2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
March 29, 2023
2nd Chronicles 27 and 28
Verses 1-2. Chapter 27 is a short chapter, and it can be summarized by the idea of “not making the same mistakes as people who went before you.” King Jotham will follow in the footsteps of his father King Uzziah, but he will learn from his father’s mistakes. He was 25 when he became king, so he was old enough to see exactly how his father’s life ended in isolation and misery due to his arrogance. He was also old enough to see how successful his father was before he tried to irreverently enter the holy place. Jotham was dedicated to God, but the text informs us that some of the people continued some corrupt practices from the time of his father. Most like these practices were connected to idolatry and the immorality that came with idolatry.
Verses 3-6. We are informed that he continued the rebuilding of the city and rebuilt the upper gate which connects the temple and the palace. He also continued to build the towns up. This gives us the idea that he experienced a time of peace and prosperity. He even conquered the Ammonites, and they paid annual taxes to the king. Verse 6 gives us the key to understand his success “He walked steadfastly before the Lord.” There is no mention of any deviation from the Lords will in his life. He walked steadfastly before God. This should be a reminder to us to walk steadfastly before the Lord. What does it mean to walk steadfastly before the Lord? To be steadfast and unmovable is to be spiritually grounded. Steadfast has held its ground for many centuries. Its Old English predecessor, stedefaest, combines stede (meaning "place" or "stead") and faest (meaning "firmly fixed"). The word was first used in battle contexts to describe warriors who stood their ground, which led to its "immovable" sense. That sense gave way to the word's use as an adjective implying unswerving faith, loyalty, or devotion. A steadfast person knows what he believes and cannot be “tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Ephesians 4:14). “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV). Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:2-4, ESV.
Verses 7-9. We are told that his reign lasted 16 years and upon his death he was buried with honor in the city of David along with the other kings. The rest of his life is recorded in what we call the books of the 1st and 2nd Kings. His son Ahaz succeeded him as king.
Chapter 28. Verses 1-4. This chapter stands in contrast to the previous chapter. King Ahaz will do the exact opposite of his father. In the last chapter, we learned that the people were practicing idolatry and worshipping false Gods. Even though Jotham didn’t engage in this idolatry, by the time his son comes to reign those practices have infiltrated the royal palace. Instead of steadfastly serving God, Ahaz turns away from God and goes full force into idol worship. He engaged in every evil from making idols to child sacrifice. This describes Ahaz’s participation in the worship of Molech. The pagan god (or, demon, more accurately) Molech was worshipped by heating a metal statue representing the god until it was red hot, then placing a living infant on the outstretched hands of the statue, while beating drums drowned out the screams of the child until it burned to death. Every evil practice that God warned the people not to engage in, Ahaz jumped into with all his might. He spread these evil practices throughout Judah.
Verses 5-8. Because of the wickedness of Ahaz and the people, God allowed the nation to suffer great losses in battle. When Jotham was king they were successful in battle, but due to their wickedness, God would not give them success. They took heavy casualties, had their families hauled away, and the city was plundered. It was a horrible time for the people of Judah. The original readers of this book were to see that when the nation left God, God would take his hand of protection off of them. 200,000 women and children were taken as slaves by the Northern Kingdom.
Verses 9-11. A prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: This brave prophet went with the 200,000 captives taken from the conquered southern kingdom to the northern kingdom of Israel, to make the leaders of Israel conscious of this crime against their fellow tribes. Remarkably, the leaders of Israel responded to the message from Oded and recognized their own sin and guilt. They cared for the captives from the spoil of battle and sent them back to Judah. The Northern Kingdom leaders were told by the prophet that the reason they were able to defeat Judah was because Judah had sinned. If they were to do a great sin before God and enslave the people they too would find themselves facing the same fate.
Verses 12-15. The leaders met those who were bringing the prisoners and ordered them to send them back and they surrendered the plunder back to the people. They put clothes on their backs and put the weak on horses so they could return with dignity. Once they realized how wrong they were, they attempted to right the wrong and make the people whole.
Verses 16-21. Judah was not only facing the Israelites in the North, they were also fighting the Philistines and the Edomites. When they were obedient, they easily routed these nations. Now that they are in rebellion to God, they can’t win any battles. Ahaz reaches out to the Assyrian nation, but the Assyrians are not coming to help, but to pile on and plunder Judah for what is left. Ahaz attempted to buy the loyalty of the Assyrians by selling off items from the holy temple. All this did was fuel the greed of the Assyrians for more of the temple and palace gold.
Verses 22-23. Ahaz became so desperate and so rebellious towards God that he adopted the worship of the gods of Aram. He thought since they defeated him in battle, he could become victorious by worshipping them. He didn’t realize that it wasn’t the power of the god of Aram that caused him to be defeated it was that his God had taken the divine protection off of him. It wasn’t about the power of those fake idols; it was about the protection of God being removed. In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the LORD: Times of trial and distress do not necessarily drive people closer to God. Sometimes people allow such distresses to drive them away from God.
Verses 24-27. Ahaz took all the temple furnishings and converted them into idols and created high places to worship these false idols all over Judah. Ahaz never repented and the entire nation suffered. He was buried in disgrace because he was so wicked. Unlike his father, he was not given any honors in death.
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