Wednesday Night Bible Study 2 Chronicles 15: 1-2

Go ahead and turn your Bibles to 2nd Chronicles 15, 2nd

Chronicles 15. I'll just go ahead and read the first seven verses here. But when in their distress they turned to the

Lord, the God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. And those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the land.

They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.

But you take courage. Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. Amen. I don't believe

I opened with prayer, so I'll go ahead and do that now. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word and we ask that you would help us to understand it.

We pray that this straightforward prophecy would communicate to us all that it ought with all the power that it ought that we might seek you.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. All right, so part of the difficulty with preparing these lessons is that you want to make sure that they're appropriately sized.

However, sometimes to make one appropriate size means that you have to take from the other. So this time we have an incredibly short passage.

Hopefully it was easy for you as you went through. This is one of the more straightforward passages we've done. But I will begin here in verse one.

In the Spirit of God came one Azariah, the son of Obed. So who is

Azariah? He is a prophet. Now he is said here to be the son of Oded.

That is likely referring to him studying, or it could be him studying under a prophet rather than being the literal biological son of someone.

You see that occasionally, the idea of the sons of the prophets being the students of the prophets.

In the Baptist Catechism question on the Fifth Commandment, there is, if you look at our website with Bedlam's Catechism in it, there is a question about all the different kinds of authorities that are listed as sons and fathers in the

Bible. So here you have the example of prophets who are calling their prophetic authority father, et cetera.

There's lots of examples. David is called the father of the nation at one point. There's lots of examples of authorities being styled fathers, but this is a very common one that prophets refer to the one teaching them as father.

So that could possibly be what's spent here because we don't have a lot of context. Some have supposed that Oded is

Edo from other passages. As we've gone through Second Chronicles and other passages of the

Bible, you can see that a lot of times names that are very similar are actually referring to the same person.

So that's a possibility. But in general, yes, what we do know for certain is that he is a prophet.

And Azariah is a name that we've seen a few times in First Chronicles, so that's why he needs to be specified as the son of Oded so that you're not confusing him with a different Azariah.

That happens often with these popular names in the Bible. They don't have last names the way that we do, so they call people by their father's name or where they're from.

As you go through the New Testament, you see that there are a number of Jesuses that are mentioned in the

Bible and not just the false Jesuses that the Bible warns you about. There are disciples who are named

Jesus. One, I forget at the end of which epistle, is called Justice. I think that might be Galatians.

So yeah, there are these different names. When they're repeated, they have different ways of distinguishing them from others.

One of the—now, I've not read this book. Who's heard of the book called Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Balcombe?

The—what that book did is it went through a—I believe the primary archaeological source was a bunch of grave names from different regions, and what he did was compare that to the

New Testament to show that, oh, these names were popular in these regions. Because for us, names differ in popularity primarily on time.

For them, time to time didn't change that much. For them, popularity of name was mostly by region.

So he takes the names of these different regions, compares it to the Bible, and shows, hey, look, this is not just something made up 100 years later.

These are the actual names that were popular in these different regions, and you can even tell the popularity by the fact that they say, son of whoever, you know, showing that this is a more popular name where it has to be disambiguated.

So that's a neat thing if you ever want to look into that. Once again, I've not actually read the book, but people reference it all the time.

It's called Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. Moving on here to this relating to the previous passage.

If you remember, Asa had trusted in the Lord with the Ethiopians attacking him, and he had called out to the

Lord. The Lord's answered him with victory, but now he actually answers with literal words through his prophet that gives literal words.

So Asa has called out to God in prayer. God answers both with victory and now with actual words.

When it speaks of the Spirit of God, it should not be surprising that this is talking about the third person of the

Trinity. This is the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of God came on him, meaning that the

Holy Spirit inspired this prophet, moved him to give this message to Asa.

And the prophet knows he has a burden from the Lord, so he goes out to meet Asa. There are a number of false prophets in 2

Chronicles that we will come across. I believe part of the reason why this is specified is to let you know that this is a true prophet.

All right. It says in verse 2, and he went out to meet Asa. So why does he go out to meet

Asa? Obviously, he has a message for him. And this happens right after the battle with the

Ethiopians, and it happens near Jerusalem. Notice at the end of verse 14, it said, and he returned, well, it says that they returned to Jerusalem.

So they're returning to Jerusalem here. It says that they returned to Jerusalem, as though it's done, but the fact that he comes out to meet him suggests that this verse is happening before they've actually arrived at Jerusalem.

So you can imagine everybody, the army, coming to Jerusalem, being near Jerusalem, and Azariah is coming out to meet him.

