2 Kings 18:1-8 ESV

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

SPIRITUAL REFORMS.

The kings of Judah had followed the footsteps of Israel so that they were heading for an exile, too. Until, King Hezekiah assumed the throne. He made drastic spiritual reforms. At a young age of 25, he began his reign following after his father David. According to v4,5, “He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.”

Spiritual reforms means going back to the basics. It was so sad that they continually offered their sacrifices to Nehushtan [the bronze serpent that Moses had made] instead to God. Perhaps like the pillars and poles of Asherah, they made the Nehushtan as an idol of worship. Yet, Hezekiah was neither intimidated nor hesitant to remove everything. “He held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses.”

It was C.S. Lewis who said, “We can’t change the past but we can start a new start and change the ending.” Instead of cursing and complaining our past, let us start to get rid our hearts from any idol. As John has exhorted, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”[1 John 5:21] Let us not expect for God to use us if our hearts are full of dirt and weeds. As Paul said, “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”[2 Tim 2:20-21]

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2 Kings 17:29-33 ESV

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

SYNCRETISM

The settlers who arrived had brought with them their religion and culture and introduced these to the people in the different villages in Samaria. The Sepharvites, in particular, had burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. But, they did not remove out the worship of Jehovah. Instead, they included him in the pantheon of gods to worship. And this mixed worship was very far from the true worship anymore. As v34,35 had declared, “To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.”

God is a jealous God. And His name shouldn’t be treated us equal to their gods. But in this Assyrian captivity, God had allowed it for He had used the Assyrians to chastise them. Somehow, this had served the purpose of God. As the psalmist had said,;

“Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;

the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.”[Psa 76:10]

Truth mixed with error is as a glass of mineral water with a drop of cyanide. The water may appear clean and harmless but it’s deadly. Let us seek, therefore to worship God with purity of our hearts. As David declared;

“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”[Psa 51:16,17]

Today, there is only one acceptable sacrifice. It’s God’s way and provision. And we must not dillute it with anything or else it will be defiled. According to Heb 10:19-22, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

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2 Kings 17:24-28 ESV

24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

AN APPEASEMENT.

After the fall of Samaria, the king of Assyria brought settlers from Babylon, that is from Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim. These settlers went and took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. Being pagans themselves, they did not fear the Lord when they came in. But, God raised lions and killed some of them, which prompted them to inform the king. The king had thought of appeasing the god in Samaria, who they angered. Thus, he commanded one of the Jewish exile priests to go back and teach the settlers to fear the Lord. Somehow, they equate Jehovah as one of their gods.

At one time the Jews had gravitated the temple worship as an obligation and duty. There wa no motivation of love to God anymore. Perhaps, the fear of moral retribution was the reason. Thus God rebuked them saying;

““Hear, O my people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify against you.

I am God, your God.

8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;

your burnt offerings are continually before me.

9 I will not accept a bull from your house

or goats from your folds.

10 For every beast of the forest is mine,

the cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know all the birds of the hills,

and all that moves in the field is mine.

12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world and its fullness are mine.

13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and perform your vows to the Most High,

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”[Psa 50:7-15]

Today, some believe a Jesus they need to appease. Should He is a god to be appeased, He is far different than the biblical Jesus we know. Our Jesus doesn’t need to be bribed, does He? He isn’t one who is eccentric being but a selfless one. As Paul, declared, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”[Rom 5:6-8] How could we explain a king who died for His subjects if not of an indescribable love.

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2 Kings 17:14-18 ESV

14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.

OBSTINACY

Israel had provoked the Lord to so much anger because of their idolatry. It is an abomination that was rooted deeper and deeper into their lives both individually and nationally. God had been wooing them back through the prophets. “But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them.”[v.14,15] They spiralled down in sin until they hit rock bottom. They “made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD”[v.16,17]

“You can’t stop a bird from landing on your head. But you can keep it from building a nest” [ Martin Luther King Jr.] Christians aren’t sinless, are they? We couldn’t prevent our impulses from sinning at all times, could we? That is why, Jesus has told us to pray for forgiveness. [Matt 6:12]. And, John also declared the need of confession, saying, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”[1 John 1:9]

God doesn’t expect us not to sin but not to make it as a lifestyle. We may sin but must settle it by confessing it right away. Hence, it’s our continual refusal to listen from His rebuke and correction that is the concern. The problem of Israel was not that they “could not” listen but they “would not” listen. “They went after false idols and became false.” They became obstinate and stoic as the idols they worshipped. A tragic reality that the psalmist had articulated in Psa 115:4-8;

“Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.”

