Bible Commentary: 2 Chronicles 15-35
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 1:49 pm
Bible Commentary for 2 Chronicles 15 thru 35
2 Chronicles Chapter 15
Jehovah sent his prophet, Azariah, to Asa and to all the people over whom he ruled, to encourage them to continue to seek for Jehovah because He would allow Himself to be found by them. He then gave them an example of past events when God’s people had not sought Him, their situation was very distressful as there was unrest everywhere, even the priests were not teaching the law as was their responsibility. Conditions were very unsettled and travel was dangerous. Jehovah was causing this turmoil as it was His way of drawing the people’s attention to the fact that they had left Him and He, in turn, had abandoned them. But if Asa and Judah would continue in their efforts to restore pure worship, then Jehovah would reward their efforts.
This encouraged Asa and he began with greater zeal to rid the land of all forms of idolatry even in cities he had taken from the king of Israel. He repaired the bronze altar of Jehovah that stood in front of the temple. Then, in his fifteenth year, he assembled all the people together to Jerusalem. Among these were Israelites from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon those who had defected to Judah when they saw that Jehovah was with Judah. They offered sacrifices to Jehovah and renewed the covenant to seek Jehovah wholeheartedly and wholesouled and they made an oath to Jehovah to do this. Those who chose to continue in their idolatrous course and refused to seek Jehovah were to be put to death. (Exodus 22:20; Deuteronomy 13:6-9) Because of the efforts of all of the people to seek Jehovah, He gave them rest and there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
2 Chronicles Chapter 16
There appears to be a copyist error in the first verse of this chapter because Baasha’s reign had ended before the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign. Therefore this event must have occurred before the death of Baasha, king of Israel, but the exact date cannot be ascertained. Baasha came up and fortified Ramah in an attempt to prevent anyone leaving or entering Judah. He may have been reacting to the fact that many of his own people were defecting to Judah. Ramah was located five miles from Jerusalem and lay on the main north-south highway. Asa sent silver and gold to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, to induce him to break his treaty with Israel and enter one with Judah. He agreed and began an attack on cities in Israel causing Baasha to withdraw from Ramah. After his withdrawal, Asa sent all the men of Judah to Ramah to remove all of the stones and timber that Baasha was using to fortify this city. He took this material and used it to fortify Geba and Mizpah.
The NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 649, makes this comment on Asa’s actions. “At one stroke Asa thereby sacrificed the results of his own piety (cf. 2 Ch 15:18) and of God’s blessing (14:13-14); he induced a pagan ruler to an act of perfidy (vs 3) and precipitated a pattern of Syrian (Aramaean) intervention into the affairs of Israel that would have disastrous results throughout the succeeding century (cf. 2 Ki 10:32-33; 12:17, 18); and, in the most serious deviation of all, he departed from the Lord by placing his primary dependence ‘on flesh’ (Jer 17:5).”
Jehovah sent Hanani the seer to Asa and told him that because he had relied on the king of Aram and not of Jehovah, he had lost the opportunity to defeat the Aramaean army. Had not Jehovah delivered him from the Cushites and Libyans when he relied upon Him for help? Jehovah keeps his eyes on those whose hearts are complete towards him in order to strengthen them. Asa had now forfeited Jehovah’s help; he would from that day forward be at war. Asa rather than humble himself chose to act in an arrogant manner and he put Hanani in prison and he even turned against some of his own people. When he became ill, he continued in his arrogant ways and refused to inquire of Jehovah regarding his illness. He died in the forty-first year of his rule and was buried in his tomb in the City of David.
2 Chronicles Chapter 17
Jehoshaphat succeeded his father, Asa, and he immediately fortified himself against Israel by putting troops in all of the fortified cities of Judah and those in Ephraim that his father had taken. Early in his reign he began to seek Jehovah and obey His commands and Jehovah strengthened his hand and gave him great wealth. In the third year of his being king, he appointed men to take the Book of the Law and go throughout the towns of Judah and teach the people Jehovah’s requirements. This had far-reaching results. The fear of Jehovah fell on the nations around Judah and they began to pay tribute to Jehoshaphat rather then warring with him. As Jehoshaphat became more powerful, he brought in supplies and stored them in cities in Judah as well as keeping experienced fighting men in Jerusalem to protect it.
2 Chronicles Chapter 18
Jehoshaphat formed a marriage alliance with the king of Israel, whereby Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah, had married Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram. Jehoshaphat was visiting with Ahab when Ahab’s court was urging him to attack Ramoth Gilead. Ahab asked Jehoshaphat if he would go with him to retake Ramoth Gilead from the Arameans. He agreed to go but first he wanted to seek counsel from Jehovah so Ahab brought in four hundred prophets who served Ahab’s wishes although they claimed to be prophets of Jehovah. When Ahab asked them if he should go up against Ramoth Gilead they answered that he should go and God would give him the victory. Jehoshaphat knew these prophets were not inspired prophets, so he asked if there was not a ‘true prophet’ of Jehovah in Israel. Ahab replied that there was one prophet, Micaiah, who always prophesied bad things concerning him. So they sent for Micaiah.
The NIV Bible Commentary, page 652 says of these prophets of Ahab: "These were men who confessedly spoke in the name of the Lord and not of Baal (vv. 5, 10). But it was the Lord in the corrupted form of a golden calf (cf. 13:8); and their words were false (v 22), couched in terms that were calculated simply to please the hearers (v. 12; cf. Mic3:5, 11)."
It further states this concerning true prophets: "The true prophets of Israel were, indeed, distinguished by the fact that they consistenly warned their nation of the results of its sin (Jer 23:22: Mic 3:8)
As the two kings were sitting by the entrance of the gates of Samaria, all the prophets of Ahab were continually prophesying victory for Ahab and his forces. Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns indicating to Ahab that he had the strength to destroy the Arameans.
The messenger who went to bring Micaiah to Ahab told him what the other prophets were saying to Ahab and he urged him to let his word be in agreement with theirs this one time. When he approached Ahab and was asked if they should go to Ramoth Gilead or not, Micaiah said that they should go. But Ahab’s question to Micaiah gave the impression that Ahab was only interested in knowing the truth when nothing could be further from the truth. He was perfectly satisfied to listen to his lying prophets if Jehoshaphat had not wanted to know what Jehovah’s viewpoint was. Ahab’s purpose in saying this was to show Jehoshaphat that Micaiah simply refused to speak kindly to him as his other prophets did. Then Micaiah spoke Jehovah’s words to him. He said: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD [Jehovah] said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”
Micaiah then described a heavenly scene that would show why his prophecy was not in agreement with the words of the other prophets. He said that he saw Jehovah sitting on his throne with all the angels around him and Jehovah asked which of them could come up with a plan that would entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead where he would be killed. One angel came forward and said that he could do it by being a lying spirit in the mouths of all of Ahab’s prophets. Then Jehovah told him that his idea would prove to be successful. Micaiah then said that Jehovah had put a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets because He had determined that Ahab should die. Ahab then ordered Micaiah to be put back in prison and fed bread and water until he returned from the battle. Micaiah then said that if he did return then Jehovah had not spoken to him.
Jehoshaphat wanted to know what Jehovah counseled and he was told but he did not respond in the appropriate way. He went with Ahab to the battle in spite of what the prophet had said. But Ahab obviously did somewhat believe what Micaiah said about him because he chose to disguise himself but encouraged Jehoshaphat to wear his royal raiment. Ben-hadad had given instructions to his commanders to specifically target the king of Israel when the battle began. They mistook Jehoshaphat for Ahab and began pursuing him. But when he cried out to Jehovah, He came to his rescue. The Arameans realized that he was not their target so they left him alone. But Ahab was not so fortunate as Jehovah has taken a hand in this matter. His word to Ahab recorded at 1 Kings 20:42 were about to be fulfilled. An arrow not especially intended for Ahab hit him in a vulnerable place in his armor and wounded him so he told his driver to remove him from the thick of the fighting. As he sat propped in his chariot his blood was flowing onto the floor of the chariot. When he died that evening the battle ended because his troops turned to go to their homes. They did as Micaiah predicted they would. They said: “Every man to his town; everyone to his land.” (1 Kings 22:36)
2 Chronicles Chapter 19
Jehovah sent his prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Jehoshaphat when he returned to Jerusalem to ask him why would he show love to those who hated Him? Jehovah’s wrath would be on him but because he had shown complete devotion to Him by ridding the land of idols, he would allow him to continue to rule. Jehoshaphat submitted to Jehovah's discipline and he began encouraging the people to return to Jehovah by appointing judges in the land to teach God's Laws to them. He urged them to remember to fear Jehovah as they were dispensing His judgements not their own. They were not to be partial, unjust or to take bribes. He also appointed Levites, priests and family heads to form a court of appeals located in Jerusalem to settle disputes and other matters that were too difficult for the local judges to solve. He admonished them to be faithful and wholehearted in the fear of Jehovah. In whatever case they are called upon to render a judgement, they must make sure that their judgement was based upon God’s laws otherwise they would bring wrath upon themselves and their brothers. For the cases that needed to be sent to Jerusalem for arbitration, Amariah the high priests would be the one to consult in any matter that concerned the Law of Jehovah. Ishmael the leader of the tribe of Judah should be consulted in any matter that concerned the king and the Levites would be the officials who would work along with these men.
2 Chronicles Chapter 20
Later Jehoshaphat is faced with a threat from the Ammonites, Moabites and Meunites, a people who lived in Mount Seir. He was told that their army was already in En-Gedi, which is located on the west shore of the Dead Sea. Jehoshaphat immediately proclaimed a fast for all Judah and all the people gathered in Jerusalem to inquire of Jehovah. Jehoshaphat then stood in front of the people and prayed to Jehovah. He acknowledged that Jehovah wass the ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations, no one can take anything from Him. He had driven nations from this land and had given it to the descendants of Abraham, His friend. They had built in it a sanctuary that bore His Name so that whenever they were faced with a calamity, they could stand in front of this temple and call out to Him and He would hear their prayer. This statement was similar to one that Solomon made in his prayer at the dedication of the temple. (See 1 Chronicles chapter 6) Jehoshaphat now states the reason for their standing before Jehovah at this time. The people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir upon whom Jehovah had shown mercy to when Israel came from Egypt in that that He would not let Israel take their land, were now the ones trying to dispossess Israel from their land. Will Jehovah not now judge them? Judah is powerless in the face of this vast army.
Jehovah’s spirit came upon Jahaziel a descendant of Asaph and he said to the assembled people: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” They were to march to the Desert of Jeruel, southwest of Tekoa, and they would take their positions, stand firm and see how Jehovah would give them deliverance. These words were similar to those uttered by Moses before Israel crossed the Red Sea. (See Exodus 14:13) They would not have to fight. Then all the people prostrated themselves before Jehovah and the Levites began to sing praises to Jehovah in a loud voice.
