Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 15
2 Kings chapter 15. Last week I suggested that the way we ought to look at this section is if we're on top of a large skyscraper. We're up in the top floor and we're looking down on the road and we saw cars moving to an accident. The Northern Kingdom is closer to that accident than the Southern Kingdom.
But the Southern Kingdom is en route to a collision also. But here, specifically in 2 Kings 15, we see something of the chaos in the Northern Kingdom in the 8th century, just prior to their destruction by Assyria. And essentially we have a chapter that begins with a king from Judah and ends with a king from Judah, and in the middle there are five kings of Israel. So I want to read beginning in chapter 15 at verse 1.
In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Azariah, the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, became king. He was 16 years old when he became king, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jechaliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done, except that the high places were not removed.
The people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 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.
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? 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. In the 38th year of Azariah, king of Judah, Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, reigned over Israel in Samaria six months.
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. Then Shalom, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him, and struck and killed him in front of the people, and he reigned in his place. Now the rest of the Acts of Zechariah, indeed they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
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. Shalom, the son of Jabesh, became king in the 39th year of Uzziah, king of Judah, and he reigned a full month in Samaria. For Menahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Terzah, came to Samaria, and struck Shalom, the son of Jabesh, in Samaria, and killed him, and he reigned in his place.
Now the rest of the acts of Shalom and the conspiracy which he led. Indeed they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Then from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tithsa, 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. In the 39th year of Azariah, king of Judah, Menahem, the son of Gadi, became king over Israel and reigned 10 years in Samaria. 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.
Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land. And Menahem gave Pul 1,000 talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. And Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the very wealthy, from each man 50 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.
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? So Menahem rested with his fathers. Then Pechahiah, his son, reigned in his place. In the fiftieth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pechahiah, the son of Manahem, became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned two years.
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. 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 Argab and Arieh. And with him were 50 men of Gilead.
He killed him and reigned in his place. 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. In the 52nd year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned 20 years. 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. In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Eshon, Abel, Beth, Maacah, Janoah, Kadesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali. And he carried them captive 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. 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. In the second year of Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 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. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? In those days the Lord began to send Retsin, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, against Judah.
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. Amen.
Introduction
So we should have a test on all the names of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. Now certainly this adds seven more names and there's a bit of confusion in here because the Azariah of Judah in verses 1 to 7 is the Uzziah that is mentioned elsewhere in this chapter. It's also known as, whether it was a throne name or how we explain it, I'm not certain, but Azariah of verses 1 to 7 is the Uzziah of verses 13, 30, 32, and 34. The same Uzziah that Isaiah the prophet speaks of.
In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah the prophet had that vision. of the Lord, Yahweh, lofty and holy, and the robe of His train filled the temple." So this is the particular Azariah slash Uzziah, and this is a king of Judah, and then as I said, verses 8 to 31 deals with the reigns of five northern kings. but four of them are conspiratorial assassins. Four of them kill their predecessors. I was thinking about this particular chapter. We watch the news or we look online and we see the various things that are going on in the world.
Well, there is nothing new under the sun. If you were doing a bit of a history report, if you were a child in the 8th century BC, in just over a 20-year span, you had these five kings, four of which committed assassination. against their predecessors. So we will look at the reigns of those five northern kings, and then close out the chapter with Jotham, who is the son of Azariah, at the end of chapter 15, verses 32 to 38. But in both instances, with reference to Israel and Judah, obviously things are not well for Israel.
This conglomeration, or rather this sort of brief treatment of five kings, shows us how the narrator is sort of speeding up as he comes to the end of this particular kingdom. Chapter 17 is when the kingdom falls. when the north falls ultimately to Assyria in 722 BC. The last king mentioned here in chapter 15 is Hosea. Hosea will be dealt with in chapter 17.
It is on Hosea's watch that Assyria comes and devastates the northern kingdom. But
Azariah (Uzziah) King of Judah
let's look first at the reign of Azariah in verses one to seven. And this is the dates 790 to about 739 BC. As I said, he is also known as Uzziah and he is the son of Amaziah. We see the same sort of formula that we saw with reference to his father.
