2 Chronicles 15:1-7 And the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded:… I. A MESSAGE FROM GOD. (Vers. 1, 2.) 1. Its banter. Azarlah, "Whom Jehovah aids," the son of Oded; mentioned only here. Jehovah may, and often does, transmit messages of moment through humble and obscure messengers. What fitted Azariah to be the bearer of the Divine announcements was the coming upon him of the Spirit of Eiohim, the Spirit being the Revealer and Interpreter of the Divine will to the soul of man (Numbers 11:26; Job 32:8; Ezekiel 2:2; 1 Corinthians 12:8). That the Spirit of God came upon a man did not prove him to have been a good man, Balaam (Numbers 24:2) and Saul (1 Samuel 10:10) being witness; though there is no reason to doubt that Azariah was a true prophet of Jehovah. The Spirit came by measure upon him, as upon other holy men of the old dispensation through whom God spoke to his people; on Christ, through whom God's highest and last message has been sent to mankind, the Spirit was poured out without measure (Isaiah 11:2; John 3:34; Revelation 3:1). Hence the supreme importance attaching to the gospel. 2. Its recipients. "Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin." God claims a right to address sovereigns as well as their subjects. Between princes and peasants in his sight is no difference (Acts 10:34; 1 Peter 1:17). God's messages in the Law and the gospel are directed equally to all. The monarch is as much under the Law as the subject; the subject has as valid a title to the provisions of the gospel as the monarch. Asa and his warriors were returning from a victorious campaign, when Jehovah's prophet interposed with notes of warning. These were timely, since the king and his veterans were in danger of self-laudation and serf-confidence - of ascribing their recent splendid exploits to their own skill and prowess, and of trusting to their own valour to protect them in future, without troubling themselves to think about Jehovah, his religion, or his help. So men (not excepting Christians) are never more in peril of forgetting God than when fortune smiles upon them (Deuteronomy 8:13), and never more need to be admonished than when rejoicing in deliverances wrought for them by God, 3. Its contents. A doctrine, a promise, a warning. (1) The doctrine. That Jehovah was with them, while they were with him. With all God is as to his immanent presence, since he fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 33:24), and besets all individually behind and before (Psalm 139:1-12); but with his people he is, in the special sense of gracious manifestation, to accept (Numbers 17:4), protect (2 Chronicles 20:17; Jeremiah 42:11), assist (1 Chronicles 22:18; Haggai 1:13), and bless (Exodus 20:24). Only his presence with them is ever conditioned by their being with him in the sense of believing in, loving, and obeying him (John 14:23). (2) The promise. That if they sought Jehovah, Jehovah should be found of them. If they sought him in the way of penitence, faith, love, obedience, he should be found of them in the way of acceptance, grace, assistance. This promise, always true of Jehovah in his relations with Israel (1 Chronicles 28:9; 2 Chronicles 30:19; Psalm 119:2; Jeremiah 29:13; Amos 5:4), is equally true of his relations with believers on Christ (Hebrews 11:6; James 4:8). (3) The warning. That if they for-sock God, God would forsake them. If they went back from the path of reform upon which they were entered, he also would withdraw his countenance and aid from them. So Moses (Deuteronomy 31:16, 17)and Joshua (Joshua 24:20) had warned their contemporaries and David his son Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:9). The same condition is addressed to all (Jeremiah 17:33; Hebrews 10:38). II. A LESSON FROM HISTORY. (Vers. 3-6.) 1. The possibility of lapsing into religious apostasy. Such times had formerly existed in Judah, and hence in the future might reappear (Ecclesiastes 1:9; Ecclesiastes 3:15). Whether Azariah's language depicted the condition of Judah then (Grotius), or in the future (Luther), or in the past, in the days of Rehoboam and Abijah (Syriac, Arabic), or in the period of the judges (Vitringa, Bertheau), is open to debate. As the prophet has not definitely stated the time, he may have designed to express truths of force at. all limes (Keil). Of such days as the prophet alludes to, Judah and Israel had both before had experience. The description of them is peculiarly affecting. (1) No true God; i.e. no knowledge of the true God; or, what is worse, the knowledge of the true God, but not his worship or service. Such times had existed soon after the death of Joshua (Judges 2:10-15; Judges 10:6), and were yet to reappear in Israel under Ahab (1 Kings 18:20, 21), and in Judah under Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:1-6). "Without God" - a correct characterization of the unbelieving world (Job 21:14; Psalm 10:4; Ephesians 2:12). (2) No teaching priest; i.e. the priests they had either no knowledge of the true God, of his character and requirements, and so could not teach the People; or, if they did, they were satisfied with the mere performance of their altar duties, without caring for the spiritual welfare of the people. If the first, they were disqualified for being priests by reason of their ignorance (Malachi 2:7); if the second, they were chargeable with indolence (Malachi 1:6) or hypocrisy (Nehemiah 9:34), or both. If, under the old covenant, priests were required to instruct the people in the tenets and precepts of religion, much more is it incumbent on Christian pastors to be also teachers (Ephesians 4:11). A ministry that does not preach or teach ipso facto stands condemned. (3) No Law; i.e. the Torah of Moses, unknown, or forgotten, or disobeyed. When men or nations depart from God, they begin by pulling down his altars, and end by trampling on his commandments. And if there be no God, this is just as it should be. If God is not, to pretend to worship him is a farce, and ministers of religion may be dispensed with; if God is not, there is no Supreme Authority to claim from man obedience, and man may at once assume lordship over himself. But if God is, it will be more prudent to let his altars remain, to see that his ministers teach, and take order that his precepts be obeyed. 