Kings, Southern Kingdom

NOTABLE KINGS OF THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM

When the united kingdom was broken into northern and southern nations, in the south, David’s descendants ruled Judah. Davidic rulers continued in an unbroken line from the division in 930 b.c. to the nation’s destruction by Babylon in 586 b.c.

Even though the rulers of Judah were David’s descendants, only six of them can be considered godly men. While the godly rulers encouraged worship of the Lord and actively promoted His Law, the common people often drifted into idolatry with all its associated sins. All too often, the other kings of Judah abandoned God’s ways and worshiped pagan deities.

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KINGS OF THE SOUTH (JUDAH)

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It is not surprising then that the southern kingdom knew alternating times of prosperity and decline. Under godly kings, the Lord typically blessed the nation. During that time, the nation maintained its boundaries or gained back lost land. Under wicked rulers, foreign enemies frequently defeated the nation. Two of Judah’s kings illustrate the influence that a strong and godly leader can have on a people.

HEZEKIAH

Scripture references:

2 Kings 18–20; 2 Chronicles 29–32;

Isaiah 36–39

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HEZEKIAH’S ROLE IN SCRIPTURE

When Hezekiah became king, the great Assyrian Empire was forcing its way into the Middle East. Syria had fallen and the massive Assyrian army was a threat to Israel and Judah. Hezekiah refused to submit to Assyria. To prepare for the invasion, he defeated the Philistines and built fortress cities along his borders. In Hezekiah’s fourth year, the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom Israel and defeated them after a three-year struggle. In Hezekiah’s fourteenth year, Assyria attacked Judah. While the border fortresses were taken, the Lord answered Hezekiah’s prayer and miraculously intervened to throw back the Assyrians. This was a pivotal event in the history of Judah, and the story is told and retold in Scripture. The nation was preserved, and the people were given a powerful example of the efficacy of prayer offered by a ruler in right relationship with God.

EXPLORING HEZEKIAH’S RELATIONSHIPS

Hezekiah’s relationship with God. Hezekiah’s relationship with God was by far the most significant relationship to the writers of sacred history. They focused on Hezekiah’s true devotion to God, and related three spiritual challenges faced by the godly king. The three challenges were not recorded in the text in the order they occurred, but in the order of their significance. We take them in chronological order, below.

Hezekiah’s focus on worship (2 Chron. 29–31). Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king. In the first year he reinstituted worship at the temple that had been closed during the reign of evil King Ahaz, his father. Hezekiah called the priests and Levites back into service and set them to offering sacrifices and singing psalms. With the temple purified, Hezekiah called all the people of Judah to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, that important annual religious festival that had not been kept for decades. Hezekiah even sent messengers into Israel to invite Jews from the northern kingdom to participate. The joy was so great that the seven-day worship festival was extended another week. The people went home and destroyed the idols and shrines that had infested the land.

Hezekiah’s emphasis on worship set the tone for his reign, and restored Judah to a place where God could and did bless the land.

Hezekiah’s first challenge (2 Chron. 32:24; 2 Kings 20:1–11; Isa. 38). In 701 b.c. the king became seriously ill, and the prophet Isaiah announced that he would die. The king pleaded with God for added years: “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in your sight” (2 Kings 20:3). God answered Hezekiah’s tearful appeal and gave him fifteen more years. Thus Hezekiah lived to beg God to intervene when the Assyrians attacked a few years later.

Hezekiah’s second challenge (2 Chron. 32:27–31; 2 Kings 20:12–19; Isa. 39). After the miraculous healing, Hezekiah became proud. The text does not tell us why, but we can speculate that not only Hezekiah’s growing wealth but also his status as the recipient of a miracle fed the king’s pride. When ambassadors from Babylon visited Hezekiah to congratulate him on his recovery, the king showed off all the kingdom’s treasures—without consulting God or one of His prophets.

Isaiah rebuked Hezekiah and told him that one day all that he and his predecessors had accumulated would be carried away to Babylon—but not in his time. The king’s response has often been criticized. He said, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good! … Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?” But in view of the constant threat from Assyria, word that the nation would one day fall to a world power that did not yet exist must have seemed good news indeed!

Hezekiah’s third challenge (2 Chron. 32:1–23; 2 Kings 18:9–19:37; Isa. 36; 37). The Assyrians attacked Judah in Hezekiah’s fourteenth year. The border fortress-cities the king had constructed fell, and Jerusalem was endangered. An Assyrian emissary appeared outside Jerusalem’s walls and called for the city’s surrender. The emissary ridiculed Hezekiah’s military weakness and scoffed at Hezekiah’s reliance on Judah’s God. The gods of other nations had proven powerless before the might of Assyria; so would the Lord.

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Hezekiah turned to God in prayer when he received an Assyrian demand that he surrender his nation and accept deportation.

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Hezekiah took the matter to the Lord. In his prayer Hezekiah affirmed God as the maker of heaven and earth and begged God to act. Surely the Lord would not permit the Assyrians to hold Him in such contempt.

Hezekiah’s prayer was answered. The prophet Isaiah reported God’s promise to save the city and send the Assyrian king home without having launched a single arrow into Jerusalem. That night 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died in their sleep, and the Assyrian king returned home, where he was assassinated by two of his sons. (For an extended treatment of this event, see the companion volume in this series, Every Miracle and Wonder in the Bible.)

