UZIAH (AZARIAH), KING OF JUDAH, AND HIS SON JOTHAM AND ZECHARIAH, KING OF ISRAEL, UNTILL PEKAH Uziah, king of Judah (791-740 BC), like Jeroboam the second, king of Israel; both reigned for a long time, and both had their reign characterized by political and economic prosperity. But Uziah, having attempted to force himself upon the priestly task, using his royal power, he was inflicted with leprosy, and his son Jotham sat on the throne. An inscription on a calcite stone in Jerusalem, dating back to the first century AD, said: [Here the bones of Uziah, king of Judah were brought; Do not open]. Jotham reigned from about the year 750 to 736 BC. In the diaries of Tiglath-Pileser the third came a reference to Uziah king of Judah, and his alliance with the kings of the west. Zechariah the son of Jeroboam the second, reigned over Israel only for 6 months (753-752 BC); was killed by Shallum; by which the reign of the household of Jehu came to an end. Shallum, who forced himself on the throne, was murdered one month after he sat on the throne; by Menahem, who reigned from the year 752 to 742 BC. The evil of the kings grew to a serious extent, in the Northern kingdom in particular; and the only solution for the two kingdoms was to fall into captivity to be chastised. 1- Azariah reigns in Judah 1 - 4 2- Azariah struck by leprosy 5 - 6 3- Jotham reigns in Judah 7 4- Zechariah reigns in Israel 8 - 12 5- Shallum reigns in Israel 13 6- Menahem reigns in Israel 14 - 18 7- Menahim bribes the king of Assyria 19 -21 8- Pekahiah reigns in Israel 22 – 26 9- Pekah reigns in Israel 27 - 31 10- A return to Jotham king of Judah 32 – 38 1- AZARIAH REIGNS IN JUDAH: “ In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, became king” (1) ‘Azariah’ was the tenth king of Judah (after the division of the kingdom), his name means (he Lord helps); but being called ‘Uziah’ means (The Lord is my strength); He was probably so called when he reigned alone. We find the episode of Azariah or Uziah king of Judah in 2 Chronicles 26; Isaiah 1: 1; 6: 1. He rebuilt the wall broken down by Joash king of Israel; refortified the city with weapons; and got independent from Israel. In his time, Judah enjoyed peace and prosperity in a way never experienced since the days of king Solomon; while Israel rolled down deeply, and its fall became eminent. Azariah or Uziah (2 Chronicles 26: 1; Isaiah 1: 1), reigned for 52 years; including 10 years instead of his father Amaziah who was in captivity (792-782 BC); 15 years he was a partner with his father Amaziah after he was released of captivity (782 – 767 BC); and 25 years he reigned alone (767- 740 BC). During the last period of the reign of Azariah, his heart got haughty, because the great army he built; and he forced his way into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. When he was opposed by the priests, he got furious, and was instantly struck by leprosy on his forehead. He was driven out of the temple, and was a leper until the day of his death. Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land in place of his father (2 Chronicles 26: 16-21). Azariah or Uziah when he was 16 years old, is believed to have reigned together with his father over Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Jeroboam king of Israel (14: 23; 15: 8), That was a little while after Joash invaded Jerusalem. and Amaziah was killed in the fifteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam. The kingdom of Judah was under the dominion of the king of Israel for some time; but in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of jeroboam, Azaria got stronger and became independent from Israel. “He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem” (2) .”And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done” (3) With time, the kings of Israel became more corrupt and violent; as shown by the frequent events of assassination of kings. Concerning the kings of Judah, even with the appearance of certain good kings, like Amaziah and his son Azariah, yet they often failed to remove the high places, and consequently provoked their people to idol-worship. On another aspect, it so often happened that, after having a good beginning, they perverted; as we see in the case of Amaziah, who fell into pride because of his conquest over Edom, when he brought forth their gods, bowed before them, and burned incense to them (2 Chronicles 25: 14). And as we se in his son Azariah, who after doing what is right in the sight of God at the beginning of his reign, he perverted, and used his royal authority to force himself into the temple to practice the priestly task. In spite