What good is having the word of God without faithfulness to God? Most of Israel and Judah’s kings were evil. Even the good kings had huge weaknesses. What happens to nations when their leaders go astray? First and second Kings contain the history of a few good national leaders among many bad.
Key Points
Solomon
How did the wisest man who ever lived become an apostate? Is faithfulness better than wisdom? Imagine the loneliness of his wives! What kind of utter selfishness makes a man have a thousand wives?
The Lord did not want the Israelites to worship foreign gods, so he had warned them not to marry anyone who was not from Israel. Solomon loved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. But he also loved some women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and others from Sidon and the land of the Hittites. Seven hundred of his wives were daughters of kings, but he also married 300 other women. As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshiped only the Lord God. Solomon also worshiped Astarte the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon. Solomon's father had obeyed the Lord with all his heart, but Solomon disobeyed and did what the Lord hated. (1 KIngs 11:2-6 CEV)
Israel
What happened to the northern kingdom of Israel?
When Israel broke away from David’s dynasty, they made Nebat’s son Jeroboam the king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from the Lord. He caused them to commit great sin. And the Israelites continued walking in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They didn’t deviate from them, and the Lord finally removed Israel from his presence. That was exactly what he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from its land to Assyria... (2 Kings 17:21-23 CEB)
Judah
What happened to the southern kingdom of Judah?
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. (2 Kings 25:8-11 ESV)
Good Kings of Judah
Judah had a few good kings. Israel had none who were good. Let’s take a look at the good kings of the southern kingdom of Judah.
Asa
Asa was not perfect, but did he do some things right?
Asa did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, as his ancestor David had done. He banished the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all of the idols that his fathers had made. He also removed his grandmother Maacah from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa chopped down her obscene image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. The high places were not taken away; but Asa’s heart was completely devoted to the Lord his entire life. (1 Kings 15:11-14 HCSB)
Jehoshaphat
Did Jehoshaphat do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, although incompletely?
Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places. (1 KIngs 22:42-43 KJV)
Jehoash
Was Jehoash of Judah, mostly a good king?
In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all his days that Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Only the high places did not end; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. (2 Kings 12:1-3 NASB)
Amaziah
Did Amaziah mostly do what was right in God’s eyes?
…Amaziah… did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. (2 Kings 14:1-4 NIV)
Azariah (Uzziah)
Did Azariah mostly do well?
He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done, except that the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. (2 Kings 15:2-4 NKJV)
Jotham
Was Jotham basically a good king?
Jotham son of Uzziah began to rule over Judah in the second year of King Pekah’s reign in Israel. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. Jotham did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. He did everything his father, Uzziah, had done. But he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there. He rebuilt the upper gate of the Temple of the Lord. (2 Kings 15:32-35 NLT)
Hezekiah
Hezekiah made a lot of unwise decisions. However, he repented. Did God hear his prayers?
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you. (2 Kings 19:20 WEB)
Josiah
Was Josiah righteous like David?
Josiah was 8 years old when he became king, and he ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah; she was Adaiah’s daughter and was from Bozkath. He did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, and walked in the ways of his ancestor David—not deviating from it even a bit to the right or left. (2 Kings 22:1-2 CEB)
The kings of Israel and Judah point out the failures of human leadership. Not one of the 19 northern kings of Israel looked to God, but 8 of the 20 southern kings of Judah did, and God was merciful on their glaring weaknesses. Does the church also have very imperfect leadership? To whom do we look, faulty men or God? You decide!
