Spiritual Lessons from the Kings of
Judah
Jack Rendel
From time to time
God raised up kings who brought a measure of revival to his people,
kings like Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah and Josiah. If you are
made a leader, make efforts to bring revival and renewal to your people.
Organize retreats, conferences, training sessions, prayer days, camps
and other activities to which special speakers are invited and in which
there are times of worship, prayer and fellowship. Lead the people back
to the Lord. God’s people need refreshment in spirit, mind and body.
I.
First Period
A. Solomon
1:1-9:31 –
Blessing: He asked for
wisdom to govern and he built the temple. Remember to go to God for
wisdom. Remember the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Build
God’s house and remember that the physical building is only a shadow
of God’s real house which are the people he has called to himself.
Problem: He mistreated the people. Beware of harsh treatment of your
church or ministry team. It will happen if you abandon the Lord.
Compare the harshness of 10:4 with the happiness of 9:5-8.
1.
He worshipped and asked for wisdom, and prospered
greatly. 1:1-17
2.
He built the temple and a royal palace. 2:1-5:14
3.
He dedicated the temple. 6:1-7:11
4.
God made a covenant with him. 7:12-22
5.
The glory of his kingdom. 8:1-18
6.
He was a testimony to the Queen of Sheba. 9:1-12
7.
More details on the glory of his kingdom. 9:13-28
8.
Solomon died. 9:29-31
B.
Rehoboam
10:1-12:16
1.
His kingdom was divided. He took the counsel of his young
friends promising to treat Israel more harshly than his father
Solomon had treated Israel, so Israel rebelled. 10:1-11:23
2.
He abandoned the Lord and Shishak invaded Judah. (His
kingdom was reduced in quality from gold to bronze, represented
by the shields he lost to Shishak.) 12:1-11
3.
He humbled himself and the Lord caused things to go well
in Judah, but in general he did not seek the Lord. 12:12-14
C.
Abijah 13:1-14:1a
1.
He won a battle against Jeroboam because he cried out to
the Lord. 13:1-20
2.
Jeroboam died and Abijah became stronger. 13:21-14:1
D.
Asa 14:1b-16:14
1.
He did right and prospered. 14:1b-8
2.
He won a great battle against the Ethiopian Zerah, who
came against him with a 1,000,000 strong army, because he
depended on the Lord. 14:9-15:7
3.
He made a covenant with the Lord. 15:8-19
4.
Later he made a covenant with Ben-Hadad of Syria y
Jehovah rebuked him through Shemaiah. 16:1-9
5.
Asa became angry with the prophet and mistreated some of
the people. 16:10
6.
He became sick in his feet but he did not pray to the
Lord but only consulted the doctors. 16:11-14
II.
Second Period
A.
Jehoshaphat 17:1-21:1 –
Blessing: He taught Judah the Law of God through the priests.
Remember to teach your people God’s Word. Base your judgments and
rule of life on the Word of God. Use the people most prepared and
dedicated to that job to do it.
Problem: He intermarried with wicked king Ahab of Israel.
Be careful who you marry. They can undo all you have done through
learning and obeying God’s Word. They can destroy you as they almost
destroyed the line of the kings of Judah.
1.
He became strong and sought the Lord, not according to
the evil deeds of Israel. 17:1-6
2.
He taught the Law throughout the cities of Judah. 17:7-9
3.
The nations feared him and brought him presents. 17:10-13
4.
He had soldiers and brave fighters. 17:13b-19
5.
He had wealth and glory and intermarried with Ahab. 18:1
6.
He went to war with Ahab and Ahab died in battle. 18:2-34
7.
He was rebuked and encouraged by the prophet Jehu. 19:1-3
8.
He established a judicial system. 19:4-11
9.
He won a victory over Moab, Ammon and the Meunites.
20:1-30
10.
His merchant navy project with Ahaziah failed. 20:31-21:1
B.
Jehoram 21:2-20
1.
He killed his brothers and followed the sins of Israel
because he had married a daughter of Ahab. 21:1-7
2.
He fought against Edom y Libna. 21:8-10
3.
He fell sick of the intestines. 21:11-15
4.
The Philistines, Arabs and Ethiopians carried off all his
sons except one. 21:16, 17
5.
He died in great pain and unloved. 21:18-20
C.
Ahaziah (Athaliah) 22:1-9 (10-12) –
1.
Ahaziah became king because his brothers were killed by
raiders. 22:1, 2
2.
He learned evil from his mother a daughter of Omri and he
joined Jehoram, son of Ahab in battle. 22:3-6
3.
Ahaziah died at the hands of Jehu and the throne was left
empty. 22:7-9
4.
Athaliah, daughter of Omri, destroyed all the descendants
of the royal house of Judah. 22:10
5.