We notice in verse three, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done, except that the high places were not removed, the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. One of the things that we have seen throughout this study of kings is that with reference to the northern kingdom, they cannot shake the idolatry of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Well, in the southern kingdom, you do have kings that at least for a time had a rightness. But even in their rightness, they never eradicated these sort of alternate places of worship, these high places.
These were condemned by God in Deuteronomy chapter 12. There was to be a central sanctuary where the people of God were to sacrifice and where they were to worship. And so these high places indicate that not all is well within the kingdom of Judah. And then notice, specifically in verse 5, we see an act of God's judgment upon this king, Azariah.
It says, 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. Now,
Leprosy as Divine Judgment
if we ask the question, why was Azariah struck with leprosy? The answer is to be found in 2 Chronicles. I'm just smiling because I looked at Roger because I know he knows where we're going to go here. But in 2 Chronicles chapter 26, you can turn there.
The chronicler there gives us more information concerning the reign of Uzziah and tells us why it is that God struck him with leprosy. God isn't in the habit of just randomly and arbitrarily striking people with leprosy. Now, when we read here in 2 Kings 15 that God struck Azariah with leprosy, we ought to remember the instance of Gehazi. Remember, Gehazi was the servant of Elisha the prophet, who showed a degree of covetousness and greed, and God struck him with leprosy.
So the thought is that when God strikes a man with leprosy, it's an act of judgment, it's an act of chastisement. So if you didn't have the Chronicles, and you simply had 2 Kings 15, you'd have to conclude that God was not pleased with Azariah. God gave him leprosy for a particular infraction of God's law. Well, thankfully, we do have the Chronicles, and they do indicate for us why it is that God struck him.
Notice specifically in 2 Chronicles chapter 26. Again, this is Azariah or King Uzziah, and what we have is an indication of his accomplishments. Notice specifically his achievements. We see in verses 6 to 8, he was victorious over the Philistines and the Ammonites.
We see in verses 9 and 10, that he had a successful building program. Under his watch, there was economic prosperity. And then we see in verses 11 to 15 that his army was quite effective. It was solid.
It was strong. It was well-armed and well-capable. Well, as a result of these achievements and as a result of his accomplishments, notice what we read in verse 16. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up.
The Proverbs say that pride goes before a fall, and certainly that is the case with this Azariah or Uzziah. When he was strong, when he was basking in the joy of his accomplishments and his achievements, his heart was lifted up to his destruction. And then notice, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. This was forbidden.
This was prohibited. This was a no-no. The king was not supposed to enter in and intrude upon priestly functions. It was unique to the priestly office to engage in this sort of activity.
And so verse 17 tells us, Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord, valiant men. 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.
I mean, that's a hat tip to those priests withstanding the king. He was engaged in a breach of law, and these kings withstood him. They told him, get out. You have trespassed.
You shall have no honor from the Lord God. Now, notice in verse 19, Uzziah became furious. 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. 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. So going back to 2 Kings chapter 15, we see that he was an accomplished man.
He was a good king. There was a degree of stability. Notice that he reigns for 52 years. And then Jotham, at the end, reigns for 16 years.
I think there is a sharp contrast set forth by the author. There's stability in Judah. It's not going to last forever, but it's far more stable than what you find in the northern kingdom of Israel. You go through kings like water in the north, but here we have a degree of stability.
But notwithstanding that, his heart is lifted up as he reflects upon his achievements. He goes into the very temple of the Lord to offer up incense. He is rebuked and rebuffed by the priests, and then God brings judgment to bear upon him. As a result, Jotham, notice in 2 Kings 15.5, Jotham, the king's son, was over the royal house judging the people of the land.
This is a perfect example of a co-regency. No doubt, Jotham and Azariah reigned together, though Azariah was no longer exposed to the people. We then have the common summary statement in verses 6 and 7 concerning Azariah, and then we move on to the reign of these five northern kings.
Five Kings of the Northern Kingdom
I just want to read a couple quotes before we look at the particular men. Matthew Henry said, the best days of the kingdom of Israel were while the government was in Jehu's family. It's an amazing thing. Jehu was a stabilizer.
Jehu was a fixer. Jehu did provide a degree of stability to the north. He goes on to say, in his reign and the next three reigns, though there were many abominable corruptions and miserable grievances in Israel, yet the crown went in succession, the kings died on their beds, and some care was taken of public affairs. But now that those days are at an end, the history which we have in these verses of about 33 years represents the affairs of that kingdom in the utmost confusion imaginable.
