his interests to the Lord. An alliance with the world may bring us advantages at first, but later we taste its bitter fruit.
The whole episode turns on fear. One writer names what God was looking for instead:
He was very afraid of Baasha... "The fear of man brings a snare." How this reveals the weakness of man! After all the proofs of the LORD's mercy and power, Asa could turn away from Him like this and enter an unholy alliance with a pagan king. He got what he was after, and Baasha had to give up his plan. But God had watched it all... "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him." The Lord looks for faith, for confidence.
- Wall — Baasha did not invade. He fortified Ramah as a buffer to stop all movement in and out of Judah.
- Motive — the wall stood against a pull. Asa's prosperity was drawing his own people south.
- Pattern — those who leave the Lord's center work to keep their followers from going back. They cannot bear a testimony nearby that attracts souls.
- Snare — Asa had beaten an army of a million men, yet he feared Baasha. The fear of man brought him the snare of a bought alliance.
- Eyes — the wall came down, but God had watched it all. His eyes search the earth for a heart that trusts Him, not for a king who can pay.
And Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and gave them into the hand of his servants; and king Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying,
Asa had watched God destroy a huge invading army. Now a smaller enemy was walling up Ramah to shut Judah in, and Asa did not pray — he took the silver and gold from God's house and hired a foreign king.
One writer cannot explain the failure. He sets it beside the far greater danger Asa had already come through:
It is hard to explain this sudden failure in Asa's faith. Only recently, with God's help, he had completely destroyed the huge army of Zerah the Ethiopian. Now, facing an enemy not half as dangerous, his faith fails, and he leans on human strength to save him... It was the beginning of Asa's downfall. He got the rescue he wanted, but it cost him the rebuke of God and wars to the end of his reign.
The money Asa handed over had already been given to God. One writer follows his steps in order:
It is hard to know anything sadder than this account of Asa. No doubt he belonged to the Lord, but he had lost his closeness to God and leaned on his own resources. And he begins by robbing God. Then he asked a worldly man to do a plainly dishonourable thing — to break his treaty with Baasha king of Israel... If we lose that closeness with God, there is no telling what we may do. It is sad to think that our sinful nature has more room to work in a believer than in someone who is not saved.
Asa bought treachery with money given to God.
Baasha ruled Israel, the other half of God's own people. Asa hired an enemy of God to fight them, and one writer brings that home to believers today:
He failed badly by getting help from the Lord's enemies against his own brothers, the Israelites... God will not give His glory to another (Isa. 42:8), but Asa in effect gave God's glory (the gold) to Ben-Hadad!... How much better it would have been for Asa to seek Israel's restoration instead of a treaty with Syria! But too often, in our day, believers use shocking means to fight other believers who have offended them. They also use what belongs to God (as Asa used the gold and silver from the house of the Lord) to serve their own selfish ends.
Asa's offer leans on a treaty his father Abijam once made:
An alliance with the world may bring us advantages at first, but afterwards we taste its bitter fruits... How sad to hear these words from a godly king: "There is a treaty between me and you, as between my father and your father!" Abijam had walked "in all the sins of his father," and now Asa identifies himself with him. His father had allied himself with the enemies of God's people; Asa owns that alliance and seeks it out!
The plan worked. That is what makes it so costly:
Asa, instead of looking to the Lord, allies himself with Syria. The alliance produced the effect he wanted, but it stirred up the nations against Israel. And this was not all; alliance with the world prevents our overcoming the world. Had he not done this, the Syrians would have fallen into the hands of Asa... Hurt in his pride, and annoyed at missing such a good chance, Asa puts in prison the seer who brought him this word, and he oppresses the people.
This failure did not begin here. One writer traces it to an earlier compromise that changed how Asa saw the world:
Asa fears Baasha. Since he has given way on one point, he can no longer see the world as a system he must never compromise with and never ask help from. He knows he is weak, just as he was when the Ethiopian attacked. But he no longer has the same confidence that all his strength is in God.
Commentators differ: some see a sudden lapse, others an old compromise finally showing.
One writer weighs what this reign could have been:
He began well. His start was very bright indeed. Had he gone on in simplicity and in the energy of faith, what a different story he would have left behind. Instead of coming into port like a ship that had met a great hurricane — broken, with no mast or sail — he would have come in with flags flying and all sail set.
- Crack — one early compromise left Asa able to lean on the world he once refused.
- Collapse — the smaller threat broke the man the bigger one had not. Yesterday's rescue does not supply today's faith.
- Cost — Asa handed God's silver and gold to Ben-hadad, and paid him to break his word.
- Conquest lost — the plan worked, yet Syria slipped out of his hand. An alliance with the world stops you overcoming it.
- Close — Asa still reached port as the Lord's, but broken and stripped, not under full sail.
