As I Mentioned at the end of the last study, the writers of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles now concentrate almost exclusively on the kings of their own lands.
2 Kings 15 does briefly mention king Uzziah of Judah (which he confusingly refers to by the alternate name ‘Azariah’) so initially we’ll read the account given here.
Read 2 Kings 15:1-7
1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah (Uzziah) son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
5 The Lord afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house. Jotham the king’s son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
6 As for the other events of Azariah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 7 Azariah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in the City of David. And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
As I said, the writer of 2 Kings wants to concentrate on the kings of Israel, and so this account jumps rapidly from verse 4 to verse 5. What had Uzziah done to warrant the Lord afflicting him with leprosy? Well that occupies the whole of 2 Chronicles 26, and we will look at that towards the end of this study.
For now we must stay with Israel, starting with its new king Zechariah – but be prepared for a whirlwind account – rushing on to what is by now the inevitable end of Israel. (This will be a long passage without comment – perhaps it could be shared amongst several readers)
Read 2 Kings 15:8-28
8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for six months. 9 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people, assassinated him and succeeded him as king. 11 The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 12 So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled: ‘Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.’
13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria for one month. 14 Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated him and succeeded him as king.
15 The other events of Shallum’s reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
16 At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria for ten years. 18 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
19 Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. 20 Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy person had to contribute fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and stayed in the land no longer.
21 As for the other events of Menahem’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 22 Menahem rested with his ancestors. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.
23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahia son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for two years. 24 Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. 25 One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.
26 The other events of Pekahiah’s reign, and all he did, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for twenty years. 28 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
In verse 19 we read of an initial raid from Assyria in the far north-west. Although by paying tribute of about 34 tons of silver Menahem was able to satisfy Assyria for the time being, it left him as effectively king of a vassal state.
The name Pul seems to have been simply a name used locally for Tiglath-Pileser III – who was by now the most powerful ruler of Assyria, and who was intent on spreading his empire. He had swallowed up many of the lands in a semi-circle surrounding Israel/Judah from Phoenicia in the north-west, to as far as Egypt in the south. He now began to tighten his grip.
Read 2 Kings 15:29
29 In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.
Here for the first time we see that the practice of taking captives had been developed into a major strategy. By now Assyria regularly deported whole nations to far-off lands. Generally it was only the middle to high-class people who were thus removed, the lower classes were left to work the land.
But records show that at the same time it also meant that captives from other lands were brought in to replace those who had been taken. The intention was that the national identity of each captured land was eliminated, and as a by-product, whole populations could also be introduced into previously undeveloped areas.
Read 2 Kings 15:30-31
30 Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.
31 As for the other events of Pekah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
The writer of 2 Kings now skips quickly over the events in Judah to the south but it is probably best if we now look more closely at what was happening there, returning to Uzziah and the cause of his leprosy. so for now we have to turn to 2 Chronicles.
Read 2 Chronicles 26:1-5
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
Who was Zechariah? Not the prophet who wrote the book of Zechariah 200 years later. Nor was it the priest who had been killed by Uzziah’s grandfather. The best guess is that he was either a priest or prophet – and we should be encouraged that an apparent nobody can have such a major influence for good.
But again, we need to take note of the final phrase: ‘As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.’
Read 2 Chronicles 26:6-15
6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armour, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defences so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.
It is so good to read a record of a good king and all he achieved during his long reign – but again there’s a sting in the tail: ‘until he became powerful.’
Read 2 Chronicles 26:16-18
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, ‘It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honoured by the Lord God.’
Kings who had turned from the Lord before Uzziah, often burned incense to other gods. Here, we are told that in his pride he presumed that as a king enjoying God’s favour, obviously he should be allowed to enter the Temple and burn incense to his God. But God could not be treated like that, his laws could not be casually thrown aside.
The Temple represented the presence of God himself, and as such was to be considered a most holy place. Only those who were directly descended from Aaron could be priests, and only when they had completed the prescribed cleansing and consecration could they enter the Temple. Obviously Uzziah had forgotten what happened to the sons of Korah (Numbers 16), But priestly Azariah knew his responsibilities spelled out in Numbers 18:1-7 and it was deadly serious – that passage ends with ‘Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death’.
Why was that? The Holiness of God is something we too easily forget. How often do we approach him casually as ‘my father’ but forget to take off our shoes because the place where we are standing is holy ground?
‘God’s absolute moral purity often carries the connotation of danger as well. It was a great fear within Israel to get too close to God lest they be overwhelmed by his holiness. God’s presence was a great comfort to Israel while at the same time being a great threat to their own unholy lives.’ Richard Lints https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-holiness-of-god
Read 2 Chronicles 26:19-23
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.
21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house – leprous, and excluded from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, ‘He had leprosy.’ And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
So Sad. Pride in all his achievements swept them away at a stroke. He was banished to live alone, and die alone, and his son had to take the throne from him.
Verse 22 suggests that the reader might want to read Isaiah – so here are some excerpts to whet your appetite!
Isaiah 1:1-2
1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
Isaiah 1:11-13
11 ‘The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me?’ says the Lord.
‘I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
Isaiah 1:18
18 ‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’
says the Lord.
‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Isaiah 6:1-8
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’
And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’
Isaiah 7:13-14
13 Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
Isaiah 53:1-12
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