And Paul Howe says, events now move swiftly. Remember, you're up on top of the building, you're seeing the cars down below, and they're heading for a collision. And it's as if they're all speeding up now, and they're racing to get to the impact point. That's where we're at in the study in 2 Kings 15. 2 Kings 16 focuses upon a southern king.
When we return to chapter 17, it's all destruction and judgment and exile and calamity and a whole host of God's judgment to bear upon these people. So events now move swiftly, and none of them are kind to Israel. At just the moment that Assyria becomes a belligerent, conquering nation, Israel suffers through a succession of weak kings who come to power, usually through intrigue and assassination. Of course, the author does not view these events as simply bad luck and poor timing.
God is at work punishing the sins of a stubborn people. 200 years of rebellion will soon be judged. And I think that is a lesson we ought to appreciate. We may not remember all of the king's names. We may not remember the particular dates in which they reigned.
We may not remember the names of their mothers. We may not remember their particular bent in terms of infraction or disobedience against God's law. But this thing we must remember. that God observes, God takes notice of, and God will bring judgment to bear upon those who continually violate His law. It is a rule of His government.
He doesn't bypass the punishment of sin. God, rather, will visit even after a period of 200 years. That 200 years goes back to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. So it may have seemed that for that long 200 years God was not active in terms of bringing his judgment, but nevertheless God brought his judgment via Assyria in 722 BC when he decimates the northern kingdom.
That is the take-home lesson from the books of 1st and 2nd Kings. God will punish sin. And it's very often the case that sinners have this idea, well, he hasn't gotten me yet. He hasn't judged me yet.
Even in the church, sometimes people can say, well, I haven't been found out yet. God hasn't cut me off yet. So maybe it's not that big of a deal to him. No, all sin is worthy of God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.
We ought never to interpret the long-suffering of God to visit punishment upon people as the idea that He no longer cares about sin, or that He's going to allow it to go unpunished. After this 200-year period, the cars are speeding up. They are heading to this collision course, and they are ultimately going to be destroyed. They are going to be devastated.
The presence of these many kings, and again, from about 753 when Zechariah takes the throne, to the end of Pekah's reign, which is in 732, we have what Solomon speaks of in Proverbs 28. Because of the transgression of the land, many are its princes. It's not a good thing that leadership is turned over so quickly. Now, there is a long reign here, specifically Pekah, but for the most part, they're very brief, they're very short, they're very temporary.
Now,
Zechariah and Shallum
notice with reference to Zechariah. Again, we get the details of his reign in verse 8, and then we get his religious policy in verse 9. The religious policy is given to us for each of the kings except for Shalom. Shalom, it doesn't mention that he continued on in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
Now some have surmised, well, he only had a one month reign. Well, Zimri only reigned for a week and it nevertheless told us that he was devoted to sin and wickedness and godlessness. We don't know why Shalom isn't mentioned. It's not probably because the case that he was faithful and godly and upright.
It's probably just a briefer narrative with reference to him. But one of the recurring themes of the constant refrain in four out of the five kings is a continuation of a commitment to Jeroboam's calves. So brethren, I'm going to suggest that you keep that in mind. That will help explain chapter 17.
In other words, don't get to 17 and say, well, why in the world is God bringing judgment to bear upon these nice people through these meanies from Assyria? They're not nice people. They're guilty, corrupt, and vile. They have rejected the word of the living God.
They have broken His covenant. They have trampled underfoot His holy law. And as a result, God has raised up the Assyrian Empire to conquer these wretches. That is precisely one of the reasons why I think the author is giving us these brief snapshots to show us and to continue to rehearse for us why it is they are heading on this crash course.
Notice, 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. Now remember, this Zechariah is the son of Jeroboam II. But when it speaks in verse 9 of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that's the first king of the northern kingdom.
That goes all the way back to 1 Kings chapter 12. Remember, he occupies the throne. He doesn't want his subjects to go down to Jerusalem, or to go up to Jerusalem, rather, to worship Yahweh. So he builds shrines.
