By Roy E. Ciampa, Ph.D.,
S. Louis and Ann W. Armstrong Professor of Religion, Samford University
Act with Courage
2 Chronicles 15:1–9
This week’s lesson reminds us of the power of godly encouragement.
Remain courageous in following God. (1–7)
God sent the otherwise unknown prophet, Azariah son of Oded, to encourage King Asa in the immediate aftermath of the battle discussed in last week’s lesson.
Azariah’s message finds its scriptural support in texts like Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13–14 and Isaiah 55:6. Those texts are essentially paraphrased in the words of verse 2: “The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”
God is always eager for us to come back to Him and to remain in faithful relationship with Him.
Azariah reminds Asa that the truth of this theology is reflected in Israel’s experience. Wandering away from the Lord had brought disaster but turning back to the Lord had brought relief and the restoration of a healthy relationship with God.
The description of Israel’s time of distress in verses 3–6 probably refers to the period of the Judges, a time when the people suffered from a lack of knowledge of God’s law and a lack of priestly or other consistent leadership (2 Chron. 11:14–15 and 13:9 suggest the northern kingdom of Israel had recently experienced something similar).
The book of Judges makes it clear when they did turn to the Lord, He provided them with relief. Of course many times people’s faithfulness to the Lord does not result in what others would normally call success or blessing. Azariah was authorized to promise Asa that faithful perseverance on his part would indeed be rewarded by the Lord in the short term (v. 7).
We always need the courage to be faithful to the Lord. It helps when God sends others who encourage us to do just that.
Our courage in following God can inspire and encourage others. (8–9)
Asa was encouraged by the words of Azariah. Verse 8 emphasizes Azariah as a prophet and his message as a prophecy.
Both points were understood in the previous verses without being explicitly mentioned. Neither of the two words (“prophet” or “prophecy”) would have made the point clearly enough.
But we are being intentionally reminded of the importance of this prophetic ministry in the life of Israel, presumably because the ministry of Israel’s prophets served as a direct reminder of God’s presence in and constant concern regarding Israel’s life.
A primary purpose behind the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles was to encourage the exiled nation by reminding them of God’s promises and continuing presence in the life of Israel and Judah even when things were heading in the wrong direction.
The exiles could be reassured God had not given up on them and He would return to them again if they would only turn back to faith in Him.
Asa was encouraged by the prophetic word given by Azariah and that encouragement led him to carry out even bolder leadership.
Rather than growing complacent with the downward drift of the nation he stepped up his game and did all he could to lead his people to greater love for and faithfulness to the Lord.
The strengthening of Asa’s faith led to greater confidence among all those who saw what God was doing in and through him.
As verse 9 tells us, many from various tribes of Israel chose to come under his leadership “when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.”
We see the ripple effects of faithfulness to the Lord: one takes strength from the encouragement of another and then others are encouraged in turn.
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