THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH OR THE SOUTH: JERUSALEM FROM JOTHAM TO HEZEKIAH
When all seems lost, do we seek help from the Lord or from politicians? It is not easy to trust in divine providence when all seems lost; it is easy to run to men for help. Jotham governed well because he walked with dignity before the Lord. He failed because he was a sinner like us, but because of his relationship with the Lord, he was able to govern and leave a good administration to his son Ahaz. Unlike his father, Ahaz did not follow the traditions of his home. Instead, he decided to defy the God of his father and trusted the political leaders more than the Lord of his ancestors. His son Hezekiah, knowing that everything that had happened to Judah was related to the idolatry of his ancestors, decided to carry out a religious reform again and lead the people to worship only the Lord.
KEEPING GOING RIGHT (2 Kings 15:32-38; 2 Chronicles 27)
Jotham, son of Uzziah, becomes king. He learned a lot from his father about governing. He was by his side until he took over completely. He built many things and followed his father’s instructions.
It seems that things are beginning to improve, because “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done” (2 Kings 15:34). He was one of the best kings that Judah had, notable, and his deeds were indelible in the history of the people.
He grew up in a healthy and privileged environment and this gave him many conditions and formations. What Jotham, as well as his father, lacked was to remove the high places, because the people still participated in sacrifices and incense (2 Kings 15:35). It is very worthwhile to invest in the lives of our children, to teach them to fear God and to make sure that they come to obey the Lord. Jotham continued what he had been doing.
He did what was right during his father’s reign, so he was able to do a great thing, he raised the upper gate of the temple and “cities were built in strategic places”[1]. What are we leaving for our children? How are we taking care of the next generations? We will not be in the distant future and what kind of world are we handing over? It is not worth having everything and, in the end, losing our children to an unbelieving generation. Let us invest now to have lasting results tomorrow.
FIRST-TIME MANAGER AND ANCIENT IN HIS TRADITIONS (2 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 28)
Jotham, who followed in his father’s footsteps, governed Judah well. His son Ahaz, who took his place after his death, did not continue the rule of his ancestors. We can say that Ahaz was a manager without any ability to govern, a manager for the first time.
Ahaz followed the ancient traditions of the kings of Israel in religious aspects and brought to Judah the worship of golden calves (2 Kings 16:3). He was a religious man, worshiping both the Lord and Baal, and even asked the king of Assyria for help when he felt threatened by Israel and Syria. His request was granted. Ahaz is a negative example of fatherhood; he let his son be burned in the fire and when he went to Damascus and saw a pagan altar, he liked it and ordered one like it to be built in Judah.
In addition to being an idolater, he was perverse, he didn’t even care about his own family, he preferred to follow the old traditions rather than honor God: “Ahaz embraced pagan worship with all his heart”[2], that is, he was completely secularized, a pragmatic man and, therefore, “with his eminently pragmatic vision, breaks with the line of David”[3], had clear example of a righteous man, but he preferred to break away and live in his kingdom of ego and “it doesn’t matter if the god is pagan, if all that is a human invention, what matters is that it works; it is practical”[4]. Many accept the idea that what is working is indeed right, this is a big mistake, many practices may apparently be producing results, but that does not mean that it will last for a long time, because what really matters is that everything is right, even if in our eyes everything is wrong. When we are more involved with world issues than with the kingdom issues, we tend to be secularized and have a more liberal view of things related to the Lord and His Word. We need to keep the Word of the Lord so that we do not sin against him.
THE LORD’S GREAT DELIVERANCE FOR THE REDEEMED (2 Kings 18-20; 2 Chronicles 29-32)
Ahaz left without leaving a lasting impression, and his son Hezekiah took his place and did everything differently from the other kings of Israel and Judah (2 Kings 18:3). Finally, the high places were destroyed, and he trusted fully in the Lord, so “[…] there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after him” (2 Kings 18:5).
Hezekiah was a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah, and he knew exactly that turning away from the Lord and idolatry were the causes of the people’s ruin, and so he made a necessary reform. Unlike many who preferred to follow the advice of men and prostrated themselves before false gods, Hezekiah, even in trouble, sought the Lord to know what the next step would be.
King Sennacherib of Assyria threatened to invade Judah and take the fortified cities. Hezekiah, perhaps overcome by fear, and fear affects our emotions, tried to negotiate with the Assyrian king and accepted his blackmail, even offering what he had in the house of the Lord and in his palace.
For a moment, Hezekiah was forgetting his commitment to the Lord, and the Assyrians began to mock Hezekiah and his faith. Weakened and without strength, when everything seemed lost, in his last moments he sought out the prophet Isaiah, who told him not to be afraid of the threats, because the Lord would fight for him. Hezekiah was filled with courage and decided to face his strong enemy head on; he consulted the prophet Isaiah, and sought the Lord, who promised to defend the city for his sake and for the sake of David (2 Kings 19:34). Hezekiah redeems himself and when he prays to the Lord and asks for deliverance, the Lord promptly answers him and kills 185,000 Assyrians, defeating Sennacherib. God hears the prayer of a redeemed person and does not despise him/her in his/her weaknesses. When we redeem ourselves at the feet of the Lord, He is faithful and just to forgive us.
Afterwards, Hezekiah became very ill and was dying. He asked the Lord for comfort, who would answer him and allow him to live for another 15 years. However, he asked Him to put his house in order, that is, to prepare someone to continue the work that was being done.
Pastor Hernandes Dias Lopes gives us a disturbing warning: “God’s order to Hezekiah crosses the centuries and reaches us. We are not prepared to live, nor ready to die if our house is not in order”[5]. May our house always be in order, may our homes be a true chamber of worship to the Lord. Is your house in order? If it is not, there is still time to put it in order. Hurry, because time flies.
God commanded Hezekiah to put his house in order, because otherwise, the people of Judah would lose all their wealth, achievements and everything good they had done up until then. It is not enough to end one’s career well; it is necessary to leave a generation committed to the causes of the Lord. Hezekiah was an excellent king, but his son Manasseh had a completely disastrous reign, and the prophet Isaiah warned about this.
CONCLUSION
Each generation has its challenges, and in this age, God has raised each one of us to stand firm and continue the legacy of our heroes of faith, the great Brazilian Baptist f igures who worked hard so that today we could continue their work and learn how good it is to serve the Lord. In these more than 400 years that Baptists have been serving in the kingdom of the Lord, we have never stopped believing that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice, and that in it we have learned that only the Lord is God and the only one worthy of all honor, glory, and majesty.
We live in a plural society, appealing from all sides and trying to push the church to live and accept everything that goes against the Word of God. However, we must remain firm, because the Lord expects to find us faithful.
[1] SCHULTZ, 2009, p. 244.
[2] MERRILL, 2009, p. 444.
[3] COSTA, Hermisten, M.P. da. Acaz: uma teologia pragmática de culto. Disponível em https://ultimato.com.br/sites/estudos-biblicos/assunto/acaz-uma-teologia-pragmatica-de-culto/. Acesso em 12 de mar. de 2025.
[4] Ditto.
[5] LOPES, Hernandes Dias. Põe em ordem a tua casa. Disponível em https://www.ipb.org.br/conteudos_detalhe?conteudo=505. Acesso em 12 de mar. de 2025.
obs: Este texto é uma tradução e adaptação para o inglês da lição 11 da Revista Compromisso da Editora
Convicção Ano CXIX, no. 473, para fins de uso didático em sala de Escola Bíblica Dominical.
Tradução de Ester Rangel Peregrina e Paula Adriana Azevedo Baião Cordeiro.