He builds worship centers in the north, and he puts calves there, and he says, behold your gods who led you out of the land of Egypt. And that is the beginning of calf worship, and it stuck to them like glue in the north. So that's his religious policy. Notice his assassination in verse 10.
Then Shalom, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him, and struck and killed him in front of the people, and he reigned in his place. Assyrian records refer to this man Shalom as the son of a nobody. He is. He's the son of a nobody.
He just comes out of nowhere. Jabesh is a somebody, but he's not a somebody in terms of any royal lineage. So Shalom comes, he killed him in front of the people, and he reigned in his place. But note that this is the fulfillment of God's word.
Verse 11 gives us a summary statement concerning Zechariah, and then we are reminded of the truth of God's word. This was the word of the Lord, which He spoke to Jehu, saying, Your son shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. That was in chapter 10, verse 30. Remember that Jehu did not stop with the calves, but he did eradicate Baal from the land.
And as a result of that, God said, because you have done this good thing, you will have four generations. You will have a four-generation dynasty that rules on the throne. as a result. And so the author here wants to remind us of the truthfulness of God's Word, and look at the way he punctuates this at the end of verse 12, and so it was. That's something we could say to every statement of God's Word, and so it was. every promise of God, and so it was.
God said this, and so it was. It's underscoring the truthfulness of the Word of God, even to a man like Jehu. He wasn't a perfect man, he wasn't even a godly man in terms of Yahweh worship, but he was a faithful man in terms of Yahweh's commission to eradicate Baalism from Israel. As a result of that, God made this promise, and so it was.
Shallum's One-Month Reign
Now notice Shalom, he's in, well, Zechariah was 753, Shalom is 752. Shalom, the son of Jabesh, became king in the 39th year of Uzziah, king of Judah, and he reigned, notice, a full month in Samaria. It's almost like it's a surprise, a full month. And this is terrible, isn't it?
He's only outdone by Zimri in 1 Kings 16. Zimri reigned for a week, and here he has a full month. And then notice why he only reigned for a month. He was assassinated.
Verse 14, For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Terzah, came to Samaria, and struck Shalom the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and killed him, and he reigned in his place. You see what's happening here. You have a nation, the people of God, the people of Yahweh, the covenant people, who are operating according to animalistic law. They're operating according to the law of the jungle.
The country is now run by thugs. So when you look at the current political situation, it's bad. And I'm not going to say otherwise, but it was bad then too. You hear that sometimes.
Oh boy, it's, you know, nobody's ever seen how bad it is as it is today. Really, look at what these poor slobs had to go through. Imagine if you were one of the faithful in the northern kingdom. Remember God's word to Elijah, 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
There was a faithful remnant in the north at the time that thugs were operating as kings in the nation of Israel. So this Menahem kills Shalom. Now notice the summary statement of verse 15. Now the rest of the acts of Shalom and the conspiracy which he led, indeed they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
Then from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tithsa. all who were there in its territory. Because they did not surrender, therefore he attacked it. Now notice his adoption of the sorts of customs or practices the pagans around Israel engaged in. The end of verse 16, all the women there who were with child, he ripped open.
This is a king of Israel functioning in such manner. This is abject wickedness. Howe says, obviously Menahem's butchery marks a new low in how Israel's leadership conducts its affairs. Go back for just a moment to chapter 8.
Chapter 8, when the prophet Elisha is speaking concerning kingship in Israel. He speaks to Hazael and says that Hazael is going to be the king. And in chapter 8, verse 12, Hazael said, why is my Lord weeping? He answered, because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel.
Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword. And you will dash their children and rip open their women with child. Amos the prophet highlights that the Ammonites do the same thing in Amos chapter 1 at verse 13. So what does this indicate to us?
The kings of Israel have become the kings of the nations around them. They've become just like the pagans. If you do a bit of a history of Israel, you'll see one of the emphases in sort of the whole flow of the Old Testament books that we have looked at thus far. God sends Israel into Canaan.
And God says, dispossess the Canaanites from the land. If you don't dispossess the Canaanites from the land, then you're going to become like the Canaanites in the land. So in the book of Joshua, the nation of Israel goes into Canaan, and by and large, they're successful. Joshua is an overall positive treatment of the conquest.
