(The Kings of Judah)
Long before the first king of Israel sat upon his throne God had given His commandments through Moses as to what he should do. God said to Moses, in Deuteronomy 17, “When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God gives thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me…thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou shalt not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother” (verses 14, 15). God foreknew the whole course of Israel’s history, and ordered what was best for the people that He loved.
Commands for the King
The king was not to multiply horses to himself, which would cause the people to return to Egypt for this purpose, “neither shall he multiply wives to himself,” for the great danger in this was that they would turn his heart away from Jehovah his God. Moreover he was not to “greatly multiply to himself silver and gold,” for there is ever the danger of the heart trusting in acquired riches rather than in the source of all blessing.
With these three prohibitions there was also the positive command, “And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them” (verses 18, 19). The object of this commandment was “that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom he, and his children, in the midst of Israel” (verse 20).
There was nothing grievous about the prohibitions, given in divine goodness and wisdom. God knew the dangers that would beset the king, and forewarned him of them, the prohibitions being divine safeguards for the well-being of the king and his people. How right it was that the king should know God’s law, and walk in the light of it constantly, for in this way he would be a true leader for the people of God, leading them in the paths of righteousness in which they would have the blessing of God.
King David
After Saul had lost his kingdom for disobedience to the commandment of the Lord, David came to the throne of Israel. Although there was failure with David, it could be written concerning him, “David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that He commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5). This is a remarkable divine commendation. Although Psalm 119 is not ascribed to king David, it certainly portrays the thoughts of a man after the Lord’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), which David was.
God’s word was hidden in David’s heart to keep him from evil, and he found that same word to be a lamp for his feet and a light for his path (Psalm 119:11, 105). David was able to say when about to leave this world, “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me” (2 Sam. 23:3). David not only knew the law of Moses, he also had revelations from the Lord. Moreover, at this same time, David was able to say, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue” (verse 2). Beside being the vessel of divine revelation, he was also the instrument of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. It is very plain that David was a king who answered, in large measure, to what God spake of His king in Deuteronomy 17.
King Solomon
The son of David who succeeded him on Israel’s throne made a very good beginning, asking wisdom from the Lord, and praying in a very blessed way at the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8). God was pleased with Solomon’s prayer, and appeared to him, promising blessing on obedience to His statutes and judgments, but warning him of the dread consequences of turning from Him to serve other gods (1 Kings 9:1–9).
Alas, it is written concerning Solomon, “And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt” (1 Kings 10:28), just what God had prohibited in Deuteronomy 17:16; also that “king Solomon loved many strange women…and his wives turned away his heart” (1 Kings 11:1–5), just as the Lord had said they would do in this same portion of Deuteronomy. It is true that God had promised Solomon riches, but “the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones” (1 Kings 10:27), greatly multiplying for himself the riches that were prohibited to Israel’s kings in Deuteronomy 17:17.
In turning away from the commandments of the Lord king Solomon caused his kingdom to be divided (1 Kings 11:9–13), bringing upon himself the anger of the Lord, and the adversaries that the Lord stirred up against him. The foolishnesses of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon was the means of the division of the kingdom, but the departure of his father Solomon from the Lord, and his idolatry, caused the division.
Rehoboam to Jehoshaphat
Rehoboam. The history of the son of Solomon is summed up in the opening words of 2 Chronicles 12, “And it came to pass when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and when he had become strong, that he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him.” Relying upon his own imagined strength, and forsaking the law that had been given for him to write, read and keep, the unwise king learned by discipline that he could not turn away from the Lord and His law with impunity. It was good that he humbled himself (verse 12), but solemn that it had to be recorded that “he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord” (verse 14).
Abijah had a very short reign of three years, and “he walked in all the sins of his father…and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father” (1 kings 15:3). Still, there was reliance upon the Lord, for in the war with Jeroboam, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 13, Abijah speaks of his kingdom as being “the kingdom of the Lord,” (verse 8), and added “the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him” (verse 10). Although the heart of the king was not perfect with the Lord his God, he nevertheless relied, in some measure, on the Lord, and the Lord intervened to help him and his people in their time of need.
Asa. It is refreshing to read of Asa in the beginning of his reign, “And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord his God” (2 Chr. 14:2). Relying on the Lord, he was able to defeat a great Ethiopian army of a million men, and heeding the words of Oded the prophet, “he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin” (15:8). He also removed Maachah, the Queen Mother, “because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.” Although the high places were not “taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days” (2 Chron. 15:16-17).
