Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Kings 14:29

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 1 Kings 14:29. Jeroboam slept with his fathers — He died a natural death; and was regularly succeeded by his son Zachariah, who, reigning badly, was, after six months, slain by Shallum, who succeeded him, and reigned but one month, being slain by Menahem, who succeeded him, and reigned ten years over Israel. Amos the prophet lived in the reign of Jeroboam; and was accused by Amaziah, one of the idolatrous priests of Beth-el, of having predicted the death of Jeroboam by the sword, but this was a slander: what he did predict, and which came afterwards to pass, may be seen Amos 7:10-17. The interregnum referred to in the margin cannot be accounted for in a satisfactory manner.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

An era of prosperity (14:23-15:7)

During the long reigns of Jeroboam II in the north and Azariah (or Uzziah) in the south, Israel and Judah experienced political stability and economic development such as they had not known since the days of David and Solomon. This was possible partly because political conditions in the region were favourable to Israel and Judah.
Syria had been used by God to punish Israel for its sins in following Baal. With the death of Hazael, Syrian power declined and Israel regained lost territory (see 13:24-25). Events further favoured Israel when Assyria, the rising power in the region, became involved with enemies to its north and for forty years did not bother Israel and Judah.

Under these conditions Jeroboam II expanded his kingdom from Hamath in the north to the Dead Sea in the south, as foretold by the prophet Jonah. This gave him control over many trade routes, which further helped Israel’s economy. But religiously he was a failure, and the evils of his reign were condemned by the prophets Amos and Hosea (23-29; cf. Amos 1:1; Amos 7:10-11; Hosea 1:1; Hosea 7:1-3).

Azariah (or Uzziah) in Judah began his reign well, mainly because of the godly instruction that he received from his teacher Zechariah (15:1-3; 2 Chronicles 26:1-5). He spread his rule west to the Mediterranean Sea, east over Ammonite territory, and south as far as the Red Sea and Egypt. This gave him control over important land and sea trade routes (see 14:22; 2 Chronicles 26:6-8). He fortified the capital city Jerusalem, improved agricultural and pastoral conditions in every region of the country, built up the armed forces and equipped his troops with the most modern weapons (2 Chronicles 26:9-15). His big mistake was to think that he could become religious head of the nation as well. God punished him with leprosy, and his son Jotham acted as joint ruler till Uzziah’s death (4-7; 2 Chronicles 26:16-23).

Jonah and the Assyrians

Israel’s prosperity during the era produced within many Israelites, even the prophet Jonah, a selfish, nationalistic spirit. Jonah had already successfully predicted Jeroboam II’s victories over a number of enemies (see 14:25), and no doubt he would have liked to see the downfall of Assyria. The capital of Assyria, Nineveh, was already threatened by an enemy from the north. But God told Jonah to go and warn Nineveh of the coming attack, and urge the people to repent of their sins so that they might avoid destruction (Jonah 3:4-5,Jonah 3:10).

At first Jonah refused to go, for he preferred to see Nineveh overthrown. He had to learn that God was the controller of all nations, and he would have mercy on any who turned from their sins, regardless of nationality. This was of particular importance in the case of the Assyrians, for God was preserving them to be his instrument to punish Israel.

The fiery preaching of Amos

Two hundred years earlier, in the time of Solomon, a distinct merchant class had begun to appear in Israel (see notes on 1 Kings 9:26-29). During the time of Jeroboam II and Uzziah (the eighth century BC), the merchants grew into a powerful group. Society was no longer built around the simple agricultural life. As commerce and trade developed, so did city life. This brought with it greed and oppression, as the upper classes exploited the poorer classes. Bribery was widespread, the courts were corrupt, and the poor were left with no way of obtaining justice.

Amos was the first of several prophets to speak out against these evils. He was a shepherd-farmer who knew how the poor suffered, because he himself had to deal with ruthless merchants and corrupt officials in selling his produce. In his fiery preaching he condemned the greed and luxury of the rich. He knew they had gained their wealth by cheating and injustice (Amos 2:6-7; Amos 3:10,Amos 3:15; Amos 6:4-6; Amos 8:4-6). They still carried out their religious exercises, but these were worthless in God’s sight as long as the worshippers persisted in wrongdoing (Amos 5:21-24; Amos 8:10).

Most of Amos’s attacks were directed against the northern kingdom (Amos 2:6; Amos 4:1; Amos 6:1; Amos 7:10). The people, it seems, took little notice. Amos clearly saw what Israel’s upper classes failed to see, namely, that the nation was heading for a terrible judgment from God (Amos 3:12; Amos 6:14; Amos 7:11).

