2 CHRONICLES
The book of 2 Chronicles starts with the reign of king Solomon (990 - 931 B.C.) and ends with the destruction of Jerusalem by king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 B.C. and the end of the Davidic kings of Israel.
NOTE: The dates of the reigns of the kings vary among historians, as records are sparse and the calendar has changed numerous times over the centuries. I have listed the most probable dates of their reigns in this study.
2 CHRONICLES 1:1-6
1 Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly.
2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses.
3 Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
4 But David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
5 Now the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the Lord; Solomon and the assembly sought Him there.
6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
The exploits of king Solomon are annotated in detail in the book of 1 Kings. Chronicles is basically a shortened version of events in his life and that of the kings after him. Here Solomon has just been crowned king of Israel after the death of his father David and is celebrating his coronation with sacrifice to the Lord.
2 CHRONICLES 1:7-10
7 On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?”
8 And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place.
9 Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.
10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
Solomon shows great wisdom and humbleness when asking the Lord for gifts. A ruler can be rich and powerful and still be a fool, as history has shown far too many times. But by asking for wisdom and judgment ability a ruler can be powerful and prosperous as well.
2 CHRONICLES 1:11-12
11 Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—
12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
Because what Solomon asked was pleasing to the Lord, He not only granted his request, He also promised an abundance of things he had not asked for.
2 CHRONICLES 1:13-17
13 So Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel.
14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
15 Also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
16 And Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price.
17 They also acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty; thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
This is surprising, as God had specifically forbidden collecting wealth and horses, to prevent Israel from relying on themselves and not on the Lord. These would be two of several laws that Solomon broke. God had said of kings;
DEUTERONOMY 17:16-17
16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’
17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
This is especially surprising as God had also said;
DEUTERONOMY 17:18-20
18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,
20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
By this, Solomon had no excuse for breaking these laws.
Note: Keveh was an Assyrian province in southern Turkey.
2 CHRONICLES 2:1-10
1 Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself.
2 Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
3 Then Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.
4 Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5 And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
6 But who is able to build Him a temple, since Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
7 Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
8 Also send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants,
9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
10 And indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
A kor was about 6.1 dry gallons (23 liters)
A bath was about 5.8 liquid gallons (22 liters)
Solomon sets out to build a monumental Temple to the Lord based on the plans given to him by his father David;
1 CHRONICLES 28:11-12
11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat;
12 and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things;
2 CHRONICLES 2:11-16
11 Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon: Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.
12 Hiram also said: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!
13 And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram my master craftsman
14 (the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
15 Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants.
16 And we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.
Lebanon was well-known for its cedar forests and cedar wood was a major Phoenician export. King Hiram had been a close friend of king David and rejoiced to see a son who followed in the footsteps of his father.
Huram was what would today be known as a Master Craftsman, a man skilled in many disciplines of artistry such as weaving, embroidery, metal-working, engraving and masonry. One is reminded of Bezalel who during the time of Moses was commissioned to create the items for the Tabernacle;
EXODUS 35:30-35
30 And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship,
32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze,
33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.
34 “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
2 CHRONICLES 2:17-18
17 Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.
18 And he made seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.
The “aliens” referred to here were the Canaanites who had been subdued by Israel but not destroyed or driven out as God had commanded when Israel had invaded the land. As Moses had commanded;
DEUTERONOMY 7:1-5
1 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
2 and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
5 But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
Yet as Scripture shows, Israel did not drive out or destroy all of the Canaanites;
JOSHUA 13:13
13 Nevertheless the children of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.
JOSHUA 15:63
63 As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
JOSHUA 16:10
10 And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers.
King David performed a census of the remaining Canaanites for the purpose of building the Temple;
1 CHRONICLES 22:1-4
1 Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
2 So David commanded to gather the aliens who were in the land of Israel; and he appointed masons to cut hewn stones to build the house of God.
3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joints, and bronze in abundance beyond measure,
4 and cedar trees in abundance; for the Sidonians and those from Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.
2 CHRONICLES 3:1-7
1 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3 This is the foundation which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits.
4 And the vestibule that was in front of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.
5 The larger room he paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it.
6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim.
7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
A cubit was approximately 18 inches (45.72 cm), making the foundation of the Temple 90 feet (27.5 meters) long and 30 feet (9.1 meters) wide. The vestibule would be 30 feet (9.1 meters) wide and 180 feet (54.8 meters) tall.
We need to remember that Solomon’s kingdom was so wealthy that silver had little value;
1 KINGS 10:27
27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
The location of Parvaim is unknown, but may be related to the Sanskrit ‘purva’, a generalized term for ‘the East’.
2 CHRONICLES 3:8
8 And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold.
The length and width of the Most Holy Place (where the Ark of the Covenant was stored) was 30 feet (9.1 meters). A Biblical talent was roughly 75 pounds (34.0 kg) and the room was covered in with 22.5 tons (20,454 kg) of gold!!
2 CHRONICLES 3:9
9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper area with gold.
The nails would be either made of iron or bronze as they would be harder than gold or copper.
2 CHRONICLES 3:10
10 In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold.
Unfortunately most people when thinking of cherubim picture babies, due largely to medieval-era paintings. The prophet Ezekiel saw cherubim images in a vision of the Temple when he was a captive in Babylon;
EZEKIEL 41:18-20
18 And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces,
19 so that the face of a man was toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the temple all around.
20 From the floor to the space above the door, and on the wall of the sanctuary, cherubim and palm trees were carved.
The faces were representative of the Messiah (Jesus), who is the Son of God and the Lion of the tribe of Judah from whom the Messiah would be born.
2 CHRONICLES 3:11-13
11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub;
12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub.
13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward.
The cherubs’ wings stretched 30 feet (9.1 meters) overall and would have stretched from one side of the room to the other.
2 CHRONICLES 3:14
14 And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.
Fine linen was quite time-consuming, hard to make, and quite expensive as either flax or cotton needed to be hand-spun into thread, then be hand-woven and hand-dyed. Blue and purple dyes were incredibly expensive and were extracted from the Murex (Venus’ Comb) snail, and it took 4 million snails to make a pound of dye! A pound of violet or blue dye was literally worth its weight in silver.
In similar fashion red dye came from female kermes insects, with the crimson dye being extracted from the shells of the insects.
2 CHRONICLES 3:15-17
15 Also he made in front of the temple two pillars thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16 He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork.
17 Then he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz.
The height of the pillars was 52.5 feet (16.15 meters) and the top platform (capital) was another 7.5 feet (2.28 meters). They were free-standing pillars, not used for support.
Pomegranates in ancient times were symbols of fertility (more than likely due to the large numbers of seeds inside).
‘Jachin’ has been translated to mean ; ‘He will establish’; ‘Boaz’ means “in Him is strength’.
2 CHRONICLES 4:1
1 Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.
The altar was 30 feet (9.1 meters) long and wide, and 15 feet (4.6 meters) in height. This was to accommodate the numerous sacrifices made to the Lord as we’ll soon see.
2 CHRONICLES 4:2-5
2 Then he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
3 And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
4 It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward.
5 It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained three thousand baths.
The bronze bowl used for priestly ritual washing was 15 feet (4.6 meters) wide, 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) in height, and 45 feet (13.7 meters) in circumference. The thickness was about 3 inches (7.6 cm) and held 17,435 gallons (66,000 liters) of water!!!
2 CHRONICLES 4:6
6 He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
Ten wash basins were used to wash the sacrifices before burning them on the altar in accordance with the Law of Moses;
LEVITICUS 1:8-9
8 Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar;
9 but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
2 CHRONICLES 4:7-18
7 And he made ten lampstands of gold according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.
8 He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred bowls of gold.
9 Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze.
10 He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.
11 Then Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God:
12 the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars;
13 four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars);
14 he also made carts and the lavers on the carts;
15 one Sea and twelve oxen under it;
16 also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles Huram his master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
17 In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zeredah.
18 And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
It is hard to imagine the monumental intensive labor involved in the manufacture of all of these items! The bronze, iron and gold used to make utensils had to be melted and cast in clay molds (some of giant size), the bronze and gold overlays had to be hammered into sheets, huge stones had to be cut and hauled to the building site, large amounts of flax and cotton needed to be spun into thread, woven and dyed for creating the veil separating the Temple courts from the Holy of Holies and for priestly clothing, etc. And all of it needed to be done by hand!!
2 CHRONICLES 4:19-22
19 Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was the showbread;
20 the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary,
21 with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold;
22 the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.
The showbread was 12 loaves of fresh bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel that were to be set out hot each morning and removed each night in accordance to God’s command.
EXODUS 25:30
30 And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always.
At sunset the showbread was considered “common bread” and the priests were allowed to eat it.
2 CHRONICLES 5:1-14
1 So all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
2 Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the City of David, which is Zion.
3 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.
4 So all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.
5 Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.
6 Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.
7 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
8 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.
9 The poles extended so that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.
10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.
11 And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions),
12 and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets—
13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
God showed His approval of the Temple by visibly filling it with His presence.