How very sad that such an excellent reign should be marred towards the close, for when Baasha, the king of Israel interfered with him, instead of seeking the help of the Lord, as he had done when the Ethiopians came against him, he relied on the king of Syria (2 Chr. 16:1–3). When the Lord sent Hanani the seer to reprove him for what he had done, instead of humbling himself and confessing his failure, “Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house” (verses 7–10). Within a very short time he was diseased in his feet, the physical infirmity expressing the moral weakness, “yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.” It was a very sad end to a life that for so long had been prosperous and blessed of God.
Jehoshaphat. Like his father Asa, Jehoshaphat made a very good beginning, and the Lord was with him, “because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; but sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in His commandments, and not after the doings of Israel” (2 Chr. 17:3-4). Not content with being right himself, he sent princes and Levites, “and they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people” (verses 7–9). This was a very blessed start, and it is not surprising to read that “the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.”
At the beginning of 2 Chronicles 18 it is written, “Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab.” How very sad it is to see this good king in association with the evil king of Israel. We cannot doubt that the very prosperity of Jehoshaphat had become a snare to him, as it has to so many. Riches and honour led him into grievous trouble, and brought upon him the rebuke of the Lord from Jehu the seer, who “said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.”
The Lord is jealous of the affections of His people, and for them to seek the friendship of the world is a serious matter with Him. The language of the seer to Jehoshaphat is the language of the Lord to us through the Apostle James, “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).
While the king had been in unholy association with the world, it would seem that the people had also wandered from the Lord, for, after receiving the divine rebuke, the king “went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers” (2 Chr. 19:4). The king did much to repair the harm that his careless walk had wrought, making straight paths for his feet, to bring the lame back into the way of the Lord.
The restored Jehoshaphat is seen at his best in 2 Chronicles 20, when the combined forces of Moab, Ammon and Seir come against him. He seeks the Lord with all his people, and “all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children” (verses 1–13). What a precious scene, how simple and complete the dependence upon the Lord; and we cannot be surprised at the divine answer, “Thus says the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (verse 15). The words that Moses spoke to Israel beside the Red Sea are again heard, “Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (verse 17).
Affected by the assurance of the Lord, the king and his people fall before the Lord in worship; and the singers, praising in “the beauty of holiness” went out before the army, saying, “Praise the Lord; for His mercy endures for ever.” After the Lord caused their enemies to destroy themselves, the people “came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.”
It is very sorrowful to find Jehoshaphat, after such a faithful reign, entering again into an unholy alliance with the king of Israel, “who did very wickedly,” to be again rebuked of God through His prophet. Had Jehoshaphat thoroughly judged himself for his previous failure, in associating with Ahab, it would surely have prevented this lapse with Ahaziah, at the end of his days. But such is man, for even Abraham, who, in Egypt, said that Sarah was his sister, so that he could have an easier path (Gen. 12:10–20), returned to the same subterfuge in the land of the king of Gerar (Gen. 20). Our safeguard is to keep near the Lord, following the guidance of His word and Spirit, and, indeed, His own path, for He has left “us an example,” that we should follow “His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
Even after being rebuked for associating with Ahab and his son Ahaziah, Jehoshaphat once more gets into an unholy alliance with Jehoram the son of Ahab, as recorded in 2 Kings 3, the words of Elisha to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with thee?…” showing what God’s thoughts were of the idolatrous king. Still, because of His servant Jehoshaphat, the Lord intervened and saved the armies from destruction.
Jehoshaphat began his course by strengthening “himself against Israel” (2 Chr. 17:1), but was seduced through the marriage of his son to Athalia, the daughter of Ahab, into unholy alliances with the house of Ahab that brought dishonour to him, and darkened the reign that began so promisingly with patches of unfaithfulness.
God would have us to learn from the failures of His servants. Only by constant vigilance and dependence upon Him can we keep from dishonouring His holy Name. Moreover, when there is failure, it should be thoroughly judged before God, else there is ever the danger of falling again into the same snare. In Christ we have resources that will keep us faithful to Him, and in occupation with the Lord in glory we shall be preserved from day to day.
