2 Kings 15 begins with a brief record of King Azariah’s reign. He was a good king, as his father, but as his father, he did not remove the high places from Judah. We are told this time after time in the record of the good kings of Judah, which is an important reminder for us that being a true follower of the living God requires a complete transformation from the old ways, the pagan ways, the worldly ways of our past. That does not mean we remove ourselves from the world, but that we remove the world from ourselves. Jesus told us we are to be in the world, but not of it. King Azariah and other “good” kings followed the LORD for the most part, but they didn’t remove the stumbling block of the high places from Judah. In those high places, people worshiped pagan gods, or celestial bodies, or nature. Until those high places were removed, the temptation to sin in those ways would always be present. Later in King Azariah’s reign he developed leprosy. That meant he had to isolate himself from others, so his son, Jotham, moved into the royal palace and ran the government in his father’s place.
Zechariah, the fourth son of Jeroboam II, became king in Israel, while King Azariah ruled in Judah. He ruled for only six months and Shallum overthrew him. Zechariah was did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD as all the kings of Israel before him. Shallum’s reign was even shorter, lasting only one month. He was overthrown by Manahem. Menahem’s rule lasted ten years, but the only deed of significance recorded about him is he paid tribute to the King of Assyria to keep them from attacking Israel. Pekahiah followed Menahem’s inauspicious reign, but reigned only two years. He was another wicked king in the LORD’s eyes (which are the only eyes that matter!) and he was overthrown by Pekah. Pekah reigned in Israel for twenty years, and during that time many of the people of Israel were carried off by the Assyrians. After his wicked reign, he was assassinated, which had become the way of transitioning kings in Israel, after the reigns of Jeroboam II and his descendants. Hoshea became king in his place.
Chapter 15 closes out with a record of King Jotham of Judah. He served Judah for sixteen years and did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, except he didn’t remove the high places. He was followed on the throne, by his son, Ahaz.
2 Kings 16 starts with the reign of King Ahaz. He reigned in Judah for sixteen years, and he followed the ways of the kings of Israel. In fact, during his reign he turned to Assyria for aid against Israel and Syria. When the Assyrians helped him, Ahaz went to Damascus and saw an altar there built to worship the Assyrian gods. He had a model of it made in Judah, and had the king’s sacrifices offered on it instead of on the altar of the LORD. This perversion of worship was a great affront to the LORD. Following Ahaz’s reign, his son Hezekiah became king.
2 Kings 17 starts with the record of Hoshea’s nine-year reign in Israel. Of course, he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, but he was not as evil as the kings of Israel before him. Hoshea became a vassal of Assyria, but in the sixth year of his reign he stopped paying tribute and attempted to get Egypt to come to Israel’s aid. This proved to be a fatal error, as the King of Assyrian laid siege against Israel, and after three years Israel fell. The Assyrians carried the Israelites off into exile and resettled the cities of Israel with people from other captured lands. the remainder of the chapter is devoted to pointing out why Israel fell: because they turned away from the LORD from the beginning, and didn’t obey His commands. The record includes commentary about how the people who resettled the land were attacked by lions, because they didn’t worship the LORD the God of Israel. Priests were brought in to show them how to worship the LORD, so the people worship the LORD and the gods of their native lands. This became the practice of the people. They worshiped the LORD, but also the gods of whatever land was their home. So often this is still the case today. People are willing to serve the LORD, but also to worship the “gods” of their own land, whether their are actual idols, or ideas, or materialistic pursuits. That path never works, because as we have learned in our months of study of the Old Testament, the LORD is a jealous God, and He will not share His worship with other gods.
As we turn to Matthew 10, we find it devoted to the fulfillment of what Jesus called the disciples to pray about at the end of chapter nine. He had called them to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest. In chapter 10, Jesus calls the twelve disciples, and sets them apart to go into Israel and preach, teach, heal and cast out demons. They are the workers Jesus called them to ask the Lord of the harvest to send! Jesus gives them many instructions, and much guidance. The key is to trust in the LORD regardless of the challenge or hardship. He will provide whatever is needed whether it be a place to stay, or food, or words to say to governing authorities. The worker is to be reliant on the sender. That is still our calling today. Jesus had already told the disciples to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things would be added to them. Now, they were to put that command to the test in extremely practical terms. Jesus reminded them that following Him would mean a daily denial of themselves, and a willingness to take up their crosses and follow Him. Jesus never sugar coated the reality that following Him costs us a great deal in this life, and can even cost us our lives, but the reward is well worth the cost.