In this chapter we have a king sandwich, five kings of Israel sandwiched between two kings of Judah. Azariah was the son of Amaziah and continued the line of relatively good kings, though he too failed to remove the high places and people still worshipped there. One might say "well what does it matter how they worshipped as long as they did worship?" Evidently it does matter because God's word keeps going on about the fact that the high places were not removed.
Despite being a good king he had leprosy. Note that it says the Lord afflicted him with leprosy. Again, we tend to react against this thinking "God couldn't do that". Well He did. However, this also should warn us against ideas that sickness and unrighteousness are always directly related. Clearly they are not. There are times when someone gets a disease as a direct result sin, be it causal or judgement from God, but this is not always the case. Azariah did reign for a long time.
Let's go straight to the end of the chapter and the second king of Judah. Now if you read this you will immediately be confused (as I was), for it says "Jotham son of Uzziah". Where is Uzziah? He hasn't been mentioned. Well there is probably a footnote in your Bible telling you that Azariah was also called Uzziah. Jotham followed in the ways of his fathers, doing right but not removing the high places. Note that this period is when Isaiah was starting to preach and prophecy, and was the build up to the time when Assyria would attack the nation, but fail at the last to conquer it. There may have been a tendency towards complacency because the nation was doing relatively well, both spiritually and materially. However, the heart of the matter was not being addressed, as shown by the failure to remove the high places.
Despite being a good king he had leprosy. Note that it says the Lord afflicted him with leprosy. Again, we tend to react against this thinking "God couldn't do that". Well He did. However, this also should warn us against ideas that sickness and unrighteousness are always directly related. Clearly they are not. There are times when someone gets a disease as a direct result sin, be it causal or judgement from God, but this is not always the case. Azariah did reign for a long time.
Let's go straight to the end of the chapter and the second king of Judah. Now if you read this you will immediately be confused (as I was), for it says "Jotham son of Uzziah". Where is Uzziah? He hasn't been mentioned. Well there is probably a footnote in your Bible telling you that Azariah was also called Uzziah. Jotham followed in the ways of his fathers, doing right but not removing the high places. Note that this period is when Isaiah was starting to preach and prophecy, and was the build up to the time when Assyria would attack the nation, but fail at the last to conquer it. There may have been a tendency towards complacency because the nation was doing relatively well, both spiritually and materially. However, the heart of the matter was not being addressed, as shown by the failure to remove the high places.
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