Lessons From The Good & The Bad
2 Chronicles 21-27
Introduction:
I remember a professor at college giving the following advice in class: “Pay attention to every speaker you hear–both the good and the bad. There is a lesson to be gained from each one. From the bad ones, you learn what not to do. From the good ones, you learn what practices you will want to emulate as you speak to others.” What is true of public speaking is also true in life. We need to pay attention to the lessons to be learned from both the good and bad examples around us. From the bad, we learn what not to do. From the good examples, we learn what we should do.
This morning, we are going to consider the lives of seven different kings of Judah. Three of these kings were evil kings and four of them were good kings. From each one, both the good and the bad, there are lessons to be learned.
Three Evil Kings (2 Chronicles 21-23:15):
Why do we describe these kings as “evil?” They abandon God and the overall effect of their reign turns people away from the worship of Yahweh.
The reign of Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21)
Jehoram was nothing like his father Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat made a positive contribution to the spiritual edification of the nation of Judah. He was a good king. There was however one decision on his part that had a negative influence on his son. Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Ahaziah, one of the wicked descendants of Ahab. One of the side effects of this alliance was his son Jehoram’s choice to form a marital alliance with one of the daughters of Ahab and Jezebel.
The negative impact of Jehoram’s bad decision to marry Ahab’s daughter is evident throughout his reign. Rather than bearing the family resemblance of his father, Jehoram bore the family resemblance of his father in law, wicked king Ahab. Jehoram abandoned his loyalty to Yahweh and served the pagan gods Israel accepted.
“He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD” (21:6)
Jehoshaphat gave each of his sons gifts of silver and gold along with fortified cities in Judah. He did not play favorites. Only because Jehoram was the firstborn son was he given the additional privilege and responsibility of taking over his kingdom. When Jehoram established himself as king, the first order of business was to eliminate those he viewed as competitors to the throne.
In keeping with the ways of Ahab’s family, he has his own brothers murdered.
Jehoram’s reign is brief, lasting only eight years, and is also full of setbacks. These setbacks are of Jehoram’s own making. During his reign, he has two foreign provinces that were under Judah’s control rise in revolt–Edom & Libnah. The reason for this rebellion is stated clearly in the text:
“Libnah revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers. He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray” (21:10b).
Jehoram’s evil ways didn’t only bring negative consequences to his own life, but also had a negative effect on the lives of others.
He influences God’s people to prostitute themselves and go astray.
Because of his wickedness, Jehoram receives notice of God’s impending judgment in a letter from Elijah, the prophet. Because Jehoram walked in the ways of Ahab and led God’s people to prostitute themselves, because he had his own flesh and blood murdered, the LORD promises to strike his people and his family with a heavy blow. He also promises to strike Jehoram himself with a lingering and painful disease that would cause his bowels to come out.
In keeping with God’s promised judgment:
His sons are all killed with the exception of his youngest.
“Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest” (21:17).
Despite Jehoram’s evil, the LORD does not have his whole family killed. Why? Because God is faithful to His promises.
“Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever” (21:7).
In keeping with God’s promised judgment:
He dies a painful death and no one regrets the loss of him.
“After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no fire in his honor, as they had for his fathers” (2 Chronicles 21:18-19).
What lessons can we learn from Jehoram?:
Miserable is the end for those who choose to abandon God.
Recall with me the fictitious account of Charles Dicken’s tale “A Christmas Carol.” Ebenezer Scrooge gets a glimpse of what his life will be like if he continues on his stingy, selfish, evil path in life. He sees that his end will be lonely, painful, and miserable. This vision of what life will be like if he continues in his ways turns his life around. If any of us this morning are toying with the idea of abandoning God, may the lonely, painful, and miserable end of Jehoram get our attention and cause us to see that we never want to go there.
It is a lie that our rebellion doesn’t affect anyone else.
So many who walk away from the LORD have the impression that if they are hurting anyone, it is only themselves and no one else. That’s a lie. Do you recall the effect of Jehoram’s rebellion on the people of Judah? He led the people astray and caused them to prostitute themselves. Each one of us has someone who looks up to us. The question isn’t, “Will my life have an impact on others?” The question is, “Will the impact of my life on others be for the good or for the bad?” By the grace of God, may our lives influence others for the good.
Whom we choose to marry has a major bearing on our life’s direction.
Young people, don’t minimize the effect on your life of whom you choose to marry. Choose a godly spouse, not one who has no room in his or her life for God. Don’t assume you will be able to marry an ungodly person and bring them up. More often than not, the ungodly individual will bring his or her spouse down. Learn from the negative example of Jehoram. His life came to a miserable end and a significant factor leading to his downfall was his bad decision to marry Ahab’s daughter.
