And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done. Sermons
I. JUDAH WELL GOVERNED. 1. Rule in the fear of God. Jotham proved an excellent ruler. He took warning from his father's example, and "prepared his ways before the Lord his God" (2 Chronicles 27:6). His reign, indeed, was a brief one compared with his father's, and, had time been given, he might have backslidden as had his predecessors. But, so far as it went, his conduct was blameless, except that the high places were still unremoved. If we assume that Jotham's years of rule are reckoned from the time when he took his father's place in the public administration, he cannot have reigned alone for more than five or six years. 2. Religion honored. It is told of him, negatively, that he did not, like his father, enter into the temple of the Lord (2 Chronicles 27:2), and positively, that "he built the higher gate of the house of the Lord." Whereas a wicked ruler like Athaliah broke down the temple, this good king set himself to adorn and strengthen it. In this he showed a laudable zeal for God's honor. 3. The kingdom strengthened. Jotham strengthened the kingdom of Judah in many other ways - by just administration, by extensive works of building, by subjugation of enemies, etc. (2 Chronicles 27:3-6). If the annals of this reign, "written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah," could be recovered, they would show Jotham to be one of the best kings Judah ever had - a worthy son of a very able father. Such rulers are a blessing to a country. Their loss is to be deplored, for there is no guarantee that their successors will be like them. From Jotham to Ahaz the descent is great. II. JUDAH THREATENED. 1. A discordant note. It is said in Chronicles that, notwithstanding Jotham's enlightened and righteous government, "the people did yet corruptly" (2 Chronicles 27:2). It is not easy to purge out evil leaven when once it has got into a community; and the worship of the high places gave opportunity for evil practices to develop themselves away from the center, which was more under the king's eye. The pictures Isaiah now begins to draw for us show that the corruption was not slight. 2. Threatened invasion. To this inward corruption of the people may be attributed the chastisements which God now saw fit to send on Judah. In Jotham's reign they but begin, but in the reign of Ahaz they develop to considerable proportions. In the text we are simply told, "In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the King of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah." These two kings, as we shall subsequently see, had designs upon the throne of Judah. Chastisement is the more deserved when great privileges are given and fail to be improved. - J.O.
And carried them captive to Assyria. A very humbling expression! But this is an aspect of providence we cannot afford, if we be wise men, to ignore. Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, came and carried away all these people captive to Assyria — simply "carried" them. When men have lost their soul, their spirit, their fire, they are simply carted away like so many hundredweights and tons of dead matter. We are not men if we have lost manliness — in other words, if we have lost the indwelling Spirit of God, the force eternal, the seal Divine; we are not then conquered, because to be "conquered" would imply some measure of calculated and rational resistance — we are simply carried away, borne off, as men might carry dead matter. This is the lot of all nations that forget God: this is the lot of every man whose heart ceases to be the sanctuary of the living Spirit: he is but so much bulk; name him in pounds avoirdupois, report him in so many inches and feet of stature and girth; — he has grieved the Spirit; he has quenched the Spirit; henceforth he is to be driven as one of a herd of dumb cattle; he is to be carried as if he were but so much flesh.(J. Parker, D. D.) People Abel, Ahaz, Amaziah, Amram, Aram, Argob, Arieh, Azaliah, Azariah, David, Elah, Gadi, Gileadites, Hoshea, Jabesh, Jecholiah, Jecoliah, Jehu, Jeroboam, Jerusha, Jotham, Maacah, Menahem, Naphtali, Nebat, Pekah, Pekahiah, Pul, Remaliah, Rezin, Shallum, Tappuah, Tiglathpileser, Tirzah, Uzziah, Zachariah, Zadok, ZechariahPlaces Abel-beth-maacah, Assyria, Damascus, Galilee, Gilead, Hazor, Ibleam, Ijon, Janoah, Jerusalem, Kedesh, Samaria, Syria, TirzahTopics Sight, Uzziah, Uzzi'ahOutline 1. Azariah's good reign5. He dying a leper, is succeeded by Jotham 8. Zachariah the last of Jehu's generation, reigning ill, is slain by Shallum 13. Shallum, reigning a month, is slain by Nenahem 16. Menahem strengthens himself by Pul 21. Pekahiah succeeds him 23. Pekahiah is slain by Pekah 27. Pekah is oppressed by Tiglath-pileser, and slain by Hoshea 32. Jotham's good reign 36. Ahaz succeeds him Dictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 15:1-38Library The Twelve Minor Prophets. 1. By the Jewish arrangement, which places together the twelve minor prophets in a single volume, the chronological order of the prophets as a whole is broken up. The three greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, stand in the true order of time. Daniel began to prophesy before Ezekiel, but continued, many years after him. The Jewish arrangement of the twelve minor prophets is in a sense chronological; that is, they put the earlier prophets at the beginning, and the later at the end of the … E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Meditations Before Dinner and Supper. A Living Book In Galilee at the Time of Our Lord The Prophet Micah. The Prophet Hosea. Kings Links 2 Kings 15:34 NIV2 Kings 15:34 NLT 2 Kings 15:34 ESV 2 Kings 15:34 NASB 2 Kings 15:34 KJV 2 Kings 15:34 Bible Apps 2 Kings 15:34 Parallel 2 Kings 15:34 Biblia Paralela 2 Kings 15:34 Chinese Bible 2 Kings 15:34 French Bible 2 Kings 15:34 German Bible 2 Kings 15:34 Commentaries Bible Hub |