Early the next morning, as they set out for the desert of Tekoa, Jehoshaphat encouraged them to have faith in Jehovah and in his prophets. He then appointed some of the Levites to go ahead of the army singing and praising Jehovah for the splendor of His holiness. As they were singing and praising Jehovah, He set the armies against each other, the Ammonites and Moabites destroyed the men of Mount Seir and then they turned against each other and killed every man his neighbor. When the army of Judah arrived at the desert, they saw only dead bodies everywhere. They found such a great amount of equipment, clothing, and other valuable articles that it took them three days to collect it all. On the fourth day they congregated in a valley later called Beracah, which means praise and was located west of Tekoa. There they offered praise to Jehovah and afterwards returned to Jerusalem where they went straight to the temple and continued offering praise to Jehovah with harps and lutes and trumpets because they were so very joyful at the victory Jehovah had wrought.
When the surrounding nations heard of the great victory Jehovah had accomplished on behalf of Judah, they were afraid of Judah and did not come against them. So Judah enjoyed peace under the rulership of Jehoshaphat. But the people still insisted on worshipping on the high places in spite of the efforts of Jehoshaphat and his appointed judges to teach them the law. They simply did not set their hearts to serve Jehovah wholeheartedly. Even Jehoshaphat did not sever his relations with the wicked house of Ahab. He made a trade agreement with Ahaziah, son of Ahab, to build a fleet of ships for trading with other nations. But Jehovah sent word to him through his prophet Dodavahu to tell him that this venture would not succeed because He was against it. The ships were wrecked before they could bring goods from other lands.
2 Chronicles Chapter 21
Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the City of David after ruling Judah for twenty-five years. Jehoshaphat made his son Jehoram king before he died and he gave his six other sons property throughout Judah as well as gold, silver and other valuable articles. But as soon as Jehoram had become firmly established as king, he killed his brothers. He followed in the ways of the kings of Israel because his wife was a daughter of Ahab. But in spite of the wickedness of these kings, Jehovah did not wipe out the house of David because of the covenant He made with David that there would always be a descendant of his sitting on the throne in Jerusalem.
In Jehoram’s day, Edom and Libnah revolted against Judah’s control because he had forsaken Jehovah. He built the high places throughout Judah causing the people to worship other gods. He received a letter from Elijah the prophet that condemned him for his wickedness. Elijah stated in the letter that Jehovah was going to strike him, his family and everything that he owned with a heavy blow. Jehoram would become very ill with a disease from which he would not recover.
Jehovah then brought the Philistines and the Arabs against Judah. They attacked Judah and carried off all the valuable articles from the palace including his wives and children leaving only the youngest son, Ahaziah, behind. Then Jehoram became ill with a disease of the bowels that brought about his death. He was not mourned by the people as they had done for his father. No one regretted his death because he had caused Judah to suffer miserably under his rule. He was buried in the City of David but not in the tombs of the kings. He had ruled Judah for eight years.
2 Chronicles Chapter 22
The people made Ahaziah, his surviving son, king and he ruled for one year. He followed in the ways of the kings of Israel because his mother, Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, and other members of Ahab's family influenced him. They advised him to join Joram, king of Israel, in his war with the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead. Joram was wounded in this battle and he went to Jezreel to recover from his wounds. Ahaziah visited Joram at Jezreel and they both went to meet Jehu who had just been anointed to be king over Israel by a prophet sent by Elisha. (2 Kings 9:1-13) Jehu killed Joram and then he pursued Ahaziah to Samaria where he was hiding and put him to death. Ahaziah was brought to Jerusalem to be buried only because he was the grandson of Jehoshaphat who had been faithful to Jehovah.
Athaliah now saw an opportunity to become queen of Judah so that she could eradicate worship of Jehovah from the land and install Baalism as the official religion just as her mother, Jezebel, had done in Israel. After she learned that her son was dead, she proceeded to kill all but one of her grandchildren. Jehosheba, a sister of Ahaziah, took Joash and hid him in a storage area before he could be killed. She was the wife of high priest, Jehoiada, and they keep the child hidden at the temple for six years while Athaliah ruled over Judah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 23
When the child was seven years old, Jehoiada made arrangements to have him crowned as king of Judah without the knowledge of Athaliah. He sent the commanders of hundreds to go throughout Judah and gather the Levites and the heads of the families and bring them to Jerusalem. He would let them know what he had in mind to do and to get their support for his plan in order that the line of David would continue on the throne. He arranged for all of the Levites to remain at the temple even those who were going off duty and he assigned them to different posts to keep watch. No one was allowed in the temple area that day other that the priests and Levites. He took the weapons that had been dedicated by David and gave them to the commanders of units of hundreds and stationed them around the temple courtyard to guard the king. He then brought the king into the courtyard and put a crown upon his head and gave him a copy of the Book of the Law. After they anointed him everyone there began to shout, “Long live the king!”
When Athaliah heard the commotion from the temple, she came to the temple and saw the young king crowned and realized that a coup had taken place. She tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!” Jehoiada then told the commanders of the troops to kill her but not in the temple. After she left the temple area, they seized her as she came to the Horse Gate, which was on the grounds of the Palace, and they killed her there.
Then Jehoiada covenanted with the people and the king that they would serve Jehovah and be His people. They then went to the temple of Baal, tore it down, smashed the altars and the idols and killed the priest of Baal who served there. Jehoiada then assigned the priests and Levites their duties just as David had ordered. He stationed doorkeepers at the gates of the temple to keep those out who were not clean. Worship at the temple had all but come to an end during the rulership of Athaliah. Jehoiada then along with the commanders, the family heads, the nobles and the people went into the palace and seated the king on the royal throne.
2 Chronicles Chapter 24
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign and he ruled for forty years. He was faithful to Jehovah all of the years that Jehoiada was alive. Jehoiada selected two wives for him and he had sons and daughters.
During his reign he decided to repair the temple. He called the Levites together and told them to collect the money that they Israelites brought annually to the temple and use that to do the work, but the Levites were slow to act. The king then inquired of the high priest why the Levites were not bringing the contributions so that the work could be done. A comment on verse 5 in the NIV Study Bible says this: “The reason for the tardiness of the priest is not stated (see 1 Ki 12:6-8). The writer of Kings notes that the audience with the priests takes place in the 23rd year of Joash’s reign, when he is presumably no longer the ward of Jehoiada. Resistance on the part of the priests to the reassignment of the temple revenues for repair work may be the underlying cause.”
At the kings command, a chest was placed at the gate of the temple and the people were told to bring the tax imposed on them by Moses (Exodus 30:11-16) to the temple and put it into this chest. When it was full, it would be emptied and returned to its place. The money was given to the men who did the work of repairing the temple. The temple was rebuilt to its original specifications and when it was complete, all of the monies that were left over were used to replace the sacred articles that Athaliah’s sons had taken from the temple and used in their worship of Baal. Worship at Jehovah’s temple was carried on regularly as long as Jehoiada was alive as had been prescribed by Jehovah. Jehoiada died at the age of one hundred and thirty years and was buried alongside the kings because of what he had done in restoring the kingdom to a Davidic heir and his work in restoring true worship.
As soon as Jehoiada died, Joash listened to the officials of Judah and they abandoned the temple of Jehovah and began to worship Asherah poles and idols. This brought on Jehovah’s anger and he sent His prophets to them but they did not listen. Joash even authorized the murder of a son of Jehoiada, Zechariah, who had prophesied against him. He had forgotten all of the kindness that Jehoiada had done for him.
Jehovah brought the Arameans against Judah. They invaded the land and killed all the officials who had been instrumental in encouraging Joash to abandon true worship and left Joash severely wounded. They took the plunder that they found in the land and sent it back to their king in Damascus. Although the Aramean army was small in comparison to the army of Judah, yet Jehovah allowed them to defeat Judah because they had forsaken Him. (Leviticus 26:17) As Joash was recovering, his officials killed him because he had killed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada. He was buried in the City of David but not in the tombs of the kings.
2 Chronicles Chapter 25
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-nine years. His heart was not complete towards Jehovah. When he was firmly established as king, Amaziah put to death the men who had murdered his father, Joash, but he did not put their sons to death with them in harmony with God’s law given to Moses. (See Deuteronomy 24:16)
Edom revolted against the control of Judah and Amaziah mustered his troops together and found that he had three hundred thousand men ready for military service. He also hired one hundred thousand men from Israel to help him. But Jehovah sent a prophet to him to tell him that the men from Israel must not go with him because He was not with Israel. If he insisted on taking them he would lose the battle. So he sent these troops back to their homes but they were enraged with him for doing this. Their anger probably stemmed from the fact that they would lose the opportunity to benefit from the plunder they would have taken from Edom.
He then marched to the Valley of Salt where he killed ten thousand Edomites. He also captured ten thousand alive and they were thrown off the top of a cliff and Edom was subdued. Edom was important to Judah because through Edom, they had access to the southern trade routes. Meanwhile the troops that had been dismissed by Amaziah invaded Judah, killed three thousand people and carried off much plunder.
When Amaziah returned from defeating Edom, he brought back the gods of the Edomites and began to bow down to them and worship them. Jehovah was angry with him and He sent a prophet to him to warn of the consequences of his action. But he refused to listen to the prophet and threatened to kill him if he did not stop prophesying. But the prophet told him that Jehovah was going to destroy him because he refused to listen to His words.
Jehovah allowed him to listen to his advisers who urged him to go to war with Israel, which would be his undoing. So he challenged the king of Israel to meet him “face to face.” Jehoash, king of Israel, responded with a parable. Amaziah’s action was akin to a thistle (Amaziah) demanding a marriage alliance with a cedar in Lebanon (himself); then a wild beast (the Israelite army) came along and trampled the thistle. He warned Amaziah to stay at home so that he would not cause trouble for himself and his country, Judah. His victory over Edom had caused him to become proud and arrogant and his arrogance would not allow him to back down. Jehovah allowed this to take place because Amaziah had brought back the gods of the Edomites to Judah and had proceeded to worship them.
Jehoash, king of Israel, attacked him at Beth Shemesh in Judah, defeated him and took him captive. He brought him to Jerusalem and used him to get into the city. He then tore down a six hundred foot section of the wall of Jerusalem, took all of the gold and silver and other articles from the treasuries of the temple and the royal palace, then, along with some hostages, he returned to Samaria. It cannot be ascertained with any certainty whether he took Amaziah to Samaria or whether he released him before leaving Jerusalem (as Josephus asserts) because Amaziah was ruling in Judah when he was killed. We also learn that Amaziah lived another fifteen years after Jehoash died.
Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, page 207, paragraph 3, asserts this: “Now it happened, that as they were scattered about by the terror that was upon them, Amaziah was left alone, and was taken prisoner by the enemy: whereupon Joash (Jehoash) threatened to kill him, unless he would persuade the children of Jerusalem to open their gates to him, and receive him and his army into the city. Accordingly Amaziah was so distressed, and in such fear of his life, that he made his enemy to be received into the city. So Joash overthrew a part of the wall, of the length of four hundred cubits, and drove his chariot through the breach into Jerusalem, and led Amaziah captive along with him; by which means he became master of Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of God, and carried off all the gold and silver that was in the king’s palace, and then freed the king from captivity, and returned to Samaria.”
