Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Kings 15:38

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Judah’s decline under Ahaz (15:27-16:20)

The writer of Kings records the Assyrian attack mentioned above. Pekah’s policy had proved fatal and he was assassinated by Hoshea, a sympathizer with Assyria. Hoshea then became king and won temporary relief for Israel by submitting to Assyria’s control (27-31).

Before speaking further of Hoshea, the writer returns to the time before Pekah was assassinated. Pekah’s program for the conquest of Judah had begun during the reign of Jotham, but reached its climax in the reign of Jotham’s successor Ahaz. The aggression of Israel-Syria and the constant threat from Assyria prompted Jotham to build defence fortifications throughout Judah. He also made his borders secure by taking control of neighbouring Ammon (32-38; 2 Chronicles 27:3-6).

Because of his lack of faith in God, Ahaz had a disastrous reign. Apart from the damage he did to Judah by following other gods, he almost ruined the nation’s economy by his policies in the war with Israel and Syria. Buying Assyrian aid did not save him from heavy losses in the war, and he would have suffered even more had not Israel released the war prisoners taken from Judah. His weakened country suffered further at the hands of invading Edomites from the south and Philistines from the west. He also lost the Red Sea port of Elath (Ezion-geber) (16:1-9; 2 Chronicles 28:5-18).

Earlier, after losing a battle with Syria, Ahaz had turned from Yahweh to worship the ‘victorious’ Syrian gods. He closed the temple to Yahweh in Jerusalem and built altars to foreign gods throughout Judah (2 Chronicles 28:22-25). But Assyria, acting on Ahaz’s request, had now conquered Syria (see v. 9) and established its religion and its administration in Damascus. Ahaz now replaced the Syrians’ religion with the Assyrians’, and built a copy of their altar in Jerusalem (10-16). Ahaz’s hiring of Assyria was so costly that he removed valuable metal from the temple to pay Tiglath-pileser (17-20). (It was after this conquest of Syria that Tiglath-pileser overran eastern and northern Israel; see 15:29.)

The importance of Isaiah

There was great variety in the kinds of people God chose to be his prophets. Whereas Amos was a poor farmer, Isaiah was a person of high social standing, an adviser to the king who was able to influence national policy. His ministry had begun long before the time of Ahaz. It began in the year of Uzziah’s death and continued through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 6:1). The traditional belief is that he was executed during the reign of the wicked Manasseh by being sawn in two (cf. 21:1-2,16; Hebrews 11:37).

In the early part of the book of Isaiah, the prophet records his attempts to persuade Ahaz to trust in God, not in Assyria, to save Judah from the Israel-Syrian invasion. In the next part of the book he records his attempts to control the zeal of the good king Hezekiah, who was rather too keen to rely on help from Egypt in revolting against Assyria (see notes on 18:1-20:21). Isaiah shows that all these nations, and others as well, were under God’s judgment. Judah too would be punished for its sin, and its people taken into captivity.
The final section of the book of Isaiah shows that God would not cast off his people for ever. He would preserve that minority of people who had always remained faithful to him, and through them he would rebuild the nation. God’s people would return to their land and enjoy peace and prosperity once more. The Messiah-king would come, and his kingdom would spread to all nations.

Micah accuses the rich landowners

No doubt one man who cooperated with Isaiah was Micah, who prophesied during the same period of Judah’s history (Isaiah 1:1; Micah 1:1). While Isaiah was using his influence at Jerusalem’s royal court, Micah was coming to the aid of the small farmers. (He came from a farming village and was probably a farmer himself; Micah 1:1,Micah 1:14.) As Amos and Hosea had done before him, he condemned the injustice, greed and false religion that were widespread in Judah, especially among the upper class people of Jerusalem (Micah 3:1-3,Micah 3:9-11; Micah 6:9-12; Micah 7:3).

Micah was particularly concerned at how the rich ruthlessly gained possession of the land of the small farmers. They lent money to the farmers at high interest, then, when the farmers found it impossible to pay their debts, seized the farmers’ houses and land as payment (Micah 2:1-3,Micah 2:9). The farmers then were required to rent their land from their new masters, which increased their burden even more. The state of affairs showed no thought for the rights of others, no understanding of true religion, and no knowledge of the character of God. It was a sure indication that Judah was heading for judgment (Micah 3:12; Micah 6:16).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE REIGN OF JOTHAM, SON OF AZARIAH, KING OF JUDAH

"In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign. Five and twenty years was he when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Howbeit, the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? In those days Jehovah began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead."