The reign of Ahaziah (2 Chronicles 22:1-9)
With no other choice to replace Jehoram, since the rest of his sons were killed, Ahaziah is appointed king over Judah. His reign is much shorter than that of his father’s, lasting only one year. Why is his reign so short?
He walks in his father’s footsteps and listens to wicked counsel.
Continuing in the same path as his father, Ahaziah walked in the ways of the house of Ahab. He also makes a critical mistake in his choice of counselors. Ahaziah follows his mother Athaliah’s encouragement to do wrong. He also chooses to listen to the evil counsel of other advisers from the wicked house of Ahab. The bad advice Ahaziah follows eventually gets him killed. His evil advisers convince him to form an alliance with Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Aram. In the battle with Hazael’s forces, Joram is wounded. When Ahaziah goes to Joram’s bed side, God brings about his downfall through Jehu whom the LORD anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.
He is killed by Jehu along with members of Ahab’s family.
Ahaziah makes two very bad choices. The first is his choice of counselors to get advice from. The second bad decision is his choice to ally himself with the evil king of Israel. What lesson do we learn from Ahaziah’s life?:
Be careful about the companions and counselors you choose–
bad ones will lead to our undoing.
Bad counselors leave God out of the picture as they give advice. They ignore and reject His Word and wisdom, asserting their opinion in contradiction to what God has said. They encourage people to believe in themselves and dig deeper within for solutions rather than calling on others to develop a deeper dependance on God. When what God has said is difficult or is regarded by modern society as “out of date” with the times, they rationalize and encourage others that God understands with and is fine with our taking a course opposite His will. Their thinking is that God would never have us go through such difficulty. Surely a loving God would give us a better, easier way out of a situation. Counsel like this will lead to our undoing. Don’t listen to it.
As we think about our companions–are they “iron sharpening iron” kinds of friends. Will they tell us when we have taken a wrong path. Will they lovingly, graciously, yet firmly correct us when we are wrong and gently restore us? Will they encourage us in paths of righteousness even when that way is not considered to be the popular way to go? OR Are our companions people who have forsaken God and have no room for Him? Are they people who do what they want and go their own way with no thought of the consequences or what God thinks about it? May God give us both godly companions and counselors who will encourage us towards paths of righteousness as opposed to a treacherous course.
The reign of Athaliah (2 Chronicles 22:10-23:15)
After Ahaziah is killed, there are no heirs to the throne who are powerful enough to take control of the nation. Therefore his mother decides to take over.
She usurps the throne & tries to eliminate all members of the royal house.
The writer of 2 Chronicles totally rejects Athaliah. She has no business reigning on Judah’s throne. She is Ahab’s daughter, unfaithful to Yahweh, and not a descendant of David. Though not the rightful heir to the throne, she manages to take it by force and rule the land for six full years and a portion of a seventh year as well. Athaliah sets out to eliminate all competitors to the throne by killing all the members of the royal house she can find. She is successful in killing all but one. Thanks to Josheba, a daughter of Jehoram (Joash’ aunt), wife of Jehoiada the high priest, Ahaziah’s son Joash is hidden in the temple for all the years of Athaliah’s rule.
Jehoiada leads the effort to overthrow her and establishes Joash as king.
In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada shows his strength and makes his move, eager to restore the Davidic family to the throne. He engineers a plot with five military commanders to assemble the Levites and leaders of Judah in Jerusalem for a formal covenant ceremony to establish Joash as king. Jehoiada provides weapons for and carefully organizes all those involved in the ceremony to assure the king’s protection.
When all are in their places, Jehoiada and his sons bring out Joash, put the crown on him, present him with a copy of the covenant and proclaim, “Long live the king!” When Athaliah hears the celebration at the coronation of the new king, she goes to the temple and sees the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. She tears her robes and shouts, “Treason! Treason!” Jehoiada has the military commanders bring Athaliah out from the ranks and puts her to death on the palace grounds.
What can we learn from the account of Athaliah’s life:
God preserves the house of David– We can trust Him to be faithful to His promises.
Athaliah tried to wipe out the Davidic line. She was unsuccessful. Why?
“The king’s son shall reign, as the LORD promised concerning the descendants of David” (23:3b).
God promised to preserve the house of David. God keeps His promise. We can trust God to keep all the promises He has made to us as He is faithful.
Good kings finally take over to remove the contamination caused by Ahab.
Four good kings (2 Chronicles 23:16-27:9)
Why “good?”–The overall effect of their reign encourages God’s people to worship Yahweh.