2 CHRONICLES 6:1-15
1 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
2 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
3 The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
4 Eleazar begot Phinehas, and Phinehas begot Abishua;
5 Abishua begot Bukki, and Bukki begot Uzzi;
6 Uzzi begot Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begot Meraioth;
7 Meraioth begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub;
8 Ahitub begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Ahimaaz;
9 Ahimaaz begot Azariah, and Azariah begot Johanan;
10 Johanan begot Azariah (it was he who ministered as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem);
11 Azariah begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub;
12 Ahitub begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Shallum;
13 Shallum begot Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begot Azariah;
14 Azariah begot Seraiah, and Seraiah begot Jehozadak.
15 Jehozadak went into captivity when the Lord carried Judah and Jerusalem into captivity by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
The lineage above details the descendants of Levi who became the High Priests until 586 B.C. when Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and carried Judah captive to Babylon for 70 years.
2 CHRONICLES 6:16-30
16 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
17 These are the names of the sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. Now these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers:
20 Of Gershon were Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,
21 Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, and Jeatherai his son.
22 The sons of Kohath were Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,
23 Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son,
24 Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.
25 The sons of Elkanah were Amasai and Ahimoth.
26 As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son, Nahath his son,
27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, and Elkanah his son.
28 The sons of Samuel were Joel the firstborn, and Abijah the second.
29 The sons of Merari were Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son,
30 Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son.
The above is a listing of the Levites (not in the line of the priests) who made up the major divisions assigned to temple duties such as upkeep, guards, singers, musicians, etc.
2 CHRONICLES 6:31-48
31 Now these are the men whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ark came to rest.
32 They were ministering with music before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they served in their office according to their order.
33 And these are the ones who ministered with their sons: Of the sons of the Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,
34 the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah,
35 the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,
36 the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,
37 the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,
38 the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.
39 And his brother Asaph, who stood at his right hand, was Asaph the son of Berachiah, the son of Shimea,
40 the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah,
41 the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah,
42 the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei,
43 the son of Jahath, the son of Gershon, the son of Levi.
44 Their brethren, the sons of Merari, on the left hand, were Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,
45 the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah,
46 the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shamer,
47 the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.
48 And their brethren, the Levites, were appointed to every kind of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
The above is a listing of the division of Levites dedicated to sing and play music before the Lord.
2 CHRONICLES 6:49-53
49 But Aaron and his sons offered sacrifices on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
50 Now these are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,
51 Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son,
52 Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son,
53 Zadok his son, and Ahimaaz his son.
The focus above narrows down to the lineage of the descendants of Aaron whom God selected to be High Priests before Him.
2 CHRONICLES 6:54-64
54 Now these are their dwelling places throughout their settlements in their territory, for they were given by lot to the sons of Aaron, of the family of the Kohathites:
55 They gave them Hebron in the land of Judah, with its surrounding common-lands.
56 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
57 And to the sons of Aaron they gave one of the cities of refuge, Hebron; also Libnah with its common-lands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its common-lands,
58 Hilen with its common-lands, Debir with its common-lands,
59 Ashan with its common-lands, and Beth Shemesh with its common-lands.
60 And from the tribe of Benjamin: Geba with its common-lands, Alemeth with its common-lands, and Anathoth with its common-lands. All their cities among their families were thirteen.
61 To the rest of the family of the tribe of the Kohathites they gave by lot ten cities from half the tribe of Manasseh.
62 And to the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, they gave thirteen cities from the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
63 To the sons of Merari, throughout their families, they gave twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.
64 So the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands to the Levites.
The Levites were not allotted any property as an inheritance in Canaan as the Lord was to be their inheritance. As Moses reminded them just before Israel entered Canaan;
DEUTERONOMY 10:8-9
8 At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day.
9 Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him.
They were assigned cities to live in, but the cities and surrounding lands belonged to the tribe as a whole, not to any individual.
If a man accidentally killed another and an “avenger of blood” came after him, the man could flee to a designated “city of refuge” and be safe there until the judges could determine whether the death was accidental or murder.
If he was innocent, the man was to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the High Priest, (probably a ‘cooling off’ period to allow tempers to subside) after which time he could go free. However if he was indeed guilty of murder, the city fathers were to immediately deliver him to the avenger who would be commanded to kill him. (Numbers, chapter 35)
2 CHRONICLES 6:65-81
65 And they gave by lot from the tribe of the children of Judah, from the tribe of the children of Simeon, and from the tribe of the children of Benjamin these cities which are called by their names.
66 Now some of the families of the sons of Kohath were given cities as their territory from the tribe of Ephraim.
67 And they gave them one of the cities of refuge, Shechem with its common-lands, in the mountains of Ephraim, also Gezer with its common-lands,
68 Jokmeam with its common-lands, Beth Horon with its common-lands,
69 Aijalon with its common-lands, and Gath Rimmon with its common-lands.
70 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its common-lands and Bileam with its common-lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.
71 From the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh the sons of Gershon were given Golan in Bashan with its common-lands and Ashtaroth with its common-lands.
72 And from the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its common-lands, Daberath with its common-lands,
73 Ramoth with its common-lands, and Anem with its common-lands.
74 And from the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its common-lands, Abdon with its common-lands,
75 Hukok with its common-lands, and Rehob with its common-lands.
76 And from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its common-lands, Hammon with its common-lands, and Kirjathaim with its common-lands.
77 From the tribe of Zebulun the rest of the children of Merari were given Rimmon with its common-lands and Tabor with its common-lands.
78 And on the other side of the Jordan, across from Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, they were given from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its common-lands, Jahzah with its common-lands,
79 Kedemoth with its common-lands, and Mephaath with its common-lands.
80 And from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its common-lands, Mahanaim with its common-lands,
81 Heshbon with its common-lands, and Jazer with its common-lands.
This denotes the divisions of the lands of Canaan and lands east of the Jordan River among the rest of the tribes of Israel.
2 CHRONICLES 7:1-7
1 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.
3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever.”
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.
5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6 And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their ministry. The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.
7 Furthermore Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.
The Lord demonstrated His approval and power by filling the Temple with His presence and by sending fire to consume the burnt offering on the bronze altar. With the number of sacrifices involved, Solomon had to also use the court outside the Temple to accommodate all of the sacrifices.
2 CHRONICLES 7:8-11
8 At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt.
9 And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.
11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.
It took seven years for the Temple to be built and all Israel celebrated from the border of Lebanon in the north to the Brook of Egypt, a seasonal stream in the Gaza / Sinai peninsula to the south.
2 CHRONICLES 7:12-22
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments,
18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’
19 “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,
20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
21 “And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’
22 Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”
God extends the promises given to David to Solomon, dependant on Solomon’s continued obedience to His commandments and warns of dire consequences for failure which indeed occurred in 586 B.C. when God sent king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple and deport the Jews to Babylon for 70 years because of their wickedness.
2 CHRONICLES 8:1-6
1 It came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house,
2 that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it.
4 He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in Hamath.
5 He built Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,
6 also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
Solomon was an ambitious builder, building grain storage cities (to store grain for food in case of drought or famine), as well as fortresses and military strongholds. He was able to do this as the Lord granted him peace on all sides.
Apparently king Hiram of Lebanon had given Solomon several cities (no names given) and Solomon fortified these also and settled people there.
The location of Hamath Zobah is unknown.
2 CHRONICLES 8:7-10
7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel—
8 that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day.
9 But Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry.
10 And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.
Solomon used the descendants of the subjugated Canaanites as slaves, (wood-cutters, stone-cutters, water carriers, burden-bearers, etc.), freeing the Jews for important administrative and military posts. Note that God apparently had no problem with slavery of foreigners, but fellow Jews were not to be made slaves. God had commanded through Moses;
LEVITICUS 25:44-46
44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
45 Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property.
46 And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
2 CHRONICLES 8:11
11 Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
Here Solomon commits one of the sins that would eventually lead to his undoing, namely marrying a foreign wife, one who worshiped foreign gods. Note that Solomon apparently knew this, as he built a separate house for her lest her presence defile any holy place.
2 CHRONICLES 8:12-15
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule,
13 according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
14 And, according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded.
15 They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries.
The Levites and the priests had become so numerous that King David had to set up duty divisions which were assigned on a rotating basis so that all could serve in the Temple at one time or another.
2 CHRONICLES 8:16-18
16 Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom.
18 And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
While the location of Ophir is unknown, it can be reasonably assumed to have been somewhere in Africa, especially since Solomon’s ships sailed from the southernmost port of Elath at the northmost point of the Gulf of Aqaba between the Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia.
Another clue to Ophir having been in Africa is found in the items imported from there, especially apes and monkeys. Scripture states;
1 KINGS 10:22
22 For the king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
The gold of Ophir was of exceptional quality and is mentioned several times in Scripture. A pottery fragment found in Tel Aviv describes a shipment of “gold of Ophir for Beth-Horon, 30 shekels”, showing it as a real place.
2 CHRONICLES 9:1-8
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.
2 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her.
3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
4 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
5 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.
6 However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard.
7 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!
8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
The country of Sheba was located in present-day Yemen at the southern tip of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, meaning that she had to travel a long distance through the desert to reach Jerusalem, a journey that more than likely took several months at least.
She had come to see and test the wisdom of Solomon and had prepared difficult questions to ask him. He answered all of her questions and she was astonished by his answers, his wisdom and his glory in fulfillment of God’s promise to him;
2 CHRONICLES 1:11-12
11 Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—
12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
2 CHRONICLES 9:9-12
9 And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 Also, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones.
11 And the king made walkways of the algum wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah.
12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
A talent varied in weight during ancient times, but it usually came out to be about 75 pounds (34 kg). 120 talents would then equal 9,000 pounds (4,082 kg) of gold, along with rare spices and precious stones. Truly God kept His promise when He told Solomon;
2 CHRONICLES 1:12
12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
Now an important point. Some people believe that Solomon gave the Ark of the Covenant to the Queen, based on 2 Chronicles 9:12 above. They also believe that Solomon fathered a child by her, although there is absolutely no Scripture to suggest or support this.