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2 Kings 17:6-13 ESv

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

CAPTURED AND EXILED.

Samaria fell to the Assyrians. They had the good reason not to be captured. God had been wooing them back but they chose the idols. They were not conquered because the Assyrians were stronger. According to verse 7, “And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God”. That is, they rebelled God.

What they did was a slap to God. He delivered them from Pharaoh and Egypt from all their idols. He drove out all the idol worshipping pagan tribes, only to embrace them later. Emphatically, He warned them through Moses; “And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” [Ex 20:1-7]

But, they ignored this despite the many warnings. “The LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” God was very patient so that their captivity was all their fault.

Should we love God, we must hate sin. We couldn’t love both flowers and weeds and grow both in the same garden, could we? Thus, today, let us search our hearts. God is knocking at our doors as Jesus did to the Laodiceans, saying, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”[Rev 3:20] Nothing should be sweeter to us than our communion with Him.

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2 Kings 17:1-5 ESV

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

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1 Nang ikalabindalawang taon ni Ahaz na hari ng Juda, si Hosheas na anak ni Ela ay nagsimulang maghari sa Samaria sa Israel, at siya ay naghari sa loob ng siyam na taon. 2 Gumawa siya ng masama sa paningin ng PANGINOON, bagaman hindi gaya ng mga hari ng Israel na nauna sa kanya. 3 Umahon laban sa kanya si Shalmaneser na hari ng Asiria; at si Hosheas ay naging sakop niya at nagbayad sa kanya ng buwis. 4 Subalit ang hari ng Asiria ay nakakita ng pagtataksil kay Hosheas, sapagkat siya'y nagpadala ng mga sugo kay So na hari ng Ehipto, at hindi nagbigay ng buwis sa hari ng Asiria, tulad ng kanyang ginagawa taun-taon. Kaya't kinulong siya ng hari ng Asiria at iginapos sa bilangguan. 5 Pagkatapos ay sinalakay ng hari ng Asiria ang buong lupain at dumating sa Samaria at kinubkob ito sa loob ng tatlong taon.

A WORTHLESS HELP.

Ahaz has angered Shalmanezer, the king of Assyria, because of his treachery. He secretly sent messengers to So, king of Egypt. He did not pay his annual tribute to Assyria anymore which provoked the king of Assyria to capture him. Eventually, Assyria attacked Samaria which fell to their hands after three years. Where was the help of Egypt?

Egypt was a worthless help. As Isaiah rebuked them;

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,

“who carry out a plan, but not mine,

and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,

that they may add sin to sin;

2 who set out to go down to Egypt,

without asking for my direction,

to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh

and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

3 Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,

and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.”[Isa 30:1-3]

Ahaz’s bondage can’t be solved by creating another bondage with Egypt. Similarly, a present debt in a bank can’t be solved by borrowing money from another bank. Generating an income is the solution. Similarly, our problem of sin can’t be solved by going after another sin to cover it up. Solomon had said;

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,

but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”[Prov 28:13]

We only can plead for God’s mercy through Christ for forgiveness and deliverance. Did not Jesus say, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[Matt 11:28-30]. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”[Heb 4:16]

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2 Kings 16:10-16 ESV

10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11 And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13 and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 And the bronze altar that was before the LORD he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of his altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16 Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

THE STRANGE ALTAR.

King Ahaz travelled to Damascus to pay respect to his new lord. When he saw the altar at Damascus, it caught his attention. He got the model of the altar and sent it to Uriah, the priest. He made instructions to Uriah, the priest, to do some innovations and revisions at the altar in Jerusalem.

King Ahaz traveled to Damascus to pay respect to his new lord. When he saw the altar at Damascus, it caught his attention. He got the model of the altar and sent to Uriah, the priest. He made instructions to Uriah, the priest, to do some innovations and revisions at the altar in Jerusalem.

Why?

The answer is not so evident. Perhaps, it’s the close association between politics and religion in their times. As a new vassal state, this could be one of the reforms needed. But, this is not so clear. However, it’s implicit, by his actions that [i.e. he saw..he sent] he did it due to aesthetics. As a liberal minded king, his travel had broadened his mind that he gained new ideas. He was a king very open for foreign ideas. The temple for him was not where God is but just a political symbol. We could think of the churches in Europe that have become museums, nowadays. Although there is no hint that this reform or change was a requirement, he may had removed some things to avoid offence and replace with things acceptable by the Assyrians. That, he was careful to please his new master.

Seen from the outside, the temple building may appear unchanged. But, it’s tragic that its altar inside was significantly altered. God has set apart and stipulated the exact measurements and placements of every furniture in the tabernacle. Jesus’ anger had shown how jealous is God in preserving the sanctity of the temple. Any alteration or addition won’t be acceptable.

