What is the meaning of 2 Kings 15:27? In the fifty-second year of Azariah’s reign over Judah • “In the fifty-second year of Azariah’s reign over Judah” (2 Kings 15:27) places the northern events against the backdrop of a remarkably stable era in the south. • Azariah (also called Uzziah, 2 Kings 15:1; 2 Chronicles 26:1) ruled longer than any king of Judah except Manasseh, giving Judah five decades of strength (2 Chronicles 26:6-15). • This time marker reminds us that God tracks history with precision; every kingship unfolds under His sovereign timetable (Daniel 2:21). • While Judah enjoyed continuity, the northern kingdom was caught in rapid regime changes (2 Kings 15:8-26), highlighting the contrast between partial obedience in the south and consistent rebellion in the north (Hosea 4:1-2). Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel • Pekah’s rise came through assassination (2 Kings 15:25). The kingdom he seized was already unraveling spiritually. • His very name becomes a symbol of opposition in Isaiah 7:1-2, where Pekah joins Rezin of Aram to attack Judah—an alliance that Isaiah calls futile because “it will not stand” (Isaiah 7:7). • Pekah “did evil in the sight of the Lord” by perpetuating Jeroboam’s golden-calf worship (2 Kings 15:28; 1 Kings 12:28-30). • God’s longsuffering is evident; rather than ending Israel immediately, He allows another king and another opportunity to repent (2 Kings 17:13). And he reigned in Samaria twenty years • Samaria, founded by Omri (1 Kings 16:24), had become a citadel of idolatry. Pekah’s twenty-year reign indicates outward stability, yet inward decay (2 Kings 17:9-12). • Mid-reign, the Lord sent judgment through Tiglath-Pileser III, who “deported the people to Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29); even significant land loss did not bring national repentance. • The twenty years therefore underscore God’s measured patience: ample time to turn, but steadily marching toward the exile foretold by prophets like Amos (Amos 5:27). • Pekah ultimately fell by another conspiracy (2 Kings 15:30), showing that a kingdom built on violence reaps violence (Hosea 10:13-15). summary 2 Kings 15:27 sets Northern Israel’s new king against Judah’s long-lived Azariah, contrasting faithfulness with unfaithfulness. Pekah’s illegitimate rise, evil practices, and two-decade rule in idolatrous Samaria reveal a nation ignoring God’s patient calls to repent. The verse signals a countdown toward Israel’s fall, proving that the Lord’s historical markers are precise, His warnings consistent, and His judgments certain when a people persist in rebellion. |
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