First of all, if Solomon had given her the Ark, God would have immediately left him, and he would have been overthrown by his own people. Secondly, when the Philistines had captured the
Ark in battle some years before (1 Samuel, chapters 4-5) God had afflicted the Philistines with bubonic plague brought by rats until they returned it. Would He not have afflicted the Queen in similar fashion had she taken the Ark?
Nearly 300 years after Solomon’s death king Josiah (640-609 B.C.) ordered the Ark to be placed in the Holy of Holies (2 Chronicles chapter 35), showing that the Ark was still in Jerusalem.
As for fathering a child by the Queen, if Solomon had committed adultery with her, God would have punished him much as He had with king David his father for his affair with Solomon’s mother Bathsheba, (2 Samuel, chapter 11) which I’m sure Solomon vividly remembered
hearing about.
Such a son would have had a legitimate claim to the throne of Israel, something God would not allow. Moses had commanded;
DEUTERONOMY 1:14-15
14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’
15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
Also, the king was supposed to lead the congregation in the worship of the Lord, and God had specifically commanded;
DEUTERONOMY 23:2
2 “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord.
2 CHRONICLES 9:13-28
13 The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
14 besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield.
16 He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
18 The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests.
19 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
22 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
24 Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26 So he reigned over all the kings from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.
27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
28 And they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
The total wealth of Solomon is incalculable, shown by the fact that he imported tons of gold and made silver virtually worthless in comparison. But in accumulating such excessive wealth, he broke several of God’s commandments from Moses;
DEUTERONOMY 17:16-17
16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’
17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
Solomon bought horses from Egypt, accumulated massive amounts of wealth and Scripture records that he married 700 wives and had 300 concubines. Scripture also records that his wives turned him away from worshiping God to worshiping the gods of his wives;
1 KINGS 11:4-8
4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.
8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
2 CHRONICLES 9:29-31
29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31 Then Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
Unfortunately for reasons known only to God, the books of the prophets (also called ‘seers’) do not exist today. But we have enough information in the rest of the Bible to understand the history of the kings of Israel and Judah.
Solomon died in 931 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 10:1-5
1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.
2 So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), that Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
3 Then they sent for him and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
4 “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 So he said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” And the people departed.
Jeroboam was an officer over the Canaanites that the descendants of Joseph had enslaved rather than destroying them as God had commanded, and Solomon had set him over the issue. However, prophet Ahijah the Shilonite had told Jeroboam that God was going to tear 10 tribes from Solomon’s son because of Solomon’s idolatry and give them to Jeroboam to rule as king.
Solomon heard of it and tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam had fled to Egypt. (1 Kings, chapter 11)
Solomon had heavily taxed all of Israel to support his lavish lifestyle and the people hoped that his son would reduce their tax burden.
2 CHRONICLES 10:6-11
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”
7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
8 But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.
9 And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
10 Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist!
11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’ ”
Rehoboam was a weak and foolish king, He was apparently unskilled in diplomacy, and relied on the young, arrogant, hot-headed friends he grew up with who sought power by manipulating the king, rather than the older, wiser and more experienced counselors his father had relied on.
But God had prophesied of this event, and His words were about to come to pass.
2 CHRONICLES 10:12-19
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.”
13 Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders,
14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”
15 So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:“What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel! Now see to your own house, O David!” So all Israel departed to their tents.
17 But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of revenue; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Apparently Rehoboam either didn’t believe the people or was blinded to the seriousness of the situation, as he sent his chief tax-collector to bring the 10 northern tribes back under control!!
The people of Israel in their wrath stoned Hadoram to death, frightening Rehoboam into fleeing to Jerusalem in his chariot. The rebellion would last for 230 years, when in 721 B.C. the Assyrians would destroy and deport the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria and lands east.
Unfortunately, Scripture doesn’t say what happened to Rehoboam’s pompous friends.
2 CHRONICLES 11:1-4
1 Now when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
3 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
4 ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the Lord, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.
Rehoboam apparently refused to accept blame for his arrogant, haughty response to Israel’s reasonable request concerning taxation and was determined to force the breakaway tribes into submission. God intervened and fortunately the soldiers of Judah and Benjamin were smart enough to listen to Him.
2 CHRONICLES 11:5-12
5 So Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah.
6 And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7 Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam,
8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, fortified cities.
11 And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine.
12 Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
Rehoboam was probably frightened concerning attacks from Israel or Judah’s enemies now that his kingdom was greatly reduced and weakened by the rebellion. He fortified a number of major cities and stored supplies against sieges.
Of interest is the city of Gath, which was normally one of the 5 city-states owned by the Philistines. This is odd as during the time of Solomon, Scripture records that Gath was ruled by Philistine king Achish. (1 Kings 2:39-40). Perhaps there was a city in Judah named Gath?
2 CHRONICLES 11:13-17
13 And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him.
14 For the Levites left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord.
15 Then he appointed for himself priests for the high places, for the demons, and the calf idols which he had made.
16 And after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers.
17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
1 Kings chapter 12 records that Jeroboam (Jeroboam I) quickly fell into idolatry and made 2 golden calves and set one in Bethel in southern Israel and one in the territory of Dan in the far north as he was afraid that if his people went to worship God in Jerusalem they would defect to Rehoboam. So he created his own gods and priests and quickly led Israel into sin.
2 CHRONICLES 11:18-23
18 Then Rehoboam took for himself as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliah the son of Jesse.
19 And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham.
20 After her he took Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
22 And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king.
23 He dealt wisely, and dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.
It sounds as if Rehoboam was out to setup his own dynasty!! Distributing his sons throughout Judah was a smart move, as that way a palace coup wouldn’t wipe out his entire family. This way also, he could keep up on all of the affairs in his kingdom by having his sons periodically report to him.
2 CHRONICLES 12:1-4
1 Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him.
2 And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord,
3 with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.
4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.
Like Jeroboam, Rehoboam didn’t follow the Lord and he caused Judah to sin in worshiping pagan gods and creating wooden pillars dedicated to the female god Asherah and allowed temple prostitutes and homosexuals in the land. (1 Kings chapter 14)
Lubim - appears to be people of Libya
Sukkim - unknown, more than likely an African people
2 CHRONICLES 12:5-12
5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”
6 So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “The Lord is righteous.”
7 Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
8 Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”
9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had made.
10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house.
11 And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom.
12 When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.
In 926 B.C. God brought Pharaoh Shishak (Shoshenq I) against Rehoboam who plundered the treasures of the king and the Temple. Please note that Shishak took the treasures of the Temple, but he never took the Ark of the Covenant!!!
As the shields of Solomon were mentioned by name, if the Ark of the Covenant were taken it would have been mentioned by name, as it was far more important to the Israelites than the gold shields of Solomon.
2 CHRONICLES 12:13-16
13 Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.
15 The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
16 So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then Abijah his son reigned in his place.
One has to wonder if Rehoboam’s pagan mother influenced him to forsake the Lord as did Solomon’s other pagan wives to Solomon. Unfortunately the books written by Shemaiah and Iddo have not survived, but we do have the books of Kings and Chronicles to relate their history.
Rehoboam ruled from 931 - 913 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 13:1-12
1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.
2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3 Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.
4 Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:
5 Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord.
7 Then worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not withstand them.
8 And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods.
9 Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods?
10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.
11 And they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him.
12 Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”
Abijah reiterates Jeroboam’s sins to his face before all Israel, warning him that even though Jeroboam forsook God, Abijah and Judah had not. Abijah warns Jeroboam that he will be defeated as God was fighting for Judah.
He also reminds Jeroboam that God had made a “covenant of salt” with king David concerning his kingship. Salt was literally worth it’s weight in gold in ancient times, and Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt instead of money.
Salt was extremely important especially in hot climates where sweating can quickly lower the sodium levels in the human body, resulting in mental changes, headache, nausea. vomiting, tiredness, muscle spasms, seizures coma and can result in death.
Most salt in the Middle East was mined from the shores of the Dead Sea or from deposits in the deserts of Africa. It was difficult to purify and had to be shipped by caravan, making it quite expensive both as a spice and a necessary commodity.
It was important enough that God required salt for all grain offerings and no grain offering was to be made without it.
LEVITICUS 2:13
13 And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.
2 CHRONICLES 13:13-22
13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.
14 And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand.
17 Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain.
18 Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.
19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephrain with its villages.
20 So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the Lord struck him, and he died.
21 But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in the annals of the prophet Iddo.
Jeroboam thought to crush Judah from two sides, but God delivered the victory to Judah, preserving David’s throne as He had promised.
It is interesting that Abijah took the city of Bethel in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, as that is where Jeroboam had set up one of the golden calves he had made for Israel to worship.
Abijah died in 911 B.C.
Jeroboam died in 910 B.C., cause unknown but Scripture records that God struck him down.
2 CHRONICLES 14:1-8
1 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.
2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God,
3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images.
4 He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.
5 He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.
6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest.
7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.
8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.
Asa was one of the few good kings of Judah, and God rewarded him with 10 years of peace fulfilling the proverb;
PROVERBS 16:7
7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Asa was smart and used the time to fortify major cities in Judah, knowing that Judah was literally surrounded by hostile nations.
2 CHRONICLES 14:9-15
9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.
