In today’s episode, we delve into 2 Chronicles chapters 27 and 28, exploring the contrasting reigns of Jotham and Ahaz. Jotham, who walked in righteousness, witnessed growth and success in Judah. In stark contrast, Ahaz’s idolatrous practices led to Judah’s downfall and defeat. Our discussion highlights how these ancient narratives offer timeless lessons on leadership and faith.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 05 :
Today is day 27 in our 31-day journey through 1 and 2 Chronicles. Today brings us to 2 Chronicles chapters 27 and 28, and we’ll listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of these two chapters.
SPEAKER 02 :
2 Chronicles 27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did much building on the wall of Ophel. Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers on the wooded hills. He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents of silver and 10,000 cores of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place. 2 Chronicles 28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the bales, and he made offerings in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseah, the king’s son, and Azrakum, the commander of the palace, and Elkanah, the next in authority to the king. The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them,
SPEAKER 03 :
Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? Now hear me and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillamoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shalom, and Amasa the son of Hadli, stood up against those who were coming from the war, and said to them, “‘You shall not bring the captives in here, “‘for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the Lord “‘in addition to our present sins and guilt.
SPEAKER 04 :
“‘For our guilt is already great, “‘and there is fierce wrath against Israel.’
SPEAKER 02 :
So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them. And carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.” At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help, for the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephila and the Negev of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, Ajalon, Gadiroth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and they settled there.” For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. So Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him. In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord, this same king Ahaz. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God. And he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers. Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
SPEAKER 05 :
In 1983, at 28 years old, when reading these chapters, I wrote, Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. I also wrote, Ahaz is not faithful. God has not blessed him or Judah. In time of distress, he became more unfaithful rather than turning to God. In 1997, at 42 years old, concerning these chapters, I wrote, Jotham, good king. Ahaz, his son, bad king. For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz, king of Israel. For he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord. And I made a few references to the leadership in the United States at the time and whether we were like that. And in 2009, at 54 years old, concerning these chapters, I wrote, Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. Ahaz did not do right in the sight of the Lord. Sometimes I like to share my prayers concerning these chapters after I read them. So on this day I wrote concerning my prayer, Success can cause pride. Tough times can cause us to question God. Let neither be the counsel for me, Lord. Keep me faithful in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Pride comes before the fall. As we look into these two chapters, one thing to note is sometimes how young these kings are. Jotham was 25 years old when he began to reign. Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to reign. Both reigned 16 years, so they didn’t live very long. Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. So Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. We have heard this over and over in 2 Chronicles, haven’t we? You do what’s right in the sight of the Lord and God gives you success. I hope the Word of God is pounding that lesson into our hearts as we go through this book. But the contrast is also true as we look at kings who do not do what’s right in the sight of the Lord. Chapter 28 is another one of these. Ahaz did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images, in other words idols, and burned his sons as an offering. And therefore, because of his actions, verse 5 of chapter 28 says, Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel. So now Israel is fighting the southern tribes of Judah. Verse 8 says, The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem being the capital of the southern kingdom. And all this, God is not pleased. Verse 9, Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves? Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. Here we’re seeing that the northern kingdom has taken 200,000 of their relatives, though they’re, you know, divided kingdoms. They’re still Jews, and they’re trying to make them slaves. And God, through this prophet, is saying, don’t do that. I’m very angry with you about this. fortunately they listen and they let the captives return to jerusalem why because this is the covenant promise of god to david and god is fulfilling that through judah not the northern tribes of israel but because of poor leadership from king ahaz Verse 19 says, For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. And here’s the pressure verse, verse 22. In the time of his stress, he became yet more faithless to the Lord. How about you? When it becomes more stressful in your life, do you become more faithful or faithless to the Lord? Do you seek the Lord more or Or do you get angry with them? Or do you blame them for your circumstances? When stress comes, how do you respond? Oh God, we see these examples over and over in these chapters. If we do what’s right in the sight of the Lord, you bless. If we don’t do what’s right in your eyes, you curse, you judge, you destroy, you hurt. So if we’re under those type of circumstances today, maybe it’s our fault. Maybe it’s because we are not doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. We’ve also read over and over in your word that when people repent, when they come back to you, you welcome them with open arms. You’re always there to forgive. So may we do that today. If we’re suffering, if we’re hurting, if we’re under distress, let us walk toward you, not away from you. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. We started on radio on October 1st, 2024. I hope you noticed some differences in AdBible from other programs. For example, we are fully committed to the Word of God. That’s why we play full chapters on the air, not sound bites. It takes a lot of our program time, but it’s my belief it’s more important for you to hear the Word of God than me. You may also have figured out by now I’m not a pastor, just a layman like most of you. So these recordings are not based on sermons. They’re based on my personal walk through the Bible over several decades of my life. Therefore, AdBible is a unique perspective of how the Bible impacts life, not a teaching series you get at your church. I share personal Bible reading journal entries from my life, from my journals, I’ve never thought would ever be shared with anybody. What I share are raw, authentic notes from Bible intersections of my own life. My life is no different from yours, so I hope the stories and applications I share are relevant to your life as well. I hope you are enjoying this unique radio program and therefore will help us stay on the air. We have so much more to share. Visit EzraProject.net and donate today. Or send a check to the Ezra Project 1399 South Havana Street, Suite 201E, Aurora, Colorado, 80012. That’s Ezra Project 1399 South Havana Street, Suite 201E, Aurora, Colorado, 80012. When you do, I will send you your first copy of A Day by Day Through the Bible book. There are 11 books in the series, so I will surprise you with one of my choosing. Or, after you donate at EzraProject.net, look at our resource page, pick a book you want, and let me know your choice at the contact section on our website. We are happy to send you the book of your choice. I know you’re going to enjoy it. And want to share it with others.
