The Spirit of God1 came on Azariah son of Oded: 2and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Binyamin2: YAHWEH3 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. 3Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without the Taurat.4 4But when in their distress they turned to YAHWEH, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity. 7But be strong, and do not let your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded.”
8When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Binyamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of YAHWEH, that was before the porch of YAHWEH. 9He gathered all Judah and Binyamin, and those who resided with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they came to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that YAHWEH his God was with him. 10So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11They sacrificed to YAHWEH in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12They entered into the covenant to seek YAHWEH, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; 13and that whoever would not seek YAHWEH, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14They swore to YAHWEH with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. 15All Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and YAHWEH gave them rest all around.
16Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18He brought into the House of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19There was no more war to the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
- 15:1 Spirit of God; not an angel, created being, nor an impersonal force, but the uncreated, eternal essence of God himself. The Spirit of God was present and active at the creation of heaven and earth (see Genesis 1:2). He is also the one who moved the prophets to speak God’s Word to mankind (see 2 Peter 1:21). The Spirit also lives inside of every follower of ‘ISA AL-MASIH, empowering them to live in a way pleasing to God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16). ↩︎
- 15:2 Binyamin, or Benjamin, derived from the Hebrew name Benyamin, meaning “Son of the right hand.” ↩︎
- 15:2 YAHWEH, God’s personal Name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15: ‘God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”’ ↩︎
- 15:3 Taurat, this Arabic term is derived from the Hebrew word Torah, which means “instruction” or “teaching.” Depending on context, Taurat can refer to,
1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament.
2. The revelation given to Prophet Musa, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are attributed to Prophet Musa himself. This is the traditional and most common meaning given to Taurat or Torah.
3. The Law of Musa found within the Pentateuch, with its hundreds of rules and regulations covering many aspects of daily life for the people of Israel. The most famous of these laws are the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20.
4. Taurat can also refer to divine instruction and teaching in general without reference to a particular book of the Hebrew Bible. ↩︎