10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
11 And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”
12 So the Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much spoil.
14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them.
15 They also attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.
The Ethiopians (Cushites) must have been like locusts covering the land, outnumbering Asa’s army by nearly 2:1, yet Asa trusted in the Lord and God defeated Zerah and his multitude.
Asa met them in south-western Judah therefore Zerah must have come up through the Sinai Peninsula. Gerar was a Philistine city close by Mareshah and the fact that Asa attacked them may indicate that the Philistines may have tried to help the Ethiopians.
2 CHRONICLES 15:1-9
1 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
3 For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law;
4 but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.
5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands.
6 So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity.
7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord.
9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
Azariah reiterates a brief history of Israel’s troubles when they fell away from God and the turmoil of the surrounding nations who did not know God. Asa made the right choice and followed God, destroying idols and idol-worship and restoring true worship of God throughout Judah.
As a result, multitudes from Israel abandoned the golden calf worship generated by Israel’s king Jeroboam I and flocked to Judah, strengthening Asa.
2 CHRONICLES 15:10-19
10 So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
11 And they offered to the Lord at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought.
12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
13 and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
14 Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns.
15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.
16 Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
17 But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.
18 He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.
19 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Asa had all in Judah gather to renew a covenant with the Lord and sacrificed an abundance of animals that they had captured from the Ethiopians to seal the covenant and seek the covering of Judah’s many sins. He destroyed all of the idols and even deposed his own mother from ruling as Queen Mother as she had made a wooden pillar dedicated to Asherah, a Canaanite female goddess.
However the ‘high places’(pagan altar sites atop hills and mountaintops) were not destroyed.
2 CHRONICLES 16:1-6
1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying,
3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.
5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work.
6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
I’ve often wondered about Asa taking gold and silver from the Temple to bribe the king of Syria to attack Israel, after he’d relied on God previously to defeat the Ethiopians. This act would cost him later.
Baasha had begun building Ramah in the territory of Benjamin (absorbed by Judah) seeking to expand Israel’s territory southward beyond its southern border, and cut the trade route along the main access road from Jerusalem northward to Bethel.
It is amusing (and shrewd) that Asa used Baasha’s building materials to build cities in Judah, saving a tremendous amount of work and cost. In building Mizpah and Geba, Asa fortified his northern border to curb Israel’s expansion attempts.
2 CHRONICLES 16:7-10
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”
10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
God sharply rebuked Asa for relying on another nation for help rather than on God. As He later told the prophet Jeremiah;
JEREMIAH 17:5
5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.”
Rather than accept the rebuke and humble himself, Asa reacted with a tyrant’s rage, sinning still further and imprisoning God’s prophet and oppressing innocent people.
2 CHRONICLES 16:11-14
11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.
14 They buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.
It sounds as if Asa contracted severe diabetes at the end of his reign which can cause diseases of the feet. Why he didn’t seek help from the Lord is unknown, perhaps he was still stung by God’s rebuke.
Asa ruled from 911 - 870 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 17:1-6
1 Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel.
2 And he placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had taken.
3 Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals,
4 but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel.
5 Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance.
6 And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah.
Jehoshaphat was one of the few righteous kings of Judah, walking in the commandments of the Lord and finishing the destruction of Judah’s idols and finally destroying the pagan altar sites on the mountain and hilltops.
As a result, God greatly rewarded him and caused him to prosper. He fortified Geba and Mizpah on his border with the northern Kingdom of Israel and fortified all of the major cities of Judah against attacks from surrounding enemies.
2 CHRONICLES 17:7-13
7 Also in the third year of his reign he sent his leaders, Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah.
8 And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah—the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.
9 So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
10 And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
11 Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred male goats.
12 So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.
13 He had much property in the cities of Judah; and the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem.
Jehoshaphat wisely sent leaders as administrators and judges throughout his kingdom, as well as priests and Levites to teach the Law of Moses to the people. This was vitally important, as without knowledge and reinforcement Satan would quickly turn the people to idolatry.
As God lamented through the prophet Hosea concerning the idolatry of the Northern Kingdom of Israel;
HOSEA 4:6
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Jesus also warned us about not being diligent to seek and to understand God’s laws;
MATTHEW 13:19
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
God blessed Jehoshaphat with peace on all sides, fulfilling the proverb;
PROVERBS 16:7
7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
2 CHRONICLES 17:14-19
14 These are their numbers, according to their fathers’ houses. Of Judah, the captains of thousands: Adnah the captain, and with him three hundred thousand mighty men of valor;
15 and next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand;
16 and next to him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself to the Lord, and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.
17 Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield;
18 and next to him was Jehozabad, and with him one hundred and eighty thousand prepared for war.
19 These served the king, besides those the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.
A census of the armies of Judah and Benjamin is listed, along with heir leaders.
2 CHRONICLES 18:1-3
1 Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab.
2 After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead.
3 So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” And he answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.”
Considering Ahab’s known behavior (heavily influenced by his pagan wife Jezebel), it is a mystery that a righteous Godly king like Jehoshaphat would ally himself with a detestable king like Ahab of Israel and his murderous wife.
Ramoth-Gilead was a city east of the Jordan River in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh who had conquered the area after Israel came out of Egypt. Some time after the death of Solomon in 930 B.C. the city had been lost to Syria and Ahab wanted to get it back.
2 CHRONICLES 18:4-8
4 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”
5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
So they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
6 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”
7 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”
8 Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imla quickly!”
Jehoshaphat knew that Ahab worshiped Ba’al and knew that Ahab’s ‘prophets’ prophesied by Ba’al and not the Lord. But there was apparently one true prophet left in Israel but Ahab hated him as he brazenly pointed out Ahab’s sins, unlike his other ‘prophets’ who had been appointed by his pagan wife.
2 CHRONICLES 18:9-14
9 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne; and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
10 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”
11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
12 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”
13 And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.”
14 Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” And he said, “Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand!”
Note carefully that Micaiah doesn’t prophesy in the name of the Lord. He had truly said that he would only speak what God told him, and by omitting the name of the Lord, he showed that he was, like Ahab’s ‘prophets’, not prophesying God’s words.
2 CHRONICLES 18:15-27
15 So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
16 Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’ ”
17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left.
19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.
20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’
21 So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’
22 Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”
23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you?”
24 And Micaiah said, “Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!”
25 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son;
26 and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I return in peace.” ’ ”
27 But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!”
Several things to note here!!!
First, Ahab caught on immediately that Micaiah was not prophesying in the name of the Lord and ordered him to do so.
Second, we see a fascinating glimpse of events before God’s throne where the angels are gathered and Satan is among them. Many believe that Satan cannot appear in Heaven, but the first two chapters in the book of Job show differently.
Notice that Satan volunteered to be a lying spirit in the mouths of Ba’al’s prophets, God did not force or coerce him to do so.
Verse 26 also shows that ‘bread and water’ punishments for prisoners was in effect in ancient times.
2 CHRONICLES 18:28-34
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.
30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.”
31 So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him.
32 For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
33 Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”
34 The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died.
In ancient battles, sometimes kings would watch from the sidelines or from the rear as their troops fought and would flee in chariots if they lost. In this case it seems that Ahab was confident of victory and decided to go into battle dressed as a common soldier.
Ahab’s being struck down by an arrow is not surprising. Records of ancient battles record clouds of arrows raining down on opposing armies, causing Roman troops to develop a maneuver known as ‘The Turtle’ in which advancing legionnaires held their shields interlocked overhead to protect against falling arrows.
And so, as God had determined and Micaiah had correctly prophesied, king Ahab died in battle with the Syrians.
2 CHRONICLES 19:1-3
1 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem.
2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you.
3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.”
God rebukes Jehoshaphat for allying himself with pagan, idolatrous king Ahab, having known full well of Ahab’s wickedness and that of Ahab’s murderous pagan wife Jezebel. He is angry with Jehoshaphat but has not forgotten Jehoshaphat’s reforms.
2 CHRONICLES 19:4-11
4 So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their fathers.
5 Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,
6 and said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment.
7 Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.”
8 Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, when they returned to Jerusalem.
9 And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart:
10 Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the Lord and wrath come upon you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty.
11 And take notice: Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the Lord will be with the good.”
Jehoshaphat sets up judges for both civil and religious matters. Also warns the judges about accepting bribes in order to pervert justice and favor the person offering the bribe.
In the United States (and elsewhere, I’m sure) millions of dollars are poured into Congress members’ campaign funds as ‘donations’ by ‘lobbyists’, individuals or corporate representatives seeking to sway Congress into passing legislation in their favor.
As Proverbs correctly states;
PROVERBS 29:4
4 The king establishes the land by justice, but he who receives bribes overthrows it.
And the prophet Amos could have been speaking of modern governments, when speaking for God he said;
AMOS 5:12
12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: afflicting the just and taking bribes; diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
2 CHRONICLES 20:1-4
1 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.
2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi).
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
Like his father Asa before him, God is punishing him with wars because of his allying himself with the idolatrous northern Kingdom of Israel. In this case, a coalition of the Ammonites and Moabites east of the Jordan River, the Syrians east of the Dead Sea and the Edomites south of Judah banded together to attack Judah.
2 CHRONICLES 20:5-13
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
6 and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,
9 ‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’
10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them—
11 here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.
12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.
Jehoshaphat cries out to the Lord, reiterating the history of Judah and echoing Solomon’s plea to God at the Temple dedication, not to remind God, but to remind Judah of their heritage and to express hope in the salvation of the Lord.
