2 Chron. 15 Encouraged by the Prophetic Word
The only reference we have of Azariah is found in this portion of scripture. This prophet essentially affirms Asa’s pursuit of the Lord; but with a warning that should Judah ever depart from pursuing the Lord, they would be left to their own desires.
Asa “took courage” from hearing the prophetic word and made a thorough cleansing of the land of idols. During the Feast of Pentecost they gathered all true believers in the Lord to enter covenant and renew covenant with Him. The oath for “death” was to keep the land free of any idolatry and was specifically directed toward those who had entered into covenant with the Lord, having followed Him. Could this possibly be a pre-cursor to what is referred to as the “unpardonable sin”?
So complete was the purging that his mother, Maachah, was removed from being “queen mother”, due to her having “made an obscene image”. Many Hebrew and Christian scholars feel she repented; which prompted her name change to Michaiah.
There was no favoritism on the part of Asa, his heart was “loyal” toward the Lord throughout his life.
His integrity prompted him to put into the house of the Lord all the plunder that had been taken which had been dedicated to the Lord. He fulfilled his commitments and his father’s to the Lord.
How devoted are we to the things of the Lord? Asa serves as a model for our lives that is sound.
Mid-way through this chapter we have a golden nugget of truth concerning one of the benefits of prophecy. It says Asa took courage as a result of having heard the prophetic word from a little known prophet. Prophecy serves the saint of God in a multitude of ways; one of which is ENCOURAGEMENT. Don’t discount the prophetic words you hear and especially those directed to you more personally. Be encouraged by the Word of the Lord; both the logos (written word) and the rhema (spoken word) from the Lord.