One is aware of the chronological difficulties with some of the statements regarding all these kings; but, as LaSor said, "Jotham not only had twelve years of co-regency with Uzziah; but Ahaz also was co-regent with Jotham during Jotham's last four years."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 360. The purpose of the sacred writer in these chapters was that of outlining the final destruction of the "sinful kingdom" (Amos 9:8) of God's apostate chosen people; and, quite frankly, the exact length of the reign of "King X" or "King Y" actually has little or no importance whatever.

Evidently, the purpose of Pekah's campaign against Judah was to put a king in Jerusalem in place of Ahaz who would join Pekah in his alliance with Syria. See Isaiah 7:1-8. Of course, Syria aided Pekah in that vain endeavor.

In this chapter the stage was set for the final destruction of Samaria and the deportation of Northern Israel to Assyria; but also, there would be grave danger to Jerusalem and Judah. Only the providence of God spared the Southern Israel awhile longer. However, they would not give up their idolatry; so, after an extended day of grace reaching down to the times of Zedekiah, God executed the same punishment upon Judah and Jerusalem that befell Samaria and Northern Israel.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 15

He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, he reigned for fifty-two years ( 2 Kings 15:2 ).

One of the longest reigns.

He did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; except that he left the high places where the people were sacrificing. And the LORD smote the king with leprosy ( 2 Kings 15:3-5 ).

We will get the full story of this when we get to Chronicles.

until the day of his death. [And so his son was sort of a go-between.] Jotham his son was over the house, judging the people [but Uzziah was the king though leprous] ( 2 Kings 15:5 ).

Very popular king. A very good king. In fact, during his reign as we get into the Chronicles, it will tell us that the name Uzziah was on the lips of all the people. They were all, he was a powerful, strong leader, good king and the people really came to trust in him and all because he had brought the kingdom into a place of prosperity.

Now the rest of the acts of Azariah ( 2 Kings 15:6 ),

We're going to get when we get to Second Chronicles.

So Azariah slept with his fathers; they buried him in the city of David: and Jotham his son began to reign in his stead. And in the thirty-eighth year of Azariah the king of Judah Zachariah who was the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel and he reigned for six months ( 2 Kings 15:7-8 ).

Very short reign.

He did evil in the sight of the LORD. And Shallum conspired against him, and killed him and reigned in his stead ( 2 Kings 15:9-10 ).

Now, he was the fourth generation from Jehu, so the Lord promised four generations to Jehu. And with the death of Jeroboam that ends the line or the dynasty of Jehu. And thus, the word of the Lord was fulfilled when He promised Jehu four generations.

"Shallum conspired and killed him in order that he might have the throne and he reigned for a full month in Samaria." Ain't that the way it goes? You know, you spend your whole life to fulfill an ambition. I'm finally there. Alright, I've got it made. And then you get wiped out. So many people, you know, they finally, oh, I finally retired. And in a month they're gone. I was talking with old railroad man down in Moundsville, Virginia, West Virginia. And he worked for the B & L Railroad. He said, "I've been working for them for fifty-seven years." I said, "When are you going to retire?" And he got angry at me. I said, "Why? I didn't mean to offend you, what's wrong?" He said, "When you retire from the railroad, you die." And he told me all of his friends that have retired and died within the year. So he said, "You ought to just keep going." So he was still going on the railroad. And but here is one of those things of life, you know, it's interesting how so often when a person just gets to the place of the achieving of all of his dreams and goals, that it's sort of...

Remember in the New Testament Jesus told about this guy, successful farmer and all. And he said, "Well, what am I going to do? My barns are full. I know what I'm going to do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger and all." And the Lord said, "Thou fool, tonight your soul's going to be required of you" ( Luke 12:16-20 ). Life hangs on such a tenuous string. We need to be not laying up store for this life, but laying up store for the life to come, which will never end. We put much too much into this life. An emphasis into this life and much too little emphasis and input into the other life, the eternal life that we have.

And so he reigned for a month in Samaria and he was assassinated.

And the rest of his acts of conspiracy are written in the books of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ( 2 Kings 15:15 ).

And Menahem smote... he became the king and he smote the cities of Tiphsah, and all of the area around it, Tirzah, and he smote it and he ripped up all the pregnant women.