Hosea’s experiences

Despite Amos’s accusations and warnings, social conditions in Israel worsened. This is seen from the writings of Hosea, who began to preach late in the reigns of Jeroboam II and Uzziah, and continued through the reigns of succeeding kings (Hosea 1:1). Like Amos, Hosea was concerned chiefly with Israel, though he referred also to Judah.

Hosea saw that Israel’s society was corrupt because its religion was corrupt. The priests were as bad as the merchants and officials. Baal worship, complete with its fertility rites and prostitution, was widely practised. Israel did not know the character of Yahweh (Hosea 4:1-6,17-19; 5:4,15; 6:6-10; 7:2-4; 9:15; 13:16; cf. Amos 2:7-8).

Since Israel’s covenant bond with Yahweh was likened to the marriage bond, Israel’s association with other gods was really spiritual adultery. Hosea began to understand what this meant to God when his own wife left him for other lovers. But her pleasures did not last and she was sold as a slave. All this time Hosea remained faithful to his marriage covenant, and when he found his wife a slave, he bought her back. It was a picture of the covenant love of God for his unfaithful people. They too would go into captivity, but after cleansing from the filth of their adulterous association with the Canaanite gods, God would bring them back to live in their land again (Hosea 2:5-10; Hosea 3:1-5).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

A SUMMARY OF THE EVIL REIGN OF JEROBOAM

“Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his stead.”

This formula, repeated over and over in the records of the kings of God’s people, is an effective comment upon the worthlessness of human achievements unless they are accompanied by a moral and worshipful heart. In the last analysis, what difference does it make if a man succeeds greatly in the eyes of his contemporaries but utterly fails in the sight of God?

In a sense, Jeroboam was the last chance that Israel had to straighten up their lives, reject their sinful worship of the Canaanite idols, and to get right with God. Zechariah who succeeded Jeroboam was a weak ruler, and with him the phantom reigns of the kings of Israel began. God had promised that the dynasty of Jeroboam I would last four generations. It terminated in Zechariah the fourth generation whose reign lasted six months!

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 14

Now we're coming again to Amaziah who became the king in Israel at the death of his father, who was assassinated at the end of chapter twelve.

Now in the second year that Joash the son of Jehoahaz was the king of Israel Amaziah whose father's name was also Joash the king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, he reigned for twenty-nine years. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not as much as David his father: he did according to all of the things as Joash his father did ( 2 Kings 14:1-3 ).

Now notice "not as much as David his father." David wasn't his father directly but was a great great great great great great great great grandfather. But in the Bible they don't always signify the great great great greats. I only point this out here because there are certain people who fancy that the Bible has errors in it. And when you get to the book of Daniel, a book that the critics especially like to attack because it's such a totally damaging book for those that don't believe that God was able to speak to men, for the prophecies of Daniel are so accurate and so intricate that the only way the Bible critics could do anything to destroy Daniel was to say that Daniel didn't write it. It was written by some fellow some three hundred, two hundred, three hundred years later, who put Daniel's name to it. A very devout young man who wrote this fanciful story after the history happened, and he was really just recording history, but then he put Daniel's name on it to look like Daniel have written it. But it was actually, they say, written after the fact.

Well, the fellow was very clever, because he deceived Jesus in the thing. Because Jesus refers to the prophecy of Daniel. "And when you see the desolation, the abomination of desolation that was spoken by Daniel the prophet" ( Matthew 24:15 ). So these Bible critics are actually putting themselves up as smarter than Jesus. But I'm not surprised. That's why I have said I have very little respect for these supposed theological seminaries and brilliant men who have done their best to take away from the work of God in the Scriptures.

But in one of the things that they find fault with in Daniel is that it talks about Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar. When in reality Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. And so the Bible critics say, "You see, it calls Belshazzar the son of Nebuchadnezzar and he wasn't really." Nabopolassar was the son, and of course, now he was the grandson. And so the fact it refers to him as the son of Nebuchadnezzar, they try to use that.

But here the Bible refers to him as the son of David. And because it, the Bible doesn't have the term, the Hebrew didn't have the term grandson or great grandson, it was just the son and as far as my descendants go down the line, they refer back to me as the father. So the Bible is true and these brilliant men are liars.

The Bible says, "Let God be true, and every man a liar" ( Romans 3:4 ). So I'm only quoting the scripture. Worldly wisdom is so worthless when it comes to the Word of God. I would rather listen to a Spirit-filled man who didn't know Greek from hen scratches expound the truth of God's Word than I would some Ph.D. who knew all the original languages, but wasn't born again. For I would learn much more true spiritual truth from the uneducated man than I would the professor. "For the natural mind cannot understand the things of the Spirit; neither can it know them, for they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual understands all things, though he is not understood" ( 1 Corinthians 2:14 , 1 Corinthians 2:15 ). So I care not for the doctorates of man. Honored or earned, they mean nothing to me. I care for the work of the Spirit and the understanding of the Spirit in opening up the Scriptures to our hearts and to our minds.

