2 Kings 15
This chapter seems to rattle through a lot of kings very quickly - so let's see who we have today without further ado....
Azariah (also called Uzziah) son of Amaziah is the next king in Judah. - The bible records that he was basically a good king and he tried to follow the law of God - however he did not try and stop his people worshipping other gods at the high places.
Being a good king however he was afflicted with leprosy (not necessarily leprosy as we would diagnose it today, but some kind of skin disease and he lived in a separate house and his son Jotham ruled as a regent.
Uzziah or Azariah was king for 52 years and was 16 when he ascended to the throne.
Meanwhile Zechariah , son of Jeroboam 2, becomes the king in Israel in Samaria and he was king for all of 6 months.
His short reign has him noted as an evil doer in the eyes of God continuing the practises that the first king of Israel started when the kingdom split.
Shallum (No relation to Gollum, precious) publicly assassinated Zechariah (who was the 5th descendant of king Jehu and God promised that Jehu's descendants would sit on the throne for 4 generations.
Shallum lasted as king 1 month and did nothing to stop idol worship in Israel.
Menahem is recorded as being a vicious man - he attacked a city and slaughtered all the pregnant women because the city refused to open the gate to him.
But Menahem become the next king of Israel in Samaria for 10 years and was regarded as an evil king who did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam (1) had caused Israel to commit.
The king of Assyria invaded Israel and Menahem paid him off with 1000 talents of silver (about 34 Tonnes) which he got by taxing the wealthy to the tune of 50 shekels (about 0.575 kg) - I don't know about you, but I'd be interested in his definition of wealthy - it would take about 68,000 tax payers to pay that off.
Pekahiah. son of Menahem became the next king, again he did evil in the eyes of the LORD for his 2 year rule. One of his chief officials, Pekah, assassinated him and became king in his place.
Pekah ruled for 20 years and is rated by the Bible as no better than his predecessor kings of Israel, eventually Pekah was assassinated by Hoshea.
Meanwhile, in the south Jotham, son of Uzziah became the full king following the period of regency.
Like his father, Jotham tried to follow the way of God and keep the law, but did not enforce this on the people and the high places were not destroyed.
It seems that if you want a job for life, king of Israel is one to look at - it just may not be for very long!
This chapter seems to rattle through a lot of kings very quickly - so let's see who we have today without further ado....
Azariah (also called Uzziah) son of Amaziah is the next king in Judah. - The bible records that he was basically a good king and he tried to follow the law of God - however he did not try and stop his people worshipping other gods at the high places.
Being a good king however he was afflicted with leprosy (not necessarily leprosy as we would diagnose it today, but some kind of skin disease and he lived in a separate house and his son Jotham ruled as a regent.
Uzziah or Azariah was king for 52 years and was 16 when he ascended to the throne.
Meanwhile Zechariah , son of Jeroboam 2, becomes the king in Israel in Samaria and he was king for all of 6 months.
His short reign has him noted as an evil doer in the eyes of God continuing the practises that the first king of Israel started when the kingdom split.
Shallum (No relation to Gollum, precious) publicly assassinated Zechariah (who was the 5th descendant of king Jehu and God promised that Jehu's descendants would sit on the throne for 4 generations.
Shallum lasted as king 1 month and did nothing to stop idol worship in Israel.
Menahem is recorded as being a vicious man - he attacked a city and slaughtered all the pregnant women because the city refused to open the gate to him.
But Menahem become the next king of Israel in Samaria for 10 years and was regarded as an evil king who did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam (1) had caused Israel to commit.
The king of Assyria invaded Israel and Menahem paid him off with 1000 talents of silver (about 34 Tonnes) which he got by taxing the wealthy to the tune of 50 shekels (about 0.575 kg) - I don't know about you, but I'd be interested in his definition of wealthy - it would take about 68,000 tax payers to pay that off.
Pekahiah. son of Menahem became the next king, again he did evil in the eyes of the LORD for his 2 year rule. One of his chief officials, Pekah, assassinated him and became king in his place.
Pekah ruled for 20 years and is rated by the Bible as no better than his predecessor kings of Israel, eventually Pekah was assassinated by Hoshea.
Meanwhile, in the south Jotham, son of Uzziah became the full king following the period of regency.
Like his father, Jotham tried to follow the way of God and keep the law, but did not enforce this on the people and the high places were not destroyed.
It seems that if you want a job for life, king of Israel is one to look at - it just may not be for very long!
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