In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah the king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, he reigned for ten years. He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. And during his reign, Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and he bought him off with a thousand talents of silver, which he exacted from all of the wealthy people in the land ( 2 Kings 15:17-20 ).

And his death is recorded in verse twenty-one.

And his acts the rest of them are in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And in the fiftieth year of Azariah the king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for only two years. And did evil in the sight of the LORD. And Pekah who was the son of the captain, conspired against him, and killed him in Samaria ( 2 Kings 15:21 , 2 Kings 15:23-25 ).

So Pekahiah was killed by Pekah. And that's why getting into these kings can sometimes get confusing because of the various names, and sometimes they have two names.

Pekah reigned over Israel beginning in the fifty-second year of the last year of king Uzziah, and he reigned for twenty years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD. [And during his reign,] Tiglathpileser the king of Assyria, took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and all of the Galilee and the area of the tribe of Naphtali ( 2 Kings 15:27-29 ).

So all of the area around the sea of Galilee and upper Galilee, and he carried captives to Syria. So the southern, or the northern kingdom is falling now more and more to Assyria.

Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah, smote him, and killed him, and he reigned in his stead, and in the twentieth year of Jotham who was the son of Uzziah, he began to reign ( 2 Kings 15:30 ).

And now we go back to Judah, the son of Uzziah, Jotham.

In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel Jotham began to reign in Judah. He [reigned he] was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, he reigned for sixteen years. His mother's name was Jerusha. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Except he did not remove the high places ( 2 Kings 15:32-35 ):

And his acts are told in Second Chronicles, and we'll learn more about him later. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

14. Jotham’s good reign in Judah 15:32-38

Jotham’s 16-year reign over Judah (750-735 B.C.) began while Pekah was in power in Gilead. He shared the last four of these years with his coregent son Ahaz.

Jotham added the upper gate of the temple (2 Kings 15:35), an opening between the outer and inner courts on the north side of the temple near the altar of burnt offerings. Other names for it were the upper Benjamin gate (Jeremiah 20:2), the new gate (Jeremiah 26:10; Jeremiah 36:10), the north gate (Ezekiel 8:3), and the altar gate (Ezekiel 8:5). This shows his concern for Yahweh’s reputation in Judah (cf. 2 Chronicles 27:3-6).

The Syro-Ephraimitic alliance, to which the writer referred briefly in 2 Kings 15:37, features significantly in 2 Kings 16:5-8 and Isaiah 7:1-17. Judah’s neighbors to the north and east were eager to secure Judah’s help in combating the growing Assyrian threat. They turned against Judah because Judah did not join them (2 Kings 15:37). The reasons for this will follow in the discussion of Ahaz, Judah’s king (ch. 16). [Note: See B. Oded, "The Historical Background of the Syro-Ephraimitic War Reconsidered," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 34:2 (April 1972):153-65.]

15. Ahaz’s evil reign in Judah ch. 16

Ahaz reigned for 16 years (732-715 B.C.). Before that he was his father Jotham’s coregent for four years (735-732 B.C.). [Note: For explanation of the complexities of dating Ahaz’s vice-regency under Jotham (744-735 B.C.) and his coregency with Jotham (735-732 B.C.), see Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., pp. 402-5. See also Hubbard, p. 201.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father,.... Died, and was buried with the kings of Judah in their sepulchres:

and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead; an account of whose reign we have in the next chapter.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.   33 Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.   34 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.   35 Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.   36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?   37 In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.   38 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