Joash, the only one to escape, was hidden by Jehoshabeth
in the house of God for 6 years. 22:11, 12
III.
Third Period
A.
Joash
23:1-24:27 –
Blessing: He collected funds to restore the house of
God, the temple. We should not be ashamed to tell God’s people to
give for the building of God’s house. Paul makes a point that those
who preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
1 Corinthians 9:13 and 14. 13 Know ye not that they
that minister about sacred things eat of the things of the temple,
and they that wait upon the altar have their portion with the altar?
14 Even so did the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel
should live of the gospel. As workers are
sent out to build God’s house around the world they will need funds
for that building. I began to give at 15 years of age as I was
challenged to give to ministry of the church in the whole world.
Problem: He persecuted the priests.
As leaders we must try to cooperate with our fellow workers and
leaders in God’s work. We may even be put along side someone who is
very difficult to work with. If we fail to work with them then we
will learn from the failure. If we are successful that will be
wonderful. Crisis in our leadership in Madrid in 1968.
1.
Joash had been saved from assassination by the high
priest, Jehoiada, and his wife Jehoshabeth. 23:1-24:1
2.
Joash restored the house of God by collecting funds, and
the officials and people gave gladly. 24:2-14
3.
Joash abandoned the house of God influenced by the
officials of Judah. 24:15-19 At first Joash was influenced to
do good by Jehoiada the priest, but later after his death he
allowed himself to be influenced by the officials of Judah to do
evil by abandoning the Lord and worshipping idols.
4.
Zechariah, the priest, was stoned for having rebuked the
king for abandoning the Lord. 24:20-22
5.
Syria attacked and killed the magistrates of Judah.
24:23-25a It seems that the Lord in his timing brought revenge
on the officials of Judah.
6.
Two of his servants killed Joash in his bed. 24:25b-27
B.
Amaziah 25:1-28
1.
He did right and avenged the death of his father. 25:1-4
2.
He obeyed God by sending away the mercenary soldiers of
Israel. 25:5-10 He was concerned about losing the payment to the
mercenaries of Israel. However, the Lord told him not to worry
about that money for he could give him much more than that
amount. V.9.
3.
He defeated Edom in battle but brought home their gods
and abandoned the Lord. 25:14-16
4.
Joash, the king of Israel, attacked Judah and carried off
much plunder but allowed Amaziah to live. 25:17-24
5.
From the time he abandoned the Lord they conspired
against him and killed him. 25:25-28
C.
Uzziah 26:1-23
1.
He sought God in the days of Zechariah and prospered over
his enemies, building towers, digging wells, farming, building
machines of war and thus increasing his fame. 26:1-15
2.
But then he became proud, thereby corrupting himself.
26:16
3.
He offered incense in the temple; the priests objected;
he became a leper; lived apart; and his son reigned in his
place. 26:16-23
D.
Jotham 27:1-9
1.
He followed the Lord becoming powerful and conquered
Ammon. 27:1-9
E.
Ahaz 28:1-27
1.
He did not do right; walking in the sins of Israel, and
making his son pass through the fire. 28:1-4
2.
The Lord handed him over to Syria and Israel. 28:5-15
3.
He asked for the help of Assyria, and robbed the house of
God and of the governors to pay tribute, but Tiglath-pileser did
not help him. 28:16-21
4.
He persisted in his unfaithfulness even in his affliction
and worshipped the gods of Damascus. He destroyed the vessels of
the house of God and closed its doors. 28:22-25
5.
He was not buried with the kings. 28:26, 27
IV.
Fourth Period
A.
Hezekiah
29:1-32:33 –
Blessing: He reestablished the priests and Levites and
the service of the temple and kept the Passover. The priests had
been persecuted during the former reigns. They needed to be
encouraged and rebuilt. Hezekiah took the initiative to build up the
priesthood once again. We need to know how to build up fellow
leaders who have been crushed. A fellow leader in Spain went through
a very difficult time as he led the team but I did not know how to
encourage and help and build him up.
Problem: He became too friendly
with foreign kings, especially the Babylonians.
We must understand
the difference between encouraging fellow leaders and getting overly
friendly with worldly powers. It is one thing to help fellow
Christian leaders but it is another to be intimate and over friendly with
political leaders.
1.
He did right as David did. 29:1, 2
2.
He repaired the house of God and encouraged and
reestablished the priests. 29:3-11
3.
He cleansed the house of God. 29:12-17
4.
They offered sacrifices for the sins of Israel. 29:18-24
5.
They worshipped God in song. 29:25-30
6.
They reestablished the service of the house of God.
29:31-36
7.
He celebrated the Passover. 30:1-31:1
8.
He reorganized the priests and Levites. 31:2-21
9.