R. 9.10.67
The Kings of Judah from Jehoram to Ahaz
The reign of king David gave pleasure to the Lord, even if He had to discipline His servant for the dark stain that marred it. God’s word was valued by David as is seen in his memorable “last words”. Solomon began well, but lapsed into idolatry, being governed by his affections rather than by the word of God. Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel followed him in his sorrowful departure; and it was therefore not surprising that Abijah “walked in all the sins of his father.” Asa, made a good start, relying on the Lord, but the close of his reign was spoiled by his reliance on the king of Syria rather than on Jehovah. There was much that was commendable in David, but he merited divine rebukes for his alliances with the house of Ahab.
Jehoram To Joash
Jehoram. One of the sad features of Jehoshaphat’s association with the house of Ahab was that his son Jehoram married Athalia, the daughter of Ahab, with dreadful consequences for the seed of David, for she was characterized by the murderous spirit of Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, who was probably her mother. Association with the world can bring very disastrous results for the families of the saints of God, as is seen here and elsewhere in Scripture.
Being married into the house of Ahab, we are hardly surprised to read that “Jehoram…walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab…and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (2 Chr. 21:6). The murderous spirit of Jezebel is also seen in Jehoram, for when he became strong he “slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel” (verse 4). Such are the awful consequences of turning from the word of God to the ways of the world.
The word of the Lord through His servant Elijah pronounced divine judgment upon the impious king (verses 12–15) for his departure from the ways of his fathers, and for his evil deeds. God’s judgments fell upon the people who followed the evil of the king, and when the prophecy of Elijah was fulfilled in the king’s dreadful death, “his people made no burning for him” and he “departed without being desired, and was not buried in the sepulchres of the kings (verses 16–20).
Ahaziah. All of the eldest sons of Jehoram had been slain by a band of Arabians, and the youngest Ahaziah, was made king by the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In his wickedness, Jehoram had slain all his brethren; in His government, God had allowed all his sons, save one, to be slain. With such a mother as Athalia it is hardly surprising that we read, “He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly” (2 Chr. 22:3).
Ahaziah’s association and close friendship with the king of Israel proved his undoing, for he visited the wounded king of Israel when Jehu, at God’s bidding, executed His vengeance upon the idolatrous and wicked house of Ahab. Along with the princes of Judah and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, the king was slain by Jehu in Samaria. The divine commentary on this is, “And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram” (verse 7).
God’s displeasure at the union of a son of David with the idolatrous house of Ahab was not only marked by these judgments, but also by the exclusion from the genealogy of three generations of the progeny of this unholy alliance (Matt. 1:8).
Joash. After the death of Ahaziah, the murderous spirit of Athalia comes again into evidence, for “she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah” (2 Chr. 22:10). Here was another solemn and grievous result of the marriage into the house of Ahab. It was clearly an effort by Satan to destroy the whole of David’s royal line, to set aside the purposes of God. But God intervened that His purposes might be fulfilled, and Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada, rescued the infant prince Joash from among the slain.
At the end of six years, (during which the child was hidden in the house of the Lord, and the false queen, Athalia, reigned over Judah) Jehoiada brought forth the true king, “put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king” (2 Chr. 23:11). What a day of rejoicing it was: the tyrant queen was slain, and the king was seen with his crown, and with the testimony of God.
While Jehoiada lived, the king was kept in the paths of the Lord, but after his death, the king listened to the princes of Judah, and, with his people, transgressed the commandments of the Lord. When the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada to rebuke this departure from God, at the command of the king the faithful priest was stoned to death. For their sins, the judgment of God came upon Judah, and upon the king, his own servants conspiring and slaying him, while he lay with great diseases upon him. Like his grandfather Jehoram, Joash was not buried in the sepulchres of the kings of Judah.
As a type of the Lord Jesus, hidden in the house of the Lord while the enemy reigns, the early life of Joash is beautiful; taken out of death to await the time of being publicly acclaimed king. Yet how solemn it is to see that once the restraint of the godly Jehoiada is removed, the king, who owed so much to him, soon forgot his kindness, departed from the way of the Lord, and slew the faithful son of God’s faithful priest.
Amaziah to Ahaz
Amaziah, the son of Joash, made a promising start, for it is written of him, “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” but unhappily, it had to be qualified with the words, “but not with a perfect heart” (2 Chr. 25:2). His father had been assassinated by the son of an Ammonitess and the son of a Moabitess, and when the kingdom was established in the hand of Amaziah, he slew the murderers of his father, but, in this action, the king had regard to the “law in the book of Moses, where the Lord commended, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin” (verse 4).