      We have here a short account of the reign of Jotham king of Judah, of whom we are told, 1. That he reigned very well, did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,2 Kings 15:34; 2 Kings 15:34. Josephus gives him a very high character, stating that he was pious towards God, just towards men, and laid out himself for the public good,--that, whatever was amiss, he took care to have it rectified,--and, in short, wanted no virtue that became a good prince. Though the high places were not taken away, yet to draw people from them, and keep them close to God's holy place, he showed great respect to the temple, and built the higher gate which he went through to the temple. If magistrates cannot do all they would for the suppressing of vice and profaneness, let them do so much the more for the support and advancement of piety and virtue, and the bringing of them into reputation. If they cannot pull down the high places of sin, yet let them build and beautify the high gate of God's house. 2. That he died in the midst of his days, 2 Kings 15:33; 2 Kings 15:33. Of most of the kings of Judah we are told how old they were when they began their reign, and by that may compute how old they were when they died; but no account is kept of the age of any of the kings of Israel that I remember, only of the years of their reigns. This honour God would put upon the kings of the house of David above those of other families. And by these accounts it appears that there was none of all the kings of Judah that reached David's age, seventy, the common age of man. Asa's age I do not find. Uzziah lived to be sixty-eight, Manasseh sixty-seven, and Jehoshaphat sixty; and these were the three oldest; many of those that were of note did not reach fifty. This Jotham died at forty-one. He was too great a blessing to be continued long to such an unworthy people. His death was a judgment, especially considering the character of his son and successor. 3. That in his days the confederacy was formed against Judah by Rezin and Remaliah's son, the king of Syria and the king of Israel, which appeared so very formidable in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz that, upon notice of it, the heart of that prince was moved and the heart of the people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind,Isaiah 7:2. The confederates were unjust in the attempt, yet it is here said (2 Kings 15:37; 2 Kings 15:37), The Lord began to send them against Judah, as he bade Shimei curse David, and took away from Job what the Sabeans robbed him of. Men are God's hand--the sword, the rod in his hand--which he makes use of as he pleases to serve his own righteous counsels, though men be unrighteous in their intentions. This storm gathered in the reign of pious Jotham, but he came to his grave in peace and it fell upon his degenerate son.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

But not merely this. "Elisha died and they buried him" (2 Kings 13:20). Was not Elisha gone then? Not so. There was to be even a more glorious witness in his death than in his life. In his life, no doubt, he had witnessed; but with what great toil and anxiety and pains! stretching himself over the dead youth, he had breathed, and put his face upon the child's face; and so it was, laboriously and with effort in appearance, that God raised him up. For God would show the magnitude of the deed that he was doing then, and although it was in no wise because of all the labour of the prophet, since God could have done it in an instant as truly at the beginning as at the end, yet still it was the way of God. But not so now. Even in death what a witness of the power of life, in Elisha, for, as we are told, "It came to pass as they were burying a man that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood upon his feet." And so will Israel another day not more truly that dead man then, than Israel by-and-by, when all seems forgotten and Israel as good as dead, and buried in response to the prophets, in answer to that voice which will never be truly extinguished, though it may be forgotten or despised, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, and the hand of the Lord had written it. And according to the prophets Israel will rise again.

They may be, as now they are politically, in the dust of the earth, but they will rise again. This is the portion of Israel. There are those who suppose that nations shall not rise. Alas! it is a common error. And there is no error more common in this day than the denying the resurrection of the body, but we know that the resurrection of the body is the most essential truth of God and the most sacred truth and the peculiar one of the gospel. For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not risen, and God's testimony is denied, for God's testimony is that He raised Christ from the dead which He has not done if the dead rise not. But contrariwise He raised Him up, and so the dead will be raised; and as the dead man here undoubtedly rises, so truly Israel will rise again, and, in truth, it will be "life from the dead" for all the nations. Such is the clear voice of prophecy, and it will be accomplished.

But we find that Hazael still pursues his oppression. Such is the literal history; such is the fact, for the present; such it was then.

And then in the next chapter (2 Kings 14:1-29), whatever might be the measure of right, evil takes its way even in Judah. "And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hands, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father. But the children of the murderers he slew not; according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. He slew of Edom, in the valley of salt, ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day." Amaziah thus shows a measure of righteousness, but his heart becomes, at last, lifted up within him, and he challenges the king of Israel; and the solemn fact appears that God will never sanction the presumption of a righteous man, that God will rather take the part of the bad man who is challenged presumptuously than of the righteous man that challenges him presumptuously. It is a solemn thing when the folly of God's people thus makes it necessary for God so to deal. It was so then, but the truth is, God will always be where righteousness is, and there is not a single failure in righteousness though it be in God's own people, where God does not set His face against it.

Does this then prove that the one is not a righteous man? Not so. But even where the unrighteous man may be righteous, and where the righteous man may be unrighteous, God will appear to change sides. The truth is, that God holds to righteousness wherever it exists. This is what we find, and to my own mind it is a most wholesome principle, and one that counts for a great deal in practical life, because often one sees the sad spectacle in one truly to be loved and valued, but a mistake is made never without its consequences. An error that is made always bears its fruit. Am I therefore to forget my love and esteem for him who has done it? Nay, I am to judge according to God the particular thing; but to let the heart and its affections flow in their proper channel. God would not have us to abandon, any more than He does Himself, the one who trusts Him, for swerving for a moment. God would not have us to sanction an unrighteous man because in a particular instance he may be right; nor, on the other hand, are we to sanction an unrighteous act because done by a righteous man. Well, all this shows us the nice and jealous care in details in details for righteousness. And this is to my mind the great moral of the dealings of God regarding Amaziah and Joash, and the reason why the comparatively righteous Amaziah was allowed to fall before the certainly unrighteous Joash.