2 CHRONICLES 20:14-21
14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.
17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.
20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.”
This was a strong test of faith for the people, to merely watch and see the Lord’s work performed. Jehoshaphat was smart, having the Levite singers sing praises to the Lord, possibly remembering God’s words to king David when He said;
PSALM 50:23
23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.
2 CHRONICLES 20:22-30
22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
24 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.
26 And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day.
27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
28 So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.
29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.
Only the Lord could have caused the armies to have a falling out to where they destroyed each other! And note that it took the army three full days to gather the plunder that the attacking armies had left behind (armor, jewelry, gold, clothing, etc.)
As God told the prophet Jeremiah concerning attackers;
JEREMIAH 49:32
32 Their camels shall be for booty, and the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners, and I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says the Lord.
Berachah - Hebrew: ‘Blessing’
2 CHRONICLES 20:31-37
31 So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.
33 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, indeed they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly.
36 And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.
37 But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
One would think that Jehoshaphat would have learned after being rebuked by God for allying himself with king Ahab of Israel. Yet Jehoshaphat turned around and allied himself with Ahab’s wicked son, building ships at Judah’s southern seaport on the Gulf of Aqaba to go to Tarshish, which seems to have been in Africa somewhere.
Yet God in His wrath destroyed the ships, more than likely with a storm.
Jehoshaphat ruled from 870 - 849 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 21:1-4
1 And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.
4 Now when Jehoram was established over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and killed all his brothers with the sword, and also others of the princes of Israel.
This wasn’t unusual in ancient times. Someone would come to the throne and would immediately murder anyone they thought might contend for the throne whether it was true or not.
2 CHRONICLES 21:5-7
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had the daughter of Ahab as a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
7 Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.
Jehoram married Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter, and if she was anything like her murderous mother, she probably convinced Jehoram to murder his brethren. She probably taught him the idolatrous Ba’al worship practices of her parents as well.
2 CHRONICLES 21:8-20
8 In his days Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, and made a king over themselves.
9 So Jehoram went out with his officers, and all his chariots with him. And he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots.
10 Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. At that time Libnah revolted against his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers.
11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.
12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the Lord God of your father David: because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot like the harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers, those of your father’s household, who were better than yourself,
14 behold, the Lord will strike your people with a serious affliction—your children, your wives, and all your possessions;
15 and you will become very sick with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.
16 Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians who were near the Ethiopians.
17 And they came up into Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that there was not a son left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
18 After all this the Lord struck him in his intestines with an incurable disease.
19 Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness; so he died in severe pain. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning for his fathers.
20 He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
The Lord gave Jehoram 8 years to repent before striking him down. He did so gradually, having surrounding nations revolt before striking him with a incurable disease and having his family captured and taken away except for his youngest son.
The disease he contracted appears to have been one that weakened or destroyed the tissues supporting his intestines, causing them to become inflamed and the weakened supporting tissue collapsed allowing them to emerge from his body causing unbearable pain.
And in a final point of dishonor he died unloved and was buried more than likely in a common grave without ceremony.
He ruled from 849- 842 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 22:1-6
1 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the Arabians into the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned.
2 Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri.
3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly.
4 Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.
5 He also followed their advice, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
6 Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
The age of Ahaziah when he assumed the throne is 22 years old according to 2 Kings 8:26, the seeming error in the age of Ahaziah when he ascended the throne as being 42, appears to be a possible error by a scribe when copying the text of 2 Chronicles 22:2.
The sins of the house of Ahab of Israel continue to plague the house of king David. Omri attained the throne of Israel by murdering his predecessor Zimri, who had in turn assassinated king Elah, the son of king Baasha of Israel. And Scripture says of Omri;
1 KINGS 16:25-26
25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him.
26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.
Athaliah was the daughter of queen Jezebel, whom Scripture holds out as a despicable, idol-worshiping murderous woman. This is shown to be true by the actions of Athaliah as we shall soon see.
The interlinked genealogical relations of the house of Ahab and the kings of Israel and Judah are a bit murky at this point, so hopefully the following will straighten it out.
Athaliah was daughter of king Ahab and queen Jezebel of Israel, and Jehoram, king of Israel, son of Ahab was Athaliah’s brother. King Ahaziah of Judah was Athaliah’s son, which would have made king Jehoram of Israel Ahaziah’s uncle and king Ahab his maternal grandfather.
God had sworn to completely destroy the house of Ahab because of his wickedness, saying to him;
1 KINGS 21:21-26
21 ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free.
22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’
23 And concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
24 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”
25 But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.
26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
2 CHRONICLES 22:7-9
7 His going to Joram was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s downfall; for when he arrived, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.
8 And it happened, when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them.
9 Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, “because,” they said, “he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.
God appointed Jehu, a commander of Joram’s army to finish the destruction of Ahab’s direct heirs (Ahaziah was Ahab’s grandson), leaving only Athaliah, Ahab’s daughter alive.
Ahaziah ruled from 842 - 841 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 22:10-12
10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.
11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him.
12 And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
Like mother, like daughter. Jezebel is set forth in Scripture as the epitome of a wicked woman and her daughter followed in her footsteps, murdering her grandchildren (except Joash). And seizing the throne for herself.
2 CHRONICLES 23:1-11
1 In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri.
2 And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
3 Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has said of the sons of David.
4 This is what you shall do: One-third of you entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors;
5 one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord.
6 But let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord.
7 And the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”
8 So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions.
9 And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God.
10 Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king.
11 And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!”
Jehoiada the priest waited until Joash was old enough to reign while being supervised by regents (advisors) before staging a palace coup against Athaliah and putting a legitimate heir of king David on the throne.
2 CHRONICLES 23:12-21
12 Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord.
13 When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!”
14 And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.”
15 So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.
16 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people.
17 And all the people went to the temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
18 Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the Lord to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had assigned in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was established by David.
19 And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter.
20 Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom.
21 So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.
This must have been a nasty surprise for Athaliah, seeing Joash whom she probably thought was dead, standing crowned in the Temple, proclaimed as king. And with the death of Athaliah, the destruction of the house of Ahab was complete.
Jehoiada then got rid of Ba’al worship, re-instituted worship of the Lord and set Joash on the throne of Judah.
Athaliah ruled from 841-835 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 24:1-7
1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2 Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
3 And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
4 Now it happened after this that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord.
5 Then he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you do it quickly.” However the Levites did not do it quickly.
6 So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord and of the assembly of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?”
7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals.
Joash wanted the Temple to be repaired after the looting of the dedicated things and the disrepair that had befallen the Temple during Athaliah’s reign. The collection spoken of by Joash was that commanded by God to Moses for upkeep of the tabernacle and later, the Temple.
God had said;
EXODUS 30:11-16
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them.
13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord.
14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord.
15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.
16 And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”
Why the Levites and priests hadn’t hastened to repair the Temple isn’t known.
2 CHRONICLES 24:8-14
8 Then at the king’s command they made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord.
9 And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the collection that Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness.
10 Then all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and put them into the chest until all had given.
11 So it was, at that time, when the chest was brought to the king’s official by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, that the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and also those who worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of the Lord.
13 So the workmen labored, and the work was completed by them; they restored the house of God to its original condition and reinforced it.
14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; they made from it articles for the house of the Lord, articles for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.
God provided a willing heart for all of the people to give the required tax for the repairs and re-casting of the dedicated implements used in the Temple. Once this was completed, Jehoiada restarted the offerings required by the Law of Moses.
2 CHRONICLES 24:15-22
15 But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died.
16 And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them.
18 Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass.
19 Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’ ”
21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.
22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and repay!”
Like his great-great grandfather Asa, Joash was angered by his public rebuke by God through Zechariah, son of Jehoiada and had him murdered in the Temple court itself.
2 CHRONICLES 24:23-27
23 So it happened in the spring of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.
25 And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
26 These are the ones who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess.
27 Now concerning his sons, and the many oracles about him, and the repairing of the house of God, indeed they are written in the annals of the book of the kings. Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
The curse of God spoken through Zechariah came to pass. Judah was defeated by a small group of Syrians, Joash was severely wounded and then murdered by servants descended from Judah’s enemies, an Ammonitess and a Moabitess.
And like his grandfather Jehoram he was buried in a common grave and not with the kings before him.
Joash ruled from 835-796 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 25:1-13
1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal heart.
3 Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established for him, that he executed his servants who had murdered his father the king.
4 However he did not execute their children, but did as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall die for his own sin.”
5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together and set over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, according to their fathers’ houses, throughout all Judah and Benjamin; and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them to be three hundred thousand choice men, able to go to war, who could handle spear and shield.
6 He also hired one hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for one hundred talents of silver.
7 But a man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the children of Ephraim.
8 But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow.”
9 Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”
10 So Amaziah discharged the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, to go back home. Therefore their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.
11 Then Amaziah strengthened himself, and leading his people, he went to the Valley of Salt and killed ten thousand of the people of Seir.
12 Also the children of Judah took captive ten thousand alive, brought them to the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were dashed in pieces.
13 But as for the soldiers of the army which Amaziah had discharged, so that they would not go with him to battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon, killed three thousand in them, and took much spoil.
Considering the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, one would think that Amaziah would have nothing to do with them, but he apparently had expansionist ideas in mind, so he hired mercenaries of Israel in order to attack Edom which had rebelled against Judah during the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat.