So in the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign. But he did not come up to the spiritual, though he did good, not as good as his father David.

However he still did not remove the high places of worship: and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on those high places. Now it came to pass, as soon as he had confirmed the kingdom ( 2 Kings 14:4-5 ),

His father, you remember, was assassinated by his servants. He then, in turn, executed the servants who had assassinated his father. And then he went down against the Edomites, and there by the Dead Sea in the valley of salt, he killed ten thousand of the Edomites and he took the rock city of Petra. Now he is feeling pretty strong, pretty powerful.

So Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz who was the son of Jehu, who was the king over Israel, and he said, Come, let's face off with each other. And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah and he said, [Look,] the thistle that was in Lebanon said to the cedar, Give to me your daughter for my son as his wife: and there passed by a wild beast and trampled down the thistle. Now you have indeed smitten the Edomites, why don't you just sit at home and be happy and glory in the victory you have, for why should you meddle to your own hurt? However, Amaziah would not hear of it. Therefore Jehoash the king of Israel came against him, they met in battle at Bethshemesh, which belongs to Judah ( 2 Kings 14:8-11 ).

So this is not the Bethshemesh up near mount Gilboa.

And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents. And Jehoash the king of Israel took Amaziah the king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, and they came to Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits ( 2 Kings 14:12-13 ).

Or about six hundred feet of the wall.

He took all of the gold and the silver, and all of the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and the hostages, and he returned to Samaria. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, [again we are told they are written in the chronicles of the kings of Israel] ( 2 Kings 14:14-15 ).

This meddling to your own hurt, it's something that people quite often do. There are things that you have no business meddling with. You can only get hurt if you do. There are places that as a Christian you have no business meddling around. And if you do, you're only going to get hurt. It is a very reasonable question, "Why should you meddle to your own hurt?" Don't meddle around with anything that can bring you into a snare, into a trap.

I wrote a paper in a philosophy class one time on the Christian ethic for our philosophy teacher. We were studying Orange Coast College in a philosophy class, and they wanted us to do a paper on the ethics. And so, I chose to do one on Christian ethics. And I took the same as of Paul the apostle in Corinthians, seeking to show that the Christian ethic is the broadest ethic of any philosophy. Broader than any philosophical ethic. For Paul in his Corinthian epistle said, "All things are lawful for me." Now you can't get a broader ethic than that. I can do anything. And I pointed out how that so many people look to Christianity as a very binding, restricting kind of a thing, but in reality, the true Christian ethic is so broad. "All things are lawful for me but," Paul said, "all things are not expedient" ( 1 Corinthians 6:12 ). Now the idea of expediency, you see, as a Christian "I'm pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God" ( Philippians 3:14 ). I'm in a race. I'm in a race to win. I'm pressing towards my goal. Now there are things that can impede my progress towards my goal. But I'm so interested in achieving my goal; I'm not going to get involved with things that could impede my progress. So it may be lawful for me. It wouldn't send me to hell. It wouldn't destroy me for doing it, but it would hinder me in my progress towards my goal. So though I could do it, I don't do it, because I don't want to be impeded in my pressing towards the mark. He repeated, "All things are lawful for me, but not everything builds up" ( 1 Corinthians 10:23 ). Now as a child of God, I want actually to have Christ built up in me. And there are things that tear down the image of Christ. Now though they are lawful, though I could lawfully do it, they wouldn't send me to hell; yet they would take me away from Him. It would be tearing down. And thus, I don't do them because I don't want anything to tear me down. I'm only desiring to be built up in Christ Jesus.

And then he finally concludes, "All things are lawful for me," same broad Christian ethic, but he said, "I will not be brought under the power of any" ( 1 Corinthians 6:12 ). Now you see, as a Christian I know what real freedom is. Very few people really know true freedom. But as a Christian I know true freedom. Those in the world, they talk about free love and free so on and so forth, they don't really know what freedom is. They are so bound by their own lusts and all and by the things that they're in. They are so bound they don't know what freedom is. They've been brought under the power of the things they're doing. Having really tasted of freedom, knowing what freedom is, I love freedom so much that I'm not going to sacrifice freedom by meddling around with something that could bring me under its power.