He was so unpopular in Judah after this affair that towards the end of his reign when he learned that some in Judah had conspired against him to put him to death, he fled to Lachish. They sent men after him and they put him to death there. He was however brought back to Jerusalem and was buried in the City of David.
2 Chronicles Chapter 26
Uzziah became king at the age of sixteen and he reigned for fifty-two years. It is uncertain when he became co-regent with his father or for how long he served in that capacity before becoming the sole ruler after the death of his father, Amaziah.
King Uzziah was instructed by Zechariah to fear Jehovah and as long as he did this, God gave him success. According to the NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 662: “Uzziah’s mentor, Zechariah, though apparently familiar to Ezra, can no longer be identified today.”
King Uzziah successfully subdued that Philistines even putting Judean settlements in their territories. The Ammonites brought tribute to him and his fame spread. He had become very powerful because Jehovah helped him against all of his enemies.
In addition, Uzziah repaired the walls that Jehoash had pulled down and built and fortified towers along the wall at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate and at other vulnerable places. Since he had large herds and flocks he dug many cisterns in the desert. He kept large fields and vineyards because he loved the soil.
He had a well-trained army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred men with twenty-six hundred leaders over them. The army was kept well supplied with the necessary equipment. He pioneered the use of certain advanced weapons to hurl arrows and large stones a great distance. All of this helped to make him a very powerful ruler.
But after King Uzziah became powerful, he allowed pride to bring about his downfall. (Proverbs 16:18) He went into the Holy Place to burn incense on the Altar of Incense, something that was exclusively a priestly function. The chief priest along with eighty other priests followed him into the Holy Place and told him that he had no right to burn incense and that he was acting unfaithfully before Jehovah. He became enraged at the priests but at that moment Jehovah struck him with leprosy on his forehead. The priests hurriedly got him out of the temple and he was leprous until the day he died. He had to live in a separate house and his son, Jotham, became his co-regent and took over his duties before the people. The prophet Isaiah recorded all the events of Uzziah’s rule, but these records are not available today. When Uzziah died, he was not buried in the tombs of the kings but in a field that belonged to the kings of Judah.
Although the two kingdoms enjoyed much prosperity under the rulerships of Uzziah and Jeroboam I of Israel, there was always an underlying presence of spiritual and moral corruption. Therefore Jehovah continued to send His prophets to warn His people of the danger they were facing. Among these prophets were Isaiah, Amos and Hosea.
2 Chronicles Chapter 27
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became the sole ruler and he ruled for sixteen years. Although he did what was right in Jehovah’s eyes, the people did not discontinue their idolatrous practices upon the high places. His major triumph was against the Ammonites who he conquered and exacted tribute from in the amount of a hundred talents of silver and much wheat and barley yearly, which they paid for three years.
Jotham did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel, which lay in the old part of the city of David and he repaired the Upper Gate of the temple. He continued to serve Jehovah and Jehovah made him powerful. He died at the age of forty-one and was buried in the City of David. Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 28
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and he ruled for sixteen years. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; he cast idols for worship of the Baals, burned his children in the fire to Molech and burned incense at the high places, on hilltops and under spreading trees. He did everything in his power to offend Jehovah; therefore, Jehovah handed him over to the king of Aram who took many Judeans captive to the land of Damascus. Jehovah also allowed the king of Israel, Pekah, to defeat Judah, killing one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in one day. Israel also took captive many of the wives, sons and daughters from Judah, along with much plunder, and brought them back to Samaria. But Jehovah sent the prophet Oded to meet the army when they returned to Samaria and told them that even though Jehovah had given them victory over Judah because of their unfaithfulness, they had gone far beyond what He had purposed. They were to send the people back or Jehovah’s fierce anger would be against them. Even some of the elders when they saw the army bringing prisoners back from Judah admonished them to send them back unless they would add to the guilt they were already facing. The soldiers acquiesced and those who were designated to help clothed the prisoners who were naked, gave them food and drink and sent them back to their countrymen at Jericho.
When the Edomites and the Philistines besieged King Ahaz, he did not turn to Jehovah but to the king of Assyria who did more harm to him than good. He took articles from the treasuries of the temple, the royal palace and from some of the princes and sent them to the Assyrian king but it availed him nothing. He closed up the temple and put altars to the Assyrian gods in the temple court and began worshipping them. (2 Kings 16:10-14) When he was threatened by the alliance of the king of Israel and the king of Aram, he refused to listen to Jehovah when he sent the prophet Isaiah to him. (Isaiah 7:1-17) When he died at thirty-six years of age, he was buried in the city of David but not in the tombs of the kings of Judah. Other prominent prophets during this time period were Hosea and Micah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 29
Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. He righteously followed Jehovah in the manner of his forefather, David. God's Word states of Hezekiah's rule:
"And he kept doing what was right in Jehovah's eyes, according to all that David his forefather had done." -- 2 Chronicles 29:2
Also 2 Chronicles 31:20, 21 states of Hezekiah's reign:
"And Hezekiah proceeded to do like this in all Judah, and he continued to do what was good and right and faithful before Jehovah his God. And in every work that he started in the service of the house of the [true] God and in the law and in the commandment to search for his God, it was with all his heart that he acted, and he proved successful."
Immediately upon Hezekiah's sitting on the throne, he opened the doors of the temple and made repairs to it. He assembled the priests and Levites and told them to consecrate themselves and then consecrate the temple of Jehovah removing all the articles that had defiled it. He reminded them that previous kings had closed the doors of the temple, discontinued the regular burnt offerings, the burning of incense and put out the lamps that were to burn continuously and that this had brought Jehovah’s anger upon them. They had become an object of dread and horror and scorn as they should recognize; otherwise why would their wives and children live in captivity in Damascus, Philistia, Edom and Samaria. He told them that he was going to make a covenant with Jehovah so that His fierce anger would turn away from the nation.
Then the Levites assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves and purified the temple. They brought out from the temple sanctuary everything unclean and took it to the Kidron Valley. They took sixteen days to finish the work. They reported to Hezekiah that the work had been accomplished, the temple and its sacred articles were consecrated.
Early the next morning, Hezekiah gathered the officials of the city and they went to the temple to rededicate it by offering the appropriate sacrifices. The priests followed Jehovah’s Law to the letter in offering the sacrifices on the altar. The sin offering was presented before the king and the assembly and they laid their hands on them and the priests sprinkled the blood on the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place as well as at the base of the Copper Altar to atone for the sins of all Israel. (Leviticus 4:13-21)
The Levites who were the musicians were stationed in the temple as David, Gad and Nathan had set out in accordance with Jehovah’s instruction. While the burnt offerings were being made Hezekiah had the musicians accompany the priest in their duty and all those assembled bowed in worship to Jehovah. Hezekiah then asked the musicians to offer praise to Jehovah using the words written by David and Asaph. After they completed the services, Hezekiah told the people that they had dedicated themselves to Jehovah so they could now bring sacrifices to offer to Jehovah. Those whose hearts motivated them did so.
They brought for the burnt offering seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs. The total number of animals prepared for the offering was six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. Because there were not enough priests consecrated to prepare these sacrifices, the Levites agreed to help until everything was done. Hezekiah had successfully reestablished the service at the temple and the people rejoiced because Jehovah had brought this about.
2 Chronicles Chapter 30
Hezekiah and his officials decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. (Numbers 9:10, 11) He then decided to issue an invitation to people from Israel and Judah to come and celebrate the Passover. So he sent couriers throughout Israel from Dan to Beersheba with letters from the king and his officials proclaiming this celebration. He was concerned because those in Israel had not come to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast in nearly two hundred years as their kings had prohibited them from doing so. But Israel was now subject to Assyrian siege because Hoshea had been paying tribute to the Assyrian king but the king later learned that Hoshea had been making overtures to Egypt for help, so he was likely to attack Israel at any moment. Israel’s king was now in no position to stop his people from going to Jerusalem if they wanted to and Hezekiah was well aware of this situation.
In his letter, Hezekiah urged the people to return to Jehovah so that He would return to them. They should not to be like their fathers and brothers, many of whom were already in captivity, and who had been made an object of horror just as Jehovah had stated would happen if they were unfaithful. (Deuteronomy 28:25) If they would come to the sanctuary and if they would serve Jehovah, His fierce anger would turn away from them. Their captors would show compassion to their brothers and their children, who were now in captivity, and Jehovah would bring them back to the land because He was a very compassionate God. He would not turn away from those who returned to him. (1 Kings 8:45-50) The couriers went as far north as Zebulun and for the most part, the people scorned and ridiculed the request but some in Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun did humble themselves and came to Jerusalem. Those in Judah were united in desiring to carry out the king’s wishes in this matter because Jehovah’s hand was on them.
A great crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Many of the Levites and priests who had not consecrated themselves became ashamed because of the zeal of the people and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings and then took up their regular positions. The Passover lambs were slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the second month and the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. Normally the heads of families would slaughter the lamb and give the blood to the priest. But many from the Northern Kingdom were unclean and could not do this. So the Levites would slaughter the lambs for them. In order that those who were unclean would be able to eat the sacrificial lamb and it be acceptable to Jehovah, Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah that He would pardon the sins of those who had set their hearts on seeking Him. Jehovah heard his prayer and He healed the people. So they all ate the Passover lamb that day.
Then they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for its prescribed period of seven days. There was great rejoicing as the Levites sang praises to Jehovah accompanied by those playing on the instruments. Hezekiah encouraged the Levites who showed that they knew exactly how the celebration should be carried out. Even for the priests and Levites it had been awhile since this celebration had been held at the temple. After the seven days were complete, the whole assembly agreed that they should stay and continue the feast for another seven days. Hezekiah and his officials provided thousands of bulls, sheep and goats for the assembly so that they could participate in the celebration. A great number of priests were encouraged by this joyous occasion and they too consecrated themselves. The joy experienced at this time by those who came to this celebration had not been experienced since the days of Solomon.
2 Chronicles Chapter 31
The people were in such high spirits that they went throughout the towns of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh smashing sacred stones, cutting down Asherah poles, destroying high places and altars built for idolatrous worship. Afterwards they returned to their homes.
Hezekiah then reestablished the twenty-four rotating divisions for the priests and Levites that David had initiated for the orderly service of the worship of Jehovah at the temple. He supplied from his own provisions sufficient animals for the various offerings such as the continual daily burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the New Moons and other appointed feasts. He ordered the people to bring the tithes so that the priests and Levites could have their provisions and so could devote themselves wholly to Jehovah’s service. They begin bringing the firstfruits of the herds and the flock, and the grain, new wine, oil and honey in the third month and continued until the seventh month. They brought so much that it began to pile up and Hezekiah, when he saw this overflow, spoke to the high priest, Azariah, about this. The priest told him that because Jehovah had blessed the people they were bringing more than enough and this was what was left over. Hezekiah then told him to prepare storerooms for these contributions, tithes and dedicated things and put some of the Levites in charge of these rooms.
