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The idolatrous and evil King Ahaz of Judah rejects the sign of “Immanuel” from the prophet Isaiah promising God’s support if he would only have faith. Instead he desperately tries to get Assyria to aid him against his enemies. Meanwhile he is enchanted by an elaborate altar he sees in Damascus. He has a duplicate made and installs it in the Temple, sidelining the original altar, and making other radical changes in the Temple furniture and vessels. His sin points to our own attempts to change and “improve” ourselves through our own strength according to our own pattern.

Notes on 2 Chronicles 28:16-27, 2 Kings 16:5-20, Isaiah 7:1-25

Ahaz, one of Judah’s worst kings, adopted every kind of idolatry available. But God continued to send prophets to warn the people and call them back to repentance. This is depicted in a remarkable story of the freeing of thousands of captives at the prophet’s direction. The story also clarifies aspects to Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan.

Notes on 2 Chronicles 28:1-15

Jotham took over the responsibility of ruling when his father, Uzziah, was stricken with leprosy for trying to usurp the High Priest’s office in the Temple. He repaired and built up the Temple and was blessed because “he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.” Jotham also shows us how to edify the Body of Christ.

Notes on 2 Chronicles 27:1-9

Jeroboam II reigned in the northern kingdom of Israel for 41 years. He stopped the raids by the Syrians and restored the country’s borders. Despite this, he was an evil, idolatrous king, and was followed by a series of murderers and usurpers of the throne. The prophets Hosea and Amos, who were his contemporaries, decry the declining moral character of society during these years.

Notes on 2 Kings 14:23 – 15:8-31

Uzziah was one of Judah’s greatest kings, but he ends his reign in shame when he pridefully tries to enter the priestly office and offer incense in the Temple. God strikes him with leprosy of the forehead.

Notes on 2 Kings 14:15-29 and 2 Chronicles 26:1-23

In his last prophetic act, Elisha puts his hands on the hands of King Joash of Israel as he shoots an arrow east, promising that Joash will defeat the Syrians in battle. Next he tells the king to strike the bundle of arrows on the ground. He strikes only three times, unwittingly limiting the extent of his victory. Long after Elisha is buried, a man is accidentally lowered into his sepulcher and, touching Elisha’s bones, is miraculously brought back to life.

Notes of 2 Kings 13:1-35, 2 Chronicles 25:1-28

Notes on ‘Bones in the Bible’

King Jehoash of Judah becomes ruler as a child, and during the first part of his reign he is godly and begins a project to repair breaches in the Temple. But after the death of the High Priest Jehoiada, he turns to idolatry and dies assassinated by his servants. The murder of a prophet, Zechariah, in the Temple leaves a visible sign of the nation’s sin – a pool of seething blood that can’t be washed away.

Notes on 2 Kings 12:1-21