of offering sacrifices of thanksgiving to God who granted the two kingdoms an abundance of riches and prosperity, they perverted to disregard God, and to disobey Him. The Holy Book, however, did not disregard the good side of Azariah the son of Amaziah, saying: “He did what is right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; except that the high places were not removed, etc.” (3-4).Even though he did what is right in the sight of God, yet, like his father Amaziah and his grandfather Joash, he left his people to worship on the high places, without taking a positive stand to exhort them to return to God; which brought on him the wrath of God. “except that the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places” (4) 2- AZARIAH STRUCK WITH LEPROSY: “Then the LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper until the day of his death; so he dwelt in an isolated house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the royal house, judging the people of the land” (5) Getting haughty because of his conquest over Edom, Azariah, in the thirtyseventh year of his reign, forced himself on the house of the Lord, to burn incense on the altar of incense. And when the priests dared to oppose him, he got furious, and came out with the signs of leprosy on his forehead. Being a leper, he most probably lived fifteen years, the rest of his lif, in an isolated house, and was banned of having any relationship with the people (Leviticus 13: 46). Jotham reigned together with his father Azariah for a duration of ten years, probably because his father got old, and was in need of someone to help him; or because he became a leper; or still, to be trained on the royal work, and on leading the State. We already saw how this custom was commonly practiced by many kings; as for example when Jehoshaphat reigned together with his father Asa; Jehoram with his father Jehoshaphat; Jotham with his father Azariah; Jeroboam with his father Azariah; and Manasseh with his father Hezekiah. And in our study of the book of Daniel, we saw how Belteshazzar reigned together with his father ‘Naponides’. After that, Ahaz, his grandson reigned; and being evil and weak, he gave the king of Assyria the treasures that were gathered together by his grandfather; became a slave of the king of Assyria; bringing an end to the precious glory. The devil knows how to set his destructive snares to seduce men of all ages; So he did with the little children, the youth, men, women, priests, kings, and great men. The enemy has his experience along thousands of years to achieve his purposes with everyone. To avoid his snares, however, we need to hide in the Savior of the world; and to deliver the leadership of every soul and body to His Holy Spirit, the Grantor of wisdom, power, and the ability to turn the snares to our conquest and coronation. Concerning the leaders in general, whether civil, military, religious, of the society or of the church, the most serious thing for man, is to be struck with cherishing himself, and getting independent of the work of God with him, and to overstep his limits. The devil tends to strike the leaders with falling into self-belittling with what follows of feeling failure, despair, and inability to realize their mission, which may lead them to stop work altogether. It is befitting of those to listen to the divine voice, saying: “Do not say I am a youth (kid)” Jeremiah 1: 7); and to work as men of God, by the spirit of strength and not of failure. In case those snares fail to do the job, the devil sets contradictory ones, namely to provoke man to be haughtily, to cherish and boast his authority, possibilities, experience, human wisdom, education, and to give God the back and not the face; instead of delivering all those possibilities in the hand of God, to sanctify and increase; and to turn his life into a joyful praise, thanksgiving to the Grantor of gifts. The work of the devil, here, is to provoke the leader to overstep his limits; to “tend to think of himself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12: 3), according to the words of the apostle Paul. It is befitting of the leader, perceiving that what he got of civil, military, or religious authority, is nothing but a gift from God; to practice his authority with the spirit of humility, together with strength in the Lord. David, the prophet and king, perceived that God does amazing things with His people; gives them possibilities on an exalted level; to make every believer cherish what he has got, and still gets from the hand of his God; yet, being committed to have the spirit of humility like his Lord; he