They then began distributing these tithes among the priests and Levites in their towns according to their names in the genealogical records, all those who performed the daily duties of the temple service in accordance with their divisions. They were given sufficient provision so that they could feed their families also. Hezekiah did what was right, good and faithful in all that he undertook in the service of Jehovah’s temple in harmony with Jehovah’s laws and commands. Because he sought Jehovah and worked wholeheartedly, Jehovah caused him to prosper.
2 Chronicles Chapter 32
Ezra does not mention the events that led up to the Assyrian invasion as does the writer of Kings at 2 Kings 18:13-16. In his fourteenth year as king, Hezekiah was faced with a threat from the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. He had laid siege to the fortified cities of Judah intending to take them for himself. When Hezekiah realized that the Assyrian king intended to make war on Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials to see what could be done to make sure that the Assyrian army would not find sufficient water when they came to Jerusalem. They decided to block off the water from the springs that flowed into Jerusalem. He also fortified the broken sections of the wall even building a second wall outside the original one. He made a large number of weapons and shields. He appointed military officers and assembled them before him in the square and encouraged them saying to them to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid of the king of Assyria and his vast army. He has only an arm of flesh but Judah has Jehovah their God to protect them.
The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 8, page 451 says this of Hezekiah’s preparations. “Hezekiah made preparation for the decisive struggle with Assyria by strengthening his forces and defenses internally and by making alliances against Assyria. He assured the supply of water to Jerusalem by closing off the outlet of the Gihon spring, which was outside the walls of Jerusalem, and diverting the spring water by means of a tunnel to the pool of Siloam, which was situated within the city walls. (II Kings 20:20; Isa. 22:9-11; II Chron. 32:30) The passage in 1 Chronicles 4:41, perhaps warrants the conclusion that a census was taken during his reign in connection with the military preparation throughout Judah.”
The prophet Isaiah took issue with Hezekiah because of all these preparation as he appeared to be relying on human ingenuity rather than on Jehovah. His words to him are recorded at Isaiah 22:7-14.
When Sennacherib and his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with a message for Hezekiah and all the people of Judah. He said to the people of Judah that Hezekiah was deceiving them when he told them that Jehovah would deliver them from his hand. He stated that none of the gods of the other nations had been able to deliver their people from his hand so how is Jehovah any different from them. Sennacherib’s officers spoke many other words against Jehovah and Hezekiah. He considered Jehovah to be no more than the lifeless gods of the nations that he had conquered.
Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed to Jehovah about these taunts and threats against Him and He sent his angel who destroyed all the fighting men and the officers of the Assyrian army. Sennacherib returned to his country in disgrace and later two of his sons killed him. (Isaiah 37:36-38) Jehovah saved His people from the Assyrians and other nations not because of their righteousness but because the Assyrians had reproached his great Name. At Isaiah 38:35, He said: “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” Hezekiah became highly regarded by all the nations around him and they brought him valuable gifts.
Hezekiah became ill and was about to die but he prayed to Jehovah and He extended his life for another fifteen year. (Isaiah 38:1-8) Hezekiah allowed his heart to become proud and became unresponsive to Jehovah and this brought His wrath on Jerusalem and Judah. But later he did repent and Jehovah did not bring His wrath on the city in his day.
Jehovah blessed Hezekiah with many riches. He had silver and gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuables. He made storage building to house his grain, new wine and oil. He made stalls for his cattle and pens for his flock.
When envoys were sent to him from the king of Babylon to inquire about the miracle that Jehovah had wrought in Judah, Jehovah left him so as to find out what was in his heart. As we learned in Isaiah chapter 39, he failed this test that Jehovah allowed to come upon him. He was honored by all the people when he died and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
2 Chronicles Chapter 33
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to rule and he ruled for fifty-five years. He did all he could to completely eradicate all the good works his father had accomplished. He practiced all of the sins of the Canaanites that Jehovah had driven from the land. He rebuilt the high places, erected altars to Baal, put an Asherah pole in the temple, bowed down to the stars, built pagan altars in the temple courtyard, sacrificed his sons in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination and shed much innocent blood in Jerusalem. (See Numbers 35:33, 34) He even put a carved image in the temple. He led Judah so far astray that it was said of them that they were worse than the nations that Jehovah had driven from the land.
Jehovah sent his prophets to warn him but he paid no attention. Jehovah brought some Assyrian army commanders against him and they captured him and took him to Babylon as a common slave. While he was in prison, he humbled himself before Jehovah and Jehovah was merciful towards him and restored him to his kingdom. (See Leviticus 26:44, 45) He now recognized Jehovah as the true God.
After he was released from prison and returned to Jerusalem, he got rid of all the idols that he had set up and he removed the disgusting image he had put in the temple. He removed all the altars that he had built and threw them outside the city. He restored Jehovah’s altar and began sacrificing fellowship and thanks offerings on it. He encouraged the people to serve Jehovah but they continued to sacrifice at the high places although they claimed that they were worshipping Jehovah at these places. But he could not atone for the innocent blood that he had shed in Jerusalem. (2 Kings 23:26) When Manasseh died, his son Amon began to rule in his place.
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king and he ruled for two years. Amon did not reform when his father did. He reverted to doing all of the evil things his father had done. He never humbled himself before Jehovah so He allowed his officials to conspire against him and put him to death. The people then made his son Josiah king in his place.
2 Chronicles Chapter 34
Josiah was eight years old when he became king and he ruled for thirty-one years. He is the only Judean king (other than Hezekiah) of whom it was said he righteously "walked in the ways of David his forefather." (2 Chronicles 29:2) God's Word states this vital fact about Josiah's righteous rule,
"And he proceeded to do what was right in Jehovah's eyes and walk in the ways of David his forefather; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left." -- 2 Chronicles 34:2
In his eighth year of rule, he began to seek Jehovah and in his twelfth year he began to purge Jerusalem of the idolatrous images that his father had placed there. They were all either crushed or cut to pieces and taken and spread over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He burned the bones of the priests on the altars to desecrate them. He even went into towns in Ephraim and Manasseh and tore down the altars and shrines that were there. In his thirteenth year, Jehovah caused his prophet Jeremiah to begin his ministry. (Jeremiah 1:2)
In his eighteenth year, he sent certain men to Hilkiah the high priest to give him money to pay the men for the work of repairing the temple. The workers had to buy dressed stone and timber for the joists and beams for the temple as the previous kings had allowed it to fall into ruin.
During this restoration work on the temple, Hilkiah, the high priest made an amazing discovery. He found the actual "Book of Jehovah's Law by the hand of Moses," indicating it was the original copy...a rare find indeed. Immediately after finding it in the temple, Hilkiah gave it to Shaphan, the king’s secretary who told King Josiah about it. Then, the king had him read the words in the Book of the Law to him. After hearing what had been written in the book, he tore his garments.
Shortly thereafter, the king sought word from God, by sending High Priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah to the prophetess, Huldah, to inquire of Jehovah with reference to the words written in the Law. He knew that Jehovah was very angry with Judah because they had not obeyed the words of this Law. This bible account shows men, male leadership, even the King and High Priest of Israel, humbly accepted counsel and direction from any divine source provided, whether this proved to be male or female. No, they had no reservations in doing so.
Therefore, the inspired prophetess told them what Jehovah said. She stated, Jehovah was going to bring disaster on Judah and its people because they had forsaken Him and had worshipped other gods and His anger would not be quenched. But because King Josiah had responded to these words by weeping and humbling himself when he learned what was going to happen to the people because of their disobedience, He would not bring this disaster during his lifetime. The men returned to Josiah and told him what the prophetess had said.
The king called all the elders and the people together and they went up to the temple along with the priests and the Levites. He read to them from the Book of the Law that had been found in the temple. He then pledged to follow Jehovah and keep His commands, regulations and decrees, then he had the people pledge themselves to do this also. Josiah then removed all traces of idolatry from Judah and Israel. During his lifetime the people did not fail to serve Jehovah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 35
During Josiah’s eighteenth year of reign, a great Passover celebration was held, perhaps the greatest one celebrated since Israel became a monarchy. Josiah instructed the Levites to put the ark back in the Most Holy, which had been constructed for it. They were not to carry it around on their shoulders as had been done during the wilderness trek under Moses. It is believed that it was removed from its place during the days of Manasseh and taken to a place for safekeeping. They were then told to organize themselves by their divisions in accordance with the instructions written down by David.
The Levites were to slaughter the Passover lamb for the people, give the blood to the priests to sprinkle on the altar, then they were to skin the animals and roast them. Josiah and his officials had supplied enough animals for the people to use as their burnt offerings and the heads of the Levites had provided animals for the priests and the Levites. Josiah had organized everything ahead of time so that the celebration would run smoothly.
After the people were served, the Levites prepared the Passover animals for their brothers who were on duty such as the priests, the musicians and the gatekeepers. So everyone was able to participate in this celebration. It was unlike any Passover that had been celebrated since the days of Samuel.
Later Josiah took his army to Megiddo to intercept the Egyptian army that was on its way to the Euphrates River to help the Assyrian army in their fight against the Babylonians. He was killed by the Egyptians and was brought back to Jerusalem to be buried.
Regarding Josiah’s death, the Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 10, page 291, has this to say: “Assyria, weakened by her struggles with Babylon found the Egyptians as allies. In 616 BCE the Egyptians went up north to help the Assyrians but to no avail. After the fall of Nineveh in 612, the Assyrian army consolidated its position in the western part of the empire, Harran and Carchemish. This time they were assisted by the newly enthroned Egyptian king, Neco II, who in the summer of 609 marched with a large force to help the Assyrians retake Harran from the Babylonians. At Megiddo, now ruled by Josiah, Josiah tried to stop the Egyptian armies. It is not known exactly what were the motives for this dangerous action. It may have been that Josiah was bound by a treaty with the Babylonians or that he feared the revival of the Assyrian power. At any rate it was an act of suicide.”
Please note: In 609 bce the Babylonians, at the battle of Harran against the Assyrians, proved victorious, under King Nebopolassar (father of Nebuchadnezzar). Thus, by the permission of Jehovah God, the nation of Babylon was from that point on granted a special 70-Year Domination over all the earth, starting from 609 bce up to 539 bce, when the Babylonians fell to the Medes and Persians. (See article Jerusalem's Destruction Date of 607 Re-examined for a full discussion of the special 70 Year Period granted Babylon.) -- Jeremiah 25:12; Jeremiah 29:10
His death was a great loss to the nation and Jeremiah, the prophet, wrote laments for him. It became a tradition to commemorate his death by singing these laments.
NOTE: All cited scriptures in this commentary were taken from the New International Version.