The reign of Joash. (23:16-24:47)
Jehoiada, the high priest, is not only instrumental in putting Joash in his rightful place on the throne, but also in providing a positive influence for the king. All the years of Jehoiada, Joash does what was right in the eyes of the LORD. Jehoiada leads in making a covenant with the LORD that he, the people, and the king would be His. He leads in the destruction of the items related to Baal worship and in the killing of Mattan, the priest of Baal.
He also leads in restoring oversight of the temple to the Levites and in making sure no one who is unclean enters it.
Under Jehoiada’s influence, he leads in the restoration of the temple.
Joash places a chest at the gate of the temple and orders that the tax Moses required for restoration and repair of the temple be brought to the LORD. With the money, he pays the workers to rebuild and reinforce the temple. As long as Jehoiada is alive, burnt offerings are presented continually in the temple of the LORD.
When Jehoiada dies at the age of 130, Joash takes a major turn for the worse. He is as easily influenced to do evil after the priest’s death as he was to do good before.
He listens to wicked counsel, abandons the temple, and worships idols.
He refuses to listen to the warnings of God’s prophets.
Zechariah was sent to Joash with the following message from the Spirit of the LORD– “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’S commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you’” (2 Chronicles 24:20b). What does Joash do in response? He has the messenger of God killed. Killing Zechariah was bad enough, but even worse is the fact that Zechariah was Jehoiada’s son. Jehoiada showed kindness to Joash, but that didn’t seem to matter when Zechariah had a message from God for him that he didn’t want to hear.
Zechariah’s last words as he lay dying were, “May the LORD see this and call you to account” (2 Chronicles 24:22b). And that is just what happens. God intervenes against Joash. He sends an Aramean army to defeat the army from Judah.
In spite of the fact that the number of men in the Aramean army was few in comparison to the much larger army of Judah, the Arameans win the battle. This is yet another reminder that victory in battle is not a matter of the size or might of an army. Victory comes from the LORD.
In the battle with the Arameans, Joash is left wounded and his own officers end up finishing the job.
He is killed by his own men after suffering defeat in battle.
What can we learn from the life of Joash?:
A good start does not guarantee a strong finish–faithfulness is critical to the end.
Just because we start well does not guarantee a good finish. If we start well spiritually, it is because we trusted God and were faithful to worship and serve Him. If we are to finish well, it will be because we trusted God and were faithful to worship and serve Him. One cannot abandon giving his or her life to the worship and service of God and still have a good finish. Don’t grow laxed. Don’t rest on your laurels. Don’t dwell on past successes. Trust God and be faithful to the end. Be a faithful finisher.
The reign of Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25)
He does what is right in the LORD’s eyes, but not wholeheartedly.
Amaziah shows a heart for God in his first official act as king by executing the officials who murdered his father. In the execution, he spares the sons of these men. He doesn’t put them to death so as to be in compliance with the law of Moses. The LORD commanded that children should not be put to death for their father’s sins (Deut. 24:16).
He heeds godly counsel not to use Israeli soldiers and is victorious in battle.
As Amaziah is organizing his forces for battle, he hires 1,000 fighting men from Israel for 100 talents of silver. In response to this action, a man of God comes to him and says, “O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the LORD is not with Israel–not with any of the people of Ephraim. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow” (2 Chronicles 25:7-8).
At first, Amaziah is reticent to follow this advice, not wanting to waste the money he invested in hiring the soldiers. However, he ends up heeding the advice of the man of God when he is assured, “The LORD can give you much more than that” (2 Chronicles 25:9b).
The LORD is faithful to Amaziah. He gives him much more than he had paid out to the Israeli soldiers in his military victory over Seir. Sadly, Amaziah is not faithful to God. Up to this point, he had ridden the fence, doing what was right in the LORD’s sight, but not wholeheartedly. He ends up falling on the wrong side of the fence, and begins doing what is evil in God’s sight.
He brings back Seir’s gods and worships them.
Victory in life can give rise to some of our most vulnerable moments. Such was the case for Amaziah. Victory in battle produces failure in his relationship with God. Amaziah gathers the spoils of battle and does the foolish act of bringing back the gods of Seir and worshiping them.
God gives Amaziah the victory, and what does he do? He worships impotent gods who were not able to do anything to save their own people from the hand of Judah in battle.
He rejects the rebuke of the prophet who predicts his destruction.
God sends Amaziah a prophet who says, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?” Amaziah responds, “Have we appointed you an adviser of the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” (2 Chronicles 25:15-16)
In response, the prophet of God announces that it is Amaziah who would be struck down– “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel” (2 Chronicles 25:16b).
He decides to attack Israel, suffers defeat, and is later killed by his own men.
