Reading: 2 Kings 15-17, Psalm 105

Have you ever watched a disaster unfold, finding yourself unable to look away? These chapters of the book of Kings are like that. The king of Judah during most of the time covered gets referred to by two different names: Azariah and Uzziah. Monarchs, even today, often have a “throne name” as well as a personal name. And this guy reigned for a very long time, 52 years, long enough for the royal line of Jehu of Israel to end. However, he was a leper for much of his reign- we aren’t told why- so his son Jotham co-reigns with him. We aren’t told much about either of their reigns, though they were among Judah’s “good” kings in that they followed the covenant law as best they could. Jotham’s son Ahaz, on the other hand, is one of the worst kings Judah ever has, and in his time Judah will begin to look a lot like the northern kingdom of Israel, just as that kingdom is collapsing into exile.

We are not given the story as to why he became the king he was, but Ahaz was bad. He worshiped the gods of the Canaanites, apparently sacrificing his son as a burnt offering to one of them. Worshiping these gods in this way is a major reason God used Israel to boot them out of the promised land. That alone would be bad enough, but he also allies himself with the king of Assyria as protection against the northern kingdom and against Syria, who are allied against him. Assyria captures the Syrian capital of Damascus, and Ahaz goes out to meet the king of Assyria there. While he’s there, he sees an Assyrian altar, and decides he thinks it’s pretty cool. So he sends the blueprints to the priest in Jerusalem, and he builds one like it, displacing the altar in the temple. Then Ahaz comes home and makes a big deal of his fancy new altar, while relegating the original altar to the role of “inquiring of God.” He also makes some other changes to the Temple basin and interior. Ahaz appears to be trying to play all sides at once, maintaining what he saw as a conduit to the God of Israel while also adopting the worship practices of the rising power of the time, Assyria. Things aren’t great in Judah, but we’ll have to wait and see how they turn out once Ahaz dies.

Back to the northern kingdom. The dynasty of Jehu ran longer than any other dynasty in Israel, and it’s end will trigger the downward spiral that results in the capture and exile of the people of the northern kingdom. Zechariah, the fifth in descent from Jehu, was assassinated after reigning only six months. Shallum, the assassin, lasted one month until he was killed by Menahem. This basically triggered civil war, as some parts of the nation wouldn’t follow Menahem, and he went around sacking cities in his own kingdom. Menahem manages to hang onto the throne for 10 years and pass it to his son Pekahiah, though he has to buy off the Assyrians by levying a tax on the richest men in the country. Not a way to endear yourself to the power brokers of the nation. Pekahiah only lasts two years before he is killed by his own guard captain, Pekah. Pekah stays in power for twenty years, but during that time the kingdom is basically conquered by Assyria, leaving only Samaria and the surrounding countryside for Pekah to rule over. In the end, he too dies to assassination.

The end of the northern kingdom comes during the reign of Hoshea, who we are told is bad, but not as bad as the preceding kings. Not that this is saying all that much. Anyway, Hoshea is a vassal king under the king of Assyria, which is quickly becoming the dominant empire of the time. At some point Hoshea attempts to break free of Assyria by allying himself with Egypt, but the Assyrians figure it out. They come and capture Hoshea and deport the people of Israel that remain, bringing in other nations to occupy the cities of the area. This was typical Assyrian tactics for pacification when they conquered a nation. They forcibly made a melting pot of the conquered cultures. In a strange land surrounded by strange people, rebels had a hard time being motivated or organized. What is interesting here is that the people who are brought get motivated to worship the God of Israel after some lions show up and eat some of them. Good motivator, that. Though they continue to worship other gods as well, the worship of the God of Israel does not disappear in the north, and as it turns out will become the predominant belief in the area, resulting in a group of people we will meet again, a mixed people of Israelite and foreign nations brought together by Assyrian, but who eventually worship the God of Israel: the Samaritans.

The author of Kings goes into a long aside on the reasons for the end of the northern kingdom, all having to do with violations of the covenant law of the God of Israel. The author knows these are the just results of covenant violation, because exile was promised for continual disobedience back in Deuteronomy. Israel has become a visible lesson that the God of Israel keeps his promises, whether to bless or to curse.