sings, saying: “Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty; neither do I concern myself with great matters” (Psalm 131: 1) The Holy Book presents to us many examples of leaders who abused their authorities, and overstepped their limits; of which are the following: 1- When Korah, Datha, Abiram, and their company, tended to force themselves on priesthood, And the earth opened and swallowed them up (Numbers 16: 31-32) 2- When the prophet Samuel delayed to come to Gilgal, king Saul offered the burnt offering (1 Samuel 13: 9). He probably took the chance of the prophet’s delay to force himself upon the priestly rights, to have it beside his authority as a king; and consequently lost, together with his family, the royal authority. 3- When Azariah (Uziah) forced himself upon the priestly task, and was inflicted with leprosy, and lost his status as a king. + The Holy Book teaches us – as I believe – that the higher man raises himself up, the lower he falls down to earth. That is why pride is said to be ‘an ascension downwards’. (St. Gregory, bishop of Nyssa) + Now, we plead with everyone of you to commit himself to the rank he is assigned to, and not to overstep his befitting limits; For the ranks are not from us, but from God. The Lord says: “He who hears you, hears Me; he who rejects you, rejects Me; and he who rejects Me, rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10: 16; Matthew 10: 40; John 13: 20). + “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (2 Corinthians 10: 17; and see Jeremiah 9: 24). He who does not boast in the cross is utterly foolish, and against the law (the Christian law). He who does not boast in faith, would be more miserable than all, and on his way to perdition; Hence the apostle says with confidence: “But God forbids that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6: 14); and in a similar way, he says: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; let not the mighty man glory in his might; nor let the rich man glory in his riches” (Jeremiah 9: 23-24).. Rejection of haughtiness; hate and vain appearances, is a good achievement… It is a considerable security of virtue; and a great protection of humility. (St. John Chrysostom) “ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?” (6) 3- JOTHAM REIGNS IN JUDAH: “So Azariah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jotham his son reigned in his place” (7). + Jotham took control of the government of Judah for a duration of 16 years, and earned a considerable praise, as referred by the second book of the kings to all the heroic acts he didf; and was not rebuked in 2 Chronicles 27: 1-9) except for not removing the high places (1 Kings 12: 31-32; 2 kings 12: 3, etc.); a fault, most probably common to all the good kings of Judah First, he strengthened Jerusalem by building new strongholds, and towers in the wilderness. … He conquered the Ammonites who perpetually bore hatred against the Jews; and committed them to pay tribute to the kings of Judah. 3- ZECHARIAH REIGNS IN ISRAEL: “ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months” (8) Very little was written about his reign, except about his apostasy from the worship of the living God to idol-worship. During the six months of Zechariah’s reign, he was only known for his evil. He was struck and killed by Shallum in front of the people; the way Jehu did with Joram (9: 14); and in him God’s promise to Jehu, that his children will sit on the throne up till the fourth generation, was fulfilled (Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam the second, and Zechariah). God probably shortened the duration of Zechariah’s reign, as well as that of his murderer Shallum, and allowed for repeated assassinations, to exhort the kingdom of Israel to reconsider her actions, and to return to the divine Truth., “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin” (9) Zechariah not only sinned, but encouraged the Israelites to sin “Then Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and struck and killed him in front of the people; and he reigned in his place” (10). The prophet Amos warned Zechariah that he would soon be killed, and the household of Jeroboam would come to an end (Amos 7: 9, 11) “ Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel” (11. “This was the word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation; And so it was” (12) 5- SHALLUM REIGNS IN ISRAEL: “Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria” (13) Shallum reigned only a (full) month in Israel, and was murdered by Menahem; That reveals the collapse of the kingdom and the disturbance among the people. There