2Ch 15:1-7 | Clarke | STEP | Azariah's prophecy concerning Israel, and his exhortation to Asa, . Asa completes the reformation which he had begun, his kingdom is greatly strengthened, and all to people make a solemn covenant with the Lord, . His treatment of his mother Maachah, . He brings into the house of God the things that has father had dedicated, , . And he has no war till the thirty-fifth year of his reign, . Verse 1 Azariah the son of Oded - We know nothing of this prophet but what is related of him here.

2 Chronicles 15:1-7

Introduction

Azariah's prophecy concerning Israel, and his exhortation to Asa, 2Chr 15:1-7. Asa completes the reformation which he had begun, his kingdom is greatly strengthened, and all to people make a solemn covenant with the Lord, 2Chr 15:8-15. His treatment of his mother Maachah, 2Chr 15:16. He brings into the house of God the things that has father had dedicated, 2Chr 15:17, 2Chr 15:18. And he has no war till the thirty-fifth year of his reign, 2Chr 15:19.

Verse 1

Azariah the son of Oded - We know nothing of this prophet but what is related of him here. Verse 2

The Lord is with you, while ye be with him - This is the settled and eternal purpose of God; to them who seek him he will ever be found propitious, and them alone will he abandon who forsake him. In this verse the unconditional perseverance of the saints has no place: a doctrine which was first the ruin of the human race, Ye shall not die; and ever since the fall, has been the plague and disgrace of the Church of Christ. The Targum is curious: "Hearken to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Word of the Lord shall be your helper, while ye walk in his ways. If ye seek doctrine from his presence he will be found of you in times of trouble; but if you cast away his fear, he will abandon you." Verse 3

Now for a long season Israel - "Israel hath followed Jeroboam, and they have not worshipped the true God. They have burnt incense to their golden calves; their priestlings [כומריא cumeraiya, their black, sooty sacrificers] have burnt perfumes with a strange worship, and have not exercised themselves in the law." - Targum. These priests could not teach, because they had not learnt; and as they had abandoned the law of the Lord, consequently they had no proper matter for instruction.

There is a great diversity of opinions concerning the meaning of this text. Some consider it a prophecy relative to the future state of this people, and the final destruction of the Jews as to their political existence: others consider it as referring to the state of the people under the reigns of Rehoboam and Abijah, which were happily changed under that of Asa; and this appears to me to be the most natural sense of the words. Verse 5

But great vexations - Does not our Lord allude to this and the following verse in Mat 24:6, Mat 24:7, Mat 24:9, Mat 24:13?