S169P6 – Signs of a king: allegiance clearly shown
1Kgs. 15:9-13
In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done. He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
Being a king, Asa undoubtedly was subject to certain expectations of that royal family. For him, the issue was that some in his family tree had practiced great wickedness. To follow them would have meant to defy and disobey God. In order for him to be faithful, Asa had to end some of the practices of his fathers, which would have been open and obvious for all Judah to see. He also had to remove his living mother from a position of power and prestige because of her wickedness. Then, he destroyed the idol she had raised. Asa recognized that he was not the people’s king but God’s king. His allegiance had to be to God’s precepts and not to Judah’s or even his family’s evil customs.