God sends a prophet.
In the Old Testament, man did not hear God by themselves. There was no way for a man individually to hear from God by himself. The Lord came upon only a few people, prophets and seers predominantly. So this prophet came, Azariah came, and he said, Asa, hear me, you and all of you, listen to me. The Lord is with you while you be with Him, and if you seek Him, He will be found. If you seek Him. He will be found.
That’s the same for us today. If you seek Him, He will be found. But, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. Now, there is a difference between Old Testament and New Testament. We’re under a different dispensation in grace. The way that you can basically know what to take out of the Old Testament and apply to you in the New Testament is if Jesus repeated it or if it’s repeated in the scriptures and, or if it has been changed by Jesus, then you won’t touch it.
Today, the New Testament tells us that God never leaves us or forsakes us. So even if we don’t seek Him, even if we trash Him and have nothing to do with Him, God still doesn’t forsake us. This is a different dispensation. Verse 3, Now for a long season Israel had been without the true God, this is Azariah still prophesying, and without a teaching priest and without law.
But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord their God and sought Him, what does it say? He was found of them. What did they have to do? Seek Him. Does that mean that He just shows up, God just poof, like a genie out of a bottle, here I am? No!
The people, Old Testament and New Testament are required to seek God to find him.