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Azariah son of Oded עזריהו בן עודד

his speech moved Asa to purge the land

The scene is short, and it is entirely about how one speech changes a reign. Asa returns from crushing the Cushite army. The spirit of God comes upon Azariah son of Oded, and he goes out to meet him: "the LORD is with you while you are with Him; if you seek Him, He will be found by you, and if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."

He then recalls the times when "for many days Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest and without Torah," when there was no peace for the one going out or the one coming in. And he ends with a call addressed straight to the king: "but you, be strong, and do not let your hands grow slack, for there is a reward for your work."

Asa "heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, and took courage": he cleared the abominations out of the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and out of the captured towns of Ephraim, renewed the altar and summoned to Jerusalem everyone, including those who had come from the north — and there a covenant was made to seek the LORD with all their heart.

Azariah is not mentioned again in the Tanakh. One speech, and a whole reform.

On the timeline

Sources

Tanakh

  • Divrei HaYamim II 15:1–2 — “the LORD is with you while you are with Him”
  • Divrei HaYamim II 15:8 — Asa took courage and removed the abominations

Basis: stated in the Tanakh.

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