WHAT GOOD ARE YOU? (2 CHRONICLES 27:1-9)
Thomas J. Watson, Jr. had big shoes to fill. His father was the first president of IBM, building a worldwide industry during his 42 years at IBM. The senior Watson was named chairman of IBM in September 1949 and was presented with honorary degrees by 27 colleges and universities in the United States and four abroad. A month before his death in 1956, Watson handed over the reins of the company to the older son, Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
Being the son of IBM’s iron-willed chief weighed heavily on the younger Watson. In 1986 he told the Wall Street Journal, “The biggest motivation to me was fear and pride. Once I’d been around here a little while, I decided that my ambition was to prove to the world that I could run on the same race track as my dad. I liked the old gentleman; there was tremendous competition between us.”
The younger Watson pushed strongly to enter corporate computing. His father initially resisted the huge investment required to build plants and laboratories to create a new generation of products and to hire armies of people to sell them.
During the younger Watson’s leadership, IBM grew from a medium-sized business to one of the dozen largest industrial corporations in the world. When he became CEO in 1956, IBM employed 72,500 people and had a gross income of $892 million, but when he stepped down in 1971, employees numbered more than 270,000 and gross revenue was $8.3 billion. Fortune magazine called him “the greatest capitalist who ever lived.”
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Judah’s most overlooked and most unassuming king was the greatest king of the southern Judah’s history, but he was almost history’s forgotten king. One is more likely to hear of the names of Asa, Josiah, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah than of Jotham. One of our church members named his son Asa. My wife has a nephew named Josiah. My favorite king is Jehoshaphat and my wife’s favorite is Hezekiah. Uzziah is unforgettable every time “Holy, Holy, Holy” is sang. I read a sermon on Uzziah and his idolatrous father Amaziah, but I could not find a sermon of Uzziah and his righteous son Jotham. Good guys like Jotham do not have compelling or dramatic stories, but they sure do a lot of good and helped a lot of people.
How does one improve on good? What is excellence like? Why are progress and consistency not an unreachable goal?
Let Your Wisdom Do the Talking
27:1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. (2 Chron 27:1-2)
An irritated boss tells his new employee, “Integrity and wisdom are essential to success in every business. By integrity I mean when you promise a customer something you must keep that promise even if you lose money.”
The puzzled new employee then asked, “And what is wisdom?” The boss replied, “Don’t make any such foolish promises.”
Strangely, today’s society glorifies a person’s wisdom in learning from one’s own mistakes. However, the person is merely wiser, not wise. Some people are wiser profiting from their own mistakes; some are wiser benefiting from their own mistakes, but that kind of wisdom is nothing to crow about. The truly wise learn from others’ mistakes, not one’s own mistakes. Not learning from one’s mistake is stupidity, learning from one’s mistake is experience, but learning from people’s mistake is wisdom.
People also confuse being clever from being wise. For example, getting away with speeding is merely clever, never wise. Those truly wise follow legal limits and refrain from speeding. It is absurd to think a person who is not addicted to alcohol, drugs or smoking after trying them is wise; he is merely trying to be clever. Society has got it backwards; the one who refrains from trying is wise.
Jotham was a true learner; he could learn from history, people, family and himself. In today’s society Jotham would more likely be considered nerdy and boring than sporting. He was as promising and capable as his father even though he was never as popular or charismatic. Unlike his precocious father Uzziah who was the people’s choice by the time he was 16 (2 Chron 26:1), Jotham never received such accolade, but he exceeded all expectations. Jotham was as outstanding, even though he was never as outlandish, as his father. He did not have a magnetic personality but he sure had a magnificent record. Unlike the father, the son was not known for having a well-trained army (2 Chron 26:11), organizing his soldiers to fight by divisions (2 Chron 26:13) or amassing the latest weapons of war (2 Chron 26:15), but he went about doing his business and getting the job done.
Jotham’s low-key and down-to-earth attitude and approach were strengths, and not weaknesses. The incoming king was a rock, a tower and a beacon of a son. In fact, he had all his father’s strengths and never his father’s weaknesses. Given heaven for his courage, he still would never dare to trespass the temple (v 2), interfere in sacrifices and threaten the priests, which his father did. Jotham would never assume he had authority over all or was above the law just because he was king. He would never take advantage of his privilege, position or power. The newest king was ordinary but he was never average. Not only was he the type to deny himself special status, rights and concessions, he demanded and expected more of himself.
Jotham’s wisdom was astounding. He was astute, discerning and sensible. The king wisely determined in his heart not to repeat the mistake of his father. Never would he aspire to such grandiose, vain and ill thinking. He would never allow himself to be high on a pedestal and so out of range. Strange as it seems, Jotham got on better with less fanfare and fuss, with minimum pomp and pageantry, with fewer privileges and people involved. No hinge of scandal tailgated him, no skeleton was in his closet and no stain smeared his good name. Sure, he was not perfect because the people still worshipped idols (v 2), but he was not short of trying and was not proud of that. It goes to show no one can do everything.
