2 Kings 15 and 2 Chronicles 26

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• Before you even start, you might be able to say to yourself “The book of Kings will talk about BOTH Judah and Israel, but the Chronicles will only talk about____________”

We are going downhill today…

Azariah-King of Judah- (see above)  By the way Azariah also goes by the name Uzziah.  (2 Chron Uzziah is Azariah)  Azariah was one of Judah’s most popular, effective, and influential kings. He expanded Judah’s territories, fortified several Judean cities, including Jerusalem, and reorganized the army.  Unfortunately, Azariah (Uzziah) became proud, and in disobedience, to the Law and performed functions only the priests could perform:

Chron. 26:¹⁶ But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

For this sin God punished him with leprosy

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Look at the left column when we talk about the horrible kings of Israel….

Zechariah-King of Israel- Zechariah reigned only six months before Shallum assassinated him. Zechariah was the last king of Jehu’s dynasty. Shallum was the son of Jabesh (not a natural successor.

2 kings 10:30 ““Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” 

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Shallum-KIng of Israel- another assassination. So evidently Menaham was not happy about Shallum being the new king.  After all, Menahem was the commander in chief.  He thinks it should have been him.   It’s chaos! Shallum only sat on the throne (meaning kingship, not the toilet) for only 1 month.

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Menahem-KIng of Israel- He reigned 10 years but then Pul, king of Assyria attacked the land.  Let me repeat that: the king of Assyria attacked the land!  This is the first mention of Assyrian kings as they have been growing to be a world power.  The year is 742 (only 20 years to go) and we now see this rise in power of the enemy nation beginning to infiltrate the Israelites.  Not good I tell ya!  Not good at all!!

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Pekahiah-King of Israel-In 742 B.C., Pekahiah began his two-year reign (742-740 B.C.). It ended when Pekah, one of his military officers, assassinated him in Samaria, in addition to Argob and Arieh, who were probably Israelite princes and influential friends of the king

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Pekah-King of Israel “In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser (Pul) king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.

So Pekah made an alliance with Pul, and attacked Judah.  They started deporting people to Assyria?  What? What is beginning to happen here!  (If you have read the Bible already you know…if not you will)

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KIng of Judah-Jotham-he is the last “mediocre” king.  After this, we have 2 revival kings and 7 evil kings.  He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years…The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord.

Look at your schedule.  Tomorrow we start Isaiah.  Anyone want to take over the blog for Isaiah? 😬