However God warned him not to go with Israel, lest he fall in battle. He sent them home, but being mercenaries (men who fight for money and loot) they were angry that there would be no plunder and sacked and looted several towns in Judah, despite having been paid already.
Amaziah killed 10,000 Edomites in the Dead Sea valley, then took 10,000 more captives and threw them over the cliffs where the wilderness of Judah dropped into the Jordan valley by the Dead Sea.
2 CHRONICLES 25:14-16
14 Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them.
15 Therefore the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?”
16 So it was, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?” Then the prophet ceased, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”
God brings up an excellent point - if Edom’s gods couldn’t save them from foreigners, what made Amaziah think they could protect him? And with a typical tyrant’s rage against public embarrassment, Amaziah threatens to kill the messenger rather than heed the warning.
2 CHRONICLES 25:17-24
17 Now Amaziah king of Judah asked advice and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.”
18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.
19 Indeed you say that you have defeated the Edomites, and your heart is lifted up to boast. Stay at home now; why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall—you and Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah would not heed, for it came from God, that He might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought the gods of Edom.
21 So Joash king of Israel went out; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent.
23 Then Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh; and he brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—four hundred cubits.
24 And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
King Joash of Israel showed surprising wisdom in warning Amaziah about facing him in battle. Amaziah refused to listen and was defeated. Joash captured him, broke down 600 feet (183 meters) of Jerusalem’s defensive walls, plundered the Temple, and took some of Amaziah’s family as hostages against Amaziah’s future good behavior.
All things considered, king Joash showed considerable restraint in dealing with Judah.
2 CHRONICLES 25:25-28
25 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, indeed are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?
27 After the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.
28 Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah.
God gave Amaziah time to repent but he continued worshiping other gods, so God destroyed him. He was buried with the kings of Judah in Jerusalem.
Amaziah ruled from 796 - 767 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 26:1-10
1 Now all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
2 He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
4 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
5 He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
6 Now he went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities around Ashdod and among the Philistines.
7 God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites.
8 Also the Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah. His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong.
9 And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress of the wall; then he fortified them.
10 Also he built towers in the desert. He dug many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains; he also had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved the soil.
Elath was a seaport at the bottom of the Jordan Valley, at the northen-most tip of the branch of the Red Sea known as the Gulf of Aqaba. It had belonged to Edom but Uzziah had apparently captured it and rebuilt it.
Major cities (especially royal cities like Philistine Gath) were usually surrounded by thick defensive walls to fortify them against sieges. Such cities could be besieged for years if they had adequate supplies of food and water, and only fell if the walls were breached or undermined, or the city was starved into submission.
Food and livestock were major trade items and Uzziah apparently understood this as he loved farming and cultivation.
The Meunites were Arabs living in ancient Sheba, present-day Yemen.
2 CHRONICLES 26:11-15
11 Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by companies, according to the number on their roll as prepared by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains.
12 The total number of chief officers of the mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred.
13 And under their authority was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
14 Then Uzziah prepared for them, for the entire army, shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slings to cast stones.
15 And he made devices in Jerusalem, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and large stones. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong.
Uzziah had become mighty indeed, fortifying Jerusalem, arming and armoring all of his soldiers, and building the ancient form of artillery such as arbalests (machines shooting huge arrows) as well as catapults (and possibly trebuchets) for launching huge stones from the walls.
2 CHRONICLES 26:16-22
16 But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
17 So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—valiant men.
18 And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”
19 Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.
20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.
21 King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz wrote.
23 So Uzziah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” Then Jotham his son reigned in his place.
Pride has caused the downfall of many Godly men. Uzziah’s burning of incense was a serious sin before the Lord, as only sanctified priests were authorized to do so. During the time of Moses, two of Aaron’s sons decided to exalt themselves and burn incense before the Lord. Scripture then records;
LEVITICUS 10:1-2
1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.
2 So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
The apostle John was shown the purpose of incense when in his vision of Revelation he stood before God’s throne and saw;
REVELATION 8:3-4
3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.
God considers our prayers (especially prayers of thanksgiving and praise) to be as sweet incense before Him, showing the value of prayer in His eyes!
And considering what happened to Nadab and Abihu, Uzziah was fortunate that God only struck him with leprosy!! And note that they buried him in the field of burial for the kings, not with the kings because of his leprosy.
He ruled from 792 - 740 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 27:1-9
1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.
2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done (although he did not enter the temple of the Lord). But still the people acted corruptly.
3 He built the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord, and he built extensively on the wall of Ophel.
4 Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers.
5 He also fought with the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. And the people of Ammon gave him in that year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand kors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The people of Ammon paid this to him in the second and third years also.
6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.
7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
9 So Jotham rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
Jotham was one of the few Godly kings who followed the Lord and the Law of Moses all of the days of his life. In turn, God blessed Judah for his sake even though the people still worshiped idols and followed sinful practices.
He also defeated the Ammonites, ancient enemies of Judah east of the Jordan river, causing them to send a yearly tribute of 7,500 pounds (3,401. kg) of silver and 6, 200 bushels (2,297,587 liters) each of wheat and barley. Quite a yearly haul!!!
Being a Godly man, he was buried in the tombs of the kings in Jerusalem.
He ruled from 750-735 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 28:1-4
1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done.
2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images for the Baals.
3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
Burning children in the fire was a form of sacrifice to Molech in which children (usually babies) were thrown alive into fires built in the bellies of Molech statues while drums were loudly pounded to drown out the agonized screams of the victims.
If you think about it, the Holocaust was a modern-day version of the same thing, except that the victims were either shot or gassed before being cremated. It is Satan’s perverted abomination of the burnt offerings made by the Jews to God.
The term “Holocaust” comes from the Greek holokaustos, meaning "whole burnt offering".
2 CHRONICLES 28:5-15
5 Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They defeated him, and carried away a great multitude of them as captives, and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter.
6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.
7 Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house, and Elkanah who was second to the king.
8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.
9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.
10 And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord your God?
11 Now hear me, therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”
12 Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war,
13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the Lord. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.”
14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the leaders and all the assembly.
15 Then the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.
The wrath of the Lord was fierce against Judah and he punished them severely, but did not destroy them completely, granting them mercy at the hands of their captors. And it was customary that captives were chained together and were led naked and shoeless into captivity.
2 CHRONICLES 28:16-21
16 At the same time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him.
17 For again the Edomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives.
18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there.
19 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.
20 Also Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and did not assist him.
21 For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.
God continued to punish Judah because of their sins, and rather than turn to the Lord, Ahaz turned more and more to idols and abominations. In desperation Ahaz stripped the Temple of treasures and his own people to hire Assyrian mercenaries, and while the Assyrians took the payment they did not send help.
(Further information on this event can be found in the book of Isaiah, chapters 7-9)
2 CHRONICLES 28:22-27
22 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz.
23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.
24 So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
25 And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.
26 Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
27 So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Even after all of this, Ahaz sinned even more by shuttering the Temple and cutting up the dedicated gold and silver articles used for worship.
Note that when they buried him, they did not honor him by interring him in the tombs of the kings, but elsewhere in the city.
He ruled from 732-716 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 29:1-11
1 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.
2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.
4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square,
5 and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place.
6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him.
7 They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.
8 Therefore the wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes.
9 For indeed, because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.
10 “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.
11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”
Hezekiah was another of the few truly Godly kings of Judah, who understood why Judah had been brought low and was determined to bring the people back to God. Apparently the Temple was full of trash and debris from the days of king Ahaz and would need to be cleansed and sanctified.
2 CHRONICLES 29:12-19
12 Then these Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;
13 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 And they gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.
16 Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.
17 Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles.
19 Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the Lord.”
It must have been a monumental task doing the cleanup as it took 8 full days to finish!!
2 CHRONICLES 29:20-36
20 Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.
21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
22 So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.
23 Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.
24 And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.
25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets.
26 The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27 Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel.
28 So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29 And when they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped.
30 Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.
32 And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord.
33 The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.
34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.
35 Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order.
36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.
There must have been a book of the Law and books of the prophets available for them to consult in order to get the ceremonies right. And it is odd that the Levites were more zealous for sanctifying themselves than the priests were.
2 CHRONICLES 30:1-9
1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel.
2 For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month.
3 For they could not keep it at the regular time, because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem.
4 And the matter pleased the king and all the assembly.
5 So they resolved to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem, since they had not done it for a long time in the prescribed manner.
6 Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: “Children of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7 And do not be like your fathers and your brethren, who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, so that He gave them up to desolation, as you see.
8 Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you.
9 For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.”
It is interesting that Hezekiah sent runners throughout all of Israel, both in Judah and the breakaway Northern Kingdom in hopes of healing the enmity between the kingdoms and restoring Israel as a unified people.
Hezekiah bluntly reminds them of the disasters that happened to both kingdoms when they forsook the Lord, and recounts His mercy to them when they returned.
2 CHRONICLES 30:10-22
10 So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but they laughed at them and mocked them.
11 Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
12 Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders, at the word of the Lord.
13 Now many people, a very great assembly, gathered at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month.
14 They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the incense altars and cast them into the Brook Kidron.
15 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings to the house of the Lord.
16 They stood in their place according to their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites.
17 For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the Lord.
18 For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone
19 who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.”
20 And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.
21 So the children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing to the Lord, accompanied by loud instruments.
22 And Hezekiah gave encouragement to all the Levites who taught the good knowledge of the Lord; and they ate throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers.
