Study Desk

Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. During this same period the city of Libnah also revolted, because Jehoram had abandoned the Lord , the God of his ancestors.

The prophet Elijah sent Jehoram a letter, which read as follows: "The Lord , the God of your ancestor David, condemns you, because you did not follow the example of your father, King Jehoshaphat, or that of your grandfather, King Asa.

Instead, you have followed the example of the kings of Israel and have led the people of Judah and Jerusalem into being unfaithful to God, just as Ahab and his successors led Israel into unfaithfulness. You even murdered your brothers, who were better men than you are.

God used this visit to Joram to bring about Ahaziah's downfall. While Ahaziah was there, he and Joram were confronted by a man named Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had chosen to destroy the dynasty of Ahab.

They buried him in the royal tombs in David's City in recognition of the service he had done for the people of Israel, for God, and for the Temple.

And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord , the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the Lord 's anger on Judah and Jerusalem.

Then the spirit of God took control of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood where the people could see him and called out, "The Lord God asks why you have disobeyed his commands and are bringing disaster on yourselves! You abandoned him, so he has abandoned you!"

The Syrian army was small, but the Lord let them defeat a much larger Judean army because the people had abandoned him, the Lord God of their ancestors. In this way King Joash was punished.

You may think that they will make you stronger in battle, but it is God who has the power to give victory or defeat, and he will let your enemies defeat you."

"Since when," Amaziah interrupted, "have we made you adviser to the king? Stop talking, or I'll have you killed!" The prophet stopped, but not before saying, "Now I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done all this and have ignored my advice."

As long as Zechariah, his religious adviser, was living, he served the Lord faithfully, and God blessed him.

God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living at Gurbaal, and the Meunites.

In Jerusalem his inventors made equipment for shooting arrows and for throwing large stones from the towers and corners of the city wall. His fame spread everywhere, and he became very powerful because of the help he received from God.

But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his downfall. He defied the Lord his God by going into the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.

to resist him. They said, "Uzziah! You have no right to burn incense to the Lord . Only the priests who are descended from Aaron have been consecrated to do this. Leave this holy place. You have offended the Lord God, and you no longer have his blessing."

Jotham grew powerful because he faithfully obeyed the Lord his God.

Because King Ahaz sinned, the Lord his God let the king of Syria defeat him and take a large number of Judeans back to Damascus as prisoners. The Lord also let the king of Israel, Pekah son of Remaliah, defeat Ahaz and kill 120,000 of the bravest Judean soldiers in one day. The Lord , the God of their ancestors, permitted this to happen, because the people of Judah had abandoned him.

A man named Oded, a prophet of the Lord , lived in the city of Samaria. He met the returning Israelite army with its Judean prisoners as it was about to enter the city, and he said, "The Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah and let you defeat them, but now he has heard of the vicious way you slaughtered them.

And now you intend to make the men and women of Jerusalem and Judah your slaves. Don't you know that you also have committed sins against the Lord your God?

In every city and town in Judah he built pagan places of worship, where incense was to be burned to foreign gods. In this way he brought on himself the anger of the Lord , the God of his ancestors.