There is only one righteous King . . .

 

READ 2 Chronicles 25–28

These days some people complain about the government and want to get rid of political leaders and their imperfections. Sometimes I remind them that when given a sinless and perfect leader, He was hated and crucified. What humanity seems to want the most is their own way, without restrictions or ramifications.

Reading these OT passages reveals much about the selfishness of human nature. These were people in a covenant with God, but their submission to Him was never consistent. Mostly, they wanted their own way.

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign . . . . And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. (2 Chronicles 25:1–2)

This king built an army. He hired soldiers from Israel for 100 talents of silver. However a man of God rebuked him for not relying on the Lord. Amaziah was worried about the silver he’d paid and was told, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this” so he discharged those he’d hired. They were angry and raided some cities in Judah, killing and taking spoil. (25:6-13)

This king also took spoil from the Edomites and set their gods up as his gods, angering the Lord. Amaziah would not listen to the prophet God sent to rebuke him and wanted him struck down, but the prophet said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” (25:14–16)

At this, he decided to meet with Joash, king of Israel who told him he was boastful of heart and to stay at home. “But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom.” These two kings fought, Judah was defeated by Israel, and Joash captured Amaziah. Eventually he was put to death and the people of Judah took his sixteen-year-old son and made him king of Judah.

Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. (26:4–5)

God helped him against their enemies. He became strong and his fame spread. He built fortified towers, cut cisterns, had large herds, and fostered agriculture. He had a large army, made machines to shoot arrows and stones, but when he was strong, he grew proud and was unfaithful to the Lord. He entered the temple to burn incense on the altar of incense, a task restricted to priests. When confronted, he became angry. Leprosy broke out on his forehead, and he was excluded from the house of the Lord until he died.

His son became king. Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the LORD; except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. Yet he became mighty even though the people still followed corrupt practices. (27:1–2)

The next king, Ahaz, did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, made metal images for the Baals and offerings “on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree” and even burning his sons. Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria and to the king of Israel. But a prophet of the Lord was there. He met the enemy army and said:

“Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.” (28:9–11)

These men took care of the captives and brought them to Jericho, then went home. Later, Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. Ahaz died and his son reigned in his place.

Jesus, there’s no way anyone has or could fulfill the demands of God’s righteous, perfect, and holy law. Only You could and only You did. You came into the world — to be born under God’s law to redeem us from our sin and rebellion, to rescue us from our unwillingness and inability to love You. May we, this Christmas, worship, praise, and adore You as we should!