And then in the next verse, when it says, hear me, Asa and Judah and Benjamin, it says, and all

Judah and Benjamin. The suggestion is that not only is it the army that's coming home and him coming out to meet him, but likely a lot of people are coming out to meet

Asa and all the troops that have come back victorious. So when you hear this, don't just think about Azariah talking to the king by himself alone in a chamber somewhere.

Think about this being right outside Jerusalem, and you have not only the army, but probably all the people too here.

So when he addresses all Judah and Benjamin, that's how you should be thinking about it.

And why Benjamin? Well, Benjamin has been added to the people, but it kind of gives you a merism.

I use that term a lot. Hopefully, it's starting to sink in with folks who care about those kinds of terms to understand the pictures the

Bible gives us. A merism is where you give all the parts of a thing to describe it more fully and to make it seem larger and full.

So if you say the heavens and the earth, you could say all creation, but saying the heavens and the earth emphasizes it a bit more.

Or if you say the wolf and warp, or warp and wolf, I guess that's how you usually say it, you're talking about both halves of the tapestry.

To, you could just say the whole tapestry, but saying warp and wolf is one way of communicating it with a little more force.

So this is a merism, Judah and Benjamin, you know, all parts. And yes, this message is ultimately from the

Lord as we see that he is inspired by the Holy Spirit. To see

Jehovah is with you while you are with him. What does it mean the

Lord is with Asa and the people? This is talking about having the Lord's favor, particularly given that they just had victory.

It's primarily talking about having physical defenses and everything.

God is protecting the people. Remember that the way you are supposed to think about this nation as you go into the

New Testament and see all these images applied to the church is that the covenant is in terms of the kind of blessings that the people have in physical terms in the land.

Not that, you know, the notion of eternal forgiveness or anything is absent in the Old Testament, but a lot of the figures that are being spoken in are of the physical prosperity of the kingdom.

And yeah, we can think about that in terms of the prosperity of Christ's kingdom as it is a kingdom that is not of this world as well.

All right, so for Asa and the people to be with the Lord, so he says Jehovah is with you while you are with him.

That means basically for them to continue in his ways. This is, I have this question here, is the statement a tautology?

A tautology is something that's just definitionally true. Right? Oh, I can't think of a good one for you, but I once heard someone, or I saw a comic once that was parodying the movie

Fight Club that says the first rule of tautology club is the first rule of tautology club, right?

Just like very definitionally true thing. So is this a tautology?

If Jehovah's with you, you are with him. Not really, because while physical proximity might be so mutually imposed on one another, you can't be close to something without that other thing being close to you.

This is implying a response that's happening here. And it does it in these terms because it's trying to show you how natural it is, but at the same time, it is talking about the faithfulness of God as a sort of response to the faithfulness of the people.

You know, it always seems necessary to clarify. Hopefully I clarify often enough that it doesn't come off as saying that, you know,

God's love for his people is conditioned on their continued obedience, et cetera.

God loves his children perfectly at all times, like a good father does. But there is, like our confession says, a fatherly displeasure when we are disobedient, just as you would have with your own children, you know, a fatherly or motherly displeasure towards your children when they sin against you.

So you'd withhold certain favor from them in order to correct them. And that is what the

Lord implies here. And of course, this people does not have an identical covenant to the one that we have with God, so there isn't necessarily even those guarantees of a certain fatherhood forever but for them.

So anyway, yeah, this is describing the nature of God's relationship with them.

All right. And if you seek him, he will be found by you. Let's go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter 7, which has a relevant passage here.

Matthew 7, 7 through 11 says, All right.

So to seek the Lord in this passage in 2 Chronicles is to petition him for a favor.

And in particular, we see the emphasis of seeking the Lord in Chronicles being on the worship of God, worship of him.

So when we're talking about it in Matthew, we're primarily talking about prayer, but for them, it's just really like all these different forms of worship where they would come before him.

And to find him is to receive his favor. So this roughly lines up with what we were just talking about, that while they are with him, he is with them.

And yeah, Jesus teaches us a similar thing here that, you know, if you seek your father, it will be open to you.

He will be with you. He will grant the thing that you are seeking. And as we find from the end of the

Lord's prayer, as it's given in Luke, what Jesus says is, if a good father knows how to give good things, then

God will certainly give his spirit to all who ask. I have found that interesting because what that suggests is that the sum in substance of every good prayer is particularly for the

Holy Spirit, which is not how most people think about their prayers. But ultimately, if you're praying right, you're ultimately praying for a work of the spirit, and the spirit,

God always grants his spirit to those who ask him to his children, who ask for a work of the spirit.

