II Chronicles 27
Jotham reigns as kingverse 1
Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign
and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem
his mother’s name also was Jerushah
the daughter of Zadok
Jotham does what is right in sight of the LORDverse 2
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD
according to all that his father Uzziah did
howbeit he entered not
into the temple of the LORD
And the people did yet corruptly
Jotham rebuilds kingdomverses 3-5
He built the high gate of the house of the LORD
and on the wall of Ophel he built much
Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah
and in the forests he built castles and towers
He fought also with the king of the Ammonites
and prevailed against them
And the children of Ammon gave him the same year
a hundred talents of silver
ten thousand measures of wheat
ten thousand of barley
so much did the children of Ammon pay to him
both the second year – and the third
Jotham lives in obedience to the LORDverse 6
So Jotham became mighty
BECAUSE he prepared his ways
before the LORD his God
Record of the reign of Jothamverses 7-9
Now the rest of the acts of Jotham – and all his wars – and his ways
lo – they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah
he was five and twenty years old when he began to reign
and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem
And Jotham slept with his fathers
and they buried him in the city of David
and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. (517 “mother’s] means a woman who has given birth to a child, a female parent, or female parent.)
DEVOTION: Mothers are listed most of the time for the kings of Judah. Here we have a woman by the name of Jerusha who was the daughter of Zadok. Her name means the “inherited one.” Zadok seemed to come from the priestly line. She was married to Uzziah.
That is all the history of her but we know that she was involved in the training of her son who was a good king in Judah. He didn’t follow the sins of his father but did have victories because of his obedience to the LORD.
So the training of the mother is important to the nation. He was a good king who honored the LORD. He wanted to please the LORD. We have to have mothers who will set the example for their children to honor the LORD.
If she came from a Levitical family she would have been used to being around the Temple with her parents. She would have know what the commands of the LORD were regarding living a life that is pleasing in the sight of the LORD. It was great that her son was interesting in pleasing the LORD as well.
Mothers have an awesome responsibility today of making sure that they honor the LORD and teach their children to honor the LORD. It is not easy as today it seems that the children have very little training at home except for the first five years and then they attend school that most of the time teaches them today not to honor their parents.
Children are not to be independent of their parents especially Christian parents. Christian parents have to watch what their children are being taught in the public schools and speak up when there are lessons that go against the principles of the Word of God. Many teachers don’t care but there are some who will listen and help the parents that speak up for their children.
Don’t give up after you children are five. They are still willing to learn but after six years old it is said that they have about 80 % of their habits established.
CHALLENGE: The younger years are very important to training our children to honor the LORD. Mothers have a great influence during that time periods.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 2 Jotham did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. He did everything his father, Uzziah, had done, except that Jotham did not sin by entering the Temple of the Lord. But the people continued in their corrupt ways. (7843 “corrupt” [shachath] means spoil, pervert, ruin, destroy, act wickedly, depravity, or mar.)
DEVOTION: During this time period we have a king that is trying to honor the LORD while the people are not following his example. So we can have leadership heading in the right direction without the people following their lead.
The ups and downs of the nation of Judah can be traced to their leadership not giving a consistent example to the people. This can cause the people to stop following leadership unless there is a real revival in the land.
So we find that Jotham learned from the example of his father what not to do. He didn’t enter into the Temple to offer incense to the LORD. He let the priest do their job and he did his job.
What should we do if there is a leader that is following the LORD correctly and the people are acting wickedly in spite of a good leader? The answer is always to go to the LORD in prayer and ask HIM for a revival in the hearts of the people.
If the people and the leader are on the same page the LORD can bless a church. This takes a lot of work on the part of a leader who has people who are bent on sinning against the LORD.
Our responsibility is first and foremost to make sure that our hearts are right with the LORD and we are doing things that are pleasing in HIS sight. If the people see us as consistent leaders some will follow our example.
The lesson here is that we need to not be looking at the lives of the people as leaders but we need to make sure that we are pleasing the LORD and know that HE will honor us for our actions. If the people follow fine and if they don’t they will have to answer for their actions. The LORD will chasten them to show them they are not walking the right way in HIS sight.
CHALLENGE: Leaders need to lead by example even when the people are not willing to follow their example.
: 5 He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay to him, both the second year, and the third. (2388 “prevailed [chazaq] means to prove superior, grow firm, keep hold of, grow and make strong, be hard, overpower, have courage, or to prove superior, as in military confict or some other king of struggle.)
DEVOTION: We all want to be winners in whatever we are doing in life. Here is a king who was a winner in battle against the children of Ammon. Remember that the children of Israel were supported to kill all their enemies in the Promised Land. This didn’t happen, so, throughout their history that had to keep fighting these nations to keep their land.