There is a league between me and thee, [as] between my father and thy father; behold, I send thee a present of silver and gold go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
Asa of Judah had already watched God destroy a huge invading army. Yet when a smaller threat came from Baasha of Israel, he emptied God's house to hire the king of Syria to break his treaty with Israel. The plan worked — and that is exactly what makes the verse so searching.
Asa was afraid. The strange part is that God had already given him every reason not to be. One writer sets the two moments side by side and follows where buying Syria's help led.
It is hard to explain this sudden failure in Asa's faith. Not long before, with God's help, he had destroyed the huge army of Zerah the Ethiopian. Now he faces an enemy not half as dangerous, his faith fails, and he leans on human strength to rescue him. It was the beginning of Asa's downfall. He did get the rescue he wanted, but it cost him God's rebuke and wars to the end of his reign.
The silver and gold Asa sent were not his own. And what he asked for was that a foreign king break his sworn word.
No doubt he belonged to the Lord, but he was out of communion with God, and relied on his own resources. And he begins by robbing God. Then he asked a worldly man to do something plainly dishonourable. If we lose that communion, there is no telling what we may do. It is sad to think that the flesh has more room to work in a believer than in someone who is not converted.
Asa also aimed Syria's army at his own people.
God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8), but Asa in effect gave God's glory (the gold) to Ben Hadad! So Asa made the fatal mistake of using the world's help to fight his own brothers, the people of Israel. Instead of making a treaty with Syria, how much better it would have been for Asa to seek the restoration of Israel! But too often today, believers use shocking methods against other believers who have offended them. They also use what belongs to God to serve their own selfish ends.
Asa's opening line appeals to an old family arrangement. That appeal is the telling part, because of the kind of man his father was.
But how sad to hear a godly king say: "Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father!" Abijam had walked "in all the sins of his father." Now Asa makes himself one with him. A league with the world at first may bring us advantages, but afterwards we taste its bitter fruits.
Ben-hadad took the money, and Asa got what he paid for. On the surface he had won.
By taking this path the king appears to escape a great disaster. But he loses all the blessing of a walk of faith, and he will prove that sadly. Oh, how much happier he was when he felt he had no strength of his own, and still stood against the countless army of Zerah!
The success came at a cost Asa could not see.
Instead of looking to the Lord, Asa makes an alliance with Syria. It produced the effect he wanted, but it stirred up the Gentile nations against Israel. And this was not all; alliance with the world prevents our overcoming the world. If he had not done this, the Syrians would have fallen into Asa's hands. For "the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him." A solemn and precious word! Asa's pride was wounded, and he was angry at having missed such a good opportunity. So he puts the prophet who gave this testimony in prison, and he oppresses the people. God disciplines him, and sadly he does not seek God in that discipline.
Asa's faith held through his years of rest. Trouble from Baasha is what broke him.
He set aside his mother because of her idolatry. But when Baasha brought trouble on him, he made an alliance with Ben-hadad. When hardship pulls a man off the path of righteousness, that is more serious than when prosperity tempts him away. Hardship usually drives a believer who has wandered back to God. It is one of the means grace employs.
- Pressure tests. A smaller threat than Zerah's army broke Asa. The test was never the size of the enemy, but where he looked first.
- Payment. He paid for the alliance out of God's house. He gave away what belonged to God to buy what God would have given free.
- Partnership. His appeal to his father's treaty tied him to a man who had walked in all his father's sins. A league with the world tastes sweet first and bitter later.
- Profit. It worked. Asa got the rescue he wanted, and in winning it he lost the whole blessing of a walk of faith.
- Price. Alliance with the world stops us overcoming the world. The Syrians God meant to hand over to Asa escaped, and wars followed to the end of his reign.
And Ben-Hadad hearkened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his forces against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and all Kinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
Asa paid the king of Syria to attack Israel, and the plan worked: Baasha had to abandon the fort he was building against Judah. Commentators ask who really won, and what Asa lost by winning this way.
One writer traces what Asa's money bought.
The wealth Asa offered bought Ben Hadad's help. So he attacked some cities of Israel — Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, all Chinneroth, and the land of Naphtali (v.20). This accomplished what Asa desired, because Baasha had to give up the building of Ramah (v.21).
The soldiers Asa paid for attacked his own people. The money that hired them came from God's house.
He failed badly by enlisting the help of the Lord's enemies against his own brothers the Israelites. Not only that — he took the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord to pay for this help from Syria (v.18). God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8), but in effect Asa gave God's glory (the gold) to Ben Hadad! So Asa made the fatal mistake of enlisting the world's help to fight against his own brothers, the children of Israel (v.19).
A prophet came to Asa with God's reading of the victory. One writer draws out the rule behind it.
