**JUDAH**
v1 King Azariah of Judah
v5 He was a leper.
v7 Jotham, who had also ruled while his father was sick, becomes king of Judah. (16 yrs)
**ISRAEL**
v8 Zechariah, king of Israel. (6 mos)
v9 evil
v10 Overthrown by Shallum's conspiracy.
v13 Shallum, king of Israel (1 mo)
v14 overthrown by Menahem
v17 Menahem, king of Israel (10 yrs)
v23 Pekahiah, king of Israel (2 yrs)
v25 Pekah overthrows him.
v27 Pekah, king of Israel (20 yrs)
v30 overthrown by Hoshea
When you see the history of Israel laid out like this, one king after another, what is the feeling you get about the stability of this nation? What do you think it was like to be a subject in this kingdom? Never knowing who to trust, who to follow, when you might get a new king and be called a traitor for loyalty to the former one. Israel has abandoned God's plan for the kingdom, and their way is not working out.
v33 King Jotham, of Judah. He was a good king.
v1 Ahaz, king of Judah (16 yrs)
v3 He did evil in the sight of the Lord.
v7-9 Ahaz makes alliance with the king of Assyria, paying him with treasure from the house of the Lord.
v10-18 Ahaz worships on his own terms. He builds new style alters, rearranges the house of the Lord, and disassembles the rest.
Ahaz seemed to be less interested in pleasing God than he was with following the trends of religion. Do we do that? Of course we do! I love having the latest worship songs in the service, the best video presentations, and sermon analogies that grab my attention and tug at my heart strings. While I do believe that these things are honoring to the Lord in that they reflect excellence and a job-well-done, I know that there is a delicate balance here between honoring the Lord with great communication and crossing the line into gratuitous entertainment value. Ahaz didn't just cross that line--he pole-vaulted over it until God was no longer even part of the worship experience.
v20 the end of Ahaz's reign.
Next time: II KINGS 17-18
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