were most probably two parties in Israel: the party of Shallum in Samaria, and that of Menahem in Tirzah (Tirzah was the capital of Israel from the days of Jeroboam). As Israel rejected the reign of the house of David, kings of nine families reigned on it, and many destructive civil wars prevailed on it. 6- MENEHEM REIGN IN ISRAEL:. “For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, came to Samaria, and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him; and he reigned in his place” (14). Documents tell that Menahem was the general leader of the army of Jeroboam the second (14: 23-29), after the assassination of the son of Jeroboam (15: 8- 10). He probably considered himself as more deserving to sit on the throne than Shallum. “Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and the conspiracy which he led, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel” (15) Even though Shallum’s reign was not more than one month, yet it was not disregarded by the Holy Book, “Then from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah, all who were there, and its territory. Because they did not surrender, therefore he attacked it. All the women there who were with child he ripped open” (16). “Tirzah”, an important old Canaanite city, known for its exalted beauty (Songs 6: 4); has been the capital of Israel during the reign of the first and the second dynasties; and from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah that refused to open its doors to receive him, He struck Tiphsah and its whole population, and ripped open all the women there who were with child. Such horrible act was a common practice in wars in those days (8: 12; Amos 1: 13). “ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became king over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria” (17) It is weird to know that the name ‘Menahem’ means (the comforter); when his actions were so horrible, to assassinate Shellum in Samaria, and to rip open the women with child in Tiphseh’. “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin” (18) 7- MENEHEM BRIBES THE KING OF ASSYRIA: . “Pul king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control” (19) ‘Pul’ another Babylonian name for the king of Assyria ‘Tiglath-Pileser’ (745-727 BC) (29; 1 Chronicles 5: 26), a general leader of the army, who forced himself on the throne. In the days of Tiglath-Pileser and his successors, Assyria became the super power in the Near East, all along a duration of a full century (747-612 BC). During that period Assyria interfered in the affairs of Israel and Judah. In the year 743 BC, Tiglath-Pireser the third, carried out an invasion, that made Syria and Palestine submit to Assyria for serious conditions to the benefit of Assyria. In the records of the Assyrian king, it came that Menehem king of Israel paid tribute to him (!9-20) The Assyrian inscriptions confirm that ‘Pul’ was, himself, Tiglath-Pileser (29), who took that name when he sat on the throne. It is obvious that Menahem, having faced opponents in his kingdom, resorted to the king of Assyria to support him, and to establish his kingdom, for a certain tribute, as a bribe, he had to pay;; not perceiving that the one he thought will protect him, came back to captivate Israel. Trusting in the human protection instead of returning to God, he reaped the destructive fruit of his decision. + The holy history says that ‘Pul’, in the days of Menehem king of Israel, was the first king of Assyria to rob the ten tribes of Israel (2 kings 15: 17-21). The second was ‘Tiglath-Pileser’, who came to Samaria in the days of Pekah the son of Remaliah (2 kings 15: 27) The third was ‘Shalmaneser’ who took over all Samaria (2 kings 17: 3-6) The fourth was ‘Sargon’ who fought against Ashdod (Isaiah 20: 1) The fifth was Esarhaddon who captivated the people of Samaria in the land of Judah The sixth was ‘Senecharib’ who put Jerusalem under siege in the days of Hezekieh king of Israel, after taking over Leshish, and other cities in Judah (2 kings 18-19) Yet, according to some all those names belong to one person (St. Jerome) “And Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the very wealthy, from each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land” (20). The king of Assyria did not stay in the land but returned to his country. Yet he came back and took over much of the land, and captivated many of the people to Assyria (29). When king ‘Pul’ (Tiglath-Pileser the third – verse 29) sat on the throne of Assyria, the Assyrian empire was on its way to be an international power; while Aram and Israel were going down. This is the first time Assyria