So if by doing it I could be brought under its influence, I could be brought under its power, I'm not going to do it because I love my freedom too much. If I were brought under its power, then I don't have this glorious free ethic that says, "All things are lawful for me." You know, it is really a blessing to see things and say, "Well, I could be doing that. I don't want to. Or I don't need to. I don't have to have that. I don't have to do that." Sure I could do it, but I don't have to. I don't need to. I'm very complete and satisfied and happy with my present relationship with Jesus Christ, and I'm not reaching out and grabbing for higher standards or higher things. Just very content in Christ Jesus. And it's neat to have that kind of freedom to have the capacity, but not be pushed by some ambition or desire or, you know, drive within, I've-got-to-have-it kind of a thing.

Oh, what freedom that is. Waffling, sure. Send me to hell, no. But it might impede my progress towards heaven. I don't want that. It might bring me under its power; I don't want that. I'm too free and I love my freedom. Incidentally, I got an A on the paper. Blew the teacher's mind. She didn't even know anything about Christian philosophy at all and just absolutely blew her mind. She made notations all over that paper. She was really surprised and awed by it. In fact, she, I had quite a talk with her.

Meddling to your own hurt. Now the result of the meddling, the king came and tore down the wall, the defenses were destroyed.

The result of our meddling, of course, is once you do it, your defenses are destroyed. It's so much easier to do it the second time. And even easier the third, and the fourth, the fifth, until it's just a course and a manner of life. First time it was so hard. You resist it a lot, but you meddle, you got burned. Not only that, the treasures were taken away. And you lose something valuable whenever you meddle to your own hurt. Even as the treasures of purity, innocence, health, clear mind are so often lost because people have meddled to their own hurt.

The death of Amaziah's recorded in verse seventeen. We'll read about him again when we get to the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. And Azariah became the king in his place. He was only sixteen years old when he took over from his father. Actually Amaziah was assassinated even as was his own father. And his son, sixteen years old, became king, and he didn't do much but build Elath and he died.

Now in the fifteenth year of Amaziah ( 2 Kings 14:23 )

So we've already had his son succeed him, but now we go back and pick up one more part of the story.

Jeroboam the son of Joash began to reign in Samaria ( 2 Kings 14:23 ),

Now this is the time when Amos and Hosea were both prophesying, so you should, as you develop in your biblical studies, you should start to fit the prophet back into here now, because you'll understand their prophecy so much better when you realize the period of history. This is now getting to the end of the northern kingdom of Israel. We're coming down into the last century for that kingdom in the spiritual decline, and God is now beginning to raise up more prophets. And if you'll read the prophecies of Amos and Hosea, you'll understand them much better when you can in your mind fit them into this period of spiritual declension in the northern kingdom of Israel. And also mention of Jonah, the prophet here in verse twenty-five. So these three men were sent of God to the northern kingdom at this particular time to prophesy unto them.

Now this Jeroboam is Jeroboam the second, Jeroboam was the very first king over Israel, and now another king named after him.

and he reigned for forty-one years. But he did evil in the sight of the LORD. And the LORD saw the afflictions of Israel, it was very bitter: no one to help them ( 2 Kings 14:23-26 ).

They were isolated.

And the LORD said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. The rest of the acts of Jeroboam are in the book of chronicles of the kings of Israel ( 2 Kings 14:27-28 ).

Which we do not have.

Now the reign of Azariah, who is also known as Uzziah. Now when you think of Uzziah, and we're back now Azariah was the son of Amaziah and he didn't do much. But his son Azariah began to reign. The other name was Uzziah, and we think now of the prophet Isaiah. And so the prophecies of Isaiah. Isaiah was the prophet who actually began his real career and the prophecies at the death of Uzziah. Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years, and you remember there in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, "In the year the king Uzziah died I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, sitting upon the throne, his train filled the temple" ( Isaiah 6:1 ). So we're beginning, when we get to Uzziah, we'll come in to the time at the end of Uzziah's career, we're coming into the time of Isaiah. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

7. Jeroboam II’s evil reign in Israel 14:23-29

Jeroboam II’s reign of 41 years was the longest in Israel’s history (793-753 B.C.). For the first 12 of these years he was coregent with his father Jehoash. [Note: Edwin R. Thiele, "Coregencies and Overlapping Reigns Among the Hebrew Kings," Journal of Biblical Literature 93:12 (1974):192-93.] He began ruling during the reign of Judah’s Jehoash, outlived Jehoash’s successor Amaziah, and died during the reign of Amaziah’s son Azariah (Uzziah).

The writer, whose interests were primarily theological, passed over Jeroboam II’s significant political accomplishments.

"The era of Jeroboam (northern kingdom) and Azariah (southern kingdom) would mark a significant change in the fortunes of God’s people. These would be days of unparalleled prosperity for the twin kingdoms, both economically (as attested by the Samarian Ostraca) and politically." [Note: Patterson and Austel, p. 231.]

