Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, December 5, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 15 & 16 The action switches briefly to the Southern Kingdom where Azariah has succeeded his father as king of Judah. Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah and it was in the year that Azariah/Uzziah died that Isaiah was called by God to prophesy – but that story comes later. Two things worth noticing about Azariah are that his reign was very long – 52 years, one of the longest of any king – and that he suffered from leprosy. Exactly when he was stricken with leprosy is unknown but the story makes clear that even the king was not immune for the restrictions that leprosy brought upon its victim – Azariah was removed from public and reigned through his son Jotham. The action moves quickly back to the North and tells the story of the reign of five kings. The story is a pitiful account of the devastation of the Northern Kingdom. When Jeroboam II dies his son, Zechariah succeeds him but manages to reign for only six months before he is killed. His killer, Shallum, reigns for only one month. Shallum is killed by Menahem who manages to keep his kingdom for ten years. One can only imagine the chaos that must have reigned in the North. Upon Menahem’s death, his son Pekahiah attempts to reign but he is killed by Pekah after reigning two years. Pekah’s reign lasts twenty years but the impending end of the Northern Kingdom becomes more and more evident. The Assyrians are capturing more and more of the territory. Eventually one more usurper will come into power in the North – Hoshea. His story will be told in the next chapters. All five kings described in this chapter shared the same description that all of the kings of the North shared – they were all wicked. There is not one good thing to say about any of them. Having detailed the brutal unfolding of the demise of the Northern Kingdom, the narrator now switches back to talk about what is happening in the Southern Kingdom. Azariah/Uzziah’s son, Jotham, reigns for an additional sixteen years having reigned as co-regent with his leprous father. Jotham’s reign was uneventful except that it is marked by the ominous threat of an alliance between Pekah, the Northern king and Rezin, the king of Aram. If you haven’t figured it out by now – this was one chaotic time for God’s people. And I think we need to think about how God might have been contemplating what to do in this situation. If we think that the story of God’s people was a happy story unfolding just like God would have liked it to unfold, we need to think again. As I mentioned earlier, it was into this situation that God sent at least four prophets. Amos and Hosea first to the Northern Kingdom – they were not successful. Isaiah and Micah to the Southern Kingdom – they were at best marginally successful. The point is that God was working, however, the human factor sometimes makes things work very slowly for God. Isn’t that an amazing idea? God responsive to human action – yet God persistent in bringing his will to bear upon the human situation. Human beings really do matter and do make a difference in how life works out. Of course that means we matter too – our actions are significant both for humanity and for God! Chapter sixteen is dedicated to King Ahaz – the king with whom Isaiah had most to do. Ahaz was not a good king. Threatened as his father was by King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram, Ahaz reaches out for help to the mightier enemy, Assyria. Isaiah warns him against this but Ahaz will not listen. The results are devastating – both for the Northern Kingdom which will be destroyed by Assyria and for Ahaz’s own Southern Kingdom which will be reduced to a vassal kingdom under the thumb of Assyria by the time Ahaz dies.