Hezekiah prepared for the invasion of Sennacherib. 32:1-8
10.
He prayed to God and God destroyed the army of Assyria.
32:9-23
11.
He recovered from a disease and became proud and God
humbled him. He became rich but failed in the case of the
Babylonians, showing them all he had. 32:24-33
B.
Manasseh 33:1-20
1.
He did evil. 3 3:1-10
2.
He became a prisoner in Babylon, but as a prisoner he
repented and was returned to his throne. 33:11-13 As a leader it
is not too late to repent of much evil, even if you have done
many things wrong and gone far from the Lord, even suffering
many things. Look at how Manasseh returned to the Lord! He went
from one extreme to the other. Paul, the apostle, who once
persecuted the church, changed and became the one who planted
churches everywhere even in the face of persecution. Manasseh’s
imprisonment in Babylon was also a foretaste of what would
happen to the whole nation but ultimately they did not heed the
warning.
C.
Amon 33:21-25
1.
He did evil committing idolatry. 33:21, 22
2.
He never repented and added to his sins. 33:23
3.
His servants killed him and then the people killed the
assassins. 33:24, 25
V.
Fifth Period
A.
Josiah
34:1-36:1 –
Blessing: As he repaired the temple he rediscovered a
copy of the book of the Law in the temple, which led to his making a
covenant with God. It seems the Book of the Law was lost for a time
to Israel and its king. The Law said the king was to make his own
copy of it in order to meditate on it and keep it. In Manasseh’s as
well as Amon’s reigns the kings went so far from God that God’s book
was lost to them and the nation. But when they found God’s book
Josiah was shocked into returning to him and obeying him. He humbled
himself before the Lord.
Problem: He refused to listen to the voice
of God through the king of Egypt, Pharaoh Neco. God’s Word and even
a pagan king’s word can coincide so be sensitive to that reality.
Remember that later God would move Cyrus, a pagan idolatrous king,
to decree the rebuilding of God’s temple in Jerusalem. The Lord can
give wisdom to temporal authorities so weigh their words carefully.
1.
He sought God and cleansed the land. 34:1-7
2.
He repaired the house of God. 34:8-13
3.
They found the book of the Law of God in the temple.
34:14-28
4.
They made a covenant inspired by the Law. 34:29-33
5.
They held the greatest celebration of the Passover since
Samuel. 35:1-19
6.
He attacked Neco, king of Egypt, against the word of God
in the mouth of Neco, and was defeated. 35:20-36:1
B.
Jehoahaz 36:2-4
1.
He reigned 3 months. The king of Egypt took him to Egypt
and put his brother Eliakim, on the throne, and changed his name
to Jehoiakim. 36:2-4
C.
Jehoiakim (Eliakim, brother of
Jehoahaz) 36:5-8
1.
He reigned 11 years. He did evil.
2.
Nebuchadnezzar attacked and bound him in bronze shackles
to take him to Babylon.
3.
Nebuchadnezzar also took vessels from the temple and put
them in his temple.
D.
Jehoiachin (Son of Jehoiakim) 36:9, 10
1.
He reigned 3 months and 10 days. He did evil and
Nebuchadnezzar carried him to Babylon along with the precious
vessels of the house of God. He put Zedekiah, his uncle, on the
throne. 36:9, 10
E.
Zedekiah (Brother of Jehoiakim)
36:11-21
1.
Zedekiah reigned 11 years. He did evil; he did not humble
himself before Jeremiah; he broke his oath to Nebuchadnezzar;
and he did not return to the Lord 36:11-13
2.
The priests and the people multiplied their
unfaithfulness contaminating the house of God. 36:14
3.
God had mercy on his people and his dwelling place
sending the prophets to them. 36:15, 16
4.
The Babylonians killed their young people; destroyed the
temple; and carried off the vessels of the house of God, the
king and the magistrates; they destroyed the walls and the
houses; and the survivors were carted off to Babylon as slaves.
36:17-20
5.
The land was able to take its lawful rest for 70 years.
36:21
VI.
Cyrus (King of Persia) 36:22, 23 –
1.
Cyrus made a proclamation inviting the Jews to return to
Jerusalem and rebuild the house of God. God uses unbelievers to
do his will.
2.
The temple was rebuilt but the palace was not rebuilt.
3.
If you build your own little kingdom and neglect God’s
kingdom you will suffer. Matthew 6:33 says, Seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things (basic
material needs) will be given to you as well.
4.
Even when men continue to destroy God’s house as they did
when they killed Jesus, God raised him up, and God continues to
build his house today.
5.
After all, when God brought Israel out of Egypt one of
the first things he did was give them instructions on building
his house, the tabernacle.
©Copyright
2003-2046 John (Jack) W Rendel. All rights reserved.
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