Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly
before the Lord his God (2 Chronicles 27:6).
Uzziah (Jotham’s father) was a great king of Judah, but let
his pride get the better of him. He took it upon himself to enter the temple’s
Holy Place and burn incense, a privilege reserved for the priests alone. When
Azariah the high priest confronted him, Uzziah erupted with rage directed
toward the priest and immediately leprosy break out on the king’s forehead.
Because of this single act of disobedience, and the leprosy it spawned, he was
forced to spend the rest of his life reigning from seclusion.
During this time, his son Jotham was his co-regent – they
shared the throne, ruling together. That’s why it is sometimes difficult to
pinpoint a date in ancient times. Events were dated according to how many years
the reigning king had been on the throne (i.e., Hosheah . . . succeeded
[Pekah] as king in the twentieth year of Jotham – 2 Kings 15:30). This
seems straightforward until we consider that sometimes a son’s reign would
overlap with his father’s. One source might date the son’s reign from the first
year of co-regency, while another might begin with the year after his father’s
death.
Back to Jotham. What lessons about obedience did Jotham
learn at his father’s side? Did he learn from his father’s words or from the
consequences his father suffered? One way or the other Jotham apparently
learned the lesson that he must follow God wholeheartedly.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
How is God teaching you to
obey? Would you prefer the easy way or the hard way?
No comments:
Post a Comment