It is because of disobedience that some of the nations they fought had to be fought again and again. Here we have Jotham having victory over this nation and them giving him the reward of his victory. The list is long and it helped support the nation while they were submissive to Judah.
We sometimes fight battles now which we should have fought when were younger and gained the victory over but we only fought a little and these enemies came up again as we were older.
Our victory is always in Jesus. We can’t fight on our own and win. We need to be dependent on the LORD each day for victory. It would have been good if we had fought harder when we were younger, so that, the same battles didn’t have to be fought throughout our lives.
We are to prevail at any age with the help of the LORD. Even if we continue to fight against a sin we had when we were young we need to know that we can have victory and continue to have victory with the help of the LORD.
Final victory over sin doesn’t come until we are in heaven with the LORD. Today we have to face whatever the LORD allows in our lives to help us grow in our relationship with him.
What battles are you fighting today? Are you turning them over to the LORD so that we can prevail? HE wants us to have victory over our sins. HE is there by our side helping us today.
CHALLENGE: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and HE will give us victory each day.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God. (3559 “prepared” [kuwn] means to be erect, to set up, confirm, faithfulness, fasten, ordain, perfect, preparation, provide, ready, or be stable.)
DEVOTION: Jotham knew what happened to his father. He had to co-reign with him because of his leprosy. He understood the consequences of sin. He didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps. He wanted to do it right.
He faithfully maintained a close relationship with the LORD. He wanted to please the LORD. He wanted his reign to be different.
However, the people followed the example of his father. They were corrupt. They acted corruptly. So no matter how hard Jotham tried he could change the people.
The LORD honored his faithfulness by allowing him to win battles. He had nations paying him to fight with them.
We have a choice each morning when we wake up. We can either choose to serve the LORD or choose to not serve the LORD. Each of us is born a sinner. Each of us who are followers of Jesus Christ still has our old nature. Part of the sin nature is the fact that we are selfish and lazy.
If we set up our day to follow our old nature, we will sin against the LORD. If we set up our day to follow the LORD, we will sin less than the other choice.
Can we change whom we are going to follow mid-day? Yes. Jotham was faithful in serving the LORD. He won his battle because the LORD helped him. He set up the LORD to be his leaders on a daily basis. However, even with a good king the people still did corruptly. The people were not following the LORD.
In our churches we tend to blame the pastor or leaders if the church is not moving forward. The problem is that it takes leaders and followers to get a church or a nation to move forward. We need to watch who we blame when we lose our battles. It is easy to blame the leaders but sometimes it is the people. Another time it can be the leaders. Sometimes it can even be the LORD disciplining the church or nation for past sins.
We need to set the LORD up each morning to be whom we are serving. That means we will work on not being lazy or selfish that day. The answer is in our faithfulness to the LORD. Who are we going to serve today???
CHALLENGE: Our parents can leave us a good or bad heritage. Jotham took what his father had left him and didn’t follow in his footsteps. Follow the LORD over the example set by our parents. If they set a good example thank them and PRAISE the LORD!!!
: 7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. (1870 “ways” [derek] means road, journey, manner, custom, behavior, course of conduct, direction, strength or enterprise)
DEVOTION: Lessons from history are important. Here we have the mention of the book of Kings that we find in our Bible. We are presently reading the book of II Chronicles from our Bible. There are two accounts of the same time period given to us for us to learn from history. The LORD gives different details in the books of Kings and Chronicles to give us a good overview of the nations of Israel and Judah before they were divided and after they were divided.
As we read these books, we need to remember that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers to record history for our learning. They are not just there to bore us with the details but to show us how we can be obedient to the LORD and win battles that we fight against our enemies today.
When I preached on II Chronicles someone came up to me and said “you got so much out of II Chronicles.” He was saying that he didn’t see what I was preaching about before. We have to look at what we can learn about believers in the Old Testament and their lives during the time period in which they were living.
We are living in a different time period but we are worshiping the same God who wants HIS followers to be obedient and if they are obedient, HE will give them victories and blessings in their lives.
We know that the New Testament informs us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” God doesn’t change HIS standard of obedience from HIS children. We live in a different time period and we don’t worship in the Temple but in a place where believers gather called the church.
We are writing history each year we honor the LORD with our actions. We will have good leaders and bad leaders even today but the LORD gives us the Holy Spirit to discern our actions and who we should follow.
CHALLENGE: Follow the leader that is doing things that please the LORD!!!
