In this episode, we delve into 2 Kings chapters 14 and 15 to explore the complexities of leadership in ancient Israel and Judah. We hear about kings who did both good and evil, each impacting their kingdom in profound ways. From the righteous endeavors of Amaziah, who followed God’s path, to the devious acts of kings who strayed, the narrative teaches us about the eternal struggle between right and wrong.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Israel Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today brings us to 2 Kings chapters 14 and 15. We’ll listen to Faith Comes By Hearing’s readings of these two chapters about good kings and bad kings of Israel and Judah. Let’s listen in. 2 Kings 14
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In the second year of Joash, the son of Joahaz king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoadim of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done. But the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants who had struck down the king, his father. But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded,
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Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.
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He struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sila by storm, and called it Jokthiel, which is its name to this day. Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.
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And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife. And a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. You have indeed struck down Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall? you and Judah with you.
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But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the Ephraim gate to the corner gate. And he seized all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash that he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. And they brought him on horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gathhefer. For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven. So he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did and his might, how he fought and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place. 2 Kings 15 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jechaliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. And the Lord touched the king so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the household, governing the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Azariah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Jotham his son reigned in his place. In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. Shalem the son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him down at Iblium, and put him to death and reigned in his place. Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. This was the promise of the Lord that he gave to Jehu.
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Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.
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And so it came to pass, Shalom the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Samaria. Then Menahem the son of Gadai came up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and he struck down Shalom the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and put him to death, and reigned in his place. Now the rest of the deeds of Shalom and the conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. At that time, Menahem sacked Tifsa and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant. In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadai began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talons of silver, that he might help him to confirm his hold on the royal power. Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place. In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pechahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria in the citadel of the king’s house with Argab and Aria. He put him to death and reigned in his place. Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-Bethmeyekah, Jenoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Ramaliah, and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 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. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 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. 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?” In those days the Lord began to send Rezan, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah. 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.
SPEAKER 01 :
In 2 Kings chapters 14 and 15, we’ve just seen six kings of Israel who all did evil in the sight of the Lord, and three kings of Judah who all did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Those three kings of Judah were Amaziah, Azariah, and Jotham. So far in 1 and 2 Kings, we’ve seen 18 kings reign over the nation of Israel, none of which did any good. They were all evil in sight of the Lord, with the exception of Jehu, who did some things that were pleasing to the Lord, but not all things. We’ve also seen 11 kings over the tribe of Judah. Of those 11 kings, only Asa and Jehoshaphat were good kings in the sight of the Lord. Some of these that we’ve just read in these two chapters were both good and bad, or a mixture of good and bad in the sight of the Lord. Those would be Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, and Jotham. Just as a reminder, the kingdom was divided after the reign of King Solomon. Throughout the book of 1 and 2 Kings, we have seen the deterioration of both Israel and Judah. We’ll finish these two chapters with just a couple summary points. The first is from chapter 14, verse 6. Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin. As much as I would like to take all my children to heaven on my coattails, it’s not going to happen. Each one of us must stand before the Lord on our own account. So it doesn’t matter what kind of father you had as a role model. It’s up to you to decide your eternal destiny. The second summary point comes from chapter 15, verse 12. This was the promise of the Lord that he gave to Jehu. Your son shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. And so it came to pass. Jehu was one of the kings of Israel that was a decent king, but not a king that did all that was right in the sight of the Lord. But because the Lord liked some of the things he did, he promised him that his sons would serve as kings for four generations. This is a fulfillment of that promise. though these kings did evil in the sight of the Lord. God is a promise keeper. Father, we thank you for reminding us about generational impact in these two chapters. First of all, that every one of us is on our own before you and before your throne of judgment. Secondly, that there are times when a father does good and you promise the generations afterwards that they would be blessed. That would be my prayer, Lord, is that you would bless my children because of my attempted faithfulness to you throughout my life. though I realize they will all stand on their own before your judgment seat. We also see in this chapter that you have been faithful to the promise of David that someone would always sit on the throne of Judah. You are still keeping that promise in these two chapters in 2 Kings. Thank you for being a promise keeper. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
