God Was Found of Them

God Was Found of Them 2 Chronicles 15:3-4

Friday, August 24, 2018

1:32 AM

In the early days of the Kingdom of Israel there were three relatively successful kings, being King Saul, King David and King Solomon. Solomon was succeeded by his son King Rehoboam who was a hard and dictatorial king. It was under his reign that the kingdom of Israel was split in two; Judah in the South and Israel in the North. The capital city of Jerusalem became part of Judah.

From <https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/king-asa-seek-andrew-moffatt-sermon-on-king-asa-182446?ref=SermonSerps>

Because of King Rehoboam’s actions his advisor Jeroboam became the king of Israel; so two kings Rehoboam king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel.

The thing about Rehoboam was that once he got established as king, once he became strong as king; “he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord.”(2 Chronicles 12:1) He swept down to capture the fortified cities including Jerusalem. He them looted the Temple. There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

Rehoboam was 59 years old when he died and his son Abijah then became king of Israel, he fought with Jeroboam and took more of the kingdom of Israel. When the reign of Abijah finished, his son Asa became king.

From <https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/king-asa-seek-andrew-moffatt-sermon-on-king-asa-182446?ref=SermonSerps>

Asa is the first of four reforming kings in Chronicles, who set out to restore and purify Judah’s worship (the others are Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah)

Tuell, Steven Shawn: First and Second Chronicles. Louisville, KY : John Knox Press, 2001 (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching), S. 166

2 Chronicles chapter 14 starts with the words

2 Chronicles 14:2-5 (KJV)

2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

Now if you read the last part of chapter 14 you will find a great battle where the Ethiopians came to conquer the Kingdom of Judah. But because Asa had honored God the kingdom of Judah won the battle.

And then we come to the reading of our text tonight:

The Spirit moved upon this prophet Azariah whom we know little about.

But the message is powerful and I think applicable to us today

The Lord is with you - That is a wonderful proclamation - but it was conditional. This promise of God's presence rested on a conditionWhile ye be with him - This is a powerful condition. Every Bible translation I have looked at KJV, NASB, AMP, ESV, NIV, NET all say virtually the same thing. God's continued presence was conditioned upon Asa staying with God. What does it mean when it says "While ye be with him?"Well I think part of the answer lies at the end of the verse where the prophet says, "But if you forsake Him, he will forsake you." This is the same type of language we find in the New Testament when we are told by Jesus, "

Luke 9:26

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

From <https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?qs_version=KJV&quicksearch=ashamed&begin=49&end=49>

Adam Clarke writes: "This is the settled and eternal purpose of God; to them who seek him he will ever be found propitious, and them alone will he abandon who forsake him. "

Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke's Commentary, (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1826), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "2 Chronicles".

But if and when you loose God's continued presence God gave through the Prophets message the way to reconnectAnd if ye seek him, he will be found of you. I love how he develops this in verses 3-4 READ

2 Chronicles 15:3-4 (KJV)

3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

This has been seen throughout scripture:

1 Chronicles 28:9 (KJV)

9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

Deuteronomy 4:29 (KJV)

29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Jeremiah 29:13-14 (KJV)

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995, S. Jas 4:8

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HE CAN BE FOUND LYRICS

He can be found in a mother's smile

He can be found in the eyes of a child

He can be found He is everywhere

When we kneel in prayer each plea He hears

He can be found in the air that we breath

He'll always hear a heart that grieves

He can be found on life's stormy seas

He can be found in you and me

He can be found in the hearts of great men

He will reach down for one who has sinned

The peasant's daughter or the rich man's son

All who believe and who will let Him come

From <https://genius.com/The-louvin-brothers-he-can-be-found-lyrics>