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah. He said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand." How remarkable the government of God is. Whatever wrong step we take to reach a goal, it not only fails to reach it, but brings its own chastening with it. The very thing we least want comes upon us. God would have stopped not only Israel, but Syria too. Instead, the army of the king of Syria escaped out of his hands.
Asa had once faced a far larger army and trusted God alone.
It is difficult to account for this sudden defect in Asa's faith. Not long before, with God's help, he had wiped out the huge army of Zerah the Ethiopian. Now he faces an enemy not half as dangerous, and his faith fails. He depends for rescue on human strength. This was the beginning of Asa's downfall. He got the deliverance he wanted, but it cost him the rebuke of God and wars to the end of his reign.
The ally Asa hired kept a profit for himself. One writer weighs what the escape cost.
Ben-hadad breaks his alliance with Baasha. He uses the chance to strike the cities of Ephraim and make himself master of the store cities of Naphtali. Baasha stops building Ramah, and Asa and his people carry its stones away to build fortresses against Israel. The king seems to have escaped a great disaster by taking this path. But he loses all the blessing of a walk of faith, and he will give sad proof of this. How much happier he was when he felt himself to be without strength and yet stood against the vast army of Zerah!
Success feels like approval. One writer turns the warning toward us.
Asa would no doubt feel himself justified, as many do who consider that the end justifies the means. He gained his object through friendship with the world! Suppose he had instead asked the Lord for grace and guidance, to be freed from the threatened opposition of the ten tribes. God would surely have stepped in, in the best way possible. But we face the same danger. After we have found great blessing through depending on the Lord, we may start depending on our own ability to get what we want.
Help bought from the world comes with a bill.
If the church gives ground to the world, the world often helps the church — but the church ends up paying tribute to it. The sense of God's almighty power is gone, and the church falls.
- Reliance misplaced — Asa turned from the God who had wiped out a huge army and leaned on human strength instead. He met a smaller enemy with weaker faith.
- Reliance paid for — Asa paid Ben-hadad with gold from the Lord's house, handing God's glory to a foreign king to hire war on his own people.
- Reliance rewarded — the raid on Ijon, Dan and Naphtali worked; Baasha left Ramah, and Asa built its stones into his own fortresses.
- Reliance exposed — Hanani turned the success inside out. The Syrian army Asa hired was the army God would have handed him.
- Reliance costly — the bought peace brought war to the end of Asa's reign. Help from the world arrives, but you end up paying tribute for it.
And it came to pass when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
Ben-hadad's troops attack Israel's northern towns, so Baasha drops his building work at Ramah and goes home to Tirzah. Asa's plan worked on the surface, and that is what makes this verse so searching.
Baasha's fortress was not aimed at conquest. It was built to keep his own people in.
Baasha had lost several of his cities, so he built Ramah to cut off all contact from then on, to let no one go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. He could not attack Asa without putting himself in danger. So he wanted to stop his own people from leaving him and joining God's testimony. This happens again and again. Those who, like Baasha, still claim the true religion, though mixed with deadly errors, cannot bear a testimony near them that draws souls.
Asa's answer was to buy help. The stones of Ramah ended up in his own cities.
Ben Hadad agreed to be hired for the wealth Asa offered him, and so he attacked some cities of Israel... This did get Asa what he wanted, because Baasha had to give up the building of Ramah. Then Asa sent his people to take the building materials Baasha had collected at Ramah. He used them to build two other cities, Geba and Mizpah.
The result was real. It still settled nothing.
Baasha king of Israel builds Ramah to stop anyone going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. But it was in vain. Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, listens to king Asa... Still, everything seems to go well for the moment, because God does not judge all at once.
Baasha stopped building. Asa lost something he could not buy back.
At first Asa's unfaithfulness seems to bear excellent fruit. Ben-hadad takes the silver and gold brought out of the house of the Lord, breaks his alliance with Baasha, and uses the moment to strike the cities of Ephraim. Baasha stops building Ramah, and Asa and his people carry its stones away to build fortresses against Israel. This path seems to have saved the king from a great disaster. But he loses all the blessing of a walk of faith, and he will soon give sad proof of it. Oh, how much happier he was when he felt he had no strength at all, and still stood against the countless army of Zerah!
Tirzah was the capital Baasha had chosen for himself. The choice says something about the man.
He was from the tribe of Issachar, and he had the family trait — an eye for whatever looked "pleasant." So he made the beautiful city of Tirzah his royal home during his reign. Some trace its name from ratzah, "pleasant." He may have known that God meant to cut off Jeroboam's family. Even so, his motive was not righteousness. He was no better than the men he murdered, and he kept walking in their sin.
So the loser goes home safe to a pleasant city.
Asa's success did not close the matter.
He got the object he wanted, and Baasha had to give up his plan. But God had watched it all. He sent Hanani to rebuke the king for what he had done. The LORD reminds him of the far greater army that had threatened him, and of the rescue He had worked... "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him." The Lord looks for faith, for confidence.
