Could it be?

In the book of 2 Chronicles we find that King Asa is all about building strong cities.  6 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 2 Chronicles 14 

 What is intriguing about this is that such building of cities was a way that success was measured in the Ancient Near East.  Mesopotamian annals and regnal-year titles regularly comment on the king’s building activities as evidence of his success.  The Chronicler uses what other nations consider as success to show the success of a king of Judah.  Why?  Would it not be better to speak of all his religious accomplishments, his care for the poor, his lack of building projects which would show he was not following the ways of the world?  Or could there be something else here that we might be missing?  Could it be that all those kings of Mesopotamia were actually doing a godly thing by their building?  Could it be that they had implanted in their hearts the cultural mandate and also planted in their hearts, however blurred, the work that God is heading for, "A New City".  I love the idea that Asa reflects success not first of all in terms of the surrounding culture, but in terms of God's grand vision of culture building and city building.  While other nations may look on and say, "The Chronicler caught our values", the reality is that the nations unwittingly have caught the values of God.  Caught them so much that we read in the book of Revelation, 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations Revelation 22