2 Kings 15 - More kings and more sins

Click to read 2 Kings 15

Synopsis

After Jeroboam, six more evil kings ruled Israel before the kingdom fell to the Assyrians. This northern kingdom lasted 209 years after Israel's golden age under Solomon. The principal reason was idolatry; the kings led their people to stray from God. 

Judah lasted 136 years longer than Israel before being conquered by the Babylonians. It lasted longer possibly because they had kings who did what was right in the sight of the Lord. However, these kings still fell short as they did not remove the pagan shrines built by their forefather. In the same period described in this chapter, Israel had six kings compared with Judah's two. 

Major Verses

V1 - 5 - Azariah was also known as Uzziah. In the beginning of his 52-year reign, he did right before was devoted to the Lord and the Lord helped him to win many wars. He also repaired the wall that was broken by  Israel and help Judah enjoy peace and prosperity that was not seen since Solomon's time. Unfortunately, like his father, he did not remove the high places of pagan worship. When his power grew and his fame spread, he became arrogant and angered the Lord by offering incense to God, which was against the law. For that sin, he was inflicted with skin disease and had to be separated from his household. The full account of what Uzziah did can be found in 2 Ch 26. 

What I learn

Many of us start well with the Lord but when we are successful, our devotion to Him wanes and pride takes over, just like Azariah did. Let us ask God to help us to guard our heart against leaving our devotion to Him. If there are "high places" in our life that need to be removed, let's ask God to help us do it once and for all. Let us determine to always be close and obedient to Him.

V8 - 31 - In a short space of  seven month after Zechariah took over the throne of Israel from his father Jeroboam, Israel saw three kings ruling. Zechariah ruled for six months and was assassinated by Shallum, who after one month was killed by Meneham who ruled for ten years and on his death, his son Pekahiah took over. He lasted only two years and was killed by Pekah. These kings of Israel all did evil in God's sight and therefore they and the nation were constantly punished.

What I learn

All these kings not only did evil but many of them encouraged the nation into deeper idolatry as well. We are responsible for the way that we influence others as we live our life. Let us be careful and mindful of how we live; does the way we live honor and glorify God? Let ask God to help us to be more like Jesus everyday, for being like Him, we will surely bless and lead others correctly.

V32 - 38 - Jotham walked right in God and much good can be said of him. Unfortunately, he followed the wrong role model of his father and grandfather in that he did not remove the high places of pagan worship during his reign. This eventually led to his son Ahaz, to become an evil king over Judah after Jotham died.

What I learn

Like Jotham, we may generally live good lives but miss out on doing what is most important. Let's ask God to help us to know what is the most important thing that He wants us to do and  ask for strength from Him to do it. Our influence over our children is very important to prevent them from ending up like Ahaz, who deteriorate into worshiping the pagan idols.

Summary

The evil kings of Israel brought the nation deep into sin and eventually paid for it when Hoshea became the last king before the kingdom fell to the Assyrians. While Azariah and Jotham did generally well in most part of their lives, they missed doing the most important thing during their reign, that is, to remove the high places of pagan worship in Judah. Eventually, Judah fell to the Babylonians too.

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Coming up next....

Next week, we learn about the beginning of Judah's fall when Ahaz, Jotham's son took over the reign.