No News Is Good News

2 Chronicles 27: 1 – 9

No news is good news

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done (although he did not enter the temple of the LORD). But still the people acted corruptly. 3 He built the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD, and he built extensively on the wall of Ophel. 4 Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests, he built fortresses and towers. 5 He also fought with the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. And the people of Ammon gave him in that year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand kors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The people of Ammon paid this to him in the second and third years also. 6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God. 7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9 So Jotham rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

No news is good news refers to the fact that not hearing any news signifies that nothing is wrong.

The first recorded use of this exact expression in English is by James Howell in 1640, who wrote, "I am of the Italians' mind that said, 'Nulla nuova, buona nuova' (no news, good news). Some years before that, James 1 of England (VI of Scotland) wrote, "No News is better than evil news".

So, if you don’t hear that something bad has happened, it is probably because nothing bad has happened.

The musical artist Tony Joe White did a nice musical recording on the theme, No News Is Good News

Take the morning paper off my doorstep

I don't get a look at it today

I woke up this morning with a good feeling

And I don't want the bad news in the way

No news is good news, no news is good news

Oh I got a letter from my baby

She said Honey I'm doing fine

And even though I'm going out with other guys

But I still think about you all the time

I said no news is good news, no news is good news

Yeah yeah yeah

I was home watching television

And the wild wild west was coming on

Then a special news report flashed across the screen

He said, due to the following this program ought to be shunt

No news is good news

I said, no news is good news

Well, today we are going to look at the reign of king Jotham of Judah. The whole chapter is only 9 verses long. At first you might be thinking ‘well the Holy Spirit didn’t have much to say about this guy.’ You are right. But this written history is not bad news for the few words that are said about Jotham place his life in a positive placement.

Jotham’s reign is presented mainly without fault apart from the fact that in Jotham’s day some of the people ‘behaved corruptly’. The fault, however, was not with Jotham.

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.

Jotham began his reign at the age of twenty-five. If we take this as the age at which he commenced his co-regency with Uzziah he was around thirty-five when he became the sole ruler.

2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done (although he did not enter the temple of the LORD). But still the people acted corruptly.

As so often with the kings the praise has a sharp edge to it. He did what was right in the eyes of YHWH in the same way as his father Uzziah had done for most of his reign. In other words, he encouraged the worship of YHWH and obedience to the covenant. But there is a clause in that ‘the people yet behaved corruptly. This is not so much a blemish on Jotham as a reminder that with all the kings’ efforts it was not possible to stop the false worship at the high places, and the corruption that went with it.

‘However, he did not enter into the temple of YHWH.’ This is probably a commendation indicating that he did not sin as his father had done by forcing his way into the Sanctuary. Through Uzziah’s skin disease the lesson had been learned once for all.