Jeroboam II restored Israel’s borders to approximately what they had been in Solomon’s day and extended Israel’s influence over her neighbors to an extent unparalleled in the history of the Northern Kingdom. Hamath lay northeast of Israel, and the Sea of the Arabah was the Salt (Dead) Sea (2 Kings 14:25). The prophet Jonah had predicted Israel’s territorial extension. He, along with Hosea (Hosea 1:1) and Amos (Amos 1:1), ministered in Israel during Jeroboam II’s reign. Wiseman believed that Jonah visited Nineveh during the reign of Assur-dan III (772-755 B.C.). [Note: Wiseman, p. 249.] Gath-hepher and Nazareth stood on the north and south sides respectively of the same Galilean hill (2 Kings 14:25).

2 Kings 14:26 means no one escaped from Israel’s previous national affliction in Jeroboam II’s day, neither servants nor free people. This probably means that everyone in Israel was suffering before Jeroboam II began to improve conditions. Damascus and Hamath belonged to Judah under Solomon (2 Kings 14:28) in the sense that he controlled them.

Even though Jeroboam had a long and politically impressive career, spiritual conditions in his day were bad. The books of Hosea and Amos throw more light on this period of Israel’s history. Unfaithfulness and selfishness marked the people. For these reasons Yahweh sent very bitter affliction on Israel in Jeroboam II’s reign. Times of material prosperity have usually proved to be more difficult for God’s people to handle successfully than times of adversity.

As Israel declined spiritually, God strengthened Assyria politically and militarily. The two periods of Israel’s greatest decline correspond exactly to the two periods of Assyria’s greatest growth, namely, during the Omride dynasty and shortly after Jeroboam II’s reign. This reflects precisely what God had said He would do if His people forsook Him (Deuteronomy 28:1; Deuteronomy 28:25; Deuteronomy 28:43-44; Deuteronomy 28:49-57). One writer correlated Assyria’s rise to power with Israel’s apostasy. [Note: Paul Gilchrist, "Israel’s Apostasy: Catalyst of Assyrian World Conquest," in Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, pp. 99-113.] The cause and effect relationship is unmistakable.

"With the death of Jeroboam . . . the history of the northern state becomes a tale of unmitigated disaster. Her internal sickness erupting into the open, Israel found herself racked with anarchy at the very moment when she was called upon to face in resurgent Assyria the gravest threat of her entire history. Within twenty-five short years she had been erased from the map." [Note: John Bright, A History of Israel, p. 252.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel,.... Died, and was buried with them:

and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead: who was of the fourth generation from Jehu, as was promised to him, 2 Kings 10:30.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years.   24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.   25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.   26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.   27 And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.   28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?   29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.

      Here is an account of the reign of Jeroboam the second. I doubt it is an indication of the affection and adherence of the house of Jehu to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that they called an heir-apparent to the crown by his name, thinking that an honourable name which in the book of God is infamous and stigmatized as much as any.

      I. His reign was long, the longest of all the reigns of the kings of Israel: He reigned forty-one years; yet his contemporary Azariah, the king of Judah, reigned longer, even fifty-two years. This Jeroboam reigned just as long as Asa had done (1 Kings 15:10), yet one did that which was good and the other that which was evil. We cannot measure men's characters by the length of their lives or by their outward prosperity. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked.

      II. His character was the same with that of the rest of those kings: He did that which was evil (2 Kings 14:24; 2 Kings 14:24), for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam; he kept up the worship of the calves, and never left that, thinking there was no harm in it, because it had been the way of all his ancestors and predecessors. But a sin is never the less evil in God's sight, whatever it is in ours, for its being an ancient usage; and a frivolous plea it will be against doing good, that we have been accustomed to do evil.