2. The certainty that religious apostasy will be followed by national disaster. So it had been in the past, and so it would be in the future. (1) Social disturbance, danger, and violence had been, and would be, the order of the day. "And in those times there was," or is, "no peace to him that went out or to him that came in." Such had been Israel's condition in the days of Shamgar the son of Anath (Judges 5:6), and under the oppression of the Midianites (Judges 6:2). Irreligion necessarily gravitates towards violence. He that breaks God's commandments without a qualm of conscience seldom scruples about making havoc with man's when opportunity occurs. Exemplified in the age of Noah (Genesis 6:4, 11, 12), in the last days of Greece and Rome, and in the French Revolution of 1798. (2) Political anarchy had commonly attended these times in the past, and would more than likely do so again on their recurrence. "Great vexations came upon all the inhabitants of the countries, and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city" - literally, "and they were broken in pieces, nation against nation and city against city;" "for God did," or does, "vex them with all adversity." The language, descriptive of such a reign of terror as commonly accompanies civil war, was verified in a form comparatively mild in the war of the tribes of Israel against Benjamin (Judges 20:20), and in the struggle of the Gileadites with Ephraim (Judges 12:4). Amos (Amos 3:9) depicted such commotions, confusions, tumults, as occurring, or about to occur, in Samaria in his time. In the final overthrow of the two kingdoms, the prophet's words received their most startling illustration (Isaiah 9:18-20). In the ultimate destruction of all peoples hostile to God, they will,obtain their highest and fullest realization (Zechariah 14:13; Matthew 24:7). 3. The only way of escaping from the miseries and horrors of such evil times, viz. by repenting and turning to Jehovah. "But when in their distress," etc. So had it been in the days of the Egyptian oppression (Exodus 2:23), and in those of the Midianite supremacy (Judges 6:6). So had it been in the experience of Asa himself, whose cry unto Jehovah on the field of war had been heard (2 Chronicles 14:11). So would it be again, if in the season of their calamity they remembered God (2 Chronicles 7:14). The doctrine here enunciated holds good of individuals as well as of nations; e.g. David (2 Samuel 21:1; Psalm 18:6; Psalm 34:4; Psalm 138:3), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:4, 10), Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:5). The ear of God is open to every cry of a distressed soul (Psalm 34:15). "Fools, because of their transgression," etc. (Psalm 107:17-19). III. AN EXHORTATION FROM A PROPHET. (Ver. 7.) 1. The counsel. Action. (1) Vigorous. "Be strong therefore." Courage in conceiving and doing the right thing was the special demand of the hour. The right thing at that moment in Judah was to adhere to Jehovah, reform the abuses that during the previous reigns had crept into his worship, and exterminate the idolatrous rites that had been introduced by earlier king. More disastrous for the country had these been than Zerah's invasion. Nothing more required of the followers of God and soldiers of Jesus Christ in any age or land than an heroic determination to resist sin and follow holiness, oppose error and defend truth, renounce idolatry and cleave to the worship of the Father (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:7; Psalm 27:14; 1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Timothy 2:1). (2) Persevering. "Let not your hands be weak" Not enough to begin well; to continue well is indispensable. Weariness in well-doing a frequent phenomenon, much needing to be guarded against (Galatians 6:9). Steadfastness in the faith and in the maintenance of good works expected of Christians (1 Corinthians 15:58; Philippians 4:1; Colossians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Timothy 3:14; Hebrews 10:23). 2. The encouragement. Recompense. "Your work shall be rewarded." (1) With inward satisfaction, as being in itself a right work (Proverbs 14:14). This an invariable accompaniment of well-doing, and, apart from further consequences, ample remuneration. (2) With Divine approbation, as being a work God regards with favour. Already expressed in the Word (Hebrews 13:16), this will eventually be proclaimed by the mouth of God (Matthew 25:21, 23). (3) With ultimate success, as being a work destined to triumph over every form of evil. The cause of God and truth, of Christ and the gospel, may be long and bitterly opposed, but ultimate victory rests with it (Revelation 11:15). Learn: 1. The superiority of the new dispensation in having God's Son as its Messenger (Hebrews 1:1, 2). 2. The equity of God's dealings with men in providence and in grace (1 Samuel 2:30; Ezekiel 18:29). 3. The miserable state of the heathen world, as destitute of the true knowledge of God (Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 4:17, 18). 4. The value of affliction as a means of religious improvement (Job 33:17-19; Ezekiel 20:37; Lamentations 3:27; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:11). 5. The secret of national prosperity - righteous-ness (Proverbs 14:34). 6. The duty of persevering in religion (John 15:4; Acts 11:23; 2 Timothy 1:14; 1 Peter 5:9; Revelation 2:27). 7. The certainty that faith shall not lose its reward (Luke 6:35; 1 Corinthians 3:14; Hebrews 10:35). - W. Parallel Verses KJV: And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: |
    |