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Temple of the LORDverse 2
House of the LORDverse 3
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Book of the kings of Israel and Judahverse 7
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 2, 6
Sight of the LORDverse 2
Temple of the LORDverse 2
House of the LORD verse 3
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign)verse 6
LORD his Godverse 6
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Ammonitesverse 5
Gave Jotham
100 talents of silver
10,000 measures of wheat
10,000 of barley
Given for three years
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
King entering Temple to offer incenseverse 2
Acting corruptlyverse 2
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Right in the sight of the LORDverse 2
Victories over enemiesverse 5
Prepare ways before the LORDverse 6
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jothamverses 1-9
Reigned 16 years in Jerusalem
Did what was right in eyes of the LORD
Built high gate of the House of the LORD
Built cities in the mountains
Built castles and towers in forests
Fought king of Ammonites and prevailed
Became mighty because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God
Rest of acts written in book of the kings of Israel and Judah
Buried in city of David
People of Judah did corruptlyverse 2
Ahaz – son of Jotham reigned verse 9
City of Davidverse 9
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org Also if you can support this ministry through your local church, please use that method. Thank you.
QUOTES regarding passage
3–4 The temple’s “Upper Gate” (v.4; cf. 23:20), which “Jotham rebuilt,” was situated on its north side (Jer 20:2; Ezek 9:2). The “hill of Ophel,” on the other hand, lay to its south, in the upper part of the old city of David (cf. Kenyon’s observations [1 Chronicles 11:8 comment] on “Millo” and the continuous repair that was entailed for the walls in this area). (Payne, J. B. (1988). 1, 2 Chronicles. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 524). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
Note, We must not imitate the best men, and those we have the greatest veneration for, any further than they did well; but, on the contrary, their falls, and the injurious consequences of them, must be warnings to us to walk the more circumspectly, that we stumble not at the same stone that they stumbled at. 2. What was amiss in his people he could not prevail to amend: The people did yet corruptly. Perhaps it reflects some blame upon him, that he was wanting in his part towards the reformation of the land. Men may be very good themselves, and yet not have courage and zeal to do what they might do towards the reforming of others. However, it certainly reflects a great deal of blame upon the people, that they did not do what they might have done to improve the advantages of so good a reign: they had good instructions given them and a good example set before them, but they would not be reformed; so that even in the reign of their good kings, as well as in that of the bad ones, they were treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath; for they still did corruptly, and the founder melted in vain. (Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 603). Peabody: Hendrickson.)
II. He prospered, and became truly reputable. 1. He built. He began with the gate of the house of the Lord, which he repaired, beautified, and raised. He then fortified the wall of Ophel, and built cities in the mountains of Judah (v. 3, 4), took all possible care for the fortifying of his country and the replenishing of it. 2. He conquered. He prevailed against the Ammonites, who had invaded Judah in Jehoshaphat’s time, chapter. 20:1. He triumphed over them, and exacted great contributions from them, v. 5. He became mighty (v. 6) in wealth and power, and influence upon the neighboring nations, who courted his friendship and feared his displeasure; and this he got by preparing his ways before the Lord his God. The more steadfast we are in religion the mightier we are both for the resistance of that which is evil and for the performance of that which is good. (Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 603). Peabody: Hendrickson.)
27:2–4. His record was nearly blameless (cf. v. 6) but the people were still unfaithful to the Lord (cf. 2 Kings 15:35). His building projects included repairing the Upper Gate (cf. 2 Chron. 23:20) of the temple (i.e., the north side of the outer court) and reconstructing the Ophel wall which encompassed the old city of Jerusalem (cf. 33:14). Jotham also followed up Uzziah’s projects in the hills and forest areas. (Merrill, E. H. (1985). 2 Chronicles. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 640). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
3 He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of ║Ophel he built much.
He built, i. e. repaired it; for it was built before, chap. 11:5. The high gate, otherwise called the new gate, Jer. 36:10. The wall of Ophel; a tower upon or near the wall of Jerusalem, which probably he fortified, as his father had done other towers, chap. 26:9. (Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 1, p. 852). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.)
Ver. 3. He built the high gate in the house of the Lord, &c.] See the note on 2 Kings 15:35. and on the wall of Ophel he built much; which Kimchi interprets an high place; it was the eastern part of Mount Zion. Josephus calls it Ophlas, and says it joined to the eastern porch of the temple; and some have thought the porch of the temple is meant; the Targum renders it a palace; it is a tradition of the Jews that it was the holy of holiesg. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 81). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
In the quick succession of kings which this part of the word of God brings forward to view, it is profitable to pause and consider, how transient those characters were in their power and influence, which during their government, no doubt, made a mighty bustle in life, and moved up and down as beings highly important. But alas! what is all human greatness but as a bubble on the mighty waters! precious Jesus! what would the whole earth, with all its greatest monarchies and men be, void of an interest in thee and thy great salvation! How bounded within a short space their lives! how insignificant their existence! how trifling and childish their pursuits! Without thee, thou dear Redeemer, no hopes beyond the grave, no prospect of immortality; no redemption from sin; no resource from the fears of death, nor from the alarms of conscience! wishing to live after death, and yet dreading the hereafter; hoping there might be a place of rest; but in the midst full of a thousand forebodings concerning it! Oh! thou glorious, gracious, precious Jesus! it is thou which hast brought life and immortality to light by thy gospel. And by thy great undertaking thou hast not only opened to thy people clear and distinct views of the everlasting mansions of the blessed, but by thy finished redemption hast purchased eternal happiness for them, and art gone before to take possession of it in their name. Now, Lord, we hail thy glorious person, and adore thee for thy finished work. All thy people are by thee made kings and priests to God and the Father. We have received a kingdom by thee, and in thee, which cannot be moved. Oh! for grace whereby we may serve thee acceptably in this life with reverence and godly fear; until we come to reign with thee in the life that is to come in glory for ever. (Hawker, R. (2013). Poor Man’s Old Testament Commentary: 1 Kings–Esther (Vol. 3, pp. 532–533). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
One of the most common mistakes we make during the tough times in life is to place our eyes on circumstances rather than on the promises of God. The Lord promises Israel that He will lead them into the Promised Land and defeat the armies that are living there. He even promises to send in swarms of hornets to drive out the armies, so Israel won’t even have to fight. But one look at the giants, and every promise is forgotten. One glimpse of the armies, and “God is not enough.”