was mentioned in the second book of the kings. The invasion by king ‘Pul’ happened in the year 743 BC; by which Assyria made Israel a State under its dominion; and Menehem had to pay a tribute to Assyria, That was the first of three Assyrian invasions; the two invasions to follow were mentioned in (15: 19; 17: 6). Menehem was an evil king who paid bribes to keep the enemy from striking him; but the desolation of Israel was eminent. … As to our Lord Jesus Christ, on the contrary, was the Holy King who delivered Himself a ransom to redeem humanity (Matthew 20: 28), by which crushed the head of His enemy the Devil. “Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?” (21) 8- PEKAHIAH REIGNS IN ISRAEL: “So Menahem rested with his fathers. Then Pekahiah his son reigned in his place”.(22) “ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years” (23) Pekahiah, means (the Lord opens the eyes). . “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin” (24) .”Then Pekah the son of Remaliah, an officer of his, conspired against him and killed him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house, along with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of Gilead. He killed him and reigned in his place” (25). Menehem and his son Pehahiah were under the dominion of the king of Assyria; And ‘Pekah’ was probably an adversary of Assyria, who, seeking independence, united with Rezin king of Aram, and ascended to Jerusalem to force Ahaz to join forces with them; yet Ahaz resorted instead to the king of Assyria. “Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel” (26) 9- PEKAH REIGNS IN ISRAEL: “In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years” (27) Pekah sat on the throne through assassinations and blood-shed; the same way Shellum and Menahem did. As Hoshea the son of Elah reigned in Samaria on Israel nine years that began in the year 732 BC; Pekah, who reigned for 20 years, including the turbulent period in the days of Shellum, Menahem, and Pekah (752-740). Leading the climax of the feeling against the Assyrians; that led to Pekah’s fall through the second invasion by Tiglath-Pileser the third (734-732 BC); to which the prophet Isaiah referred in his book (9: 1). After one year of Pekah’s reign, Uziah king of Judah died; and Isaiah, in his vision, saw the destruction of Israel to come (Isaiah 6). According to what came here, Pekah reigned 20 years on Israel in Samaria; Nevertheless, Yet it is also mentioned that Hosheah the son of Elah murdered Pekah, 8 years after the later took over Samaria from Menehem…. How could he rule Samaria for 20 years, when he took it over 8 years before the end of his reign? … The answer is: Although Pekah did not rule the city of Samaria, yet, he was considered the legitimate ruler of Israel; hence his rule over Israel and its capital Samaria, could be counted from the time he received the throne after the death of Zechariah in the year 752 BC. Pekah actually took a residence in Samaria in the year 740 BC, two years after the death of Menehem. Yet, 8 years later, in the year 739 BC, he was murdered by Hoshea the son of Elah. “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin” (28) “In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria” (29) Tiglath-Pileser came, for Pekah did not submit to him the way his predecessors Menehem and Pekaiah did, he even united with Rezin king of Aram, to fight against Judah, to remove Ahaz, and to replace him with the son of Tabeil. The king of Aram struck Judah, and captivated a multitude of its eople to Damascus. So did Pekah who kill;ed 120,000 in one day, captivated 200,000, and took great spoil. But the men of Israel released the captives, in response to of the words of prophet Oded to them (2 Chronicles 28: 5-15; Isaiah 7: 1-9). Then came the king of Assyria when Ahaz resorted to him, and struck Abel and Beth Maachah, and captivated them to Assyria, “Then Hoshea the son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck and killed him; so he reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah” (30). The invasion by Tiglath-Pileser had, no doubt, had its reaction; for there were those who were pro Assyria inside Israel; a tendency that ended up in the murder of Pekah, and to the sitting of Hoshea in his place. The documents of Tiglath-Pileser the third, refer to the heavy tribute put on Hoshea; and to the claim by the king of Assyria that he, himself, was the one who brought the new king to the throne. Through conspiracies and murder, Hoshea realized his wish to become the king of Israel 9: 14; 11: 1, 14; 12: 21; 14: 19; 15: 10, 25); to be the last king to