The pattern outlives Asa. Help bought from the world arrives, and then sends its bill.
God enters into alliance with us, and He wants us to break every alliance with the world, because the world stands judged. No one can belong to the world and to Jesus at the same time... If the church gives way to the world, the world often helps the church, but the church becomes the world's subject. There is no longer the sense of the almighty power of God.
- Fear built it. Baasha could not attack Asa, so he built Ramah to keep his own people from going south to where God was honoured.
- Fear answered it. Asa met the threat with money, not faith. He spent silver and gold from the house of the Lord to hire the king of Syria.
- Fear won. The stones came down and Baasha went home to pleasant Tirzah. Nothing looked wrong, because God does not judge all at once.
- Fear cost. Asa got the object he wanted and lost the blessing of faith. He had been happier facing a far bigger army with no strength at all.
- Faith sought. God's eyes range over the whole earth to show Himself strong for hearts that are wholly His. That is why Asa's victory ended in a rebuke.
And king Asa called together all Judah none was exempted; and they carried away the stones and the timber from Ramah, with which Baasha had been building; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
Asa calls out all Judah — no one exempt — to tear down Baasha's unfinished fortress at Ramah and carry off its stones and timber. It reads like a victory report, but Asa bought that victory from a foreign king instead of trusting God, which raises a hard question: what is such a win worth?
Baasha built Ramah to shut the road between the two kingdoms. One writer explains why he wanted that road closed:
Baasha had lost several of his cities. He built Ramah to cut off all contact from then on, "in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah." He could not attack Asa without putting himself in danger. So he wanted to stop his subjects from leaving him and joining God's testimony... This principle comes up again and again. People like Baasha still keep up a profession of true religion, though it is mixed with deadly errors. They cannot tolerate a testimony near them that attracts souls.
Asa did not win these stones in battle; he paid for them. One writer names what he paid with, and sees believers doing the same today:
When war threatened Asa from Baasha and Israel, Asa's faith sadly faltered... Why did Asa not simply bring this matter to the Lord in prayer? But he failed badly by enlisting the help of the Lord's enemies against his own brothers the Israelites. Not only this — he took the silver and gold left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord to pay for this help from Syria. God will not give His glory to another, but Asa in effect gave God's glory (the gold) to Ben Hadad! ... Too often in our day, believers use shocking means to fight other believers who have offended them. They also use things that belong to God — as Asa used the gold and silver from the house of the Lord — to reach their own selfish ends.
Asa got what he wanted. One writer weighs that gain against what it cost him:
At first Asa's unfaithfulness seems to bear excellent fruit. Ben-hadad accepts silver and gold brought out of the house of the Lord as tribute, breaks his alliance with Baasha... Baasha stops building Ramah; Asa and his people carry its stones away to build fortresses against Israel. By taking this path the king seems to have escaped a great disaster. But he loses all the blessing of a walk of faith, and he will soon give sad proof of it. Oh, how much happier he was when he felt himself to be without strength and yet stood against the countless army of Zerah!
Nothing in the verse looks like failure. That is the danger:
Very likely Asa thought he had made a wise move in what he did, for it worked out just as he planned. Many people will say that the end justifies the means, but this is far from the truth. At the judgment seat of Christ we may find that things which produced results that satisfied us were actually "wood, hay, straw." They will be burned up, because they were not the fruit of faith toward the Lord Jesus. Asa's lack of faith in this case did not honour God.
Another writer adds that Asa could have defeated Syria himself. Instead "he missed his opportunity," and the price was "wars to the end of his reign" (C Knapp).
The name Mizpah means watch-tower — a reminder of "the need for watchfulness against the enemy outside" (Hamilton Smith). Long after Asa died, the town he rebuilt became a refuge for the survivors of Judah:
Gedaliah lived at Mizpah, a strong city that Asa, king of Judah, had built with the stones of Ramah. Jeremiah went there. So did everyone from the surrounding regions who had escaped, along with the poor people who were left, all seeking Gedaliah's protection.
- Threat. Baasha walled off Ramah to stop his people crossing to Judah. The aim was to cut them off from God's testimony.
- Shortcut. Asa did not pray. He emptied the treasuries of the house of the Lord to hire Ben-hadad, handing God's gold to a foreign king to fight his own brothers.
- Stones. The building materials in this verse are the spoils of that bargain, reused for fortresses pointed back at Israel.
- Success. The plan worked just as Asa intended. That is the warning: results that satisfy us can still be "wood, hay, straw" at the judgment seat, if faith did not produce them.
- Loss. Asa escaped the crisis but lost the blessing of a walk of faith. He was happier facing Zerah's vast army with no strength of his own.