      III. Yet he prospered more than most of them, for though, in that one thing, he did evil in the sight of the Lord, yet it is likely, in other respects, there was some good found in him and therefore God owned him, 1. By prophecy. He raised up Jonah the son of Amittai, a Galilean (so much were those mistaken that said, Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet,John 7:52), and by him intimated the purposes of his favour to Israel, notwithstanding their provocations, encouraged him and his kingdom to take up arms for the recovery of their ancient possessions, and (which would contribute not a little to their success) assured them of victory. It is a sign that God has not cast off his people if he continue faithful ministers among them; when Elisha, who strengthened the hands of Joash, was removed, Jonah was sent to encourage his son. Happy is the land that has a succession of prophets running parallel with a succession of princes, that the word of the Lord may endure for ever. Of this Jonah we read much in that little book of scripture that bears his name. It is probable that it was when he was a young man, and fit for such an expedition, that God sent him to Nineveh, and that it was when he had yet been but a little conversant with the visions of God that he flew off and fretted as he did; and, if so, this is an undoubted evidence of the forgiveness of his faults and follies, that he was afterwards employed as a messenger of mercy to Israel. A commission amounts to a pardon, and he that had himself found mercy, notwithstanding his provocations, could the better encourage them with the hope of mercy notwithstanding theirs. Some that have been foolish and passionate, and have gone about their work very awkwardly at first, yet afterwards have proved useful and eminent. Men must not be thrown away for every fault. 2. By providence. The event was according to the word of the Lord: his arms were successful; he restored the coast of Israel, recovered those frontier-towns and countries that lay from Hamath in the north to the sea of the plain, (that is, the sea of Sodom) in the south, all which the Syrians had possessed themselves of, 2 Kings 14:25; 2 Kings 14:25. Two reasons are here given why God blessed them with those victories:-- (1.) Because their distress was very great, which made them the objects of his compassion, 2 Kings 14:26; 2 Kings 14:26. Though he saw not any signs of their repentance and formation, yet he saw their affliction, that it was very bitter. Those that lived in those countries which the enemies were masters of were miserably oppressed and enslaved, and could call nothing their own; the rest, we may suppose, were much impoverished by the frequent incursions the enemy made upon them to plunder them, and continually terrified by their threatenings, so that there was none shut up or left, both towns and countries were laid waste and stripped of their wealth, and no helper appeared. To this extremity were they reduced, in many parts of the country, in the beginning of Jeroboam's reign, when God, in mere pity to them, heard the cry of their affliction (for no mention is made here of the cry of their prayers), and wrought this deliverance for them by the hand of Jeroboam. Let those whose case is pitiable take comfort from the divine pity; we read of God's bowels of mercy (Isaiah 63:15; Jeremiah 31:20) and that he is full of compassion, Psalms 86:15. (2.) Because the decree had not yet gone forth for their utter destruction; he had not as yet said he would blot out the name of Israel (2 Kings 14:27; 2 Kings 14:27), and because he had not said it he would not do it. If this be understood of the dispersion of the ten tribes, he did say it and do it, for that name still remains under heaven in the gospel Israel, and will to the end of time; and because they, at present, bore that name which was to have this lasting honour, he showed them this favour, as well as for the sake of the ancient honour of that name, 2 Kings 13:23; 2 Kings 13:23.

      IV. Here is the conclusion of Jeroboam's reign. We read (2 Kings 14:28; 2 Kings 14:28) of his might, and how he warred, but (2 Kings 14:29; 2 Kings 14:29) he slept with his fathers; for the mightiest must yield to death, and there is no discharge in that war. Many prophets there had been in Israel, a constant succession of them in every age, but none of the prophets had left any of their prophecies in writing till those of this age began to do it, and their prophecies are part of the canon of scripture. It was in the reign of this Jeroboam that Hosea (who continued very long a prophet) began to prophesy, and he was the first that wrote his prophecies; therefore the word of the Lord by him is called the beginning of the word of the Lord,Hosea 1:2. Then that part of the word of the Lord began to be written. At the same time Amos prophesied, and wrote his prophecy, soon afterwards Micah, and then Isaiah, in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah. Thus God never left himself without witness, but, in the darkest and most degenerate ages of the church, raised up some to be burning and shining lights in it to their own age by their preaching and living, and a few by their writings to reflect light upon us on whom the ends of the world have come.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

But not merely this. "Elisha died and they buried him" (2 Kings 13:20). Was not Elisha gone then? Not so. There was to be even a more glorious witness in his death than in his life. In his life, no doubt, he had witnessed; but with what great toil and anxiety and pains! stretching himself over the dead youth, he had breathed, and put his face upon the child's face; and so it was, laboriously and with effort in appearance, that God raised him up. For God would show the magnitude of the deed that he was doing then, and although it was in no wise because of all the labour of the prophet, since God could have done it in an instant as truly at the beginning as at the end, yet still it was the way of God. But not so now. Even in death what a witness of the power of life, in Elisha, for, as we are told, "It came to pass as they were burying a man that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood upon his feet." And so will Israel another day not more truly that dead man then, than Israel by-and-by, when all seems forgotten and Israel as good as dead, and buried in response to the prophets, in answer to that voice which will never be truly extinguished, though it may be forgotten or despised, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, and the hand of the Lord had written it. And according to the prophets Israel will rise again.

