Teaching Notes

TH1065: II CHRONICLES

Lets pick up our study this evening in II Chronicles chapter 26, as we continue to look at the kings from the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

II CHRONICLES 26

VERSE 1

1. It seems that the people recognized that Amaziah's heart was far from the Lord, and so during his reign, after only 6 years, his son Uzziah began to co-reign with him. And for 23 years they reigned together, then after his fathers death, Uzziah was the sole king in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, reigning for another 29 years. Thus, his total number of years on the throne was 52 years. And Uzziah was a good king and most likely the reason the people placed him on the throne at the age of 16.

VERSES 2-5

1. After the death of his father, Uzziah began to re-capture cities that were lost to the enemy, and to restore them or build them up. The nation was enjoying a time of prosperity, not because Uzziah was doing good works, but because he placed God before everything else in his life.

2. That principle is not only seen in the Old Testament, but it is woven through the pages of the New Testament as well. In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is speaking about those things that are most important to us, what we treasure the most, because that shows where your heart is at. Is God first in your life, or is He somewhere else down the line of your priorities? If He is not first, then we tend to worry about our problems like food, clothing, shelter and-so-on. But Jesus is telling us to get our priorities right. He says in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." When we put God first, have our priorities right, we are truly blessed, not always physically, but spiritually. He will supply our needs. On the other hand if you worry about your difficulties, what is going to happen, that will not help the situation one bit. In fact, it will only depress you. Look to the one who can truly help and give us peace. As Paul said in Philippians 4:19 "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

VERSES 6-8

1. Here we see the blessings that God gave to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They are now defeating the enemies around them. I believe God gives us the victory over the enemies when we take heed to what His Word has to say. The flesh, our enemy, is only defeated through Christ. When you stumble, when you fall, and all of us will, take a good look at where you had your eyes focused. Chances are they were not focused upon the Lord and His Word. To correct that, get your eyes focused off of you, and place them back on the Lord.

VERSES 9-10

1. Here we see Uzziah begin these massive building projects and agricultural projects. Even today we see the land, the soil, an important part of the Jewish people. When the Turks were in the land they destroyed it. They cut down many of the trees, which exposed the top soil, and the top soil was washed away. The land was left barren, full of rocks, with areas of swamp land, and unfit to live in. Then the Jews entered their land once again, and they planted millions of trees. Specific trees to benefit the various problems that each area had. For instance the swamp area had trees planted that would help to drain those mosquito infested areas. They planted trees that would break apart the rocks and make new top soil once again. And now the land is once again fruitful. In fact it is the third largest exporter of fruits and vegetables in the world. God has also increased the rain in the area, bringing back the former and latter rains. It is as Zechariah said in chapter 8, verses 11-13. We read "'But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,' says the LORD of hosts. 'For the seed shall be prosperous, The vine shall give its fruit, The ground shall give her increase, And the heavens shall give their dew; I will cause the remnant of this people To possess all these. And it shall come to pass That just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear, Let your hands be strong.'" The land has truly blossomed once again!

VERSES 11-13

1. Notice the size of his army, he had 2,600 captains, not including his soldiers, which were another 307,500.

VERSES 14-15

1. Uzziah was able to achieve success in three areas. The first was seen in verses 6-8, which spoke about his victory in war. The second was seen in verses 9-10, which spoke of his massive building projects and his push in the area of agriculture, making the land fruitful once again. And thirdly we see in verses 11-15, the strength of his army and his ability to develop weapons of war to put down the enemy.

2. And you read about all his success and all you can see are good things happening. It seems that nothing can stop him except one thing, and that is SUCCESS! You see, this was a sad commentary on Uzziah's life. When he was weak, then he was strong! But, when he was strong, then hew was weak. We are going to see that his success went to his head and made him think more highly of himself than he should have.

VERSES 16-23

1. Uzziah got a little to big for his own good. He was a king and not a priest and thus he could not go into the temple and offer incense to the Lord, only the priest could. But, because of his big head, he thought he could approach God any way he wanted. And because of that God struck him with leprosy and he was banished from the city and had to co-reign with his son Jotham. Many today try and do what Uzziah did, approach God any way they want. But there is only one High Priest, only one bridge builder between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ. You can't approach God through any other means. You see, you have a case of spiritual leprosy outside of Christ, and thus, like Uzziah, you will be banished from the kingdom, the kingdom of God. The only cure for this disease is found in Jesus Christ, as His blood cleanses us from all our sins.

2. For Uzziah we saw him go from power to pride to his downfall. You see, his strength was his weakness. It is as Proverbs 16:18-19 says "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud." And in Proverbs 18:12 we read "Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility. You see, it is when we are weak that our eyes are focused on the Lord, but many times when we are strong our eyes are focused on self and not the Lord. But as Paul said in II Corinthians 12:10 "...For when I am weak, then I am strong." Let us not forget that lesson for if we do, we will reap the consequences of our actions and learn first hand what pride can do in our lives. God does have a way to humble us and to give us the right perspective of ourselves.

