Now for a long while Israel [was] without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;
Azariah brought King Asa a word about Israel's past. It names three losses that came together — and raises a hard question: how does a nation given the true God end up with no one to teach it?
Commentators read this as a look back to the time of the judges, before Israel had kings.
This refers especially to the time of the Judges, when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. In that book we are told that many times, when in trouble, they turned to the Lord and He delivered them. But the general condition was so low that God troubled them because of their self-will.
The three things Israel lacked are not three separate failures. Take away one and the others go with it.
God, the priesthood, and the law had disappeared, so to speak; every man had been a law to himself. It was the reign of wickedness.
The priest's work ran two ways. He carried the people's case before the Lord, and he carried the Lord's mind back to them.
The priest had to carry the judgement of the people before the Lord. He also had to explain the Lord's rules to the people. He was to be the always-ready channel between the Lord and the assembly. He was not only to know the mind of God for himself; he had to be able to interpret that mind to the people. All of this called for constant watching, constant waiting, and constant time over the inspired page.
During the years Azariah recalls, that channel went silent. One writer traces how long the silence lasted.
The history of the Judges never mentions the high priest, or any other priest, or even a Levite, giving counsel or acting in any public way. That silence runs from the time of Phinehas the son of Eleazar down to Eli. The knowledge of God was lost. His people broke and forgot the relationship He had kept with them by the ark of the covenant.
Azariah is not giving a history lesson for its own sake. Asa's own generation had drifted the same way, and truth once known had faded from view.
Israel and Judah had lost much of the knowledge of truth. The darkening influence of idolatry had long hidden from them truth revealed earlier. God calls again, and reminds Asa, Judah, and Benjamin of His covenant and their responsibility.
The call came with terms that bound both sides.
Azariah sets out the conditions of the covenant of law: "The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." Both sides had to keep this covenant. The Lord always keeps His side, for He is faithful. But if Israel were unfaithful, they could only fall under the judgment of God, who must forsake them.
The three losses explain the misery that followed. But the account does not stop there.
No wonder Israel was in trouble. They had forsaken the true God, they had no priest to teach them the things of God, and His word was unknown to them. Whenever they turned to God, in their troubles, God heard them, and answered their cries. How rich is God's mercy; how wonderful His grace.
The need this verse names did not end with Israel. One writer sets its phrase beside what the New Testament asks of teachers.
The Old Testament speaks about "a teaching priest" (2 Chr. 15:3) and of "the Levites that taught" (2 Chr. 30:22). The New Testament speaks of "faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2). Again, one of the marks of a good overseer is that he should be "able to teach." The teaching takes in the whole revelation of God and puts the soul into the full light and blessing of Christianity.
- Without God — the loss begins at the top. Forsake the true God, and the priest and the law go with Him. Commentators read the verse as one collapse, not three.
- Without a teacher — the priest had to interpret God's mind to the people, and that took constant time over God's Word. Through the whole book of Judges, no priest appears in public service at all.
- Without law — with no one teaching it, God's word became unknown, and every man became a law to himself. Commentators call that the reign of wickedness.
- Trouble — misery is the natural result, and God used it. Idolatry had hidden truth once revealed, so God called again through Azariah.
- Found — the verse that records the famine of teaching also records the mercy. They turned, they sought Him, and He was found. The same provision continues today in faithful people able to teach others.
but in their trouble they turned to Jehovah the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found of them.
Asa has just come home from a great victory when the prophet Azariah meets him with a message about the nation's past: long years without God, without teaching and without law. This verse is the bright half of that message — trouble drove Israel back, and God let them find Him.
The "long while" Azariah describes is not vague. One writer notes that the tense points to a period already closed:
Azariah then reminds them of how, in days gone by ("has been," verse 3, should be "was" — in the days of the Judges, evidently) when, in apostasy and distress, the people turned to the LORD, God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.
What made that era so dark was not only bad behaviour but the collapse of everything that held the nation together:
Azariah recalls the former days when all the people had been unfaithful. He points especially to the time of the Judges, when Israel's disobedience brought complete disorder. God, the priesthood, and the law had disappeared, so to speak. Every man was a law to himself. It was the reign of lawlessness.
The verse does not say they turned because they grew wise. It says they turned in their distress. Commentators treat that as one of God's normal ways of recovering His own:
Adversity generally drives to God a saint who has wandered. It is one of the means grace employs. It was so with David. It is sometimes used to bring the wicked to repentance, as in the case of Manasseh.
