What is the meaning of 2 Kings 15:28? And he did evil in the sight of the LORD – The “he” is King Pekah of Israel (see 2 Kings 15:27). Scripture’s yardstick for every ruler is the LORD’s own character; here God declares Pekah’s reign morally bankrupt. – “In the sight of the LORD” reminds us that nothing is hidden from Him (Psalm 33:13–15; Proverbs 5:21). Each king answers not to public opinion but to the all-seeing God. – Evil in this context is active rebellion—turning from covenant faithfulness toward idolatry and injustice (Deuteronomy 29:25–26; 1 Kings 16:25–26). – Consequences quickly followed: within Pekah’s twenty-year reign the nation would suffer heavy losses to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29), illustrating Galatians 6:7—“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked.” and did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit – Jeroboam I set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan to keep the people from worshiping in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28–31: “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”). That counterfeit worship became Israel’s national religion. – Pekah “did not turn away.” No reforms, no repentance—just the same pragmatic idolatry that had snared every northern king before him (1 Kings 13:33–34; 16:19). – The pattern shows how sin entrenches itself when leaders refuse to break with the past. Hosea, prophesying during these years, pleads, “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God” (Hosea 14:1), yet the king stayed the course. – Persistence in Jeroboam’s sin finally led to Israel’s exile (2 Kings 17:21–23), proving God’s warnings true (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64). summary 2 Kings 15:28 paints a sober snapshot of Pekah’s reign: God sees, judges, and records that he stayed on the idolatrous path blazed by Jeroboam. Refusal to repent kept Israel under the shadow of divine judgment and paved the way for national collapse. The verse calls every reader to remember that God’s standard never changes and that lasting blessing comes only by turning from sin to wholehearted obedience. |
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