2 Chronicles 15

ANd the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.

And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, The LORD is with you To defend you against all your Enemies, as now you have seen, and you may hereafter expect, if you persist in that good Course into which you are entred., 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 But let not this Victory make you presumptuous or self-confident; for you are upon your good Behaviour; and if you leave God, he will leave and destroy you after he has done you Good..

Now for a long season Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law Heb. For many days have been to Israel without the true God, &c. i. e. They have long lived without the sound Knowledge and Worship of the True God. The Prophet confirms his foregoing Exhortation and the Threatning annexed to it, that if they forsook God he would forsake him, from the usual manner of Gods dealing with Israel formerly, and therefore in the same case they may expect the same usage Israel here mentioned and... ed as an Example is here understood either 1. Specially of the Ten Tribes, distinguished by that name from the Kingdom of Judah; whose Condition had been since Jeroboams Revolt, and now w... s such in some measure, as is here described, they having been, still being, without God and his True Worship, and exposed to many Vexations, and Wars, and Miseries. But the... e h... d not as yet turned unto God or sought him, nor was God yet found of them, as is said of this Israel, v. 4. Nor had they as yet been exercised with those grievous and continual Vexations, and Wars, and mutual Destructions of which he here speaks, v. 5, 6. and which in succeeding times they felt. For except that one Blow which they had from A... ijah, ch. 13. we read of none other great Miseries which befel them Or rather, 2. Generally of the whole of Israel in former times, and especially in the times of the Judges, to which all that follows suits very well: For then many times they were, though not wholly and universally, yet in a very great measure and for the generality of them, without God, and his Law, and Teaching Priests, as plainly from dive... s Passages in the Book of the Judges; and then indeed they were brought to all the Exige... cies and Calamities following; then they had grievous Wars both Foreign and; and then they did sometimes turn to the Lord a... d him and he was found of them, and did raise up Judges and Saviours to them; of which see Iudg. 2. at large, & Iudg. 3. 9, 15. & 10. 10, &c..

But when they i. e. Israel, mentioned, v. 3. in their trou... le did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

And in those times When Israel lived in the gross Neglect and Contempt of God and his Law and Worship. there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in Men could not go abroad about their private Occasions without great Danger; as it was in the days of Shamgar, Iudg. 5. 6. which is a good Comment upon this Text., but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries Heb. of these Countries, i. e. The divers Parts of the Land of Israel both within and without Jordan..

And nation was destroyed of nation i. e. One part of the People of Israel destroyed the other by Civil Wars: of which see Instances, Iudg. 9. 23, &c. and 12. 1, &c. As all the people of Israel are called a Nation, so the several Tribes and Families of them are sometimes called Nations, as Gen. 17. 4. Ez... k. 2. 3. Act. 4. 27. compared with Psal. 2. 1., and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

Be ye strong therefore Go on therefore Couragiously and Resolutely to maintain Gods Worship and to root out Idolatry, as you have begun to do; for this is the only right Method of preserving your selves from such Calamities as your Predecessors have felt., and let not your hands be weak... e not discouraged with the Opposition which you may possibly meet with.: for your work shall be rewarded What you do for God and for his Honour and Service shall not go unrequited..

And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet To wit, of Azariah, v. 1. who was also called by his Fathers Name Obed. Or Obed may be here put patronymically for the son of Obed; as David is put for Christ the Son of David, Ier. 30. 9. and elsewhere; and Moses for the Sons of Moses, Psal. 90. Title. Or here is an Ellipses of the Relative Word, of which there are many Instances both in sa... red and profane Authors; as 2 Sa.... 21. 19. the Brother of Gol... ah: Mat. 4. 21. Iohn the Son of Zebecke: Luk. 24. 10. Mary the Mother of Iames, by comparing Mark. 15. 40. Ioh. 19. 25. Mary the Wife of Cleopas; and many other places. And so this place may be thus read, When Asa heard these words, even the Prophecy of the Son of Oded the Prophet. And this Ellipsis is the more easie and tolerable, because this Defect might be well enough understood and supplyed out of v. 1. Though some understand this to be another Prophecy of Oded the Father, which is not here expressed, which Azariah his Son repeated to them for the confirmation of his own Prophecy., he took courage For it required great Courage to put away all the Idols, to which so great a number of his People were to this day addicted, and among others, Ma... hah the Queen, his Mother, whom for this reason he deposed, 1 King. 15. 13., and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken To wit, Abijah his Father; which was easily understood from ch. 13. 19. Or, which had been taken, the active word being oft so used impersonally for the passive, as Hebricians know. from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD Which had been either decayed through Age and long Use of it, or broken by his Idolatrous Mothers means: Or, he consecrated or dedicated the Altar, &c. which possibly had been polluted by Idolaters, and now needed some purification., that was before the porch of the LORD.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them, out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon Which Tribe, though they had their Inheritance out of the Portion of Judah, did for the generality of them Revolt to Jeroboam with the other Tribes, as appears from many passages of Scripture. Which they might conveniently do, because their Portion bordered as on one side upon that of Judah, so on the other side upon that of Dan; and therefore might indifferently joyn with the one or other, as they saw fit., (for they fell to him To wit, from the King of Israel. out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.)

So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem, in the third month To wit, of the Sacred Year, in which the Feast of Weeks or of Pentecost fell: Of which see Exod. 23. 16. Deut. 16. 9., in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa Asa had Peace but ten years, ch. 14. 1. After which probably there were some Bickerings and Skirmishes, which seem to have been composed: And after that Zerah comes against him and is discomfited. Upon this great Success many of the Israelites fall to him; and in his 15th. year he calls this Assembly..

And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought Taken from Zerah and his Complices, ch. 14. 13, &c., seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand sheep.

And they entred into a covenant They engaged themselves by a serious and solemn Covenant before the Lord and this great Assembly. to seek the LORD God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul.

That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel Whosoever should obstinately refuse to pay unto God that Solemn Worship which he required at his Temple in Jerusalem; or should disown God, or serve other gods. should be put to death By virtue of all those Laws which command that such persons should be cut off: and in pursuance of that Law, Deut. 17. 2. Compare Heb. 10. 28., whether small or great, whether man or woman.

And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

And all Judah i. e. A great number of the People, as such general Expressions are frequently understood for none doubt but there were many Dissemblers and ungodly men at this time among them. rejoyced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire, and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an Of this and the following Verses see on 1 King. 15. 2, 10, 14, 15. idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her Idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa For though there were continual Skirmishes between Asa and Baasha and their People all their days, 1 King. 15. 16. yet it did not break forth into an open War till Asa's 35th. year, i. e. till that was ended. But how this 35th. year is to be computed, see the Note on ch. 16. 1..