Let Your Work Do the Talking
3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the LORD and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. 4 He built towns in the Judean hills and forts and towers in the wooded areas. 5 Jotham made war on the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years. (2 Chron 27:3-5)
There was once a rabbi in a small Jewish village in Russia who vanished every Friday morning for several hours. The devoted villagers boasted that during these hours their rabbi ascended to heaven to talk with God.
A skeptical newcomer arrived in town, determined to discover where the rabbi really went. One Friday morning the newcomer hid near the rabbi’s house, watched him rise, say his prayers and put on the clothes of a peasant. He saw him take an axe and go into the forest, chop down a tree and gather a large bundle of wood. Next the rabbi proceeded to a shack in the poorest section of the village in which there lived an old woman and her sick son. He left them the wood which was enough for the week. The rabbi then quietly returned to his own house.
The story concludes that the newcomer stayed in the village and became a disciple of the rabbi. And whenever he hears one of his fellow villagers say, “On Friday morning our rabbi ascends all the way to heaven,” the newcomer quietly adds, “If not higher.”
Nothing succeeds like selflessness.
Uzziah was one of the greatest kings in Judah’s history. No king was deemed “very powerful” as Jotham’s father was (2 Chron 26:8), but his greatness was always for himself and seldom for the people. Sometimes his greatness was for the wrong reason. Uzziah was unmatched in warfare, known for farming and gardening (2 Chron 26:10). With all the wealth (2 Chron 26:5), power and time on hand, reigning 52 years altogether (2 Chron 26:3), he never did anything directly or purposefully for God. He was not known for doing anything for the temple, too, except trespassing it. All he ever did for the temple was to make himself a nuisance, mess with sacrifices and make himself look good and the priests look bad.
One significant thing Jotham did for God was to rebuild the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord. Sure, Uzziah rebuilt towers and gates too (2 Chron 26:9), but only for an advantage in warfare. Uzziah rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines, but who wanted to live in fear among the Philistines? Jotham, on the other hand, built towns in the Judean hills (v 4) for the people to improve on the quality of their lives and erected forts and towers to provide them with security. Jotham’s heart was in the right place. He cared for his people’s safety and never gave them loaded incentives, tax credits and free housing to woo them to live in Philistine country.
However, don’t think for a moment Jotham was too nice, too innocent and sheltered for his own good. He was sensitive but not soft, a gentleman but not a geek, nice but not nerdy. Jotham could fight with the best of them, and he would to teach a lesson and to prove a point to adversaries. Unlike his father, he fought the old-fashioned way without machines and slingstones (2 Chron 26:15). His fighting skills, wise strategy and ruthless spirit were at full display upon those who crossed him. He did to the Ammonites (v 5) what his father did to the Philistines and the Arabs (2 Chron 26:7). Like his father, Jotham did damage, but only on the wicked and for the good. The new king was also as hardworking, as visionary and as driven as his father. He did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel (v 3).
Let Your Walk Do the Talking
6 Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God. 7 The other events in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, 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 in Jerusalem sixteen years. 9 Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king. (2 Chron 27:6-9)
At a church meeting a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”
The man finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him: “I dare you to do it again.” (James Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited)
The last thing we know about Jotham is that he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God. The Hebrew text has “he prepared his walk before the Lord his God.” The word “prepare” means establish, ascertain, fix, ready. The eight good kings of the southern Judah are introduced by the phrase “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” As readers by now know, the “good kings” category includes idolatrous Amaziah (2 Chron 25:20) and killer Joash (2 Chron 24:21) and faithful kings Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 20:32) and Jotham (2 Chron 27:1). Where is the dividing line between good kings who are below par, good kings who are average and good kings who are excellent? The commentary “prepared” marks a gold standard. The word is sometimes translated as “set”
So far this word is used to describe three kings’ direction and destiny. The first official Judah king Rehoboam did not prepare or set his heart to seek the Lord; so he was a bad king (2 Chron 12:14). God commended Jehoshaphat, my favorite king, for setting his heart on seeking God (2 Chron 19:3).
Jotham was up there with the best of the good kings. What separated him from the other excellent king – Jehoshaphat – was that Jehoshaphat set his heart on seeking God, but Jotham set his walk, or walked steadfastly, before the Lord his God. Jehoshaphat was concerned with getting his heart right with God, but Jotham was more concerned with getting his walk right. However, that does not mean Jotham has no personal relationship with God; he does. The Lord was his God (v 6).
Conclusion: A lot of people buy into the “throw caution to the wind” mentality and risk all they have for a moment of glory and in the name of fun. Some consider themselves daredevils, bold enough to try everything, but others consider them brave fools for not applying the brakes sooner. We should err on the side of caution, vigilance and watchfulness.
Are you progressing or digressing in your walk with God? Are you developing or deteriorating in your relationship with God? What talent and time have you offered in service to God?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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