Amaziah decides to attack the Israelites in retribution for their raids on Judean outposts while he was off doing battle against Seir. When his intentions for battle are made known to Israel’s king, he tries to warn him not to start a conflict, comparing himself to a Cedar of Lebanon and Amaziah to a thistle. Amaziah refuses all counsel and attacks Israel anyway. As a result, God works to bring about his defeat.
Amaziah suffers the humiliation of being captured, seeing a long section of Jerusalem’s protective wall torn down, and watching temple articles, palace treasures, and hostages being carried off to Samaria. After this military blow, some of Amaziah’s own men conspire to kill him and are successful in doing just that when he tries to escape to Lachish.
What lessons can we learn from Amaziah’s life?:
Don’t be a “fence rider”--wholeheartedly do what is right before the LORD.
Those who walk on fences, who don’t wholeheartedly follow God, will eventually end up falling on one side or the other– often times, they end up on the wrong side. Don’t be a fence rider. Pursue God and His righteousness wholeheartedly. Following God is not dancing on a line in the sand to see how close to sin we can get without going over the line. Following God is a direction in life that we should follow with our whole being to demonstrate to God our love for Him.
It is a dangerous thing to turn away from God.
It is a dangerous thing to reject the message of those who speak for God.
When confronted by a man or woman of God for something you are doing wrong, resist the temptation to “kill” or attack the messenger. Rather than ignoring, rejecting, and pushing the messenger away, allow the message he or she brings to penetrate your heart and bring about the results God desires.
The reign of Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26)
He does what is right in the LORD’s eyes and enjoys success.
Rather than ignoring God’s spokesmen as his father had done before him, Uzziah sought God. He learned the fear of God. Uzziah enjoyed great success, as long as he kept seeking the LORD.
He has a reputation for a large, powerful, and well trained military.
The army Uzziah leads is victorious in battle against the Philistines, Arabs, and Meunites. He becomes so powerful that his fame spreads to Egypt’s boarders. His army is large consisting of 2,600 military leaders and 307,500 well trained fighting men. It was also well armed, having an ample supply of weapons, some of them being quite advanced compared to those the enemy had available for us.
The saddest commentary on Uzziah’s life is found in the later half of 2 Chronicles 26:15– “he was greatly helped until he became powerful.” Uzziah’s success all along was due not in part, but wholly to the work of God in helping him. Instead of continuing to look to God, obey Him, and seek His help, Uzziah begins to lean on his own power and resources. He doesn’t need God’s help any more, or so he begins to think.
His power leads to pride which leads to his downfall.
Uzziah presumptuously enters the temple to offer incense on the altar. This act of entering the temple to burn incense is an act of unfaithfulness to God. God’s Word clearly states– “No one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD” (Numbers 16:40). Recognizing Uzziah’s sin, the priest confronts him saying, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God” (2 Chronicles 26:18). Uzziah, instead of stopping what he is doing and repenting of his sin, gets angry, and displays a fit of rage. As the result, God afflicts him with leprosy and he is isolated for the remainder of his days.
What can we learn from Uzziah’s life?:
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Uzziah repeats what has been an all too common cycle in the book of 2 Chronicles. After experiencing the blessing of God as the result of faithfulness, God’s people become proud and begin to rebel which leads to their downfall. How can we avoid falling into the same pattern ourselves?
While there are no doubt several other possible solutions, one I would like to focus on this morning is our need to follow the command to, “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). When we are continually giving thanks, we are reminded in the process that God is the giver of all good things. When we experience blessing and success and give thanks to God for what He has done, we are reminded that it is His help and power that made victory possible. When we give praise and thanks to God recognizing that it is all His due, we are kept from the sin of falling into pride.
The reign of Jotham (2 Chronicles 27)
He does what was right, even though his efforts to influence others are ineffective.
Jotham does not repeat his father’s actions. He learns from his father’s experience and does not enter the temple. He does what is right, but is unable to influence those around him to do the same. The people over whom he ruled continued their corrupt practices. The choice of others to forsake the LORD does not keep him from seeking to please the LORD throughout his reign.
He grows powerful as the result of a steadfast walk before the LORD.
Be steadfast in faithfulness to the LORD even if those around you don’t follow your example.
Jotham did not fall into the trap of feeling compelled to act in corrupt ways because that is “what everyone else is doing.” “Everyone else” did not include Jotham. Jotham’s example encourages us that even if everyone around us is being unfaithful, we can remain faithful as we walk with the LORD and trust in Him to help us to be steadfast, and faithfully stay the course.
This morning, we have considered the legacy of 7 different kings, some good and some bad. Some were faithless and abandoned God completely. Others started well, but were not good finishers. One both started well and remained faithful to the end. What legacy will we leave behind for those who later recall events from our lives?
In the words sung by Steve Green: “Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of our devotion light their way. May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe, and the lives we live inspire them to obey. Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.”