Read: 2
Kings 15-16
2 Kings 15 takes us through a quick succession of
kings in Israel and Judah. We begin with Azariah, also known as Uzziah, reigning
over Judah. He is generally a godly king, but fails to remove the high places.
Later in Azariah’s reign, God afflicts him with leprosy. This means that
Jotham, the king’s son must run the palace’s daily affairs. In the sixth year
of Azariah’s reign, Zechariah becomes king over Israel. Zechariah is an evil
king. However, he is allowed to reign so that God can fulfill His promise to
Jehu (v 12). Following Zechariah, Shallum becomes king of Israel. Shallum is
also an evil king. Following Shallum, Menahem is king over Israel. During
Menahem’s reign we begin to see Assyria as an aggressor toward Israel.
Assyria’s aggression will soon play an important role in Israel’s history. The
next kings in Israel are Pekahiah and Pekah. Again, both are sinful leaders. In
the second year of Pekah’s reign, Jotham becomes king of Judah. He is a godly
leader overall. However, he also fails to remove the high places.
It is interesting that each leader is personally
noted as good or evil. The Scriptures remember whether kings followed God
wholly, somewhat, not at all, or if they gave themselves to foreign gods. The
Holy Spirit decided to cover the history of seven kings in only thirty-eight
verses. Would it not have been more concise to say “Kings A, B, and D were
good, while kings C, E, and F were evil”? The Holy Spirit chose to be less
concise for a purpose. Evaluating each king individually reminds us of the role
of free will. Each king had the opportunity to repent and change the trajectory
of his nation. Each king exercised free will in how he reigned. Without free
will, we are left to believe that the kings had no choice but to act in an evil
way. We know that a good, just God would never allow this to be so. God never
predestines a person for evil.
Before He
created the world, God wanted each person to choose Him over sin. Throughout
history, He pursued people, giving them opportunities to follow Him. Today,
also, He pursues people, giving them every chance needed to choose Him.
In contrast to many of Judah’s kings, who were
described as generally good, Ahaz is patently evil. He follows other gods, even
to the point of sacrificing his own son. Under Ahaz’s reign, Judah loses in
battle against Aram. The Aramean oppression of Judah leaves Ahaz desperate. He
contacts Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, for help. Ahaz declares that he will
be Tiglath-Pileser’s servant, if the Assyrians will help Judah. Further, Ahaz
pays a huge tribute to Assyria for their help. The decision to establish a
relationship with a foreign king instead of asking Yahweh for help sets Ahaz up
for even greater sin. When visiting Damascus, Ahaz sees an altar that he likes
and commissions an identical altar for Judah. At this point, Ahaz’s idolatry
has become so ingrained in Judah that the chief priests agrees to build a pagan
altar in the temple. Further, Ahaz re-organizes worship in the temple. He
sacrifices on the new altar, while retaining the old altar for seeking
guidance. Ahaz only maintains a façade of worship to Yahweh when it benefits
himself. Ahaz makes many other “alterations” to the temple during his reign, in
deference to the king of Assyria. All of this amounts to sacrilege. How sad it
is when our worship is structured to please man instead of God.
Prayer and
Journaling
1. Before He created the world, God wanted each
person to choose Him over self and sin. Have you ever felt that it was
completely hopeless to pray for someone’s salvation, that they could never
choose Jesus? Confess this to God and pray for this person’s (or these people’s)
salvation today.
2. What is your greater motivation in worshipping
and serving God: pleasing man or pleasing the King of Kings? Ask Jesus to speak
to you about this and commit to worshiping and serving the Lord
wholeheartedly.
3. Our leaders in government have the same
opportunity to choose godly leadership as the kings of Israel and Judah had
millennia ago. Pray that our government would choose policies that line up with
God’s Word. Pray that individuals within government would boldly stand for
God’s truth. Pray that they would find their identity in Christ, not in voter
opinions.