The priests and Levites finally understood their error in not purifying and sanctifying themselves in accordance with the Law of Moses. I suspect that some of it was due to laxity but some was probably due to ignorance, as king Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, had abandoned the Law and Temple services and had worshiped Ba’al for 16 years.
God overlooked the sanctification problem, understanding how it happened and showed His mercy in accepting them as they were.
And it’s not surprising that some in the Northern Kingdom laughed and mocked Hezekiah’s runners. They had been steeped in idolatry and Ba’al worship for over 200 years and Satan was pretty well entrenched there.
2 CHRONICLES 30:23-27
23 Then the whole assembly agreed to keep the feast another seven days, and they kept it another seven days with gladness.
24 For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the leaders gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
25 The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, also the priests and Levites, all the assembly that came from Israel, the sojourners who came from the land of Israel, and those who dwelt in Judah.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
27 Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
This was the greatest revival in Judah since the time of Solomon, and would make Hezekiah one of the greatest kings of Israel since king David.
2 CHRONICLES 31:1-10
1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and the altars—from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh—until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession.
2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.
3 The king also appointed a portion of his possessions for the burnt offerings: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the New Moons and the set feasts, as it is written in the Law of the Lord.
4 Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support for the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the Law of the Lord.
5 As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.
6 And the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought the tithe of oxen and sheep; also the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to the Lord their God they laid in heaps.
7 In the third month they began laying them in heaps, and they finished in the seventh month.
8 And when Hezekiah and the leaders came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel.
9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
10 And Azariah the chief priest, from the house of Zadok, answered him and said, “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed His people; and what is left is this great abundance.”
Judah and parts of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin finally got rid of the Ba’al and Asherah idols and the pagan altars thereby removing Satan’s legal right to remain in the land.
God in turn blessed the people with abundance and gave them a willing heart to donate animals, clothing and food for the Temple sacrifices and for the support of the priests and Levites in accordance with the Law of Moses.
2 CHRONICLES 31:11-18
11 Now Hezekiah commanded them to prepare rooms in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them.
12 Then they faithfully brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things; Cononiah the Levite had charge of them, and Shimei his brother was the next.
13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.
14 Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the East Gate, was over the freewill offerings to God, to distribute the offerings of the Lord and the most holy things.
15 And under him were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, his faithful assistants in the cities of the priests, to distribute allotments to their brethren by divisions, to the great as well as the small.
16 Besides those males from three years old and up who were written in the genealogy, they distributed to everyone who entered the house of the Lord his daily portion for the work of his service, by his division,
17 and to the priests who were written in the genealogy according to their father’s house, and to the Levites from twenty years old and up according to their work, by their divisions,
18 and to all who were written in the genealogy—their little ones and their wives, their sons and daughters, the whole company of them—for in their faithfulness they sanctified themselves in holiness.
Hezekiah designates storerooms for the storage of food, clothing and other freewill donations for distribution among the priests and Levites and their families who were assigned Temple duties in accordance with the Law of Moses.
He also had the priests and Levites form up into the order of their duties and service by genealogies as was set up by king David.
2 CHRONICLES 31:19-21
19 Also for the sons of Aaron the priests, who were in the fields of the common-lands of their cities, in every single city, there were men who were designated by name to distribute portions to all the males among the priests and to all who were listed by genealogies among the Levites.
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.
Levites who were not assigned to Temple duties could farm the lands around their designated Cities of Refuge to support themselves and their brethren in the Temple also in accordance to the Law.
2 CHRONICLES 32:1-8
1 After these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself.
2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem,
3 he consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop the water from the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him.
4 Thus many people gathered together who stopped all the springs and the brook that ran through the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?”
5 And he strengthened himself, built up all the wall that was broken, raised it up to the towers, and built another wall outside; also he repaired the Millo in the City of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance.
6 Then he set military captains over the people, gathered them together to him in the open square of the city gate, and gave them encouragement, saying,
7 “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him.
8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Satan never ceases in his attempts to destroy the righteous. Obviously infuriated by Hezekiah’s reforms he determined to try to conquer and destroy Judah and Hezekiah.
2 CHRONICLES 32:9-19
9 After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (but he and all the forces with him laid siege against Lachish), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,
10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: ‘In what do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem?
11 Does not Hezekiah persuade you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”?
12 Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on it”?
13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hand?
14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?
15 Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’
16 Furthermore, his servants spoke against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.
17 He also wrote letters to revile the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”
18 Then they called out with a loud voice in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and trouble them, that they might take the city.
19 And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth—the work of men’s hands.
Note the subtly that Satan uses here, equating God’s altar to be no better than the pagan altars dedicated to idols that had been throughout Judah. He thus tries to reduce God to being no better than the pagan gods of the other nations that Sennacherib had destroyed.
However God had prophesied though Isaiah concerning Sennacherib’s coming attack on Jerusalem;
ISAIAH 10:5-11
5 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath. I will give him charge, to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations.
8 For he says, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols, shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’
Even though Hezekiah had turned Judah back to God, it did not mean that He would not punish Judah in measure for their previous sins to reinforce the fact of His anger at their former sins. As He would later prophesy through Jeremiah when warning of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar’s coming destructive sweep through the Middle East;
JEREMIAH 46:28
48 Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord, “For I am with you; for I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, for I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”
2 CHRONICLES 32:20-23
20 Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven.
21 Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.
22 Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.
23 And many brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.
Assyrian records do not (of course) mention this event. However Assyrian annals quote Sennacherib as saying, “ "And Hezekiah of Judah who had not submitted to my yoke...him I shut up in Jerusalem his royal city like a caged bird. Earthworks I threw up against him, and anyone coming out of his city gate I made pay for his crime. His cities which I had plundered I had cut off from his land." ”
In a fascinating note, Sennacherib lists the all of cities he had destroyed and mentions besieging Jerusalem, but never mentions having taken the city. If he had destroyed Jerusalem he certainly would have listed it among the others!
There has been much speculation as to what killed the Assyrian soldiers, and Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the Assyrians were plagued with mice (or rats) while battling Pharaoh Tirhakah who had attacked him as he was besieging Jerusalem, which he said ate the Assyrians’ bowstrings.
Rodents are well-known carriers of diseases, especially bubonic plague, with which God afflicted the Philistines when they had captured the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel, chapter 5). And seeing that the town of Eltekeh where the battle occurred adjoined Philistine territory, it may have been a massive plague that destroyed the Assyrians.
Sennacherib was assassinated in 681 B.C. and while Assyrian records do not mention the assassination, Babylonian records also record that he was assassinated by his two oldest sons as he prayed in a temple because he had chosen his youngest son Esarhaddon to be king instead of one of them. And history shows that his youngest son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.
More information concerning this can be found in the 2 Kings, chapters 18-19
2 CHRONICLES 32:24-26
24 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the Lord; and He spoke to him and gave him a sign.
25 But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.
26 Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
Scripture doesn’t say what Hezekiah’s sin was, but his illness, recovery and God’s miraculous sign to him can be found in the book of Isaiah, chapters 38-39. And before making a vow to God, remember king Solomon’s words;
ECCLESIASTES 5:4-5
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—
5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
.
2 CHRONICLES 32:27-31
27 Hezekiah had very great riches and honor. And he made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of desirable items;
28 storehouses for the harvest of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds for flocks.
29 Moreover he provided cities for himself, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him very much property.
30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the water outlet of Upper Gihon, and brought the water by tunnel to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
31 However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
The tunnel spoken of above was created when Assyrian king Sennacherib was about to invade Judah.
When Hezekiah knew that the Assyrians were planning on besieging Jerusalem, he was worried that the Assyrians would use the abundant waters of the Gihon spring to support their troops and deprive the city of water. He then commissioned that access to the spring be blocked and a tunnel be carved which would bring the water into the city under the walls thereby keeping it out of Assyrian reach.
This tunnel was discovered in 1625 and was explored in 1838. In a remarkable feat of engineering, the Jews cut the 1,740 foot (533 meter) tunnel through solid rock with work crews starting at both ends underground and meeting in the middle. Even more remarkable is that between the two ends there is only a 12 inch (30 cm) elevation difference!! Inside the tunnel was found an inscription by one of the workers describing the work being done by two teams starting at opposite ends of the tunnel.
Also;
In 2015 the royal seal (called a “bulla”) of king Hezekiah was found in Jerusalem. The seal says, "Belonging to Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah,"
These seals were pressed into wax or clay leaving an impression that anyone could read. It was usually used to seal documents (scrolls) to prevent tampering. If the seal was broken before the recipient received the document it would indicate someone had already read the contents.
Also in the same strata a mere 10 feet (3 meters) from Hezekiah’s seal another seal with the words “ Yesha’yahu” (Hebrew for “Isaiah”) and the letters “NAV” which appear to spell the word “Navi” (Hebrew for ‘prophet’) was found.
However the last letter is missing as the seal is broken, so naturally skeptics dispute the find.
And;
The clay seal of queen Jezebel of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and that of Baruch, the son of Neriah, the prophet Jeremiah’s scribe (both Jezebel and Baruch are mentioned in Scripture) have been found, Jezebel’s in Samaria and Baruch’s in Jerusalem.
2 CHRONICLES 32:27-31
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, indeed they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
33 So Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
Burial in the upper tombs was a high honor for deceased kings and not many were interred there.
Hezekiah ruled from 716 - 697 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 33:1-9
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.”
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.
7 He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;
8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.”