Their distress was not random hardship. It traced back to what verse 3 describes — and the answer they received traces back to God's character:
It is little wonder that Israel were in trouble when they had forsaken the true God, when they had no priest to teach them the things of God, and when His word was unknown to them. Whenever they turned to God, in their troubles, God heard them, and answered their cries. How rich is God's mercy; how wonderful His grace.
"He was found by them" is the proof of the rule Azariah had just stated: the LORD is with you while you are with Him; seek Him and He will be found. One writer points out that only one side of that arrangement was ever in doubt:
Azariah presents the conditions of the covenant of law: "The LORD is with you, while you are with Him; and if you seek Him He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him He will forsake you." Both sides had to keep this covenant. The LORD always keeps His side, for He is faithful. But if Israel proved unfaithful, they would have to fall under the judgment of God, who must forsake them.
The verse ties finding God to seeking Him. That makes it easy to read as a statement about whether a person is saved. One writer draws the line clearly:
This has nothing to do with the question of salvation and eternal life, which the believer has in Christ. Bearing a real testimony, fruit to God, and victory at all times calls for a close walk with the Lord. Apart from this, God's people are helpless and must dishonour their Lord. Verses 3-6 picture the results of turning away from the Lord, like those seen in Israel in the time of the judges.
Azariah brought this history lesson to a king fresh from success, not to a king in ruins. That timing is the point:
It was "a word in season." We are never in greater danger than just after a great success — even when that success truly comes from God, in answer to genuine faith.
- Without. Israel had lost God, teaching and law. Every man was a law to himself, and trouble was the harvest of that loss.
- Trouble. Trouble did not just interrupt their story. Grace used it to turn a wandering people back, as with David and with Manasseh.
- Turned. The verse records no grand reform programme. They turned and sought — that is all God asked before He answered.
- Found. God's side never failed. He is faithful, so the only question was whether His people would stay with Him — and when they turned back, peace and rest followed.
- Warning. The promise is about walk and testimony, not about whether a believer has eternal life. Azariah brought it in the hour of victory, when the danger of drifting is greatest.
And in those times there [was] no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in, but great disturbances were amongst all the inhabitants of the countries.
Azariah meets Asa on the road home from a great victory. Instead of congratulating him, he describes an earlier age — a time when travel was unsafe and every district was in turmoil. The verse raises a question for every generation: what happens to ordinary daily life when a people lets go of God?
Commentators read the verse as a look back at the time of the Judges, long before Asa's day. One writer names what had gone missing, and what filled the gap:
Azariah then recalls the former days when all the people had been unfaithful. He points above all to the time of the Judges, when Israel's disobedience produced the most complete disorder... God, the priesthood, and the law had disappeared, so to speak; every man had been a law to himself. Wickedness ruled.
Another writer pins down when this happened, and corrects the older wording:
Azariah then reminds them of what happened in the past. ("Has been" in verse 3 should be "was" — in the days of the Judges: compare Judges 5.) The people had turned away from God and were in distress. Then they turned to Jehovah, God of Israel, and sought Him, and they found Him.
So the verse looks back: Azariah shows Asa what his nation had already lived through.
The breakdown was not an accident of politics. One writer traces it to God Himself:
God's government deals with nations as well as with people. All around Israel in the days of their trouble, God was bringing disturbance among the nations: "nation was broken against nation, and city against city," and peace was nowhere to be found. If men will not have God, they must suffer at the hand of God for their self-will and idolatry.
The words about going out and coming in cover all of life — leaving home and coming back. One writer sets the misery beside what the people found when they cried out, and what returned when the king did:
How many times the people in their anguish had cried out to the Lord and returned to Him! And each time they had found God to be a Deliverer. There is "no peace" in abandoning God — no rest, no peace for the wicked, says Isaiah — but trouble upon trouble. Yet from the moment the king returned, as Asa did, there was peace and rest.
Asa had already known that peace. The prophet is showing him the alternative.
The timing matters. Asa had just come home from a victory, and that is when such a word was needed:
It was a needed message at the right moment. The danger for God's people is always greatest after they win a victory and enjoy outward success and prosperity... Verses 3-6 picture the results of turning away from the Lord, like those seen in Israel during the time of the Judges.
The same writer adds that this warning is not about whether a believer is saved. It is about whether God's people can bear a real testimony and win. That takes a close walk with the Lord.
