Today's Reading:

2 Kings 14
2 Kings 15
2 Chronicles 25
2 Chronicles 26
2 Chronicles 27

By God’s command, only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Temple and burn incense at the altar. This made the sin of King Azariah (Uzziah) serious. When he entered the Temple to perform a priestly duty, God immediately struck him with leprosy on his forehead as judgment.

Remember that Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, died instantly from offering “strange fire” (unauthorized incense) to the Lord. The difference was that Nadab and Abihu were priests who knew better, and their direct rebellion in the sacred place meant immediate death. King Uzziah was not a priest and was taking on the priestly duty, entering into the Temple in pride. Therefore, instead of death, he was judged with leprosy, living in public shame as unclean. For the rest of his life, he lived with the disease as a constant reminder of his sin and God’s holiness.

God takes His boundaries seriously. Judgment is not meant to be strict but to protect us from His presence. Have you ever crossed a line that God clearly drew, thinking it “was not that big of a deal”? Have you ever been tempted to step into a role or responsibility God never assigned to you?

Amaziah King of Judah #9 (south)- Amaziah was the son of Joash (baby hidden). His mother was from Jerusalem, and he reigned there for 29 years. He was mostly good as Scripture notes, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done.” (2 Kings 14:3). David was his great-great-great-grandfather, but the word “father” was used a spiritual role model from the family line.  In some ways Amaziah was a good king, but he did not remove the high place.

King Amaziah set up the kingdom and then avenged his father Joash by going after the officials who murdered him while in his bed. Amaziah did follow God’s laws and did not bring judgment on the officials’ children. The law dictates that the children are not to be put to death for the sins of their parents (Deuteronomy 24:16).

King Amaziah of Judah (south) prepared to fight the Edomites and hired Israel (north) as mercenary soldiers to fight with his soldiers from Judah and Benjamin. A prophet warned him that God was with them and not to use the mercenaries. Amaziah asked what he should do about the money he had already spent. The prophet replied that it was a loss. The Israeli mercenaries were upset, so they raided towns on the way home, creating more tension between the two kingdoms. King Amaziah defeated 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. That is the same place where David defeated the 18,000 Edomites to expand the territory (2 Samuel 8:13, 1 Chronicles 18:12, Psalm 60 was also written about this). Judah wanted control of Edom again. After the raid of Edom, though, Amaziah took on their idols for worshipping, which made God angry.

King Amaziah then wanted a civil war with the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He wanted to go against King Jehoash/ Joash, the grandson of Jehu. Jehoash remarked, “You are a thistle, I am a cedar,” meaning Amaziah was a weak thistle and going up against a tree, so he better not pick a fight he could not win. Israel won the battle and took the south as prisoners back to Samaria. Jehoash (north) eventually died, and Amaziah (south) lived another 15 more years. Then his own Southern Kingdom conspired against him. Amaziah fled to Lachish but was found and assassinated. His son Azariah (Uzziah) became the next king at age 16.

Jeroboam II King of Israel #13 (north)- Jeroboam was the son of Jehoash and had one of the longest reigns of the northern kings at 41 years. He was evil and followed the ways of Jeroboam I, like all of the other kings. Even though he was wicked, God used him to restore the borders of Israel, as prophesied by Jonah (the Book of Jonah- and the whale). He freed the free men and the slaves from the oppression under King Hazael of Aram. Jonah, who was swallowed by the great fish, was the prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of the wicked King Jeroboam II. Jeroboam eventually died, and his son Zechariah (not the earlier priest Zechariah) succeeded him. God had made Judah the unique lineage of the Messiah, but he also never said that He would let Israel’s name go extinct. God used Jeroboam II to save Israel.

Azariah (Uzziah), King of Judah #10 (south)- Azariah was the son of Amaziah and was 16 when he took the reign as king. He reigned for 52 years! He was a good king like his father, but did not remove the high places either. Azariah was judged with leprosy from the Lord due to his unfaithfulness in offering incense in the Temple. While Azariah was still alive, he lived in a separate house from the palace, and his son Jotham co-reigned in his place. The Ammonites had paid Azariah tribute.

Jotham King of Judah #11 (south)- Jotham was the son of Azariah, and grandson to Zadok (not the high priest, although likely a priestly family). He ran the palace since God judged his father with leprosy. Azariah was in charge, but Jotham took charge at the age of 16. The Ammonites had been paying tribute to Azariah for 3 years, and Jotham led Judah to victory over them.

Jotham also led the war against the Philistines. He built defense structures on the walls in Jerusalem, which archaeological evidence has found. The Ophel wall was between the City of David and the Temple Mount and has been uncovered recently showing Iron Age construction layers.

Zechariah King of Israel #14 (north)- He was the son of Jeroboam II and only reigned for 6 months. He was evil. Shallum, the son of Jabesh, attacked and assassinated him. God had proclaimed that Jehu’s descendants would sit on the throne to the 4th generation because Jehu destroyed the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal. Zechariah’s death marked the end of Jehu’s dynasty: Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah.

Shallum King of Israel #15 (north)- Shallum had killed King Zechariah and reigned for 1 month. Menahem had attacked Shallum in Samaria and assassinated him to take over.

Menahem King of Israel #16 (north)- He killed King Shallum to take over the reign in violence. He took over as a brutal and greedy king whose reign lasted for 10 years. He started off at war with the city of Tiphsah, as they refused to accept him as king. Scripture notes that he “ripped open all the pregnant women,” as a sign of his extreme violence. This is the first time that Assyria is recorded in the Bible. King Pul (Tiglath-Pileser III, north Mesopotamia) of Assyria invaded Israel. In order to keep the throne, he raised the taxes on all the wealthy men of Israel to pay Assyria.

Assyria- North Mesopotamia (larger and farther east than Syria). Assyria conquers Syria as they are larger and farther east. Then they take Israel. Assyria eventually falls to Babylon.

• Cities: Nineveh, Assur, Nimrud.
• Kings: Pul (Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib

Syria- At war with Israel over borders. Conquered by Assyria.

• Cities: Aram, Damascus.
• Kings: Rezon, Ben-Hadad I, Ben-Hadad II, Hazael.

Pekahiah, King of Israel #17 (north)- Son of Menahem (who had taxed Israel to pay Assyria). He was evil and reigned for 2 years when he was murdered in his own palace by Pekah, his chief officer. Pekah took 50 men with him from Gilead to assassinate Pekahiah.

Pekah King of Israel #18 (north)- Pekah killed the prior King Pekahiah to take over the reign for 20 years. He had been a military captain. He took 50 men from Gilead to assassinate King Pekahiah inside the citadel of the King’s house. The most important event was the Syro-Ephraimite War. This was an alliance with Rezin, King of Aram (Syria). Together, they attacked Judah (south) in an attempt to force King Ahaz of Judah to join them against Assyria. They killed 120,000 men of Judah in one day and took captives (Isaiah 7, 2 Chronicles 28). Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, was fighting to take back what Ben-Hadad I of Damascus had taken. Now Israel was exiled from the Promised Land and sent to Assyria.

Hoshea King of Israel #19 (north)- He attacked and assassinated Pekah. His reign lasted for 9 years. He was the last evil king of Israel and still continued the idolatry of Jeroboam I. He was a vassal king to Assyria (subordinate). We will discuss him later.

Today's Discussion question:

God takes His boundaries seriously. Judgment is not meant to be strict but to protect us from His presence. Have you ever crossed a line that God clearly drew, thinking it “was not that big of a deal”? Have you ever been tempted to step into a role or responsibility God never assigned to you?

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