They may be, as now they are politically, in the dust of the earth, but they will rise again. This is the portion of Israel. There are those who suppose that nations shall not rise. Alas! it is a common error. And there is no error more common in this day than the denying the resurrection of the body, but we know that the resurrection of the body is the most essential truth of God and the most sacred truth and the peculiar one of the gospel. For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not risen, and God's testimony is denied, for God's testimony is that He raised Christ from the dead which He has not done if the dead rise not. But contrariwise He raised Him up, and so the dead will be raised; and as the dead man here undoubtedly rises, so truly Israel will rise again, and, in truth, it will be "life from the dead" for all the nations. Such is the clear voice of prophecy, and it will be accomplished.

But we find that Hazael still pursues his oppression. Such is the literal history; such is the fact, for the present; such it was then.

And then in the next chapter (2 Kings 14:1-29), whatever might be the measure of right, evil takes its way even in Judah. "And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hands, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father. But the children of the murderers he slew not; according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. He slew of Edom, in the valley of salt, ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day." Amaziah thus shows a measure of righteousness, but his heart becomes, at last, lifted up within him, and he challenges the king of Israel; and the solemn fact appears that God will never sanction the presumption of a righteous man, that God will rather take the part of the bad man who is challenged presumptuously than of the righteous man that challenges him presumptuously. It is a solemn thing when the folly of God's people thus makes it necessary for God so to deal. It was so then, but the truth is, God will always be where righteousness is, and there is not a single failure in righteousness though it be in God's own people, where God does not set His face against it.

Does this then prove that the one is not a righteous man? Not so. But even where the unrighteous man may be righteous, and where the righteous man may be unrighteous, God will appear to change sides. The truth is, that God holds to righteousness wherever it exists. This is what we find, and to my own mind it is a most wholesome principle, and one that counts for a great deal in practical life, because often one sees the sad spectacle in one truly to be loved and valued, but a mistake is made never without its consequences. An error that is made always bears its fruit. Am I therefore to forget my love and esteem for him who has done it? Nay, I am to judge according to God the particular thing; but to let the heart and its affections flow in their proper channel. God would not have us to abandon, any more than He does Himself, the one who trusts Him, for swerving for a moment. God would not have us to sanction an unrighteous man because in a particular instance he may be right; nor, on the other hand, are we to sanction an unrighteous act because done by a righteous man. Well, all this shows us the nice and jealous care in details in details for righteousness. And this is to my mind the great moral of the dealings of God regarding Amaziah and Joash, and the reason why the comparatively righteous Amaziah was allowed to fall before the certainly unrighteous Joash.

Then we find another remarkable dealing of God in the case of Azariah in the fifteenth chapter. We are told there that he was found smitten of the Lord. "And Jehovah smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house." The details of this are not given. He is called here Azariah. You must remember it is the same person who is called Uzziah in the book of Chronicles. But further, at this time evil was coming in more and more with a flood, and we have the sad and humbling history of Samaria. What brought in this terrible day was Ahaz so it is that the Spirit of God speaks of him for Ahaz was the worst king that had ever reigned in Judah up to this point. He it was that first brought in the Assyrian as a helper. At this time the Assyrian had come in in another way. We are told of Azariah king of Judah that "In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land."

The solemn thing that appears in Ahaz that I have referred to was that the conspiracy of Israel with Syria led Judah to call in Assyria against Israel. That is the point. It is not merely the only course of enmity that the Assyrian would have against the land. This is the point of the fifteenth chapter; but in the sixteenth it is a still more solemn thing; it is the union of Judah with the Gentile against Israel. And, accordingly, God marks His deep displeasure of this terrible reign. Indeed in every point of view it was unboundedly evil. What did God do? What marked the way of God in that day? It was the time when God brought out prophecy with a greater brightness and distinctness than He had ever been pleased to give. This is of the greatest moment for our souls to consider.

Prophecy always comes in a time of ruin. When was the first prophecy? When man fell. When was the first continuous prophecy prophecy not merely of a person that was coming, but of the character of him that was coming, and what was to be done that which most of all looks like a prophecy? It was Enoch's, when the world was full of corruption and violence, and the flood was about to be sent upon it. Thus if we look either at the prophecy of the Son, of man the woman's Seed, or look at the first form of prophecy, Enoch's, we see how clearly the time of ruin is the time when God gives prophecy. In the same way it is, when we come lower down the stream of time. The most magnificent burst of prophecy that God ever gave was through Isaiah, and Isaiah began his course under these very kings in the days of Azariah and Ahaz. It was continued, indeed, till the days of Hezekiah, but it was in these very times. And there was not Isaiah alone. We know there were other prophets, commonly called The Minor; but I refer to it now for the great moral principle. A time of evil is not necessarily a time of evil for the people of God. It is evil for those' that are false; it is evil for those that would take advantage. But a time of evil is a time when God particularly works for the blessing of those that may have failed. Therefore let no one find an excuse because things are in a condition of ruin.