Today, we should always take care our respective ‘altars’, that is our hearts, to be pure and unadulterated before God. How many believers have changed today in the name of being progressive?

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2 Kings 16:5-9 ESV

5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. 6 At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.

A DESPERATE ACT

Rezin, the king of Syria had colluded with Pekah, the king of Israel to subdue King AhaZ, the king of Judah. As Rezin conquered the southern territory of Judah named Elath, King Ahaz was significantly threatened. He must have thought that sooner, if he couldn’t find an outside help, the enemy would come and devour them. Thus, he decided to seek the help of King Tiglath-Pileser [Pul] of Assyria.

Are you facing a threatening situation today? To whom do you seek help? To God or somebody else? God allows our vulnerabilities to make as realize our need of God. However, King Ahaz was already influenced with the leavened of idolatry. Thus, he was quick to ask help from a heathen king. Perhaps, he was oblivious for the fact that this was not just a military and political issue. It was a spiritual one. He left God in the equation altogether.

The situation became messy. Judah and Southern kingdom should have united to fight Syria and Assyria. Instead, they are turning against each other with their respective protectors. And, subjugation to their protectors was inevitable price to pay. Thus, Ahaz sent a message to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” Ahaz was victorious over his enemies because of Assyria. Ironically, he was also a slave to Assyria. As a result, Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house and gave all to him. This is the price of servitude. When God sets us free we are free indeed. Unlike God, Satan won’t gave favor without a corresponding price of serfdom. Paul had pointed this reality by saying, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?[Rom 6:3] Thankfully, as His children, “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”[Rom 6:6]

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2 Kings 16:1-5 ESV

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 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 his God, as his father David had done, 3 but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

EMBRACING THE ABOMINABLE

Ahaz was an evil king of judah. Strangely, he “walked in the ways of the kings of Israel.” That is, he was influenced not by the values of his own family but the lifestyle of the kings of the northern kingdom. Why? There are no easy answers but this just showed the lack of godly influence in the home. One of the reasons could be the pursuit of novelty of a young, naïve king. He was fascinated to explore and adopt what was new regardless whether these were abominable before God.

He who befriend the enemy will imbibe his values. He did the unthinkable. “He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices 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.”[v 3,4] This was the last straw at the camel’s back. It’s the zenith of an abominable act when the king himself did it. It is claimed that the Ben Hinom valley was the site of worship for the Molech god. Views are varied as to how exactly the god was served, but it involved either burning (to death) or singeing [burning partially].

Wickedness is as a weed that can spread its roots vigorously and rapidly unnoticed in the garden of our hearts. Unless, it is uprooted while it is small, its influence will be fatal. King Ahaz had totally abandoned Jehovah and embraced the pagan gods, without reservation.

James has warned us vehemently against befriending the world. He said, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”[Jas 4:4] King Ahaz may had became unconscionable about his wicked and abominable acts. Thus we must be aware about the deceitfulness of sin to cause the hardness of our hearts. Let’s always ask God to help us have a contrite heart before Him.

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2 Kings 15:32-38 

32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 33 He 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. 34 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD. 36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 37 In those days the LORD began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. 38 Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

GOD’S TOLERANCE IS NOT GOD’S APPROVAL

King Jotham was a good king following the footseps of his father Uzziah’s earlier reign. And, perhaps, he learned a lesson to what happened to his father, he did not enter into the temple of the Lord. According to 2 Chron 27:2, “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 was commended for learning what should he not follow about his father’s actions in temple worship. Indeed, children are watching their fathers’ lives so that they can learn from their mistakes themselves. His father Uzziah’s pride that resulted to leprosy was too serious to ignore. Perhaps he learned to follow God because of fear of the consequence but not by his love for God.

He was blessed to become powerful for he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God” (2 Chron 27:6). He fortified his kingdom by rebuilding the Upper Gate of the temple. And, he built the wall at the hill of Ophel and towns, forts, and towers (2 Chron 27:3–4). However, he failed to remove the high places so the people could continue to make sacrifices there (2 Kings 15:35).

God is the strength of the kingdom suppose to be. But, Jotham had played enough politics taking for granted the effect of the worship of idols. For him, there was no problem for the people and his kingdom are doing well. The good result of our compromising actions and decisions don’t make them right, do they? It’s sad when God’s tolerance is mistaken as God’s approval. Just that God has blessed us materially doesn’t mean that he approved the means for it. Grace is not permissive to continue sinning but power to overcome sin.

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