***©2005 by YORWW Congregation
2 Chronicles Chapter 15
Jehovah sent his prophet, Azariah, to Asa and to all the people over whom he ruled, to encourage them to continue to seek for Jehovah because He would allow Himself to be found by them. He then gave them an example of past events when God’s people had not sought Him, their situation was very distressful as there was unrest everywhere, even the priests were not teaching the law as was their responsibility. Conditions were very unsettled and travel was dangerous. Jehovah was causing this turmoil as it was His way of drawing the people’s attention to the fact that they had left Him and He, in turn, had abandoned them. But if Asa and Judah would continue in their efforts to restore pure worship, then Jehovah would reward their efforts.
This encouraged Asa and he began with greater zeal to rid the land of all forms of idolatry even in cities he had taken from the king of Israel. He repaired the bronze altar of Jehovah that stood in front of the temple. Then, in his fifteenth year, he assembled all the people together to Jerusalem. Among these were Israelites from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon those who had defected to Judah when they saw that Jehovah was with Judah. They offered sacrifices to Jehovah and renewed the covenant to seek Jehovah wholeheartedly and wholesouled and they made an oath to Jehovah to do this. Those who chose to continue in their idolatrous course and refused to seek Jehovah were to be put to death. (Exodus 22:20; Deuteronomy 13:6-9) Because of the efforts of all of the people to seek Jehovah, He gave them rest and there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
2 Chronicles Chapter 16
There appears to be a copyist error in the first verse of this chapter because Baasha’s reign had ended before the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign. Therefore this event must have occurred before the death of Baasha, king of Israel, but the exact date cannot be ascertained. Baasha came up and fortified Ramah in an attempt to prevent anyone leaving or entering Judah. He may have been reacting to the fact that many of his own people were defecting to Judah. Ramah was located five miles from Jerusalem and lay on the main north-south highway. Asa sent silver and gold to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, to induce him to break his treaty with Israel and enter one with Judah. He agreed and began an attack on cities in Israel causing Baasha to withdraw from Ramah. After his withdrawal, Asa sent all the men of Judah to Ramah to remove all of the stones and timber that Baasha was using to fortify this city. He took this material and used it to fortify Geba and Mizpah.
The NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 649, makes this comment on Asa’s actions. “At one stroke Asa thereby sacrificed the results of his own piety (cf. 2 Ch 15:18) and of God’s blessing (14:13-14); he induced a pagan ruler to an act of perfidy (vs 3) and precipitated a pattern of Syrian (Aramaean) intervention into the affairs of Israel that would have disastrous results throughout the succeeding century (cf. 2 Ki 10:32-33; 12:17, 18); and, in the most serious deviation of all, he departed from the Lord by placing his primary dependence ‘on flesh’ (Jer 17:5).”
Jehovah sent Hanani the seer to Asa and told him that because he had relied on the king of Aram and not of Jehovah, he had lost the opportunity to defeat the Aramaean army. Had not Jehovah delivered him from the Cushites and Libyans when he relied upon Him for help? Jehovah keeps his eyes on those whose hearts are complete towards him in order to strengthen them. Asa had now forfeited Jehovah’s help; he would from that day forward be at war. Asa rather than humble himself chose to act in an arrogant manner and he put Hanani in prison and he even turned against some of his own people. When he became ill, he continued in his arrogant ways and refused to inquire of Jehovah regarding his illness. He died in the forty-first year of his rule and was buried in his tomb in the City of David.
2 Chronicles Chapter 17
Jehoshaphat succeeded his father, Asa, and he immediately fortified himself against Israel by putting troops in all of the fortified cities of Judah and those in Ephraim that his father had taken. Early in his reign he began to seek Jehovah and obey His commands and Jehovah strengthened his hand and gave him great wealth. In the third year of his being king, he appointed men to take the Book of the Law and go throughout the towns of Judah and teach the people Jehovah’s requirements. This had far-reaching results. The fear of Jehovah fell on the nations around Judah and they began to pay tribute to Jehoshaphat rather then warring with him. As Jehoshaphat became more powerful, he brought in supplies and stored them in cities in Judah as well as keeping experienced fighting men in Jerusalem to protect it.
2 Chronicles Chapter 18
Jehoshaphat formed a marriage alliance with the king of Israel, whereby Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah, had married Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram. Jehoshaphat was visiting with Ahab when Ahab’s court was urging him to attack Ramoth Gilead. Ahab asked Jehoshaphat if he would go with him to retake Ramoth Gilead from the Arameans. He agreed to go but first he wanted to seek counsel from Jehovah so Ahab brought in four hundred prophets who served Ahab’s wishes although they claimed to be prophets of Jehovah. When Ahab asked them if he should go up against Ramoth Gilead they answered that he should go and God would give him the victory. Jehoshaphat knew these prophets were not inspired prophets, so he asked if there was not a ‘true prophet’ of Jehovah in Israel. Ahab replied that there was one prophet, Micaiah, who always prophesied bad things concerning him. So they sent for Micaiah.
The NIV Bible Commentary, page 652 says of these prophets of Ahab: "These were men who confessedly spoke in the name of the Lord and not of Baal (vv. 5, 10). But it was the Lord in the corrupted form of a golden calf (cf. 13:8); and their words were false (v 22), couched in terms that were calculated simply to please the hearers (v. 12; cf. Mic3:5, 11)."
It further states this concerning true prophets: "The true prophets of Israel were, indeed, distinguished by the fact that they consistenly warned their nation of the results of its sin (Jer 23:22: Mic 3:8)
As the two kings were sitting by the entrance of the gates of Samaria, all the prophets of Ahab were continually prophesying victory for Ahab and his forces. Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns indicating to Ahab that he had the strength to destroy the Arameans.
The messenger who went to bring Micaiah to Ahab told him what the other prophets were saying to Ahab and he urged him to let his word be in agreement with theirs this one time. When he approached Ahab and was asked if they should go to Ramoth Gilead or not, Micaiah said that they should go. But Ahab’s question to Micaiah gave the impression that Ahab was only interested in knowing the truth when nothing could be further from the truth. He was perfectly satisfied to listen to his lying prophets if Jehoshaphat had not wanted to know what Jehovah’s viewpoint was. Ahab’s purpose in saying this was to show Jehoshaphat that Micaiah simply refused to speak kindly to him as his other prophets did. Then Micaiah spoke Jehovah’s words to him. He said: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD [Jehovah] said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”
Micaiah then described a heavenly scene that would show why his prophecy was not in agreement with the words of the other prophets. He said that he saw Jehovah sitting on his throne with all the angels around him and Jehovah asked which of them could come up with a plan that would entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead where he would be killed. One angel came forward and said that he could do it by being a lying spirit in the mouths of all of Ahab’s prophets. Then Jehovah told him that his idea would prove to be successful. Micaiah then said that Jehovah had put a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets because He had determined that Ahab should die. Ahab then ordered Micaiah to be put back in prison and fed bread and water until he returned from the battle. Micaiah then said that if he did return then Jehovah had not spoken to him.
Jehoshaphat wanted to know what Jehovah counseled and he was told but he did not respond in the appropriate way. He went with Ahab to the battle in spite of what the prophet had said. But Ahab obviously did somewhat believe what Micaiah said about him because he chose to disguise himself but encouraged Jehoshaphat to wear his royal raiment. Ben-hadad had given instructions to his commanders to specifically target the king of Israel when the battle began. They mistook Jehoshaphat for Ahab and began pursuing him. But when he cried out to Jehovah, He came to his rescue. The Arameans realized that he was not their target so they left him alone. But Ahab was not so fortunate as Jehovah has taken a hand in this matter. His word to Ahab recorded at 1 Kings 20:42 were about to be fulfilled. An arrow not especially intended for Ahab hit him in a vulnerable place in his armor and wounded him so he told his driver to remove him from the thick of the fighting. As he sat propped in his chariot his blood was flowing onto the floor of the chariot. When he died that evening the battle ended because his troops turned to go to their homes. They did as Micaiah predicted they would. They said: “Every man to his town; everyone to his land.” (1 Kings 22:36)
2 Chronicles Chapter 19
Jehovah sent his prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Jehoshaphat when he returned to Jerusalem to ask him why would he show love to those who hated Him? Jehovah’s wrath would be on him but because he had shown complete devotion to Him by ridding the land of idols, he would allow him to continue to rule. Jehoshaphat submitted to Jehovah's discipline and he began encouraging the people to return to Jehovah by appointing judges in the land to teach God's Laws to them. He urged them to remember to fear Jehovah as they were dispensing His judgements not their own. They were not to be partial, unjust or to take bribes. He also appointed Levites, priests and family heads to form a court of appeals located in Jerusalem to settle disputes and other matters that were too difficult for the local judges to solve. He admonished them to be faithful and wholehearted in the fear of Jehovah. In whatever case they are called upon to render a judgement, they must make sure that their judgement was based upon God’s laws otherwise they would bring wrath upon themselves and their brothers. For the cases that needed to be sent to Jerusalem for arbitration, Amariah the high priests would be the one to consult in any matter that concerned the Law of Jehovah. Ishmael the leader of the tribe of Judah should be consulted in any matter that concerned the king and the Levites would be the officials who would work along with these men.
2 Chronicles Chapter 20
Later Jehoshaphat is faced with a threat from the Ammonites, Moabites and Meunites, a people who lived in Mount Seir. He was told that their army was already in En-Gedi, which is located on the west shore of the Dead Sea. Jehoshaphat immediately proclaimed a fast for all Judah and all the people gathered in Jerusalem to inquire of Jehovah. Jehoshaphat then stood in front of the people and prayed to Jehovah. He acknowledged that Jehovah wass the ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations, no one can take anything from Him. He had driven nations from this land and had given it to the descendants of Abraham, His friend. They had built in it a sanctuary that bore His Name so that whenever they were faced with a calamity, they could stand in front of this temple and call out to Him and He would hear their prayer. This statement was similar to one that Solomon made in his prayer at the dedication of the temple. (See 1 Chronicles chapter 6) Jehoshaphat now states the reason for their standing before Jehovah at this time. The people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir upon whom Jehovah had shown mercy to when Israel came from Egypt in that that He would not let Israel take their land, were now the ones trying to dispossess Israel from their land. Will Jehovah not now judge them? Judah is powerless in the face of this vast army.
Jehovah’s spirit came upon Jahaziel a descendant of Asaph and he said to the assembled people: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” They were to march to the Desert of Jeruel, southwest of Tekoa, and they would take their positions, stand firm and see how Jehovah would give them deliverance. These words were similar to those uttered by Moses before Israel crossed the Red Sea. (See Exodus 14:13) They would not have to fight. Then all the people prostrated themselves before Jehovah and the Levites began to sing praises to Jehovah in a loud voice.