The New Testament is full of promises for us. We must keep our eyes on the promises. (Quiet Walk)
Bringing It Home
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. EPHESIANS 5:25
On Valentine’s Day 2005, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet, restated and renewed their wedding vows along with 4,000 other couples gathered in Little Rock’s Alltel Arena. I had the privilege of performing the ceremony, which included husbands and wives of all ages and backgrounds, celebrating the lifelong commitment of covenant marriage.
One of the most touching stories of the night, however, happened not in the crowded arena, but in a nearby home where a couple was listening to the proceedings on the radio.
At one point, the husband became so moved by the significance of the moment that tears began to well in his eyes. Soon they were streaming down his face. His little son, surprised by what he was seeing, crawled into his father’s lap and asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” No explanation seemed to satisfy the young boy’s curiosity, so he kept asking his father,
“Why are you crying, Daddy?”
Finally, the man pulled his son up close and whispered something into his ear. The boy then crawled down quickly and ran to his mom, who was sitting across the room. He took her by the hand, looked into her eyes and explained,
“Daddy said he’s crying because he loves you so much.”
We have a generation of children today who desperately need to look into the eyes of Mom and Dad and see two people deeply in love with each other, committed to one another for life and honoring God in their relationship. If God has blessed your life with children, make sure your children know and see your love regularly. Make the marriage they see in you the same type of relationship they’ll want one day for themselves. (Moments with You Couples Devotional by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)
THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALS THE TEACHING OF CHRIST
When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.
John 16:13
The Holy Spirit not only reveals the person and the work of Christ. He also reveals the teaching of Christ. Our Lord said to the disciples before He left them, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12-13). That is, “He will remind you of the things I have said and that you cannot grasp now, and He will make them plain to you.”
So if you are in trouble about the understanding of the Gospel, ask God to give you His Spirit in all His fullness, and you will begin to understand. The fatal thing in these matters is to bring your natural intellect to bear upon them: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Read 1 Corinthians 2, and understand that these things are in a different realm, they belong to a different order, and the only way to understand the teaching of the New Testament about Christ’s personal work and teaching is to have the eyes of your understanding enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if you are in trouble, do not waste your time trying to read books of philosophy about these matters; do not try to grasp them with the natural intellect, for that is impossible. We are dealing with miracles. We are in the realm of the supernatural and the spiritual, and the only hope for us is that the Holy Spirit will come with that unction, with His eye salve, to anoint our eyes so that they will be opened to the blessed truth.
A Thought to Ponder: We are in the realm of the supernatural and the spiritual, and the only hope for us is the Holy Spirit. (From Saved in Eternity, pp. 90-91 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Our confidence must never be in our expertise or training or experience, but in God’s ability to use frail instruments filled with HIS Spirit. For this reason all pastoral work must be linked with prayer. (p. 160)
Our confidence that people will react and respond in the right way is not our confidence in human nature but our confidence regarding God’s working in them. (p. 161)
In Scotland a telephone call might be taken as unwillingness to go the extra mile (visiting in the home, whereas in America a visit to the home might be seen as an unnecessary exercise or even an intrusion. (p. 162)
Inevitably there will be occasions when people express criticism of other Christians. We have found it helpful to counter whatever is said by always saying something positive about the individual concerned, and then to deliberately include that person in a positive way in our concluding prayer together. (p. 165)
We must never forget that a purose of our visit is to get to know people and their circumstances well, so that we can be faithful in private prayer for them. (p. 165)
(ON BEING A PASTOR BY Derek J. Prime & Alistair Begg)
Paul Decker writes (NY): People have become so open-minded that their brains keep falling out.
Visit our Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.