They go in, they do what they're supposed to. Again, there are exceptions, they don't do it perfectly. But for the most part, Joshua is a very positive presentation of the conquest. When you get to the book of Judges, you see just the opposite.
You see that Israel is now in the land and they are becoming like the Canaanites. They are imbibing the customs, they are worshiping the gods, they are engaged in the same sort of conduct. And even when the monarchy is raised up and there's a kingship, they still continue in this Canaanization. They still continue to take on these characteristics, such that now Menahem, when he goes to attack this particular city, they don't surrender, so he attacks it, and all the women there who were with child, he ripped open.
That is simply inconceivable that a king of Israel should engage in that sort of activity. Now
Menahem and Assyrian Tribute
that brings us to the reign of Manahem particularly. 752 to 742. Again, the details, verse 17. Again, the religious policy, verse 18. And then this statement concerning Paul, the king of Assyria.
If you look at Paul in verse 19, and then go down to verse 29, you'll see a guy named Tiglath-Pileser. This is the same man. Paul of verse 19 is the Tiglath-Pileser of verse 29. Paul was probably his throne name over the Babylonians after they subdued Babylon in 729 BC.
But for now, just suffice it, we'll call him either Paul or Tiglath-Pileser. Just confuse everything by calling him T.P. the Third, actually. But we have Paul, king of Assyria, came against the land. Now notice, Menahem gave Paul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control.
You see what Menahem does. He pays Paul money for Paul. He wants to maintain control over his own kingdom, so he essentially gives tribute to the Assyrians to help him maintain that control over his kingdom. I doubt that it's the king of Assyria coming against the land to attack.
It's more than likely that Menahem invited him so that he could grease his palms in order that Menahem could indeed engage in the kind of control that he wanted. It says that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. So this man, Paul, or Tiglath-Pileser III, assumed power in Assyria in 745. He died in 727.
He was succeeded by Shalmaneser V. Now, probably Paul was the throne name, as I mentioned, that he assumed over the Babylonians after he conquered them in 729. But the bottom line is that Menahem paid so that Paul would provide muscle for Menahem to maintain his own kingdom. Now, to add insult to injury, where does Menahem get that money to pay Paul?
You got it, let's tax the people. You see, brethren, there is nothing new under the sun. You say, well, we got corrupt government leaders and they use our tax money to do corrupt practices. Yeah, that's what was facing Israel in the eighth century BC.
It's the same sort of thing. Verse 20, and Menahem exacted the money from Israel from all the very wealthy. It's an interesting statement, from all the very wealthy. Kind of an interesting society.
You had the poor with you always, according to Deuteronomy, but you also had the very wealthy. It wasn't socialistic. It wasn't communistic. Not everybody was at the same place.
They didn't all get handed, you know, 10 bucks a week and, you know, do with it whatever you had. Very wealthy. You had poor and you had middle class. It was a, dare I say it, free market society.
You made goods, you had services, you sold those in the marketplace, and you could become very wealthy. As a very wealthy person, you were then subject to high taxation. I mean, isn't that a great thing for government? You think they would encourage people to make lots of money so they can take it from them via taxation.
Let's not keep the wealthy down. Let's bolster them so that we can take their money right out of their pockets. Nothing new under the sun. And Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the very wealthy, from each man, 50 shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria." Now imagine if you were one of the faithful and you happen to be very wealthy.
Imagine coming home, honey, did you see the tax bill? Yeah, I can't believe it. What are they using the money for? For roads?
Isn't that what we all love to pay taxes for, for roads? No, he's paying Paul so that he can maintain control over his kingdom. I don't want them to pay Paul and maintain control over the kingdom. I just want to keep my own money.
Shut up, toe the line and pay your taxes. That's the way things were in the 8th century BC in Israel as these cars are heading to this particular collision. We have a summary statement then. Or just go back for just a moment.
Notice the end of verse 20. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. That is ominous. He didn't stay there in the land for the moment.
Proven makes this observation, but he does stand as a threat on the horizon. Guess who comes back? You may pay tribute now, but when the next king comes along, guess who's back? It's Tiglath-Pileser.
And this time it ain't to collect tribute, it's to collect Israelite cities. It is to start carving up Israelite land and taking it for himself. So you've got the summary concerning Menahem in verses 21 and 22. And then
Pekahiah and Pekah
we've got Pekahiah in verses 23 to 26. He was 742 to 740 BC. Again, we have details, verse 23. Again, we have the religious policy, verse 24.
Again, we have an assassination. You see the constant refrain. Things are not well in Israel when these kinds of things are being reported to the point where they've just become old hat. I mean, that any king is ever assassinated ought to cause us to shrink back in horror because it's a wretched, vile thing.
Regicide is never to be looked at favorably. Now, any form of homicide isn't, but when men kill the king, that's certainly a sign that things are not well in a government. But here it's just old hat. We have his details, we have his religious policy, and then we have the fact that he was assassinated.
Then Pekah, verse 25, 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 Argab and Aria. And with him were fifty men of Gilead. He killed him and reigned in his place. And then that brings us to the last king we ought to consider in these five is the reign of Pekah.
Now the numbers here are notoriously difficult to reconcile. Davis says the 20 years of verse 27 of Pekah's reign makes for a rip-roaring chronological problem. If Pekah rains in the 52nd year of Azariah of Judah, i.e. 740, then 20 years would take Pekah's rain beyond the fall of Israel in 722. Some posit that Pekah actually began to rain in Gilead at the same time as Manahem.
Gill makes this observation, this 20 years was a long reign for a usurper and a murderer. But notice, we have an interesting bit of information. Back in 17 to 20, we have Menahem paying tribute to Tiglath-Pileser. Here, verse 29, in the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came and took.
No tribute, no vassal arrangement. He came and he took. He is invading Israel. And we see something very scary with reference to Israel.
At the end of verse 29, and he carried them captive to Assyria. Assyria had a very, how would you say, efficient means of exiling or capturing people. Essentially what Assyria would do would be to take some back to their own country and take persons from other countries that they had conquered and put them in those lands recently conquered. It was not uncommon for them to take sea peoples and put them in the mountainous regions or to take mountain people and put them in sea coasts. because it would keep them off balance and they couldn't regroup and regather and fight against the Assyrians.
Assyria was basically a model state in terms of world conquest at that particular time. And we see that here with Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, he comes and he takes. He came and he conquered. Now notice, with reference to the king, verse 30 tells us, Hosea, the son of Elah, led a conspiracy against Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, and struck and killed him.
So he reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. 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. So you see this common pattern. Four out of five kings are thugs.
Four out of five kings are conspirators that assassinate their predecessors. Four out of five kings continue to drive the country into the ground. They are wicked, vile men, and this is the leadership of the covenant people of Israel. Now
Jotham King of Judah
notice the reign of Jotham of Judah, verses 32 to 38. He's from 750 to 731. 750 to 731. And essentially we have the same sort of thing. Proven makes this observation about Judah.
The kingdom of Judah has been going through hard times. Its royal house has seen three of the last four kings assassinated, and the fourth lay aside power because of illness. Things are not about to improve. And so with reference to the formula, we see that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.
In fact, the parallel in 2 Chronicles is even a bit more favorable concerning him. It amplifies it. Micah, the prophet, came about at this particular time as well. Not came about, he wasn't born.
He started his prophetic career at about the same time as Jotha. Notice specifically something concerning God's judgment with reference to Judah. We're so used to it with Israel, now we notice in verse 37, "...in those days the Lord began to send Retzin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Ramaliah against Judah." So God's judgment is against Judah at this particular time as well. The car crash for Judah is coming.
It's a bit further than what it is for the Northern Kingdom, but it is certainly coming. 2 Kings 17 deals with the North. 2 Kings 24 and 25 deals with the South. In the North, it's Assyria, and in the South, it's Babylon that becomes the conquering powers. But something else with reference to verse 37. It's going to help us understand what's happening in chapter 16.
Now, I don't want to confuse you even further. Looking at faces and everybody's gone. Is it almost over? Yippee, we get a few week break.
Isaiah 7 and 8. This is the background. Isaiah 7 and 8 explains what's happening here. You had Retzin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, wanting to employ the king of Judah, not employ, but rather force the king of Judah to join with them in a coalition to oppose Assyria.
Now the king of Judah doesn't want to do this. And so what does the king of Judah do? This is chapter 16. This is Ahaz, the king of Judah, son of Jotham.
