2 Chronicles 15:1-19

This chapter chronicles with greater detail the occasion and value of the reform wrought in Judah during Asa's reign. Here appears a man mentioned nowhere else. His name was Azariah. Suddenly anointed by the Spirit of God, he appeared to the king, and in a brief prophetic word gave direction to all his life and reign.

If the message was brief, it was yet weighty. As to enunciation of principles, it occupies only half a verse in our Bibles. "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." The rest is illustrative application of the principle by reference to then existing conditions, ending with a direct appeal. The principle is of perpetual application. It represents God as unchanging. All apparent changes on His part are really changes in the attitude of men toward Him. Man with God, finds God with him. Man forsaking God, finds that he is forsaken of God. These are the extremes of the one truth. Between them, not contradicting them, but complementing them, is the declaration that the seeker finds. A recognition of these principles must inspire the heart with courage. It certainly did in Asa's case. Upon the ground of that announcement he purged his country to a large extent, even deposing his mother in his loyalty to the principle.