Early the next morning, as they set out for the desert of Tekoa, Jehoshaphat encouraged them to have faith in Jehovah and in his prophets. He then appointed some of the Levites to go ahead of the army singing and praising Jehovah for the splendor of His holiness. As they were singing and praising Jehovah, He set the armies against each other, the Ammonites and Moabites destroyed the men of Mount Seir and then they turned against each other and killed every man his neighbor. When the army of Judah arrived at the desert, they saw only dead bodies everywhere. They found such a great amount of equipment, clothing, and other valuable articles that it took them three days to collect it all. On the fourth day they congregated in a valley later called Beracah, which means praise and was located west of Tekoa. There they offered praise to Jehovah and afterwards returned to Jerusalem where they went straight to the temple and continued offering praise to Jehovah with harps and lutes and trumpets because they were so very joyful at the victory Jehovah had wrought.
When the surrounding nations heard of the great victory Jehovah had accomplished on behalf of Judah, they were afraid of Judah and did not come against them. So Judah enjoyed peace under the rulership of Jehoshaphat. But the people still insisted on worshipping on the high places in spite of the efforts of Jehoshaphat and his appointed judges to teach them the law. They simply did not set their hearts to serve Jehovah wholeheartedly. Even Jehoshaphat did not sever his relations with the wicked house of Ahab. He made a trade agreement with Ahaziah, son of Ahab, to build a fleet of ships for trading with other nations. But Jehovah sent word to him through his prophet Dodavahu to tell him that this venture would not succeed because He was against it. The ships were wrecked before they could bring goods from other lands.
2 Chronicles Chapter 21
Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the City of David after ruling Judah for twenty-five years. Jehoshaphat made his son Jehoram king before he died and he gave his six other sons property throughout Judah as well as gold, silver and other valuable articles. But as soon as Jehoram had become firmly established as king, he killed his brothers. He followed in the ways of the kings of Israel because his wife was a daughter of Ahab. But in spite of the wickedness of these kings, Jehovah did not wipe out the house of David because of the covenant He made with David that there would always be a descendant of his sitting on the throne in Jerusalem.
In Jehoram’s day, Edom and Libnah revolted against Judah’s control because he had forsaken Jehovah. He built the high places throughout Judah causing the people to worship other gods. He received a letter from Elijah the prophet that condemned him for his wickedness. Elijah stated in the letter that Jehovah was going to strike him, his family and everything that he owned with a heavy blow. Jehoram would become very ill with a disease from which he would not recover.
Jehovah then brought the Philistines and the Arabs against Judah. They attacked Judah and carried off all the valuable articles from the palace including his wives and children leaving only the youngest son, Ahaziah, behind. Then Jehoram became ill with a disease of the bowels that brought about his death. He was not mourned by the people as they had done for his father. No one regretted his death because he had caused Judah to suffer miserably under his rule. He was buried in the City of David but not in the tombs of the kings. He had ruled Judah for eight years.
2 Chronicles Chapter 22
The people made Ahaziah, his surviving son, king and he ruled for one year. He followed in the ways of the kings of Israel because his mother, Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, and other members of Ahab's family influenced him. They advised him to join Joram, king of Israel, in his war with the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead. Joram was wounded in this battle and he went to Jezreel to recover from his wounds. Ahaziah visited Joram at Jezreel and they both went to meet Jehu who had just been anointed to be king over Israel by a prophet sent by Elisha. (2 Kings 9:1-13) Jehu killed Joram and then he pursued Ahaziah to Samaria where he was hiding and put him to death. Ahaziah was brought to Jerusalem to be buried only because he was the grandson of Jehoshaphat who had been faithful to Jehovah.
Athaliah now saw an opportunity to become queen of Judah so that she could eradicate worship of Jehovah from the land and install Baalism as the official religion just as her mother, Jezebel, had done in Israel. After she learned that her son was dead, she proceeded to kill all but one of her grandchildren. Jehosheba, a sister of Ahaziah, took Joash and hid him in a storage area before he could be killed. She was the wife of high priest, Jehoiada, and they keep the child hidden at the temple for six years while Athaliah ruled over Judah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 23
When the child was seven years old, Jehoiada made arrangements to have him crowned as king of Judah without the knowledge of Athaliah. He sent the commanders of hundreds to go throughout Judah and gather the Levites and the heads of the families and bring them to Jerusalem. He would let them know what he had in mind to do and to get their support for his plan in order that the line of David would continue on the throne. He arranged for all of the Levites to remain at the temple even those who were going off duty and he assigned them to different posts to keep watch. No one was allowed in the temple area that day other that the priests and Levites. He took the weapons that had been dedicated by David and gave them to the commanders of units of hundreds and stationed them around the temple courtyard to guard the king. He then brought the king into the courtyard and put a crown upon his head and gave him a copy of the Book of the Law. After they anointed him everyone there began to shout, “Long live the king!”
When Athaliah heard the commotion from the temple, she came to the temple and saw the young king crowned and realized that a coup had taken place. She tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!” Jehoiada then told the commanders of the troops to kill her but not in the temple. After she left the temple area, they seized her as she came to the Horse Gate, which was on the grounds of the Palace, and they killed her there.
Then Jehoiada covenanted with the people and the king that they would serve Jehovah and be His people. They then went to the temple of Baal, tore it down, smashed the altars and the idols and killed the priest of Baal who served there. Jehoiada then assigned the priests and Levites their duties just as David had ordered. He stationed doorkeepers at the gates of the temple to keep those out who were not clean. Worship at the temple had all but come to an end during the rulership of Athaliah. Jehoiada then along with the commanders, the family heads, the nobles and the people went into the palace and seated the king on the royal throne.
2 Chronicles Chapter 24
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign and he ruled for forty years. He was faithful to Jehovah all of the years that Jehoiada was alive. Jehoiada selected two wives for him and he had sons and daughters.
During his reign he decided to repair the temple. He called the Levites together and told them to collect the money that they Israelites brought annually to the temple and use that to do the work, but the Levites were slow to act. The king then inquired of the high priest why the Levites were not bringing the contributions so that the work could be done. A comment on verse 5 in the NIV Study Bible says this: “The reason for the tardiness of the priest is not stated (see 1 Ki 12:6-8). The writer of Kings notes that the audience with the priests takes place in the 23rd year of Joash’s reign, when he is presumably no longer the ward of Jehoiada. Resistance on the part of the priests to the reassignment of the temple revenues for repair work may be the underlying cause.”
At the kings command, a chest was placed at the gate of the temple and the people were told to bring the tax imposed on them by Moses (Exodus 30:11-16) to the temple and put it into this chest. When it was full, it would be emptied and returned to its place. The money was given to the men who did the work of repairing the temple. The temple was rebuilt to its original specifications and when it was complete, all of the monies that were left over were used to replace the sacred articles that Athaliah’s sons had taken from the temple and used in their worship of Baal. Worship at Jehovah’s temple was carried on regularly as long as Jehoiada was alive as had been prescribed by Jehovah. Jehoiada died at the age of one hundred and thirty years and was buried alongside the kings because of what he had done in restoring the kingdom to a Davidic heir and his work in restoring true worship.
As soon as Jehoiada died, Joash listened to the officials of Judah and they abandoned the temple of Jehovah and began to worship Asherah poles and idols. This brought on Jehovah’s anger and he sent His prophets to them but they did not listen. Joash even authorized the murder of a son of Jehoiada, Zechariah, who had prophesied against him. He had forgotten all of the kindness that Jehoiada had done for him.
Jehovah brought the Arameans against Judah. They invaded the land and killed all the officials who had been instrumental in encouraging Joash to abandon true worship and left Joash severely wounded. They took the plunder that they found in the land and sent it back to their king in Damascus. Although the Aramean army was small in comparison to the army of Judah, yet Jehovah allowed them to defeat Judah because they had forsaken Him. (Leviticus 26:17) As Joash was recovering, his officials killed him because he had killed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada. He was buried in the City of David but not in the tombs of the kings.
2 Chronicles Chapter 25
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-nine years. His heart was not complete towards Jehovah. When he was firmly established as king, Amaziah put to death the men who had murdered his father, Joash, but he did not put their sons to death with them in harmony with God’s law given to Moses. (See Deuteronomy 24:16)
Edom revolted against the control of Judah and Amaziah mustered his troops together and found that he had three hundred thousand men ready for military service. He also hired one hundred thousand men from Israel to help him. But Jehovah sent a prophet to him to tell him that the men from Israel must not go with him because He was not with Israel. If he insisted on taking them he would lose the battle. So he sent these troops back to their homes but they were enraged with him for doing this. Their anger probably stemmed from the fact that they would lose the opportunity to benefit from the plunder they would have taken from Edom.
He then marched to the Valley of Salt where he killed ten thousand Edomites. He also captured ten thousand alive and they were thrown off the top of a cliff and Edom was subdued. Edom was important to Judah because through Edom, they had access to the southern trade routes. Meanwhile the troops that had been dismissed by Amaziah invaded Judah, killed three thousand people and carried off much plunder.
When Amaziah returned from defeating Edom, he brought back the gods of the Edomites and began to bow down to them and worship them. Jehovah was angry with him and He sent a prophet to him to warn of the consequences of his action. But he refused to listen to the prophet and threatened to kill him if he did not stop prophesying. But the prophet told him that Jehovah was going to destroy him because he refused to listen to His words.
Jehovah allowed him to listen to his advisers who urged him to go to war with Israel, which would be his undoing. So he challenged the king of Israel to meet him “face to face.” Jehoash, king of Israel, responded with a parable. Amaziah’s action was akin to a thistle (Amaziah) demanding a marriage alliance with a cedar in Lebanon (himself); then a wild beast (the Israelite army) came along and trampled the thistle. He warned Amaziah to stay at home so that he would not cause trouble for himself and his country, Judah. His victory over Edom had caused him to become proud and arrogant and his arrogance would not allow him to back down. Jehovah allowed this to take place because Amaziah had brought back the gods of the Edomites to Judah and had proceeded to worship them.
Jehoash, king of Israel, attacked him at Beth Shemesh in Judah, defeated him and took him captive. He brought him to Jerusalem and used him to get into the city. He then tore down a six hundred foot section of the wall of Jerusalem, took all of the gold and silver and other articles from the treasuries of the temple and the royal palace, then, along with some hostages, he returned to Samaria. It cannot be ascertained with any certainty whether he took Amaziah to Samaria or whether he released him before leaving Jerusalem (as Josephus asserts) because Amaziah was ruling in Judah when he was killed. We also learn that Amaziah lived another fifteen years after Jehoash died.
Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, page 207, paragraph 3, asserts this: “Now it happened, that as they were scattered about by the terror that was upon them, Amaziah was left alone, and was taken prisoner by the enemy: whereupon Joash (Jehoash) threatened to kill him, unless he would persuade the children of Jerusalem to open their gates to him, and receive him and his army into the city. Accordingly Amaziah was so distressed, and in such fear of his life, that he made his enemy to be received into the city. So Joash overthrew a part of the wall, of the length of four hundred cubits, and drove his chariot through the breach into Jerusalem, and led Amaziah captive along with him; by which means he became master of Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of God, and carried off all the gold and silver that was in the king’s palace, and then freed the king from captivity, and returned to Samaria.”