Take the present time. No man can look upon the face of Christendom without feeling that it is out of joint that it is altogether anomalous that the state of things is inexplicable except to the man who reads it in the light of the word of God that it is confusion, and that the worst confusion is where the highest profession of order is found, and that the truest order is found where people would tax them with disorder; for I believe in point of fact, it really is so. You must remember that in an evil day the external order is always with the enemies of God; the true internal order is always found with those that have faith. Hence it is that now that which has the highest pretension to order is, as we know, the Eastern church the Latin church; but of all the things under the sun in the form of religion, that which is most opposed to God is, surely, the Latin church. And therefore we see clearly how those who make the highest claim to order are precisely those that are most opposed to God's way, and the reason is plain because the great assumption, invariably, of those that stand to outward order is succession a plain continued title from God!

But this is a thing which prophecy so rudely breaks this dream of outward order which is a mere veil thrown over confusion, and every evil work. Hence the immense importance of prophecy in a time of ruin, and so it has been that since the ruin came into Christendom, prophecy has always been the grand support of those who have had faith; as, on the other hand, the Latin church has always been the deadly enemy of prophecy always endeavoured to extinguish the study of it and to destroy all faith in it, and to make people believe that it is impossible to have real light from it that it is an illusion, as indeed they would make you believe the word of God generally is.

Now, then, in this very place I call your attention, beloved friends, to this grand point. When this evil became insupportable, God granted this precious light of His own word the light of prophecy, and I would press this strongly upon all here who love the word of the Lord. Use the same thing, not by any means to make it a kind of study a kind of exclusive occupation, for nothing can be more drying up to spiritual affections than making, what I may call, a hobby of prophecy or of anything else; but I do say that where Christ has the first place, where all the precious hopes of grace, where all our associations with the Lord have their true place and power, a most important part is filled up by the understanding of that light which God gives to judge the present by the future. This was the object of the prophecies of Isaiah, for it is a very important thing to remember that the object of prophecy is, and must be, moral that it is not merely facts; and there is no greater mistake than to suppose that the prediction of events is what makes a prophet. Not so. I admit that prophets did predict events, but prophecy does not mean predicting. Prophecy is always bringing in God to deal with the conscience. If that is not done the grand object of prophecy has failed. And here you have a test, therefore, as to whether you understand and rightly use prophecy. Does it bring your conscience into the presence of God? Does it deal with what you are about? Does it judge the secrets of the heart? Does it shine upon your ways? Where this fails, God's object is not attained. I just draw attention, therefore, by the way, to this beautiful contrast to man's ways on the one hand this flood of evil that was now rising to its height. Nevertheless God, astonishing to say, instead of meeting it by immediate judgment answers it by prophecy. The glorious light that He caused to shine through the prophet Isaiah was His answer. No doubt that made the wickedness of what was going on in the land more apparent, but it had another purpose; it bound up the hopes of every believing soul in Israel with the Messiah that was coming. That was God's great object. It dissociated them from present things, giving them a sound judgment, and means to form an estimate of it, but it bound up their hearts with the Lord.

Therefore I need not say much about the enormous wickedness of Ahaz, which is brought before us in the sixteenth chapter, nor will I do more than just refer to the seventeenth chapter. There the Assyrian comes, but he comes now as an avenger; he comes as a scourge. He sweeps the land, and the ten tribes are carried away never to return till Jesus returns. The ten tribes from that day disappeared from the land of Israel. What took their place what formed the kingdom of Samaria was a mere mass of heathen that took up the forms of Israel that had been left behind, for God in a remarkable way visited the land. When the Assyrians were planted in the devastated cities of Israel they set up their old Assyrian religion, and the Lord sent lions among them. They understood it. Man has a conscience. They understood it; they knew that it was a voice from the God of Israel. It was the God of Israel that claimed that land. No doubt they thought to propitiate Him by renewing the old worship of Israel, and in their folly they sent for a priest of Israel from the captivity, and the old religion, accordingly, was brought in a most strange medley of the nominal worship of Jehovah and real idolatry. But so it was. Thus began not the Samaritan kingdom but the Samaritan religion the mixture of Judaism and idolatry carried on by heathen.

On this I do not now say more than just refer to it. It was a sad succession for a sad people. The ten tribes now dispersed in Assyria awaiting the day when the Saviour will awake them from the dust of the earth when the Saviour will call them back to the land of their inheritance. But we must look at other scriptures before we reach that blessed point.