Azariah does not leave Asa staring at the ruins of an earlier age. The history is followed by a call to be firm, with a promise attached:
Do we not also need to listen to this call, even though we live under grace? God's government is hidden today, but it is no less real. Under it there is a present reward for what we do, not only a future one. This reward is peace, rest, and strength.
Asa heard it and acted. He cleared out the idols and repaired the altar, so that the people could return to the true worship of God.
- Cause. Israel was left without the true God, without a priest to teach them, without law. Every man became a law to himself.
- Collapse. With God gone, ordinary safety went too. Going out and coming in were unsettled, and turmoil reached every district.
- Hand. This was God's government, not misfortune. If men will not have God, they suffer at His hand for their self-will.
- Contrast. Abandoning God brings no peace, only trouble upon trouble. The moment the king turned back, peace and rest returned.
- Call. Be firm, above all right after a success. God still rewards what we do now, with peace, rest and strength.
And nation was broken against nation, and city against city; for God disturbed them with all manner of distress.
King Asa has just come home from a great victory, and a prophet meets him with a history lesson instead of congratulations. It pictures an age of collapse, when nations and cities ground each other to pieces — and the question is why a king at the peak of his success needed to hear it.
Azariah's message comes when Asa looks least in need of it. One writer names success itself as the danger:
But the Lord knew the danger that threatened Asa. He had begun well. He was faithful to the Lord, and he and the people had seen a wonderful proof that the Lord hears and answers prayer. Would he continue and end as well as he had begun? The Spirit of God came at this important time on Azariah. When Asa came home victorious, the prophet met him and gave him his message. It was a needed message, and it came at the right time. The danger for God's people is always greatest after they have won a victory and are enjoying outward success and prosperity.
The broken nations and cities are not a general picture of world history. Rossier places the scene in Israel's own past, in the time of the judges. The nation had drifted from God, from teaching and from law, and it had no peace:
Azariah then recalls the earlier days when the whole people had been unfaithful. He points especially to the time of the Judges, when Israel's disobedience brought about the most complete disorder… God, the priesthood, and the law had disappeared, so to speak. Every man had been a law to himself. It was the reign of wickedness… There is "no peace" in forsaking God — no rest, no peace for the wicked, says Isaiah — but trouble on top of trouble. On the other hand, from the moment the king turned back to Him, as Asa did, there was peace and rest.
The verse does not leave the violence unexplained. It traces the crushing to God Himself, who rules nations and not only people:
God's government deals with nations as well as with individuals. All around Israel in the days of their trouble, God was stirring up unrest among the nations: "Nation was crushed by nation and city by city." There was no peace to be found. If men will not have God, they must suffer at God's hand for their self-will and idolatry.
But what about the nation God uses to do the crushing? One writer warns that being the rod in God's hand gives no nation a reason for pride.
In God's government of the nations He may use one nation as His rod to punish another. We see this again and again in the Old Testament. But it will go badly for the nation He uses if it grows proud of that role. God rules with justice, so just as surely that nation will be humbled in its turn.
The distress was never the whole story. The same writer who traces the trouble to God also tells what happened whenever the people turned back to Him:
No wonder Israel was in trouble. They had forsaken the true God. They had no priest to teach them the things of God. His word was unknown to them. Whenever they turned to God in their troubles, God heard them and answered their cries. How rich is God's mercy; how wonderful His grace.
Azariah does not stop at the wreckage. Rossier reads the encouragement that follows as a word for readers today, with a reward that is not only future:
After the call comes encouragement: "But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded" (v. 7). Do we not also need to heed this call, even though we live under grace? God's government is hidden now, yet it is no less real, and it gives a present reward for what we do, not only a future one. That reward is peace, rest, and strength. Asa had experienced this, but the rest of his history will show us how much he needed that call — and we need it as much as he did.
- Cause. The disorder began with drift: no true God, no teaching priest, no law. Every man became a law to himself.
- Consequence. Nations and cities tearing at each other were not random politics. God's government reaches nations as well as people, and men who will not have God suffer at His hand.
- Caution. Even the nation God uses as His rod is not exempt. Pride in that role brings its own humbling.
- Mercy. Whenever they turned to God in their trouble, He heard them and answered their cries. In forsaking Him there is no peace; in returning to Him there is peace and rest.
- Call. Azariah preached this history to a king at his strongest, because danger is greatest after victory. The answer is courage and hands that do not go slack, and the reward — peace, rest, and strength — is present as well as future.