Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 26-28.

We have three kings of Judah discussed in today’s passage.  The first of these was Uzziah, the son of Amaziah.  Amaziah had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but after conquering Edom he turned to worshiping the gods of Edom.  Uzziah followed in the footsteps his father laid out in his early life, not those towards the end.  Also, Uzziah apparently had someone who encouraged him in his walk with the Lord and as long as his role model and guide lived Uzziah did what pleased the Lord.  However, after Zechariah, Uzziah’s mentor in the Lord, died, Uzziah became arrogant and usurped the role of priest.  Uzziah’s son Jotham followed in his father’s footsteps without the arrogance of his later years.  Uzziah and Jotham became powerful kings because of their faithfulness to God, but failed to lead the people to abandon their idolatry.  Unfortunately, Jotham’s son, Ahaz, did not follow the example given by his father and grandfather.  The result was that Judah was invaded repeatedly during his reign, suffering terrible losses as a result.  None of these losses caused Ahaz to turn to God, instead he turned ever further from righteousness.  So, despite the efforts of Uzziah and Jotham to do what was right in God’s eyes, Ahaz chose to do what was wicked in God’s sight, which led to hardship and troubles for Judah as the people followed him in his wicked ways.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 26-28.

In yesterday’s passage we saw Joash and Amaziah, who faithfully served the Lord for most of their lives, but turned from him late in life and were assassinated.  Today we first look at Uzziah, who sought the Lord until he became powerful, at which point he became prideful and began acting as if he would never be held accountable.  As a result, he contracted leprosy and lived out the final years of his life in relative isolation.  His son Jotham also served the Lord and did what was right.  As a result, Jotham became powerful.  Unfortunately, he failed to turn the people from idolatry and his son chose to act wickedly.  Rather than follow the example of his father (and grandfather, great grandfather, and even great great grandfather), Ahaz chose to chase after idols which promised him pleasure.  Ahaz’s actions resulted in Judah becoming weak and being overrun by invaders.  Even then Ahaz did not turn to the Lord, instead choosing to chase after even more idols.  Fortunately for the kingdom of Judah, Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah did learn from his father’s mistakes, and, as we shall see in tomorrow’s passage, sought the Lord.   Today’s three kings give us two lessons.  First, no matter how faithful to God our parents were, we need to choose for ourselves to serve Him.  Second, no matter how faithful we are to God in our youth when we are struggling to get established, we need to remember Him later in life, or we will pay a price we would rather not.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 26-28.

Yesterday we read about Joash and Amaziah who were faithful to God for much of their reigns.  Today we read about Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz.  Uzziah and Jotham did right in the eyes of God, although Uzziah attempted to take the role of priest by burning incense before God later in his reign.  As I understand the story (from the account here and also in 2 Kings), Uzziah’s sin was about his failure to recognize a limit to what he could do more than just burning incense in a manner reserved for the priests.  His sin appears to me to have been the rejection of the idea that there were those who could hold him to account for his actions.  In many ways, his sin was a lesser form of that of his father, Amaziah, and his grandfather, Joash.  The difference being that when Uzziah was confronted about his overreaching, he backed down.

Uzziah’s son, Jotham, either learned the lesson from witnessing his father’s comeuppance, or did not live long enough to fall into the sin of his immediate ancestors.  Over their reigns, Uzziah and Jotham strengthened Judah through their dedication to following God and leading the people to do likewise.  Unfortunately, Jotham’s son, Ahaz, did not follow in his father’s footsteps.  Ahaz indulged in many different types of idolatry.  He did as he pleased with no concern for who might be hurt, even if those who might be hurt were his own children.  The writer tells us that Ahaz sacrificed his own children on the altar of gods whom he pursued out of selfish interest.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 26-28.

Uzziah and his son Jotham had great success as kings of Judah because they did what was right in God’s eyes.  However, Uzziah’s pride led him to attempt to usurp the authority of the priests.  The passage is pretty straight forward, but it seems to me that there was a little more going on than stated.  It seems to me that the incident with Uzziah attempting to burn incense before God was not the first time he rejected counsel to not do that which he desired to do.  However, his son Jotham reigned as a good king. As a result of their faithfulness, Judah was strong under both of these kings.  Unfortunately, Jotham’s son, Ahaz, did not follow in his father’s footsteps.  Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel (the Northern Kingdom).  In fact, he went so far as to sacrifice his own children to the idols he worshiped.  This led to Judah becoming weak and suffering at the hands of other nations.  Ahaz did not learn from his defeats and turn to God, rather he committed even greater idolatry.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 26-28.

Today’s passage describes two kings, father and son, who served God faithfully for most of their reigns (the son for his entire reign).  They strengthened the army and fortified the towns of Judah.  In addition, they defeated the neighboring nations.  However, when the grandson took the throne, he turned from God and instituted Baal worship in Jerusalem once more.  As a result, he was attacked and defeated successively by Aram and Israel.  Instead of turning back to God, he committed himself further to idolatry by closing the Temple.  He sent to Assyria for aid against his enemies.  However, instead of aiding him, the Assyrians saw his weakness and demanded tribute of him.

The successes of Uzziah and Jotham, the father and son who were faithful, is attributed to their devotion to God.  While the disasters which befell Uzziah’s grandson, Ahaz, is attributed to his idolatry.  The faithfulness of Uzziah and Jotham unified their people and led them to follow values which promoted working for the interests of their fellows.  Ahaz divided the people by introducing new gods, whose worship promoted pursuing one’s own pleasure over the interests of others.  Uzziah and Jotham promoted worshiped God, whose covenant called for Him to protect and empower the descendants of Jacob who faithfully worshiped Him.  Ahaz worshiped gods who he thought would give him power, with no concern for others (not even his own sons).