GOOD KING, CORRUPT PEOPLE
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Opening Prayer
Father, please speak to me through your Word today. I need to hear whatever you would say to me.
Read 2 CHRONICLES 27
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2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 27
Jotham King of Judah
1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. 3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the LORD and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. 4 He built towns in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas.
5 Jotham waged war against the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years.
6 Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.
7 The other events in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, 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 in Jerusalem sixteen years. 9 Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.
Reflect
‘The Lord is King! Lift up your voice, / O earth, and all you heavens, rejoice; / from world to world the joy shall ring, / ‘The Lord omnipotent is King!’1
Jotham’s sixteen-year reign is given only nine verses, a shorter account even than Ahaziah’s one-year reign! As often happens, his mother’s name is mentioned. The chronicler seems to be very conscious of the important influence on the various kings, for good or for ill, of the women in their lives. We are told that Jotham did many good things: engaging in successful building projects and military campaigns. He gains the wonderful tribute that he ‘walked steadfastly before the Lord his God’ (v. 6). He differs from his predecessors, whose good starts were followed by very poor endings, in that there is no ‘but then’ at the end of his reign. There is no direct criticism of Jotham’s behavior, spiritual or otherwise. However, he was not successful in influencing the people to follow his example. The general level of corruption, spiritual and otherwise, continued.
The implication here must be that Uzziah, despite the positive account given of his behavior during most of his long reign, also did not spend the kind of effort that Jehoshaphat, for example, did in educating and influencing the people. The corruption during Jotham’s reign was a continuation of what had gone before (v. 2). Is the chronicler again stressing that leadership of God’s people involves the life, integrity, and faith of the leader? To be effective, however, good leadership also involves passing on those characteristics to the people who are being led! Jotham’s son, Ahaz, was twenty when he succeeded his father as king, but there is no indication that his father had made any attempt to guide him into godliness. Right from the beginning, Ahaz was thoroughly pagan. Perhaps that is also a sad reflection on Jotham’s reign.
Apply
In what ways has the chronicler enlarged your vision for your ministry mentoring others?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to listen carefully to the chronicler’s wise storytelling by living in integrity and faith, glorifying God in how I relate to others, whether speaking or keeping silent.
1 ‘The Lord is King!’, Josiah Conder, 1836.
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