How good it is to see the son of Joash pay heed to the word of God. When he gathered his forces to fight with the Edomites, he very unwisely sought the help of Israel, but listened to the counsel of the man of God, and sent the men of Israel back. God answered his trust in Him, and delivered the Edomites into his hand; but the unwise king brought back the idols of Edom, and fell down before them. For this the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, and He sent a prophet to rebuke and reason with the king, but the king would not listen, saying to the prophet of the Lord, “Art thou made of the king’s counsel? forbear, after having said to Amaziah, “I know that God hast determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel” (verse 16).
As the prophet had warned, the judgment of God fell upon Amaziah. First, the king of Israel defeated him in battle, and took away the gold and silver, and all the vessels of the Lord’s house, and all the treasures of the king’s house. The Lord gave the king a long time in which to repent, for he lived fifteen years after the king who had spoiled Jerusalem; but there does not seem to have been any sign of repentance with Amaziah, for his history closes with the words, “Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there” (verse 27). What a sad end after such a promising start.
Uzziah, like his father, made a good start, for “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did; and he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper” (2 Chr. 26:4-5). So successful was the king that “his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt” (verse 8).
Alas, it had to be recorded, “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense” (verse 16), and because of this the Lord smote him with leprosy. This was very sad, but it shows us what the human heart is. Uzziah did not go after strange gods as his father did, but he profanely disobeyed the command of God in presuming to enter the presence of God in His temple, and to serve as a priest when he did not belong to the priestly family.
There is only One who has the right to be King and Priest, the blessed Son of God, who shall be a “priest upon His throne” (Zech. 6:13) in the day of His kingdom glory, even as He now sits as Priest upon His Father’s throne. It was profanity for Uzziah to endeavour to usurp the prerogative of the Son of God. He had been honoured to sit upon the throne of David, but it was only to the sons of Aaron that the privilege had been given to act as priests in the presence of God in His temple.
The judgment of God on the king manifests how seriously the Lord viewed his action, and it was a judgment from which there was no recall. When Miriam sinned, she was smitten with leprosy, but she was restored at the intercession of Moses; but God has indicated to us the gravity of the sin that presumes to enter His presence as a priest without the qualification that He gives. Do we not have this same presumption today? Are there not those who presume to be the priests of God who have not been born of God, who do not belong to His priestly family? It is a serious matter for them.
Jotham did not have a long reign like his father Uzziah, but there was no grave departure from the course that began. Of him it is written, “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did,” then it is added, “howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord” (2 Chr. 27:2). The king had learned the lesson of his father’s presumption, so did not essay to enter God’s presence in His temple.
Marked by building and conflict, “Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God” (verse 6). How good it is to find a king of Judah ending well, when so many who had begun well finished badly. There is but the one blot on his reign, yet not a personal one, “and the people did yet corruptly” (verse 2). The corruption that had come in through the unholy alliances with the house of Ahab had left their mark, and Jotham, though walking well before God, had not the moral power to put the people right.
Ahaz. Not a single good word is said in Scripture for the son of Jotham, for he “walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim” (2 Chr. 28:2). He “burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen,” and for these and other sins “the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria.” Smitten by the Syrians, by Israel, Edom and the Philistines, he sought the help of the Assyrians, but “Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.”
What a dreadful catalogue of sins Ahaz produced: worshipping before an altar he brought from Damascus, and breaking up the furniture of God’s house and closing its doors; and when he died he was not buried among the kings of Judah.
R. 18.10.67
The Kings of Judah from Hezekiah to Jehoiakin
It is sad to trace the history of the sons of David, and to find so many who started well but who finished badly. Good kings like Asa and Jehoshaphat are numbered among such, as are also Joash, Amaziah and Uzziah. Jehoram who married Athalia followed in the ways of the idolatrous kings of Israel, as did his son Ahaziah. Jotham, the son of Uzziah, may not have had a glorious reign, but he kept personally to the right paths of the Lord; only to be followed by a most wicked son, Ahaz, about whom nothing good is spoken. How brightly the long-suffering of the Lord shines against this dark background, and the yet darker background of the wickedness of the kings of Israel, who followed the idolatrous ways of Jeroboam, if not those of the more wicked Ahab. What lessons there are for us to learn in God’s ways with His people. He is patient, gracious, kind and long-suffering, yet severe in His government with evil, a divine necessity for the safeguarding of His holy Name, and to preserve the righteous.