He is going to pay tribute to Assyria. Here's another king that takes tax dollars, your hard-earned tax dollars, faithful in Judah, and he's going to pay it to Assyria so that Assyria won't attack Judah. So this coalition of Syria and Israel wants Judah, but Judah says no. So Judah pays Assyria, and then Assyria conquers Damascus in Syria, and probably that's when those cities of verse 29 are taken from the north.
So that's sort of the background of chapter 16 and what's happening in the prophet Isaiah in chapters 6 and 7. So we have many, many things going on in this particular section.
Application
I just want to draw out a couple of practical observations, and then we'll close in a word of prayer.
Political Instability as Divine Withdrawal
First of all, the absence of political stability is not a good thing. The absence of political stability is not a good thing. I'm not suggesting the presence of bad political stability is necessarily a good thing, but when you have this sort of instability that is given to us concerning these five kings in Israel, this is not good. This is not evidence of God's favor upon a people.
Davis makes the observation, if civil stability is a divine gift, you can put your pencil there and turn to 1 Timothy 2 for just a moment. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. Paul says, therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Why do we pray for kings and all who are in authority? For their good, yes, but so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
So brethren, we ought to conclude that if we are living a quiet and peaceable life and hopefully all godliness and reverence, that's a good gift from God Almighty. So the absence of that sort of political stability is an evidence that we don't have that good gift from God. Go back to Davis. If civil stability is a divine gift, it has been withdrawn from Israel.
Her own chaos is a sign that God is in the process of destroying her. You see, there are times in the history of nations or people groups where it is obvious for those in the future, looking back, why they fell, why they came apart. I mean, you know, Gibbon's History of the Roman Empire, there's so many volumes and it talks about all the things that sort of precipitated or preceded the actual collapse of the empire. You know what one of those things was?
It was moral anarchy. It was moral depravity. It was godlessness and wickedness. When you have a people that can't function according to the basic strictures of civility, you're going to rot from within and ultimately fall and collapse.
And so these people are in the midst of this chaos, and instead of properly understanding and repenting and listening to the prophets, they continue down this collision course. So this absence of political stability bodes very poorly for Israel.
Calf Worship as Rationale for Judgment
Secondly, this is the rationale for the judgment of God, the constant refrain concerning the continuation of Jeroboam's calf worship, verses 9, 18, 24, and 28. I made it very conspicuous. I tried to. And four out of the five kings mentioned, we have this continual emphasis that they continued in the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, with reference to calf worship.
Again, Davis makes this good observation. He says, the Jeroboam, of course, is not the recent son of Jehoash, but the son of Nebat who instituted the bull shrines. We read the tedious repetition of his name and hear the tragic dominance of his influence throughout 1st and 2nd Kings. Two hundred years have passed since Jeroboam instigated his devious cult, and its grip is undiminished, its poison still lethal.
This was the original sin and is the tenacious sin of the northern kingdom. running into it four times in one chapter only increases one's sense of the tragedy and ruin such worship is bringing. You see, that is most important to these biblical authors. It's not that, wow, he was a foolish king with reference to military savvy. He was a bad king with reference to economic policy.
He was a bad king with reference to foreign alliances. I mean, those things are mentioned along the way, but what is paramount for the biblical author? They didn't fear Yahweh. They continued to rebel against Yahweh.
They continued to worship the bull calves. They continued in this pattern of absolute rejection of the living and the true God. That constant refrain provides for us the rationale for the judgment of chapter 17. Matthew Henry says, this was the condition of Israel just before they were quite ruined and carried away captive.
For that was in the ninth year of Hosea, the last of these usurpers. If they had, in these days of confusion and perplexity, humbled themselves before God and sought His face, that final destruction might have been prevented. but when God judges, He will overcome. These factions, the fruit of an evil spirit sent among them, hasten that captivity, for a kingdom thus divided against itself will soon come to desolation. And then I would suggest it would be important for, I mean, I think it's unfortunate, we will do this, but our governmental leaders never will.
The folly of not heeding warning signs You know, when you see that internal rot or that internal decay, I'm not a construction guy, but I think if I went to buy a house and I saw there was, you know, wood rot, I would conclude or surmise that something was wrong with this house. I don't think I should buy it. Or the termite inspection came up negative. The place is crawling with termites.
