mfairlady
mfairlady

2 Kings 14:21 Jonah, Uzziah and Jotham

By Mary Fairchild

Clovermap

1581 Bunting Clover Leaf Map; Israel in the center.

JONAH: during Jeroboam II’s reign, God spoke to the prophet Jonah and told him to go preach repentance to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Jonah was a prophet from Israel. He was not prepared to extend God’s mercy to Assyria. Not only did he despise the Assyrians, but he resented the idea that Israel’s God would be concerned about the people of a foreign nation. Having been clearly called by God to go to Nineveh, Jonah disobediently sailed to Tarshish, but God miraculously used natural means to convince Jonah that he must go to Nineveh.  Jonah preached, and Nineveh repented and believed Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:5-10).

Jonah was displeased with God that judgment did not come, so God again used natural means to teach Jonah a lesson. He prepared a gourd to shade the prophet, and then he prepared a worm to eat the gourd, and finally he prepared an east wind—all to teach Jonah the great value of the souls of men.  The Lord said to Jonah, “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand {120,000} persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand…” (Jonah 4:4-11).

GOD IS IN CHARGE OF THE UNIVERSE. He is the Creator of every human being; and He is personally interested in giving the population of every nation and opportunity to know Him.  Nineveh did not deserve Jonah’s message of deliverance, but God chose to give them the opportunity to know Him.

GOD IS LONGSUFFERING WITH NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS. Israel and Judah overwhelm us by their stubborn disobedience. We are also overwhelmed with the longsuffering and patience of God on their behalf. We should thank God daily for His longsuffering with our nation and with us as individuals. Every nation is accountable to God. It is the nation’s relationship with God that determines its destiny as a nation.

UZZIAH, THE KING AND THE LEPER—2 Kings 14:21-22; 15:1-7; 2 Chron. 26: Uzziah (also called Azariah) began to reign when he was only 16 years old. “….and as long as he {Uzziah} sought the Lord, God made him to prosper” (2 Chron. 26:5). Uzziah’s prosperity blessed the nation of Judah and he became famous throughout the world. The Lord helped defeat the Philistines and the Arabians, and he extended the kingdom southwest to Egypt. With Jeroboam II’s rein in Israel, Uzziah’s recovery of land extended the kingdom to the boundaries of the United Kingdom under David and Solomon. He built fortifications in Jerusalem and other strategic places.

Because he enjoyed agriculture, he dug wells for the cattle and crops. He efficiently reorganized the army of Judah. He supplied weapons, including an ingenious engine that shot arrows and large stones from the fortifications.

“…And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong” (2 Chron. 26:15). When he was famous, prosperous, and powerful, he went into the Temple to perform a ceremony that only the priests were allowed to perform, even though 81 priests had warned him that it was wrong. Because he reacted in anger to their rebuke, God struck him with leprosy. His son Jotham co-reigned with him for 12 years until Uzziah’s death. Uzziah’s leprosy forced him forced him to live in a separate house. He reigned for 52 years, longer than any king before him in Judah or in Israel. Uzziah was a man of enormous success; yet he also became a man of enormous failure. The God who marvelously blesses us can also thoroughly break us. Who or what influences your thinking? What do you read, watch, ….think about? If you want to be truly successful, your thinking must be directed by the Word of God. REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NEVER SO GREAT THAT YOU CAN DISREGARD THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD. Success brings tests into a life. Can you handle the gift of success from God and remain dependent on Him? “…for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.”

2 Kings 15-17; 2 Chronicles 27-28: The end of Jehu’s dynasty—Zachariah (spelled differently from the prophet Zechariah), Jeroboam II’s wicked son, ruled for six months before he was assassinated. His death closed the 100 years of Jehu’s five generations of kings.

2 Kings 15: 13-31: The northern kingdom had several wicked kings for short periods of time.

2 Kings 15:32-38, 2 Chron. 27, 2 Kings 16, 2 Chron. 28: KINGS IN JUDAH—JOTHAM AND AHAZ:

JOTHAM: Jotham ruled in Judah, following his father Uzziah’s good and bad example. He was a great builder. As a military leader, he brought the Ammonites under tribute; however, he was troubled by Rezin, king of Syria. He did not remove the high places, and he failed to worship in the Temple. Isaiah prophesied during his time (also during his father’s and his successors’). Isaiah described Judah’s wickedness in Isaiah 1:1-23. He prospered “because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God” (2 Chron. 27:6).

AHAZ: HIS SON AHAZ, IN CONTRAST TO JOTHAM, REJECTED GOD AND PRACTICED GROSS IDOLATRY, OFFERING HIS OWN CHILDREN AS BURN OFFERINGS. Because Ahaz blasphemed the Lord by embracing idols, the Lord allowed his enemies to overcome him. Two hundred thousand captives were taken to Samaria and allowed to return only because the prophet Oded intervened. The Edomites and the Philistines invaded Judah.

WORKS CITED

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *