Asa followed God. He cleansed the land of the sodomites (homosexuals) and took down all the idols of the land that his father put up. He even removed his mother Maachah from being queen because she built an idol in the grove. He tore down her idol and burnt it. He didn't remove the altars, but God found no fault in Asa all his life. Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, warred throughout his reign.
Baasha developed the city of Ramah and would not let Asa (or any from Judah) go out or come into the city. Asa sent all of the treasures of the House of God to Benhadad, the grandson of the King of Syria, who lived in Damascus, and said, "There has always been good relationship with me and you, and my father and yours, and I need you to break your treaty with the King of Israel so he will leave me alone." Benhadad did, and he attacked some of the cities in Israel. When Baasha found out why, he quit his work in Ramah and went to live in Tirzah. So Asa took all the materials Baasha was using to build in Ramah and used it to build Geba and Mizpah.
When Asa was old, he was diseased in his feet. (Maybe he had gout?) When he died, Jehoshophat ruled in his place.
Nadab, son of Jeroboam, ruled Israel two years after Asa took the throne. He did evil in the sight of God. Baasha had killed him, which is how he became king in Israel. He destroyed everyone that lived in the house of Jeroboam, as the prophet had predicted.
But Baasha also did as Jeroboam did and did not walk in the way of the Lord.
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God doesn't talk just to hear Himself speak. Asa's family inherited the throne because Asa walked in God's ways. But Jeroboam did not and was annhilated. Then Baasha turned around and did the same thing. Will Baasha be destroyed, too? We will have to read more to find out!
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