9 So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.
Manasseh could be classified as the worst king to ever rule Israel, surpassing even the Herods of the New Testament. He performed every despicable and evil that his imagination could conceive, including placing pagan idols and altars inside the Temple itself. He sacrificed his infant sons to Molech by burning them alive in furnaces and practiced every form of witchcraft and sorcery that demons speaking through mediums taught him.
2 CHRONICLES 33:10-13
10 And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen.
11 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon.
12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
God will give evil people time to repent before He acts and he spoke to Manasseh through the prophets but he would not listen. Therefore God punished him by having him carried captive to Assyria as a prisoner.
Manasseh is listed in Assyrian chronicles as one of 22 vassal kings who served under Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and his son Ashurbanipal. He was taken to Assyria more than likely for disloyalty, although Assyrian records are silent on the issue.
But when he repented, God heard him and restored him to the throne. As God told the prophet Ezekiel;
EZEKIEL 33:14-16
14 Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,
15 if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
16 None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
God forgave him but Judah would later pay a heavy price for their abandonment of Him. Although Manasseh had been forgiven there was still a price to pay to reinforce their understanding of God’s wrath against sin.
As the book of 2 Kings records concerning his great, great grandson Jehoiakim;
2 KINGS 24:1-4
1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.
3 Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,
4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon.
2 CHRONICLES 33:14-17
14 After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.
15 He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city.
16 He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
17 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
Manasseh’s repentance was real and he tried to make amends for his evil. He also fortified Jerusalem against further attacks. However the people sacrificed their offerings to God on pagan altars which He would not accept.
2 CHRONICLES 33:18-20
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
19 Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of Hozai.
20 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
God may not have allowed the book of Hozai to survive so that others would not read of Manasseh’s abominable worship practices and do the same.
He ruled from 698 - 643 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 33:21-25
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
22 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them.
23 And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
24 Then his servants conspired against him, and killed him in his own house.
25 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
Apparently Amon didn’t learn anything from the trials and tribulations of his father but followed in his father’s pagan footsteps concerning religious practices.
Amon ruled from 642 - 640 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 34:1-7
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.
4 They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
6 And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with axes.
7 When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
The reforms of Josiah had actually been prophesied 270 years before during the reign of idolatrous king Jeroboam I of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. A prophet of God had prophesied;
1 KINGS 13:1-2
1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ”
2 CHRONICLES 34:8-18
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.
9 When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought back to Jerusalem.
10 Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the Lord, to repair and restore the house.
11 They gave it to the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for beams, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
12 And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music,
13 were over the burden bearers and were overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. And some of the Levites were scribes, officers, and gatekeepers.
14 Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses.
15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.
16 So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing.
17 And they have gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.”
18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
God had put it into the heart of the people to give money for Temple repairs and willing, faithful workmen to do the work. They had also found a long-lost book of the Law of Moses and had given it to a scribe who could read it.
Remember, most people of the time were either illiterate or were functionally literate and relied on literate scribes to read and record documents.
2 CHRONICLES 34:19-22
19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,
21 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”
22 So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her to that effect.
Tearing of clothing may not seem like a big deal, but in ancient times clothing was very expensive as the wool or flax had to be harvested, hand-spun into thread, hand woven and hand-dyed. Most people had maybe two changes of clothes at a time.
I suspect that much of the worship practices were passed down as traditions seeing as copies of the Law had been missing for a long time. When Shaphan read it, a frightened Josiah immediately understood that God’s wrath was hot against Judah and that judgment was coming.
2 CHRONICLES 34:23-28
23 Then she answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me,
24 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah,
25 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.’ ” ’
26 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard—
27 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.
28 “Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.
God confirms Josiah’s fears, promising a frightful judgment against Judah but assures Josiah that it will not occur during his lifetime.
2 CHRONICLES 34:29-33
29 Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
30 The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.
31 Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
32 And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
33 Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.
Now that they had a copy of the Law the people could follow all of the commandments of the Lord as written, with diligence.
2 CHRONICLES 35:1-19
1 Now Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 And he set the priests in their duties and encouraged them for the service of the house of the Lord.
3 Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.
4 Prepare yourselves according to your fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, following the written instruction of David king of Israel and the written instruction of Solomon his son.
5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren the lay people, and according to the division of the father’s house of the Levites.
6 So slaughter the Passover offerings, consecrate yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”
7 Then Josiah gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king’s possessions.
8 And his leaders gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred from the flock, and three hundred cattle.
9 Also Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand from the flock and five hundred cattle.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their places, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s command.
11 And they slaughtered the Passover offerings; and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites skinned the animals.
12 Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the cattle.
13 Also they roasted the Passover offerings with fire according to the ordinance; but the other holy offerings they boiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them quickly among all the lay people.
14 Then afterward they prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy in offering burnt offerings and fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
15 And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position, because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah.
17 And the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
18 There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
This was a monumental Passover celebration, performed in exact accordance with the Law of Moses, and Josiah made sure there was enough animals for burnt offerings and the Feast of Unleavened Bread so that all Judah could eat and rejoice.
2 CHRONICLES 35:20-27
20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him.
21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.”
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.”
24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord,
27 and his deeds from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
This was the famous 605 B.C. battle of Carchemish in which Pharaoh Necho II allied himself with the remnants of the Assyrian Empire against the rising might of Babylon for control of the Middle East.
For some unknown reason Josiah came out against Necho who warned him not to interfere as God had sent him to battle the Babylonians. Josiah refused, and was killed as a result.
The Babylonians under crown prince Nebuchadnezzar II defeated the Egyptians decisively, making Babylon the regional superpower for the entire Middle East. The Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle records;
“Nebuchadnezzar crossed the river to go against the Egyptian army which lay in Karchemiš. They fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him. He accomplished their defeat, decisively. As for the rest of the Egyptian army which had escaped from the defeat so quickly that no weapon had reached them, in the district of Hamath, the Babylonian troops overtook and defeated them so that not a single man escaped to his own country. At that time, Nebuchadnezzar conquered the whole area of Hamath."
Josiah would be the last Godly king of Judah before Judah’s destruction by Babylon in 586 B.C. in fulfillment of God’s promise to bring the curses of Moses upon Judah because of the sins of Manasseh.
Josiah ruled from 640-609 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 36:1-4
1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3 Now the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4 Then the king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoahaz was the second-oldest of Josiah’s sons which is surprising as usually the crown goes to the oldest son. After his failure to defeat Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, Necho returned to Egypt and found that Jehoahaz had been crowned king of Judah.
Perhaps still angry with Josiah’s delaying him on his way to Carchemish, and perhaps believing that Jehoahaz’ political position matched his father’s he removed Jehoahaz and replaced him with his possibly more pliable older brother.
Jehoahaz ruled for 3 months in 609 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 36:5-8
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried off some of the articles from the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem after defeating Necho and Jehoiakim switched allegiances to Babylon. The Babylonians took some of the Temple treasures, and some of the king’s family and took them to Babylon.
As far as his evil deeds, Rabbinical literature describes Jehoiakim as a godless tyrant who committed atrocious sins and crimes. He is portrayed as living in incestuous relations with his mother, daughter-in-law, and stepmother, and was in the habit of murdering men, whose wives he then violated and whose property he seized. He also had tattooed his body
Jehoiakim made a deal to serve Babylon but after 3 years switched his allegiance back to Egypt. After the failure of an invasion of Egypt in 601 B.C. by Babylon undermined Babylon’s control of the area. Jehoiakim switched allegiance back to the Egyptians.
In late 598 BC, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and again laid siege to Jerusalem, which lasted three months. Jehoiakim died before the siege ended. The Book of Chronicles recorded that "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ... bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon."
The prophet Jeremiah recorded that he died without proper funeral, describing that the people of Judah "shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, his glory!' He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:18–19) "and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night" (Jeremiah 36:30).
Jewish historian Josephus wrote that Nebuchadnezzar killed Jehoiakim along with high-ranking officers and then commanded Jehoiakim's body "to be thrown before the walls, without any burial."
Jehoiakim ruled rom 609-598 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 36:9-10
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
10 At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar summoned him and took him to Babylon, with the costly articles from the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Not much is known about Jehoiachin’s evil activities. Scripture records that he spent nearly 40 years as a prisoner in Babylon until his release by Nebuchadnezzar’ successor. (2 Kings, chapter 25)
Jehoiachin ruled from 598-597 B.C.
2 CHRONICLES 36:11-21
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.
13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon.
19 Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions.
20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,
21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
The prophet Jeremiah had prophesied for 40 years that God would bring the Babylonians against Judah to destroy it, but the people refused to listen. The story of Nebuchadnezzar’s horrific siege and capture of Jerusalem can be found in the book of Jeremiah.
And God’s promise to king Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah came true in that everything was taken to Babylon. God had said;
2 KINGS 20:16-18
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:
17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord.
18 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
It was customary of conquerors to take the nobles of conquered nations and their sons and castrate them, making them court officials and advisors to the conquering king. That way the culture of the conqueror could be enriched, and there would be no descendants of the conquered nation(s) to challenge the throne.
2 CHRONICLES 36:22-23
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!
In 586 B.C. the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II razed Jerusalem, burned Solomon’s Temple and carried Judah captive to Babylon for 70 years. When the 70 years were finished, God caused Persian ruler Cyrus the Great who had just conquered Babylon to release the Jews to return to Judah.
Details of their return from captivity can be found in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Zedekiah ruled from 597 - 586 B.C.
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