DCLM Daily Manna Sunday 23 April 2023
TOPIC: Pyrrhic Victory
TEXT 2 Chronicles 16:1-14 (KJV)
KEY VERSE:
“Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.”
(2 Chronicles 16:6)
DCLM Daily Manna Sunday 23 April 2023 MESSAGE
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Pyrrhic victory as “a victory that is not worth winning because so much is lost to achieve it”. The word comes from the name of Pyrrhus, a long-ago king of Epirus, who suffered heavy losses in defeating the Romans at Asculum in Apulia in 279 BC. A pyrrhic victory then is actually a defeat in the end.
Such was the experience of Asa the king of Judah who went into an alliance with Benhadad, the king of Syria, to fight Baasha, the king of Israel. With the assistance of the Syrian king, Asa won the battle over Israel. However, God was not happy that he sought human help when he could have called on the Lord. God, therefore, sent Hanani, the prophet, to point out his errors, Unfortunately, King Asa complicated matters by arresting the prophet and by taking other oppressive measures against his citizens.
Divine retribution was swift. “Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease, he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). The physicians could not help him, for two years later, he died. He was a good starter but a poor finisher.
Life is not all about gold and silver. It is wrong to think like Asa that the end will always justify the means. God must be our greatest priority. You cannot trust the arm of flesh and expect a lasting victory. It is better to get God on your side here on earth. You cannot serve Satan on earth and expect eternal life with Him in heaven.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The Christian doesn’t win “at all costs” – he wins only through God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 7-9
