Jotham king in Judah II Kings 15

II Kings 15:34-35a "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Howbeit the high places were not removed..."

Uzziah was Azariah. As in other chapters, this chapter has the changing of the kings recorded.

Continuing with Azariah or Uzziah who was 16 when he started to reign and reigned 52 years.

v3 "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; v4 Save that the high places were not removed..."

We see a continuing theme for those who did right except for one thing, that of removing the high places. I suppose most of us hang onto that one thing for a time until we finally give it up and find that God has something great in mind for us.

Amaziah became a leper and stayed indoors or so it appears from v5. Jotham ruled even before he became king.

v5 "And the LORD smote the king so that he was a leper unto the day of his death and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land."

Azariah died and Jotham became king in Judah. You can see that we switch back and forth from the king of Judah and the king of Israel. To keep the time frame correct the writer gives the year a king took over based on the year of the kingship of the other. Example verse 13. where Shallum took over in the 39th year of Uzziah king of Judah.

In Israel we have a line of kings: Shalum, Menahem, Pekah, Pekahiah.

The chapter closes with Ahaz becoming king of Judah in the stead of Jotham. During this time there was war with when Azzyria came and took territory and took captives from Israel under the reign of Pekah.

It looks like a lot of activity in Israel while Judah was relatively stable with some good kings.

Psalm 36:5 "Thy mercy O LORD is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds."

Keywords: Uzziah, Jotham, Israel, Judah, Old Testament, Bible Study. The kings of Israel change swiftly.