Study Desk

and prayed: You, Lord , are the God our ancestors worshiped, and from heaven you rule every nation in the world. You are so powerful that no one can defeat you.

Our God, you forced out the nations who lived in this land before your people Israel came here, and you gave it to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever.

Then Jahaziel said: Your Majesty and everyone from Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord says that you don't need to be afraid or let this powerful army discourage you. God will fight on your side!

Then some Levites from the Kohath and Korah clans stood up and shouted praises to the Lord God of Israel.

Early the next morning, as everyone got ready to leave for the desert near Tekoa, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, "Listen my friends, if we trust the Lord God and believe what these prophets have told us, the Lord will help us, and we will be successful."

but he did not destroy the local shrines. So the people still worshiped foreign gods, instead of faithfully serving the God their ancestors had worshiped.

but Judah was never able to regain control of Edom. Even the town of Libnah rebelled at that time. Those things happened because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord , the God his ancestors had worshiped.

One day, Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet that said: I have a message for you from the Lord God your ancestor David worshiped. He knows that you have not followed the example of Jehoshaphat your father or Asa your grandfather.

It was during that visit that God had Ahaziah put to death. When Ahaziah arrived at Jezreel, he and Joram went to meet with Jehu grandson of Nimshi. The Lord had already told Jehu to kill every male in Ahab's family,

then rushed to the temple of the god Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and the idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

And now we need it to repair the temple because the sons of that evil woman Athaliah came in and wrecked it. They even used some of the sacred objects to worship the god Baal."

and he was buried in the royal tombs in Jerusalem, because he had done so much good for the people of Israel, for God, and for the temple.

Right away, the people of Judah stopped worshiping in the temple of the Lord God, and they started worshiping idols and the symbols of the goddess Asherah. These sinful things made the Lord God angry at the people of Judah and Jerusalem,

God's Spirit spoke to Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and Zechariah told everyone that God was saying: "Why are you disobeying me and my laws? This will only bring punishment! You have deserted me, so now I will desert you."

But before the prophet finished speaking, Amaziah interrupted and said, "You're not one of my advisors! Don't say another word, or I'll have you killed." The prophet stopped. But then he added, "First you sinned and now you've ignored my warning. It's clear that God has decided to punish you!"

God made Amaziah stubborn because he was planning to punish him for worshiping the Edomite gods. Amaziah refused to listen to Jehoash's warning,

Zechariah was Uzziah's advisor and taught him to obey God. And so, as long as Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful.

God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur-Baal, and the Meunites.

Some of his skilled workers invented machines that could shoot arrows and sling large stones. Uzziah set these up in Jerusalem at his defense towers and at the corners of the city wall. God helped Uzziah become more and more powerful, and he was famous all over the world.

Uzziah became proud of his power, and this led to his downfall. One day, Uzziah disobeyed the Lord his God by going into the temple and burning incense as an offering to him.