It might not be the precise way that you want him to work, but he will always grant that request for the spirit.

All right. Yeah, and let me go ahead and read 7 .4 in 2

Chronicles, because I think that's a little relevant here. 2 Chronicles 7 .4 says, then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the

Lord. I did not use the word seek like I was expecting it to. I think the word seek might be around here, and I...

Oh, 7 .14. There we go. 7 .14. If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then

I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Okay, so this is at the construction of the temple.

The idea is that as people seek the Lord, go to the temple and worship him, that he will answer their requests.

All right. Now, looking at this last part, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. So just the opposite, right?

If the worship of him is neglected, particularly if false worship is allowed to spring up and they start engaging in false worship, they will not see the kind of victory that they've just received.

They will receive defeat, all kinds of things. The Lord is just. He won't be mocked if they reject him.

He's not going to honor that as though, yeah, they've been faithful. All right.

Matthew 10, Matthew 10, 32 says, so everyone who acknowledges me before men,

I will also, I will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my father who is in heaven.

You can hear the very similar thing that Jesus is saying here compared to what the prophet

Azariah is saying to Asa, where he says, if you seek him, you'll be found.

If you forsake him, he'll forsake you. Jesus says, if you acknowledge me, you'll be acknowledged. If you deny me, you'll be denied.

First Chronicles 28, 9 through 10. Let me read that.

And this is going to make the observation that I've been trying to emphasize as we've gone through this.

You know, I guess the primary reason I started studying

First and Second Chronicles is because of certain numbers that don't seem to line up with Kings.

That has been helpful to me to sort all that out and figure out how they do line up.

But the thing that suddenly became my real study is, what is it that the

Chronicler is emphasizing that Kings isn't? Kings already existed. He's using

First and Second Kings and Samuel. Why is it that he felt the need to write this book?

And what is he uniquely contributing here? Remember that it is primarily a lot of allusions between the

Kings to David and Solomon to let you know, as we move into the New Testament, that we need that throne to be restored.

We need that Messiah to sit on the throne of David. Just like Solomon, the one where God promised

David that a son will sit on your throne and he will be my son, et cetera, et cetera.

So we're waiting for a son of God to sit on the throne. Now, this passage in First Chronicles 28, 9 through 10 says,

And you, Solomon, my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart, with a willing mind.

For the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you.

But if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary.

Be strong and do it. So as David is declining and Solomon is taking his place, what's his final charge to him?

If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

And then Asa getting the same message from Azariah. This is supposed to make you think about Solomon, right?

This is a text that's not in Kings. This is a text the chronicler is particularly letting you know.

He's telling you about Azariah because Azariah's message is going to make you realize the pattern, the similarity with Solomon.

And you're supposed to think, oh wow, he's got the same charge that Solomon's got. Is he going to live up to it?

What's going to happen to the kingdom? Is he going to continue the throne the way he's supposed to?

And make you long for a king who will. And of course, that king who does is

Jesus. He is the one who ultimately sits on the throne, who does seek the Lord and leads us in seeking the

Lord perfectly. In Isaiah, it describes Jesus as one who is taught by the

Lord. And so we are taught by the Lord as Christ is taught by him and as he sends his spirit to us to be taught, etc.

These are, yeah, this is how the kingdom moves on in true victory.

It's not by these imperfect kings who seek the Lord occasionally, but by a perfect king who seeks the

Lord perfectly. And you might not think of Jesus as one who would seek the

Lord because he is God, but he is man. And so he prays to his father.

He worships God. He is not one who does not seek the

Lord because he has no need to seek the Lord. He is one who does seek the Lord, who relies on the

Lord and leads his people in relying on the Lord. All right, the reflection questions here are, does the

Spirit of God engage in similar activity today? What relevance does Ace's message have to your own life?

How should the Word of God be an encouragement to you? Well, I would deny that there's the same kind of herbal prophecy where you can say, these are the words of the

Lord. Certainly, the Holy Spirit brings important messages to mind and works in the hearts of believers in order that the

Word of God would have the power it ought. But anyway, any questions about this or any thoughts on the reflection question?

Yes. Yeah, I guess when we get to those passages, if I have notes on those things,

I mean, I have them right here if you told me the exact passage, but I'm sure we'll cover it. I do tend to note those things if they come up in my studies.

All right, any other questions? Which verse?

Did you have a verse for that one? Okay, yeah, if you let me know the verse,