Hezekiah and Manasseh
Hezekiah. It is a relief to turn from the evil reign of Ahaz to consider that of his son Hezekiah, whose reign, on the whole, was honouring to the Lord. What an excellent start he made, in the very first month of his reign, opening and repairing the doors of the house of the Lord that his father had disfigured and shut. Gathering the priests and the Levites he spoke to them of the evil of the fathers, which had brought upon them the judgment of God, and he set them to cleanse God’s house, and to prepare what was needed for the restoration of the service of the Lord.
What a memorable start there was to the divine service, for “when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also…and all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang…and all continued until the burnt offering was finished” (2 Chr. 29:27-28). The Lord must have found pleasure as the Levites “sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped,” and all was at the command of the king.
Not content with this beginning, Hezekiah sent letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the Lord’s house at Jerusalem to celebrate the passover with his people. Some mocked, but others humbled themselves and came from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulon, and these were richly rewarded, for there was “great joy in Jerusalem” (30:26). It was a time of revival, for they went away from their joyous feast to break the images in pieces, and destroy all connected with idolatry in Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh.
After the destruction of what pertained to idolatry, the king appointed the courses of priests and Levites for the service of God, commanding the people to sustain them, which they did heartily, bringing abundance, so that there was much left over, causing the chief priest to say, “We have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord has blessed His people; and that which is left is this great store” (31:1–10). This Hezekiah did, and more, so that it is written of him, “in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered” (31:21). What a blessed commendation for good king Hezekiah.
It was after these things that the king of Assyria came against Jerusalem, reviling Hezekiah, but also the God of Israel. With Isaiah the prophet, the king cried unto the Lord, who accepted the challenge of Sennacherib, sending His angel “which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he turned with shame of face to his own land,” there to perish at the hands of his own sons (32:21).
Alas that it should have to be written, after the Lord had healed Hezekiah, and granted him fifteen more years of life, “But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem,” but it is good to learn that “Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah” (verses 24–26). God had “left him, to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart” when the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon came; and poor Hezekiah had to learn, as we all have to learn, how wretched the human heart is in its pride.
Manasseh. It is interesting to see that Hezekiah’s son Manasseh was only twelve years old when he began to reign, so was born after Hezekiah had been raised up from his sickness. How different Manasseh was to his father, for he reared up altars to Baalim, worshipped the host of heaven, building altars for them in the court of the house of the Lord. He caused his children to pass through the fire, “used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards,” making “Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen” (2 Chr. 33:1–9); and when God spoke to the king and his people they refuse to listen to Him.
Because of the dreadful wickedness of Manasseh and his people, the Lord brought upon them the forces of Assyria, and the king was bound with fetters and brought to Babylon. In his affliction, Manasseh humbled himself and cried to the Lord who, in His mercy, heard him, and brought him back to this kingdom. Having returned to Jerusalem, he removed the idols from the city, repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed offerings to the God of Israel. How good it is to see what God can produce in a sinner by His discipline.
Although God was so merciful, the evil of Manasseh brought upon the nation the government of God, and even though the judgment was delayed through the piety of Josiah, when it was executed it is written, “Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of His sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon” (2 Kings 24:3-4). When king David sinned, the Lord pardoned his sin, but the government of God on his house took its course. So it was with Manasseh; though God heard and answered his prayer when he humbled himself, the righteous government of God fell upon the guilty nation he had led astray.
Amon and Josiah
Amon. Very little is said, either in 2 Kings or 2 Chronicles about the son of Manasseh who came to his throne. His father had not given him a good example, for “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them” (2 Chr. 33:22). If he followed his father in sin, he did not follow him in repentance, for “he humbled not himself before the Lord,” but, on the contrary, “trespassed more and more.” It is therefore not surprising to learn that he came to an untimely end, for after a reign of two years, he died at the hands of his servants in his own house. There was not one ray of light to brighten the darkness of Amon’s short and evil reign.
Josiah. The darkness of Amon’s reign serves as a background to throw into happy relief the reign of his illustrious son Josiah. It was a time of great weakness, for so many of the kings of Judah had brought down upon the nations the wrath of a patient God who, in long-suffering, waited for signs of true repentance from those who had received so much blessing at His hand. It is therefore refreshing to read that Josiah “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left” (2 Chr. 34:1-2), a divine commendation given to no other occupant of the throne of David.
When but sixteen years old, Josiah sought after the God of David, and, with a zeal matching Hezekiah’s, he purged Judah and Jerusalem from idolatry, burnt the bones of the idolatrous priests upon their altars, and carrying his cleansing work to the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, and even reaching unto Naphtali; then sent his servants to repair the house of the Lord.