Doesn't make me want to purchase that dwelling place, because the termites are going to destroy it. Well, our nation is filled with internal rot and decay and corruption. And a people cannot long continue that continually murder babies in their mother's wombs. A people cannot long continue that constantly engage in sexual immorality, not just homosexuality, but heterosexual fornication.
All manner of Seventh Commandment violations are rampant in this society. The biggest industry, I think I read this statistic a couple of years ago, that pornography on the internet makes more money than most sports teams combined. It's just a massive situation that we are in. There is internal rot and decay and termites, and they are vile, loathsome, wretched, hellish termites.
And yet the government persons and unfortunately churches don't see these signs of decay and continue on unawares singing our songs without ever bowing to God and seeking His mercy and seeking His forgiveness. What does the prophet pray? He says, in your wrath Remember mercy. I suggest that would be a good prayer for the church in our own generation.
In your wrath, remember mercy. As well, it's not only the internal decay, but it's a failure to see the increasing presence of external threat. I mean, Assyria is coming, Assyria is conquering, and Menahem wants to pay pull for some pull. He wants to pay Tiglath-Pileser to provide stability in the northern kingdom of Israel.
If we were watching that today, we would want to shake Manahem and say, you don't pay Assyria. Assyria is your biggest nightmare. They're going to come in another generation. Well, not even a generation.
In the space of a few short years, they're going to come and start taking cities. They're going to come and start taking people from Israel back to Assyria. We have to see the external threat as well. We need to deal with those hellish termites that are rotting it from within, but we also ought to be perceptive concerning the threat that is outside of a particular body politic.
And
Amos 4: Unheeded Chastening
I want you to finally turn to Amos, the prophet, because God tells the people of Israel there that they didn't pay attention to these warning signs. They weren't looking at things properly. They were not thinking theologically. So we not only have the internal decay that we need to be on the lookout for, we have the external threat, but also the judgment of God.
And herein, specifically, God is indicting them for the things that He has sent to them in terms of judgment or chastisement, not so that He could just get them, but so it would provoke them to turn to Him in repentance. See, judgment from God or chastening from God is a means of blessing. It calls us to bow to Him and to confess our sins. But notice in Amos 4.6, also, I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord.
In other words, I've sent famine, I've sent hunger. You know, cleanness of teeth means you didn't just eat Oreos. When you eat Oreos, you don't have clean teeth, right? Clean teeth means you ain't eating today.
You don't have to floss if you don't eat. If your teeth are clean, that means your belly's empty. And then he goes on to say, and lack of bread in all your places, yet. You have not returned to me.
You see, this is a judgment rechastening from God, and you didn't return to me. I also withheld rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city. I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain, the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied yet. You have not returned to me, says the Lord. I blasted you with blight and mildew when your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees.
The locusts devoured them, yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. I sent among you a plague after the manor of Egypt. Your young men I killed with a sword, along with your captive horses. I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils.
Yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning. Yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. Therefore, thus will I do to you, O Israel.
Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel. For behold, he who forms mountains and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is his name. We need to be able to correctly interpret the internal decay that is present among us. We ought to be able to interpret and identify the external threat that faces us, and we certainly ought to be those who are in tune with God Most High in terms of what He is doing in our lives.
If you are facing one chastening after another, then return to the Lord. Don't keep in patterns of sin. Don't continue in patterns of rebellion. If God brings chastening to you, it's a means, it's a merciful thing wherein He has designed to bring you back to Himself.
Don't be like the nation of Israel that had all these things given to them by God, yet they didn't return to Him. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the clarity and for the truthfulness. We thank You for the fulfillment of Your promises. And so it was, and it was so.
This is a constant refrain throughout the Word. You speak, and it comes to pass. And may we learn from this chapter, God. May we see the blessings that we do have and the many good gifts that You have given us in this country.
But God, as we survey the internal rotten, as we see the external threat, as we see the various evidences that you have given this generation over to judgment, we would pray with the prophet Habakkuk that in your wrath you would remember mercy, that you would be gracious, that you would send forth your gospel, that you would call sinners to repentance and faith and cause them to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Go with us now, bring us together on the Lord's day that we may worship and praise and glorify your most high name. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.