2 Kings 15:1-22
Azariah Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 26:3–23)
1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, became king. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done, 4 except that the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 5 Then the LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper until the day of his death; so he dwelt in an isolated house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the royal house, judging the people of the land.
6 Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 7 So Azariah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jotham his son reigned in his place.
Zechariah Reigns in Israel
8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. 9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 10 Then Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and struck and killed him in front of the people; and he reigned in his place.
11 Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
12 This was the word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it was.
Shallum Reigns in Israel
13 Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. 14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, came to Samaria, and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him; and he reigned in his place.
15 Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and the conspiracy which he led, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 16 Then from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah, all who were there, and its territory. Because they did not surrender, therefore he attacked it. All the women there who were with child he ripped open.
Menahem Reigns in Israel
17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became king over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. 18 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 19 Pul king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. 20 And Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the very wealthy, from each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land.
21 Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 22 So Menahem rested with his fathers. Then Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.
These three kings of Israel reigned in doing evil in God’s eyes, while this one king in Judah still rei in doing good to please the LORD. More would follow as history unfolded, with a tendency to do more evil than good over the generations of kings and citizens to follow. Here we see that Judah still held on to doing more good than the southern tribes of Israel who had split long before from the people once united in serving and worshiping their God before the people meant to be driven out of the promised land helped drag them away from the loving God with their false imaginary gods of carved idolatry and blatant immorality of defiance to their Creator and true King. Such evil companions corrupted (Psalm 1:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:33-34, 2 Corinthians 6:14) good habits of righteous living over time. In Judah, however, Azariah ruled by aiming the direction of his life and example for the people to follow God in doing good, but it was not enough to stop the people from sacrificing and burning incense to idols in the hills. His heart was corrupted enough that he was not a man fully after God’s own heart as king David’s (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) was. His son Jotham judged Judah in his place when he was isolated with leprosy for allowing the people to follow dead idols and violate the first commandment. If only Azariah had done more to reign in evil by doing good in the direction of his rule and not just his personal life! We see then that our example is critical to influence others to do good and keep them from evil as the apostle Paul wore in places like 1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1 to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1) in the process as God-pleasers (Romans 12:1, Colossians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:4) instead of fitting in with the world as (Galatians 1:10) man-pleasers. Do we aim to fully please Gods and not fit in as we please men and offend our Lord? May we choose to learn from these examples (Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11) to let the peace of God rule our hearts according to His word by the enabling power of His indwelling Spirit, running the race to be well-pleasing to Him until we join Him together before His face forever. We should choose to reign in evil to avoid or stop it completely, not being ruled under it, and let God’s good ways rule us.
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