He was so unpopular in Judah after this affair that towards the end of his reign when he learned that some in Judah had conspired against him to put him to death, he fled to Lachish. They sent men after him and they put him to death there. He was however brought back to Jerusalem and was buried in the City of David.
2 Chronicles Chapter 26
Uzziah became king at the age of sixteen and he reigned for fifty-two years. It is uncertain when he became co-regent with his father or for how long he served in that capacity before becoming the sole ruler after the death of his father, Amaziah.
King Uzziah was instructed by Zechariah to fear Jehovah and as long as he did this, God gave him success. According to the NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 662: “Uzziah’s mentor, Zechariah, though apparently familiar to Ezra, can no longer be identified today.”
King Uzziah successfully subdued that Philistines even putting Judean settlements in their territories. The Ammonites brought tribute to him and his fame spread. He had become very powerful because Jehovah helped him against all of his enemies.
In addition, Uzziah repaired the walls that Jehoash had pulled down and built and fortified towers along the wall at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate and at other vulnerable places. Since he had large herds and flocks he dug many cisterns in the desert. He kept large fields and vineyards because he loved the soil.
He had a well-trained army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred men with twenty-six hundred leaders over them. The army was kept well supplied with the necessary equipment. He pioneered the use of certain advanced weapons to hurl arrows and large stones a great distance. All of this helped to make him a very powerful ruler.
But after King Uzziah became powerful, he allowed pride to bring about his downfall. (Proverbs 16:18) He went into the Holy Place to burn incense on the Altar of Incense, something that was exclusively a priestly function. The chief priest along with eighty other priests followed him into the Holy Place and told him that he had no right to burn incense and that he was acting unfaithfully before Jehovah. He became enraged at the priests but at that moment Jehovah struck him with leprosy on his forehead. The priests hurriedly got him out of the temple and he was leprous until the day he died. He had to live in a separate house and his son, Jotham, became his co-regent and took over his duties before the people. The prophet Isaiah recorded all the events of Uzziah’s rule, but these records are not available today. When Uzziah died, he was not buried in the tombs of the kings but in a field that belonged to the kings of Judah.
Although the two kingdoms enjoyed much prosperity under the rulerships of Uzziah and Jeroboam I of Israel, there was always an underlying presence of spiritual and moral corruption. Therefore Jehovah continued to send His prophets to warn His people of the danger they were facing. Among these prophets were Isaiah, Amos and Hosea.
2 Chronicles Chapter 27
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became the sole ruler and he ruled for sixteen years. Although he did what was right in Jehovah’s eyes, the people did not discontinue their idolatrous practices upon the high places. His major triumph was against the Ammonites who he conquered and exacted tribute from in the amount of a hundred talents of silver and much wheat and barley yearly, which they paid for three years.
Jotham did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel, which lay in the old part of the city of David and he repaired the Upper Gate of the temple. He continued to serve Jehovah and Jehovah made him powerful. He died at the age of forty-one and was buried in the City of David. Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 28
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and he ruled for sixteen years. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; he cast idols for worship of the Baals, burned his children in the fire to Molech and burned incense at the high places, on hilltops and under spreading trees. He did everything in his power to offend Jehovah; therefore, Jehovah handed him over to the king of Aram who took many Judeans captive to the land of Damascus. Jehovah also allowed the king of Israel, Pekah, to defeat Judah, killing one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in one day. Israel also took captive many of the wives, sons and daughters from Judah, along with much plunder, and brought them back to Samaria. But Jehovah sent the prophet Oded to meet the army when they returned to Samaria and told them that even though Jehovah had given them victory over Judah because of their unfaithfulness, they had gone far beyond what He had purposed. They were to send the people back or Jehovah’s fierce anger would be against them. Even some of the elders when they saw the army bringing prisoners back from Judah admonished them to send them back unless they would add to the guilt they were already facing. The soldiers acquiesced and those who were designated to help clothed the prisoners who were naked, gave them food and drink and sent them back to their countrymen at Jericho.
When the Edomites and the Philistines besieged King Ahaz, he did not turn to Jehovah but to the king of Assyria who did more harm to him than good. He took articles from the treasuries of the temple, the royal palace and from some of the princes and sent them to the Assyrian king but it availed him nothing. He closed up the temple and put altars to the Assyrian gods in the temple court and began worshipping them. (2 Kings 16:10-14) When he was threatened by the alliance of the king of Israel and the king of Aram, he refused to listen to Jehovah when he sent the prophet Isaiah to him. (Isaiah 7:1-17) When he died at thirty-six years of age, he was buried in the city of David but not in the tombs of the kings of Judah. Other prominent prophets during this time period were Hosea and Micah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 29
Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. He righteously followed Jehovah in the manner of his forefather, David. God's Word states of Hezekiah's rule:
"And he kept doing what was right in Jehovah's eyes, according to all that David his forefather had done." -- 2 Chronicles 29:2
Also 2 Chronicles 31:20, 21 states of Hezekiah's reign:
"And Hezekiah proceeded to do like this in all Judah, and he continued to do what was good and right and faithful before Jehovah his God. And in every work that he started in the service of the house of the [true] God and in the law and in the commandment to search for his God, it was with all his heart that he acted, and he proved successful."
Immediately upon Hezekiah's sitting on the throne, he opened the doors of the temple and made repairs to it. He assembled the priests and Levites and told them to consecrate themselves and then consecrate the temple of Jehovah removing all the articles that had defiled it. He reminded them that previous kings had closed the doors of the temple, discontinued the regular burnt offerings, the burning of incense and put out the lamps that were to burn continuously and that this had brought Jehovah’s anger upon them. They had become an object of dread and horror and scorn as they should recognize; otherwise why would their wives and children live in captivity in Damascus, Philistia, Edom and Samaria. He told them that he was going to make a covenant with Jehovah so that His fierce anger would turn away from the nation.
Then the Levites assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves and purified the temple. They brought out from the temple sanctuary everything unclean and took it to the Kidron Valley. They took sixteen days to finish the work. They reported to Hezekiah that the work had been accomplished, the temple and its sacred articles were consecrated.
Early the next morning, Hezekiah gathered the officials of the city and they went to the temple to rededicate it by offering the appropriate sacrifices. The priests followed Jehovah’s Law to the letter in offering the sacrifices on the altar. The sin offering was presented before the king and the assembly and they laid their hands on them and the priests sprinkled the blood on the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place as well as at the base of the Copper Altar to atone for the sins of all Israel. (Leviticus 4:13-21)
The Levites who were the musicians were stationed in the temple as David, Gad and Nathan had set out in accordance with Jehovah’s instruction. While the burnt offerings were being made Hezekiah had the musicians accompany the priest in their duty and all those assembled bowed in worship to Jehovah. Hezekiah then asked the musicians to offer praise to Jehovah using the words written by David and Asaph. After they completed the services, Hezekiah told the people that they had dedicated themselves to Jehovah so they could now bring sacrifices to offer to Jehovah. Those whose hearts motivated them did so.
They brought for the burnt offering seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs. The total number of animals prepared for the offering was six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. Because there were not enough priests consecrated to prepare these sacrifices, the Levites agreed to help until everything was done. Hezekiah had successfully reestablished the service at the temple and the people rejoiced because Jehovah had brought this about.
2 Chronicles Chapter 30
Hezekiah and his officials decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. (Numbers 9:10, 11) He then decided to issue an invitation to people from Israel and Judah to come and celebrate the Passover. So he sent couriers throughout Israel from Dan to Beersheba with letters from the king and his officials proclaiming this celebration. He was concerned because those in Israel had not come to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast in nearly two hundred years as their kings had prohibited them from doing so. But Israel was now subject to Assyrian siege because Hoshea had been paying tribute to the Assyrian king but the king later learned that Hoshea had been making overtures to Egypt for help, so he was likely to attack Israel at any moment. Israel’s king was now in no position to stop his people from going to Jerusalem if they wanted to and Hezekiah was well aware of this situation.
In his letter, Hezekiah urged the people to return to Jehovah so that He would return to them. They should not to be like their fathers and brothers, many of whom were already in captivity, and who had been made an object of horror just as Jehovah had stated would happen if they were unfaithful. (Deuteronomy 28:25) If they would come to the sanctuary and if they would serve Jehovah, His fierce anger would turn away from them. Their captors would show compassion to their brothers and their children, who were now in captivity, and Jehovah would bring them back to the land because He was a very compassionate God. He would not turn away from those who returned to him. (1 Kings 8:45-50) The couriers went as far north as Zebulun and for the most part, the people scorned and ridiculed the request but some in Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun did humble themselves and came to Jerusalem. Those in Judah were united in desiring to carry out the king’s wishes in this matter because Jehovah’s hand was on them.
A great crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Many of the Levites and priests who had not consecrated themselves became ashamed because of the zeal of the people and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings and then took up their regular positions. The Passover lambs were slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the second month and the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. Normally the heads of families would slaughter the lamb and give the blood to the priest. But many from the Northern Kingdom were unclean and could not do this. So the Levites would slaughter the lambs for them. In order that those who were unclean would be able to eat the sacrificial lamb and it be acceptable to Jehovah, Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah that He would pardon the sins of those who had set their hearts on seeking Him. Jehovah heard his prayer and He healed the people. So they all ate the Passover lamb that day.
Then they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for its prescribed period of seven days. There was great rejoicing as the Levites sang praises to Jehovah accompanied by those playing on the instruments. Hezekiah encouraged the Levites who showed that they knew exactly how the celebration should be carried out. Even for the priests and Levites it had been awhile since this celebration had been held at the temple. After the seven days were complete, the whole assembly agreed that they should stay and continue the feast for another seven days. Hezekiah and his officials provided thousands of bulls, sheep and goats for the assembly so that they could participate in the celebration. A great number of priests were encouraged by this joyous occasion and they too consecrated themselves. The joy experienced at this time by those who came to this celebration had not been experienced since the days of Solomon.
2 Chronicles Chapter 31
The people were in such high spirits that they went throughout the towns of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh smashing sacred stones, cutting down Asherah poles, destroying high places and altars built for idolatrous worship. Afterwards they returned to their homes.
Hezekiah then reestablished the twenty-four rotating divisions for the priests and Levites that David had initiated for the orderly service of the worship of Jehovah at the temple. He supplied from his own provisions sufficient animals for the various offerings such as the continual daily burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the New Moons and other appointed feasts. He ordered the people to bring the tithes so that the priests and Levites could have their provisions and so could devote themselves wholly to Jehovah’s service. They begin bringing the firstfruits of the herds and the flock, and the grain, new wine, oil and honey in the third month and continued until the seventh month. They brought so much that it began to pile up and Hezekiah, when he saw this overflow, spoke to the high priest, Azariah, about this. The priest told him that because Jehovah had blessed the people they were bringing more than enough and this was what was left over. Hezekiah then told him to prepare storerooms for these contributions, tithes and dedicated things and put some of the Levites in charge of these rooms.
