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.
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.
As with most of the kings, he engaged in extensive building works. But in none of these cases except for Solomon is it said that he used ‘strangers’ as slave labor. The building of fortifications was quite probably the work of soldiers.
So, he built, or repaired, the Upper Gate of the House of YHWH, and did building work on the wall of Ophel. Ophel probably indicated the spur of land on which the City of David was located. He thus fortified its wall. As well as this he fortified cities in the hill-country of Judah and built castles and towers in the forests. Large parts of the land were covered by forests. These castles and towers would be for defensive purposes. He was continuing the work of his father.
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.
The Ammonites had been brought under tribute by Uzziah (26.8), and Jotham now continued that situation by force of arms. Possibly the death or retirement of Uzziah had caused them to rebel. Moab appears to have been dormant at this time. But the situation only continued for three years. It may well have been the resurgence of Israel and Aram (Syria) that brought it to an end, for 2 Kings 15.37 tells us that ‘in those days YHWH began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah’, who was king of Israel. But there is no suggestion that they invaded Judah itself at this stage.
6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.
We are now told why Jotham became mighty. It was because he ordered his ways before YHWH His God. In other words, he lived and reigned by the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 17.18-20), keeping it in his heart because of his personal devotion for YHWH.
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.
The section ends with a note as too where more information could be obtained. It was obtainable from the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, a regular source for such information. This was probably the official court record which was constantly maintained.
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.
Jotham died, and was buried in the city of David, although surprisingly there is no mention of him as being buried in the sepulchers of the kings. It may be that he chose to be buried near his father. Jotham the good model was followed on the throne by his son Ahaz, who, as we shall see in our next study, was the very opposite.