reign over it. According to the Assyrian writings, Hoshea, in the beginning, submitted to the king of Assyria, who helped him to kill Pekah. “ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel” (31) 10- A RETURN TO JOTHAM KING OF JUDAH: “ In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign” (32 “Jotham”, his name meaning (The Lord is Perfect), reigned in Judah 16 years (752-736 BC) + In the Holy Book we find some persons called by two or even three names; like Solomon who was called ‘Jedidiah’ (2 Samuel 12: 25); Zedekiah, who was called ‘Mattaniah’ (2 kings 24: 17); Uziah who was also called ‘Azariah’ (2 Kings 15:32); and many others in the books of Judges, Samuel, and the kings. Even in the gospels, we find Matthew who was called ‘Lewi’ (Luke 5: 27); and Thaddaeus who was also called ‘Lebbaeus’.(Matthew 10: 3). (The scholar Origen) “He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok” (33) . “And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done” (34) The reign of Jotham was partly good. After getting rid of Ahaziah and Athaliah (9: 27-29; 11: 13-16); the kings of Judah: Joash or Jehoash (12: 2-3), Amaziah (14: 3-4); Uziah or Azariah (15: 3-4), were relatively good. But the ones who was truly righteous, and had an active role, were Hezekiah (18: 3-6), and Josiah (22: 2) “ However the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD” (35) “THE UPPER GATE OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD”: The book of Jeremiah mentioned the higher gate of Benjamin of the house of the Lord; as probably the gate built by Jotham to the north, for the sake of defense against any probable attack by the Assyrians. In 2 Chronicles 27, some of the works of Jotham were mentioned in detail: He built much on the wall of the ophel; built cities in Mount Judah, strongholds and towers in the forests; Namely he greatly prepared to defend Judah; for in those days, the Lord allowed Rezin king of Aram and Pekah king of Israel to come against Judah. Jotham perceived that the kingdom of Israel was about to fall, and nothing would then deter Assyria to attack Judah. Yet all those preparations did not benefit Judah much; for Jotham’s son Ahaz forsook the Lord, who delivered him to Rezin and Pekah; and only by a miracle they could be saved from the Assyrians; for the Lord listened to the prayer of Hezekiah. “Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?” (36) About Jotham, the book of the kings mentions that he constructed very expensive buildings in Jerusalem and Judah (2 Chronicles 27: 3); and that he was preoccupied with war against the Amonites (2 Chronicles 27: 5); All of which made Judah lose its possibilities and strength, it enjoyed in the days of his father Azariah. “ In those days the LORD began to send Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah” (37) Rezin and Pekah; Those two adversaries had their fame in the days of Ahaz (Chapter 16; Isaiah 7) “ So Jotham rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Ahaz his son reigned in his place” (38). -------------------------------- AN INSPIRATION FROM 2 KINGS 15 KEEP ME, O LORD FROM SELF-BELITTLING AND FROM HAUGHTINESS + How much You long to set out of men ambassadors for Yourself; You created humanity to testify to Your love and might on earth; You did not create man to live in the humiliation of slaves; Yet You did not create man to work with the haughtiness and pride of Satan; But, in truth, to liken You, O amazing in Your humility and abilities. + By Your humility You descended to our earth; And conformed from dust an icon for You; By Your might, You renewed our nature that we corrupted; And prepared eternity to be a glorious dwelling place for us. + Grant me not to go down to self-belittling and the spirit of failure; And not to be haughty, to think of myself more highly than I ought to think But, in truth, that my life would turn to a praise of thanksgiving; Which I offer you with every breath I have;. + Keep me against any right or left stroke; Not to pervert from the true way; For You are the Way and the Truth; Whoever walks in You, will live in security; You carry me in, and by You, to ascend from glory to glory; To work by the spirit of strength and not of failure; To work with, and by You, until I settle down in Your bosoms. + Your perpetual presence in my depths, raises me up as though to heaven; My life would turn into a perpetual wedding, and unceasing feast; I experience the deposit of heaven, and anticipate to encounter You; Yes; Come soon, O Lord Jesus; Or hasten to set me forth to encounter You face to face.
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