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TH E KING’S BUSINESS EXPOSITION AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
v. 1. “ And the Spirit of God came unto Azariah the son of Oded.” The meaning of these words is that Azariah was taken possession of by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God was the real speaker, and therefore, the words which Azariah Spoke were God’s words (cf. 2 Sam. 23:2; 2 Pet. 1:21; 2 Chron. 20:14; 24:20; Num. 24:2; Judges 3 :10). v. .2. “And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin.” The man through whom God speaks has a right to say, even to a king and to a triumphant people, "Hear ye me’’ (cf. ch. 13:4; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3 :6, 13, 22). The man who does not hear the one through whom God speaks will bring destruction upon his own head. “The LORD is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.” There is no more en couraging thing that can be said to any man than what Azariah says here to Asa in his opening words, viz., “Jehovah is with thee” (cf. ch. 32:8; Rom. 8:31; Deut. 20:1). Jehovah is with us, as Azariah goes on to say, only when we are with Him (cf. Matt. 12:30; 28:19, 20). When we go with Him, He goes with us, but if we choose to go our own way, He will leave us to go it alone. Azariah’s further words in this verse sug gest that only two ways are open to us, namely, we must either seek Him, or for sake Him. Not to seek Him is to forsake Him: to "seek Him" means to seek to please Him by our conduct, and -to seek His help by our prayers. If we seek Him we shall find Him, provided we seek Him with the whole heart and seek Him while He may be found (Jei. 29:12-14; Isa, 55:6, 7), but .if on the other hand we forsake Him, “He will forsake” us (cf. ch. 12:1-3; 24:30; 1 Chron. 28:9). v. 3. "Now for a long time Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.” We see here that Israel had been for a long time in a fearful state: there is no state in which
a nation or an individual can be, that is worse than to be “without the true God” (cf. Eph. 2:12). Those words " without G od ” are fearful words: there are no darker words that can .be spoken, but the world today as a whole, and, a large part of the professing Church too, is in the same state as Israel is described as being in in 'these words of Azariah. It is also a fearful thing to be “without a teaching priest.” Priests that assume merely to stand between God and His people, but do not teach the truth which God has revealed, are the greatest curse there is in any community. It is sad also to be “without law,” that is, without a divinely revealed rule of conduct. v. 4. “But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them.” Trouble drove Israel to God—trouble drives many to God (Ps. 119:67), in the. average human life there is no more blessed ministry than that of affliction (Heb. 12:6). When in their trouble they sought Jehovah, “He was found of them.” God had told His people in the beginning of His dealings with them, that if they would turn to Him in their tribulation, He would remember His covenant with them (Deut. 4:29-31), and He had often proved the truth of His prom ise (Judges 3:9, 10; 10:10-16; Ps. 106:44; Hosea 14:1-3), and today when anyone in any trouble really turns to God, no matter how far he has wandered from God nor how deeply he has gone down into sin, God will be .found of him, and will forgive his sin and abundantly pardon (Isa. 55:6, 7). v. 5. “And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.” When they forgot God they had “no peace” (cf. Judges 5:6; 1 Sam. 13:6; Isa. 57:21). There never is any peace to the wicked (Isa. 57: 21). So far from having peace, they had “great vexatipns,” and there will be still greater vexations in the coming day of Is rael’s last apostasy (Matt. 24:6, 7).
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