2 Kings 15

Azariah, also known as Uzziah, reigned for an unprecedented fifty-two years in Judah, the southern kingdom. Yet this was complicated by the fact his son, Jotham, was reigning for him during part of this time. Though we read more about Uzziah in 2 Chronicles, we learn very little about him in 2 Kings 15.

The few facts recorded for us here include this remarkable announcement: “The Lord touched the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death.” To find out the details of why the Lord touched Uzziah in that way we need to wait for the retelling of his story in 2 Chronicles 26. For now, it is enough to say that though Uzziah did “what was right in the eyes of the Lord,” he did not always obey the Lord.

He was not the only king who received this type of mixed report from the word of God. As was said about many of the kings of Judah, “the high places were not taken away.” The people did not like to restrict their sacrifices to the one place appointed by God. They wanted the liberty to choose their own places for meaningful spiritual ceremonies. Their objections to God's ceremonial Law were not restricted to the question of where sacrifices could be offered to the Lord. They actually wanted to do everything their own way. They would not willingly limit themselves to the ways of worship that the Lord had revealed to them.

This was certainly also true of the kings of Israel to the north. From the very beginning of the divided kingdom, the king of Israel had set up shrines to the Lord that were not authorized by God. The kings of Israel never removed those false places of worship.

The names in this chapter are difficult to follow. Zechariah reigned for only six months. After him came Shallem, who conspired against Zechariah and reigned for only one month. Then came Menahem for ten years, and Pekahiah, his son, for two years. Then came another conspiracy, and another king, Pekah, who reigned for twenty years.

During this time of instability, insurrection, and brutality in Israel, the kings of the Assyrian empire were beginning to enforce their will over this entire region. The descendants of Jacob were increasingly a subjugated people who would soon be taken off into exile by a brutal foreign power.

Through all of these disappointments, the line of David continued in Judah to the south. Uzziah and his son Jotham reigned in Jerusalem for well over sixty years. The powers to the north and east were threatening all of Immanuel's land, but the promise that God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was still as sure as it ever could have been.

The security of the people of God is never built upon our own assessment of our relative strength or weakness when compared with that of our adversaries. All of our assurance rests on the trustworthiness of the Word of the Lord and the perfect obedience of the Messiah. God had never promised that our eternal stability would only come from a descendant of David. Jesus of Nazareth would display His divine power by cleansing lepers. He would also fulfill all of God's Law and all of God's promises through His own death and resurrection. His achievements would count not only for Jews, but even for many from all the nations of the world who would put their trust in Him. He shall reign forever and ever.