3. I think another important lesson here also relates to strength. You see, Uzziah was a strong, a powerful leader who did many great things for the nation. They were victorious in war. They had fortified and built up their cities. They had planted many crops and worked the land. They were inventing many superior weapons to fight against the enemy with. Thus, the people looked to Uzziah for their strength instead of the Lord. It is amazing how easy we can block the Lord out of our life. A great example of this is what we can do with the sun. The sun has a diameter of some 864,000 miles and yet if I hold my hand up to it I can block it out completely. Many times we do that with the Lord. We hold others up, look to them for our strength, and like our hand, we can block out the Son of God completely. Even the prophet Isaiah was caught up in this. If you remember in Isaiah 6:1 we read "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple."

It was only after the death of king Uzziah that Isaiah once again saw the Lord. He saw who was really on the throne, who the true king was, and it was not Uzziah. God's programs did not depend, they did not end with the death of Uzziah. And many times when a great man or woman of God dies, we think that the work of God comes to a screeching halt. WRONG! A great example of that is seen in the life and death of Moses. Think about it, when this spiritual giant died, this great prophet of God passed off the scene, surely the work of God would stop or at least be slowed down. WRONG AGAIN! God uses us as His instruments from which He can work through and when we are gone, someone else will be raised up to continue the work of God. Notice how God deals with the death of Moses in Joshua 1:2-3. We read "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them; the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses." Moses is not exalted and the work of God continues on. God does not miss a beat. Thus, never think more highly of yourself or place anyone else on the throne besides the Lord. Don't let something small and insignificant block out your vision of Heaven.

4. Because of Uzziah's leprosy and his banishment from the city, his son Jotham co-reigned with him for 11 years.

II CHRONICLES 27

VERSES 1-2

1. Jotham was also a good king except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. Now why in the world was he so reluctant to enter the house of worship? Most likely he saw what happened to his father Uzziah, and because of that he did not want to have anything to do with the temple. The problem was that Uzziah's leprosy was due to his disobedience to God and so Jotham's fears were unsubstantiated. Now it could be that his refusal to enter the place of worship may have set the stage for his son Ahaz to plunge the nation into a spiritual nose dive in which they will never fully recover from. They, like the Northern Kingdom of Israel, were moving closer and closer to God's judgment and their captivity. Right now the Northern Kingdom of Israel is less than 30 years from their captivity by the Assyrians.

2. Tragically we see this happen even today. Kids see what has happened to their parents in church, and because of that they isolate themselves from any kind of fellowship in a local church. And many just stay at home, they don't get involved. But in doing that you are really transgressing what God has said. You see, God has given to each of us talents, gifts, to be used for the betterment of the body. By not using those gifts in the body, you are robbing the body. Yes God can and will raise up others to fill your void, but how sad not to use that which God has given to you. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way in Hebrews 10:24-25, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

3. Also, our prayer for our children should be that they would have a heart of worship. To many times we are trying to cram Bible verses down their throats and they are gaining a lot of head knowledge but not a real love for the Lord. God has said that we are to love Him, and if we do, if we have a heart that is full of love, a heart that is full of worship, then we will want to know Him more, we will want to know His character, there will be a hunger for His word. And that is not only true for us, but for our kids. Teach them to fall in love with God and the rest will come.

VERSE 3

1. Ophel was where the old city of David was located, farther down the slope of Mount Moriah.

VERSES 4-6

1. Jotham did seek the Lord, he looked to the Lord for guidance, but he never really had a heart of worship.

VERSES 7-9

1. We have seen some good in these kings, but now Ahaz, Jotham's son is on the throne. And whatever strides were made towards the Lord are going to be pushed back by him. Again, the Southern Kingdom of Judah will never fully recover from the influences of this wicked king, Ahaz.

II CHRONICLES 28

VERSES 1-4

1. When God associates a king with the kings of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, it was a rebuke. You see, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had no good kings, they all were evil, some worse than others. And so God is saying that Ahaz was just as wicked as they were. He was not at all like David, the standard for all kings to be judged by. And as we have said before, David was not perfect, but he never lead the nation into idolatry. Ahaz, on the other hand, goes crazy and sets up all these places of worship, offering sacrifice to all these pagan gods, and even offering his own children in the fire as a sacrifice to them.

2. In Leviticus 18:21 God said "'And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.'" And you wonder how in the world they could do this horrible thing? First of all you have to understand the pagan cultures that surrounded Israel. They all worshipped, in one way or another, the process of reproduction because it was such an amazing mystery to them. And through the worship of these fertility gods and goddesses they would perform sexual acts, orgies and-so-on in the groves. And it is because of all that sexual promiscuity that many unwanted children were born. It was many of these children that were placed in the bronze outstretched hands of their god Molech. And once those hands were burning hot, that is when the children were placed in there and they would burn to death. And as this was going on the people would work themselves into an altered state of consciousness, screaming and yelling, drowning out the screams of these unwanted children as they were being sacrificed.