While engaged in the service of the house of God “a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses” was found, and brought to the king who, on reading it, rent his clothes, and sent to enquire of the Lord concerning what was written in the law. Huldah the prophetess confirmed that the Lord would bring His judgments upon His people because of their sins, but because the king’s heart was tender, and because he humbled himself on reading the curses of the law, the judgment would be deferred till after his death.
Josiah’s passover was a notable event, even as it is recorded, “Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah” (2 Kings 23:22). What encouragement is this for the saints of these last days. Even amidst the ruin of the church, when the judgment of God is about to fall upon the worthless Christian profession, it is possible to answer to the mind of God, doing that which is pleasing to Him.
Then there is the divine commendation of Josiah personally, “And like him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him” (2 Kings 23:25). It is a remarkable commendation the Lord has given to His faithful servant, for He takes notice of everything that is of Himself, and for Himself, in His people.
After such a life of fidelity to God, how very sad is the end of good king Josiah. The Lord had been with him in his cleansing and repairing of His house, in purging from idolatry the cities of the land, in his restoring the divine worship, and in his outstanding passover. No enemy had been allowed to intrude into the land, or to harm the king and the people who had been restored to Jehovah; yet the good king had unwisely intermeddled with strife that was not his, even after being divinely warned not to do so by the king of Egypt. Josiah does not seem to have thought of consulting the Lord about this matter, and, relying on his own strength, went into battle, only to be mortally wounded and to leave the kingdom to unworthy sons.
Is there not a solemn warning for us here? The Lord has called us to be occupied with His things, not to meddle with the affairs and strife of this world. If the Lord allows the enemy to come against us, our defence is not in any imagined strength of our own. Josiah should have learned the lesson of Hezekiah who did not meddle with strife, but when assailed took the whole matter to Jehovah, so that it became a conflict between the Assyrian and Jehovah, with the utter defeat of the proud and haughty foe.
“Jechonias and his brethren”
Following the good reign of Josiah, three of his sons sat upon his throne, Jehoahaz whom the people of the land made king in the room of his father; Jehoiakim who was made king by the king of Egypt, after he had deposed Jehoahaz, and Zedekiah, who was placed upon the throne of Judah, after Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiachim had been taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoahaz only reigned for three months, but he did not follow his father’s steps, for it is written concerning him “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done” (2 Kings 23:32). Even though his reign was short, what an opportunity he missed. Had he been faithful like his father, his name would have come down to us in the divine record with something of the true fame of Josiah.
Jehoiakim. Little is said about this son of Josiah in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, but both tell us that he did evil in the sight of the Lord, 2 Kings adding that he became the servant of Nebuchadnezzar, but after three years he rebelled against him (24:1). For his sins, “the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon” (verse 2).
There is however a good deal more of the sad story of Jehoiakim in the Book of Jeremiah, and the solemn event that took place in the fourth year of his reign, when Jeremiah wrote his roll by the word of the Lord telling of the impending judgment upon the land, the king and the people. Instead of paying heed to the word of the Lord, the wicked king cut the roll and burned it in his fire. Nevertheless, the words of the book were re-written, and the judgments it foretold came to pass in due course. It is a sad story, and there is not one ray of light to brighten this unhappy and wicked reign.
Zedekiah. The son of Jehoiakim only reigned for three months, and was carried into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, and his uncle, Zedekiah, the son of Josiah was put on the throne of Judah by the king of Babylon. He was the full brother of Jehoahaz who, first of Josiah’s sons, sat on his throne. Like his two brothers, he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.
When he rebelled against the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and his hosts came against Jerusalem and besieged it, and “burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and…brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about” (2 Kings 25:1–10). Here was the execution of the divine judgment which had been long foretold, and long delayed in the long-suffering of God.
As for Zedekiah, “they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon” (verse 7). It was an awful judgment, but having refused the goodness of God he learned of the severity of God (Rom. 11:22).
Jehoiakin
The son of Jehoiakim is also called Jechonias in Matthew 1. His father Jehoiakim is the Jechonias of verse 11, and Jehoiakin the Jechonias of verse 12. We are told in 2 Kings 24:8 that “Jehoiakin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.” It was a very short reign, but long enough for him to manifest what he was, for “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done” (verse 9).
After surrendering to the king of Babylon, he was carried to Babylon, with all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the kings house. It was the prelude to the final judgment carried out in the days of Zedekiah.
R. 24.10.67