17 May

Bible In 365 Days                                                                             

2 Chronicles 25-27

2 Chronicles 25

The story of the reign of Amaziah opens with a remarkable statement which gives us the key to all that follows. "He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart." The general aim of the man was right, but execution was spoiled by imperfection. Nothing is wholly satisfactory to God save the perfect heart, because nothing else can possibly produce the best in man. Amaziah's punishment of his father's murders was tempered with justice. The imperfection of his heart appeared in his alliance with Israel; and then again his right desire in the readiness with which he obeyed the voice of the prophet and broke the alliance even at cost to himself.

Returning from his conquest over the Edomites, he brought back with him the gods of his defeated foes. Again the prophet visited him, and the unutterable folly of such action is declared in the question, "Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of thine hand?" Punishment for this followed in the defeat of Judah by Israel.

The root idea of the Hebrew word translated "perfect" is being whole, complete. Imperfection of heart consists in incomplete surrender. Some chamber of the temple is retained for selfish purposes. What it was in the case of Amaziah we are not told, but the fact remains, that notwithstanding the general direction of his life, either through personal indulgence, or ambition, or carelessness, the whole heart was not set on doing the will of God. One room possessed by the foe inside the fortress is ever the gravest peril. Sooner or later, almost inevitably, the man in that room opens the door for foes without. Thus it was in the case of Amaziah, and thus it is in the case of all who are not wholly devoted.

2 Chronicles 26

The story of Uzziah's long reign of fifty-two years is most interesting and remarkable. He was a man of strong character, and the early part of his occupancy of the throne was characterized by true prosperity. He was at once victorious in his campaigns against the enemies of the people, and remarkably successful in his internal development of the resources of the nation. A man of war, and a lover of husbandry, he was an ideal ruler. During these early years he went quietly forward in dependence on God.

There came a break, and the story of it is told by the chronicler in the words, "He was marvelously helped till he was strong." How consistently in the pages of history we are taught the perils of prosperity. Man depending upon God is ever independent of all else. In the moment when the heart begins to feel independent of God in its own strength, the strength fails; and unless there be repentance ruin is inevitable. The last years of the reign, so glorious in its beginnings, were years of suffering and sadness. In an evil moment of pride Uzziah entered into the sacred courts, and violated the ordinances of God concerning the offering of sacrifices. He was smitten with leprosy, and lived for the last part of his life a prisoner, isolated from his fellow men.

2 Chronicles 27

Uzziah was succeeded by Jotham. We have very few details of his reign. In all probability the sixteen years referred to by the chronicler cover a period in which he was exercising authority while his father, Uzziah, was still alive though excluded from the kingly office on account of his leprosy. Jotham continued the work of his father in strengthening the kingdom internally by building, and he was successful in a campaign against the Ammonites.

While there was no definite national reform during his reign, he seems to have gone quietly forward along true lines, and his strength is attributed to the fact that he ordered his ways before Jehovah his God. Perhaps three things helped this man. First, he reigned during the early period in which Isaiah was exercising his prophetic ministry. Second, his mother was almost certainly the daughter of Zadok, the priest. Third, he profited by his father's example  - both good and bad, following the good and shunning the evil. All good influences are to be valued, but the ultimate note is always personal. "He ordered his ways." If a man will do this, then he will ever profit by all the influences brought to bear on him, distinguishing between good and evil, and choosing according to the will of God.