3. Today we call it Pro-Choice, but it is in reality the same thing. We are destroying these children because they are unwanted, the result of the worship of the god of pleasure, which is seen in fornication here. But it was an abomination to the Lord back then, and it still is an abomination to the Lord now - I don't care how you dress it up!

4. This place where they offered these children to the god Molech by passing them through the fire, was located in the valley of Hinnom, which was just south and west of Jerusalem. In the New Testament this area was used as a garbage dump which continued to burn day and night. Jesus picked up on this and used the valley of Hinnom as an illustration of Hell, Gehenna. So all in his day saw it as a eternal punishment which never ends, just as the fires of the garbage dump continued to burn. They knew exactly what Jesus was saying. Thus, in Matthew 10:28 He said "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna)."

VERSES 5-8

1. God now brings judgment upon Ahaz and the Southern Kingdom of Judah for their wickedness. He uses the Syrians and the Northern Kingdom of Israel to carry out His judgment. But Israel goes overboard and takes back home with them many slaves, which God forbid. You see, you could not make your brethren slaves, a fellow Jew. But Israel was trying to do that.

VERSES 9-10

1. This prophet hits the nail right on the head. He rebukes Israel for their actions, in thinking that they were better than Judah and that is why God used them. We too must remember that when we correct someone. That when we do, we do it in love and temper it with mercy. Many times we correct people with a "holier than thou" attitude when the reality is we are all sinners saved by Christ and not because we were worthy of it.

VERSES 11-13

1. These leaders were wise in what they said. They recognized that they were not perfect, that the nation had many problems, and by continuing to disobey God's commands, they were fearing that they would just add to their sin and judgment.

2. How important it is to have a cool head and listen to what a person is trying to say to you. That you just don't jump to conclusions, or try to second guess what someone has said or done. You don't want to just fly off the handle but listen to what is being said and try and glean from it something that you may need to change in your walk with the Lord. Ask Him for wisdom in the various situations you find yourself in. As Proverbs 18:13 says "He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him." May we heed that council in our own lives.

VERSES 14-15

1. It was a common practice to humiliate your captives, and many times they took them away naked. But now they are given clothes and food, and the weak are even given donkeys to ride on so they can make their way home. They did the right thing in releasing their captives.

VERSES 16-21

1. Ahaz and the Southern Kingdom of Judah are being attacked from every side. And you would think that this would at least get his attention and cause Ahaz to look up, but the kings heart is so hard and he refuses to listen to the warnings, to see why this is happening. He shuts his eyes to the truth.

VERSE 22

1. As the pressure from God increases, Ahaz hardens his heart even more and he refuses to look up. And many do the same today as God is trying to get their attention, they do everything they can to look the other way and not acknowledge Him.

VERSE 23

1. How many times have you heard people say to you "It really doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe in something." God is telling us through this example of Ahaz that sincerity in something does not save you, for it was the downfall of Ahaz. And Ahaz was very sincere in his walk with these other gods, just as many people are today. They tell you that "Jesus is not the only way, that their are many roads that lead to God. You are just to narrow minded." But that is contrary to what God has said in His Word, for example, in John 14:6 Jesus said "...'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" You see folks, it is not sincerity that saves you but faith that is counted to us for righteousness, and that faith must be in Jesus Christ!

VERSE 24

1. Because the king wasn't hearing from the true and living God, he was going to make sure that no one else would hear, so he shuts up the house of God, blocks it off so no one could enter. He tried to stomp God out, but let me tell you something, that will never happen.

2. The Bible has withstood many vicious attacks, more so than any other book, and yet today it still stands. "Voltaire, the noted French infidel who died in 1778, said that in one hundred years from his time Christianity would be swept from existence and passed into history. But what has happened? Voltaire has passed into history, while the circulation of the Bible continues to increase in almost all parts of the world, carrying blessing wherever it goes...'only fifty years after his death (Voltaire), the Geneva Bible Society used his press and house to produce stacks of Bibles.'" And as Bernard Ramm says "A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put."

VERSES 25-27

1. In his death, Hezekiah will now reign in Judah. And he is truly a great king, and yet, he will not be able to overcome the spiritual darkness that was blanketed by his father, king Ahaz. In the Southern Kingdom of Judah you could hear the hoof beats of the coming judgment quickly approaching. They are only some 110 years away from the Babylonians coming and invading their land. In 606 BC they will come in and take captives back with them and the final deportation will occur in 586 BC. Amazing what influence one man can have on an entire nation, and that is one of the reasons we should be praying for our leaders!