Hezekiah’s relationship with prophets. The accounts of Hezekiah’s reign frequently mention the prophet Isaiah. Hezekiah clearly listened to, depended on, and trusted the prophet’s utterances.

Hezekiah’s relationship with his people. Hezekiah’s driving motive was to reestablish worship of the Lord in Judah. His enthusiasm was contagious, and after the people celebrated the Passover, the people themselves purged the land of idols and idolatry. Hezekiah’s success in motivating his people to turn to the Lord was almost unique in the nation’s history.

HEZEKIAH: AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY

Hezekiah was a godly person whose zeal for worship led to a national revival. The priority he placed on worship was evident from his first year as king. His personal blessings and the deliverance of his nation were both rooted in Hezekiah’s passion for worshiping God. We have much to learn from Hezekiah.

•     Hezekiah motivates us to make worship a priority in our own lives. Both private and corporate worship have an essential role in any transforming relationship with the Lord.

•     Hezekiah encourages us to expect God to answer prayer. God answered Hezekiah’s prayers for his nation and for personal well being in wonderful ways.

•     Hezekiah reminds us that God’s blessings are rooted in His grace, not our goodness. Hezekiah’s pride that God would answer hisprayers was misplaced, and that was his primary fault.

•     Hezekiah shows us the significance of being always responsive to God’s Word. As Hezekiah was committed to follow the precepts of Scripture and the words of God’s prophets, so are we to be committed to doing God’s Word today.

JOSIAH

Scripture references:
1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 22–23;
2 Chronicles 34–35

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JOSIAH’S ROLE IN SCRIPTURE

Josiah was only eight years old when he was crowned king of Judah. Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh, the most evil of Judah’s kings, who had ruled for fifty-five years. During that time, Manasseh destroyed all the copies of God’s Law he could find and closed the Jerusalem temple. At age sixteen, Josiah experienced a personal conversion; at twenty, he began his efforts to purge Judah of idolatry. During repair of the temple a copy of the lost Law was found, and Josiah discovered how far from God his nation had strayed. Josiah immediately sent to Huldah, a prophetess, to learn God’s intent. Josiah learned that judgment would come, but after Josiah’s time.

Now totally dedicated to the Lord, Josiah revived Passover celebration, and set out to destroy local shrines. Josiah not only purged Judah of centers of idolatry, but he also went into Israel and tore down the idol and altar erected by Jeroboam, fulfilling a prophecy identifying him by name uttered nearly four centuries earlier (1 Kings 13:2).

During Josiah’s later years, the Assyrian empire was being crushed by the Babylonians. In 609 b.c. a decisive battle seemed to be taking shape, and Pharaoh Necho of Egypt planned to intervene in support of the Assyrians. Josiah, eager for the destruction of Judah’s ancient enemy, set out to stop the Egyptians. Josiah was killed in the battle. With Josiah’s death, the nation quickly slipped back into idolatry. In less than thirty years, the nation fell to the Babylonians.

EXPLORING JOSIAH’S RELATIONSHIPS

As was true for other godly kings, Josiah’s relationship with God is the key to evaluating his rule.

Josiah’s commitment to worship(2 Kings 22:1–7; 23:1–30; 2 Chron. 34–35). Josiah’s conversion to Yahweh at age sixteen was evidenced by the young king’s orders to purge Judah and Jerusalem of idolatry. The king personally supervised the destruction of altars and idols throughout the land.

Josiah then set out to repair God’s temple in Jerusalem. When the repair was complete, Josiah called all his people to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

Josiah’s commitment to God’s Word(2 Kings 22). During repair of the temple the lost Book of the Law (possibly Deuteronomy) was discovered. Josiah immediately discerned that Israel had strayed far from God and that God would punish sins such as his people had committed. The king immediately contacted Huldah, a prophetess, to inquire into God’s intentions. The Lord reassured Josiah. Because he had shown himself humble and eager to serve God, judgment would be delayed until after his time. Josiah then set out aggressively to carry out God’s will as revealed in the Scripture.

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When Josiah burned human bones and desecrated the altar Jeroboam had erected, he fulfilled a prediction made hundreds of years earlier which mentioned him by name.

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JOSIAH: AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY

While Josiah himself was completely dedicated to the Lord, the revival he led was superficial. The hearts of the Israelites were never turned to the Lord. We see this in the complaint of the prophet Habakkuk (1:1–5) concerning the corruption of justice after the “revival.” We see it in the sermons Jeremiah gave during the reign of Josiah (see references to “in the days of Josiah” in the Book of Jeremiah). We also see it in Judah’s immediate return to idolatry after Josiah’s death. Yet, Josiah himself remains one of the Old Testament’s truly model men.

•     Josiah demonstrates that one godly man in a position of influence can impact a nation. While the hearts of the people were not changed, Josiah’s reforms helped hold off the nation’s destruction.

•     Josiah reminds us that whatever the spirit of the times, we are to be fully committed to the Lord. Once Josiah came to know the Lord, he showed himself willing to do God’s will whatever the cost.

•     Josiah highlights the relationship between worship and Scripture. In worship, we speak to the Lord; in Scripture, God speaks to us. Josiah was concerned that the Word of God guide his worship of the Lord. And so must we be.

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