They then began distributing these tithes among the priests and Levites in their towns according to their names in the genealogical records, all those who performed the daily duties of the temple service in accordance with their divisions. They were given sufficient provision so that they could feed their families also. Hezekiah did what was right, good and faithful in all that he undertook in the service of Jehovah’s temple in harmony with Jehovah’s laws and commands. Because he sought Jehovah and worked wholeheartedly, Jehovah caused him to prosper.
2 Chronicles Chapter 32
Ezra does not mention the events that led up to the Assyrian invasion as does the writer of Kings at 2 Kings 18:13-16. In his fourteenth year as king, Hezekiah was faced with a threat from the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. He had laid siege to the fortified cities of Judah intending to take them for himself. When Hezekiah realized that the Assyrian king intended to make war on Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials to see what could be done to make sure that the Assyrian army would not find sufficient water when they came to Jerusalem. They decided to block off the water from the springs that flowed into Jerusalem. He also fortified the broken sections of the wall even building a second wall outside the original one. He made a large number of weapons and shields. He appointed military officers and assembled them before him in the square and encouraged them saying to them to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid of the king of Assyria and his vast army. He has only an arm of flesh but Judah has Jehovah their God to protect them.
The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 8, page 451 says this of Hezekiah’s preparations. “Hezekiah made preparation for the decisive struggle with Assyria by strengthening his forces and defenses internally and by making alliances against Assyria. He assured the supply of water to Jerusalem by closing off the outlet of the Gihon spring, which was outside the walls of Jerusalem, and diverting the spring water by means of a tunnel to the pool of Siloam, which was situated within the city walls. (II Kings 20:20; Isa. 22:9-11; II Chron. 32:30) The passage in 1 Chronicles 4:41, perhaps warrants the conclusion that a census was taken during his reign in connection with the military preparation throughout Judah.”
The prophet Isaiah took issue with Hezekiah because of all these preparation as he appeared to be relying on human ingenuity rather than on Jehovah. His words to him are recorded at Isaiah 22:7-14.
When Sennacherib and his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with a message for Hezekiah and all the people of Judah. He said to the people of Judah that Hezekiah was deceiving them when he told them that Jehovah would deliver them from his hand. He stated that none of the gods of the other nations had been able to deliver their people from his hand so how is Jehovah any different from them. Sennacherib’s officers spoke many other words against Jehovah and Hezekiah. He considered Jehovah to be no more than the lifeless gods of the nations that he had conquered.
Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed to Jehovah about these taunts and threats against Him and He sent his angel who destroyed all the fighting men and the officers of the Assyrian army. Sennacherib returned to his country in disgrace and later two of his sons killed him. (Isaiah 37:36-38) Jehovah saved His people from the Assyrians and other nations not because of their righteousness but because the Assyrians had reproached his great Name. At Isaiah 38:35, He said: “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” Hezekiah became highly regarded by all the nations around him and they brought him valuable gifts.
Hezekiah became ill and was about to die but he prayed to Jehovah and He extended his life for another fifteen year. (Isaiah 38:1-8) Hezekiah allowed his heart to become proud and became unresponsive to Jehovah and this brought His wrath on Jerusalem and Judah. But later he did repent and Jehovah did not bring His wrath on the city in his day.
Jehovah blessed Hezekiah with many riches. He had silver and gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuables. He made storage building to house his grain, new wine and oil. He made stalls for his cattle and pens for his flock.
When envoys were sent to him from the king of Babylon to inquire about the miracle that Jehovah had wrought in Judah, Jehovah left him so as to find out what was in his heart. As we learned in Isaiah chapter 39, he failed this test that Jehovah allowed to come upon him. He was honored by all the people when he died and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
2 Chronicles Chapter 33
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to rule and he ruled for fifty-five years. He did all he could to completely eradicate all the good works his father had accomplished. He practiced all of the sins of the Canaanites that Jehovah had driven from the land. He rebuilt the high places, erected altars to Baal, put an Asherah pole in the temple, bowed down to the stars, built pagan altars in the temple courtyard, sacrificed his sons in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination and shed much innocent blood in Jerusalem. (See Numbers 35:33, 34) He even put a carved image in the temple. He led Judah so far astray that it was said of them that they were worse than the nations that Jehovah had driven from the land.
Jehovah sent his prophets to warn him but he paid no attention. Jehovah brought some Assyrian army commanders against him and they captured him and took him to Babylon as a common slave. While he was in prison, he humbled himself before Jehovah and Jehovah was merciful towards him and restored him to his kingdom. (See Leviticus 26:44, 45) He now recognized Jehovah as the true God.
After he was released from prison and returned to Jerusalem, he got rid of all the idols that he had set up and he removed the disgusting image he had put in the temple. He removed all the altars that he had built and threw them outside the city. He restored Jehovah’s altar and began sacrificing fellowship and thanks offerings on it. He encouraged the people to serve Jehovah but they continued to sacrifice at the high places although they claimed that they were worshipping Jehovah at these places. But he could not atone for the innocent blood that he had shed in Jerusalem. (2 Kings 23:26) When Manasseh died, his son Amon began to rule in his place.
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king and he ruled for two years. Amon did not reform when his father did. He reverted to doing all of the evil things his father had done. He never humbled himself before Jehovah so He allowed his officials to conspire against him and put him to death. The people then made his son Josiah king in his place.
2 Chronicles Chapter 34
Josiah was eight years old when he became king and he ruled for thirty-one years. He is the only Judean king (other than Hezekiah) of whom it was said he righteously "walked in the ways of David his forefather." (2 Chronicles 29:2) God's Word states this vital fact about Josiah's righteous rule,
"And he proceeded to do what was right in Jehovah's eyes and walk in the ways of David his forefather; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left." -- 2 Chronicles 34:2
In his eighth year of rule, he began to seek Jehovah and in his twelfth year he began to purge Jerusalem of the idolatrous images that his father had placed there. They were all either crushed or cut to pieces and taken and spread over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He burned the bones of the priests on the altars to desecrate them. He even went into towns in Ephraim and Manasseh and tore down the altars and shrines that were there. In his thirteenth year, Jehovah caused his prophet Jeremiah to begin his ministry. (Jeremiah 1:2)
In his eighteenth year, he sent certain men to Hilkiah the high priest to give him money to pay the men for the work of repairing the temple. The workers had to buy dressed stone and timber for the joists and beams for the temple as the previous kings had allowed it to fall into ruin.
During this restoration work on the temple, Hilkiah, the high priest made an amazing discovery. He found the actual "Book of Jehovah's Law by the hand of Moses," indicating it was the original copy...a rare find indeed. Immediately after finding it in the temple, Hilkiah gave it to Shaphan, the king’s secretary who told King Josiah about it. Then, the king had him read the words in the Book of the Law to him. After hearing what had been written in the book, he tore his garments.
Shortly thereafter, the king sought word from God, by sending High Priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah to the prophetess, Huldah, to inquire of Jehovah with reference to the words written in the Law. He knew that Jehovah was very angry with Judah because they had not obeyed the words of this Law. This bible account shows men, male leadership, even the King and High Priest of Israel, humbly accepted counsel and direction from any divine source provided, whether this proved to be male or female. No, they had no reservations in doing so.
Therefore, the inspired prophetess told them what Jehovah said. She stated, Jehovah was going to bring disaster on Judah and its people because they had forsaken Him and had worshipped other gods and His anger would not be quenched. But because King Josiah had responded to these words by weeping and humbling himself when he learned what was going to happen to the people because of their disobedience, He would not bring this disaster during his lifetime. The men returned to Josiah and told him what the prophetess had said.
The king called all the elders and the people together and they went up to the temple along with the priests and the Levites. He read to them from the Book of the Law that had been found in the temple. He then pledged to follow Jehovah and keep His commands, regulations and decrees, then he had the people pledge themselves to do this also. Josiah then removed all traces of idolatry from Judah and Israel. During his lifetime the people did not fail to serve Jehovah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 35
During Josiah’s eighteenth year of reign, a great Passover celebration was held, perhaps the greatest one celebrated since Israel became a monarchy. Josiah instructed the Levites to put the ark back in the Most Holy, which had been constructed for it. They were not to carry it around on their shoulders as had been done during the wilderness trek under Moses. It is believed that it was removed from its place during the days of Manasseh and taken to a place for safekeeping. They were then told to organize themselves by their divisions in accordance with the instructions written down by David.
The Levites were to slaughter the Passover lamb for the people, give the blood to the priests to sprinkle on the altar, then they were to skin the animals and roast them. Josiah and his officials had supplied enough animals for the people to use as their burnt offerings and the heads of the Levites had provided animals for the priests and the Levites. Josiah had organized everything ahead of time so that the celebration would run smoothly.
After the people were served, the Levites prepared the Passover animals for their brothers who were on duty such as the priests, the musicians and the gatekeepers. So everyone was able to participate in this celebration. It was unlike any Passover that had been celebrated since the days of Samuel.
Later Josiah took his army to Megiddo to intercept the Egyptian army that was on its way to the Euphrates River to help the Assyrian army in their fight against the Babylonians. He was killed by the Egyptians and was brought back to Jerusalem to be buried.
Regarding Josiah’s death, the Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 10, page 291, has this to say: “Assyria, weakened by her struggles with Babylon found the Egyptians as allies. In 616 BCE the Egyptians went up north to help the Assyrians but to no avail. After the fall of Nineveh in 612, the Assyrian army consolidated its position in the western part of the empire, Harran and Carchemish. This time they were assisted by the newly enthroned Egyptian king, Neco II, who in the summer of 609 marched with a large force to help the Assyrians retake Harran from the Babylonians. At Megiddo, now ruled by Josiah, Josiah tried to stop the Egyptian armies. It is not known exactly what were the motives for this dangerous action. It may have been that Josiah was bound by a treaty with the Babylonians or that he feared the revival of the Assyrian power. At any rate it was an act of suicide.”
Please note: In 609 bce the Babylonians, at the battle of Harran against the Assyrians, proved victorious, under King Nebopolassar (father of Nebuchadnezzar). Thus, by the permission of Jehovah God, the nation of Babylon was from that point on granted a special 70-Year Domination over all the earth, starting from 609 bce up to 539 bce, when the Babylonians fell to the Medes and Persians. (See article Jerusalem's Destruction Date of 607 Re-examined for a full discussion of the special 70 Year Period granted Babylon.) -- Jeremiah 25:12; Jeremiah 29:10
His death was a great loss to the nation and Jeremiah, the prophet, wrote laments for him. It became a tradition to commemorate his death by singing these laments.
NOTE: All cited scriptures in this commentary were taken from the New International Version.
***©2005 by YORWW Congregation