Bible Trivia - 9/5/2008

Question: What king of Judah’s feet became diseased during his old age?

Answer: Asa (I Kings 15:23)

Comments: Asa reigned over Judah for 41 years. In the 39th year of his reign, he developed a severe foot condition (I Kings 15:23, II Chronicles 16:12). This was considered a black mark on an otherwise successful reign. The Biblical writers chide Asa for seeking the help of physicians without ever going to God about the problem.

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. (II Chronicles 16:12, NASB)

This incident has been used by some to support that the believer should reject medicine. Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910, pictured), founder of Chrsitian Science movement wrote, "there is no record that God or Jesus Christ made use of any material remedy to cure disease; but it is recorded that king Asa ‘slept with his fathers,’ after trying drugs to heal him; which would seem to indicate that it was wrong." (The Christian Science Journal, page 188)

I would counter that Asa’s problem was that he trusted only in the physicians, rather than foremost in God.

Ironically, Mary Baker Eddy's husband was named Asa. (Asa Gilbert Eddy)