Then we find another remarkable dealing of God in the case of Azariah in the fifteenth chapter. We are told there that he was found smitten of the Lord. "And Jehovah smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house." The details of this are not given. He is called here Azariah. You must remember it is the same person who is called Uzziah in the book of Chronicles. But further, at this time evil was coming in more and more with a flood, and we have the sad and humbling history of Samaria. What brought in this terrible day was Ahaz so it is that the Spirit of God speaks of him for Ahaz was the worst king that had ever reigned in Judah up to this point. He it was that first brought in the Assyrian as a helper. At this time the Assyrian had come in in another way. We are told of Azariah king of Judah that "In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land."

The solemn thing that appears in Ahaz that I have referred to was that the conspiracy of Israel with Syria led Judah to call in Assyria against Israel. That is the point. It is not merely the only course of enmity that the Assyrian would have against the land. This is the point of the fifteenth chapter; but in the sixteenth it is a still more solemn thing; it is the union of Judah with the Gentile against Israel. And, accordingly, God marks His deep displeasure of this terrible reign. Indeed in every point of view it was unboundedly evil. What did God do? What marked the way of God in that day? It was the time when God brought out prophecy with a greater brightness and distinctness than He had ever been pleased to give. This is of the greatest moment for our souls to consider.

Prophecy always comes in a time of ruin. When was the first prophecy? When man fell. When was the first continuous prophecy prophecy not merely of a person that was coming, but of the character of him that was coming, and what was to be done that which most of all looks like a prophecy? It was Enoch's, when the world was full of corruption and violence, and the flood was about to be sent upon it. Thus if we look either at the prophecy of the Son, of man the woman's Seed, or look at the first form of prophecy, Enoch's, we see how clearly the time of ruin is the time when God gives prophecy. In the same way it is, when we come lower down the stream of time. The most magnificent burst of prophecy that God ever gave was through Isaiah, and Isaiah began his course under these very kings in the days of Azariah and Ahaz. It was continued, indeed, till the days of Hezekiah, but it was in these very times. And there was not Isaiah alone. We know there were other prophets, commonly called The Minor; but I refer to it now for the great moral principle. A time of evil is not necessarily a time of evil for the people of God. It is evil for those' that are false; it is evil for those that would take advantage. But a time of evil is a time when God particularly works for the blessing of those that may have failed. Therefore let no one find an excuse because things are in a condition of ruin.

Take the present time. No man can look upon the face of Christendom without feeling that it is out of joint that it is altogether anomalous that the state of things is inexplicable except to the man who reads it in the light of the word of God that it is confusion, and that the worst confusion is where the highest profession of order is found, and that the truest order is found where people would tax them with disorder; for I believe in point of fact, it really is so. You must remember that in an evil day the external order is always with the enemies of God; the true internal order is always found with those that have faith. Hence it is that now that which has the highest pretension to order is, as we know, the Eastern church the Latin church; but of all the things under the sun in the form of religion, that which is most opposed to God is, surely, the Latin church. And therefore we see clearly how those who make the highest claim to order are precisely those that are most opposed to God's way, and the reason is plain because the great assumption, invariably, of those that stand to outward order is succession a plain continued title from God!

But this is a thing which prophecy so rudely breaks this dream of outward order which is a mere veil thrown over confusion, and every evil work. Hence the immense importance of prophecy in a time of ruin, and so it has been that since the ruin came into Christendom, prophecy has always been the grand support of those who have had faith; as, on the other hand, the Latin church has always been the deadly enemy of prophecy always endeavoured to extinguish the study of it and to destroy all faith in it, and to make people believe that it is impossible to have real light from it that it is an illusion, as indeed they would make you believe the word of God generally is.

Now, then, in this very place I call your attention, beloved friends, to this grand point. When this evil became insupportable, God granted this precious light of His own word the light of prophecy, and I would press this strongly upon all here who love the word of the Lord. Use the same thing, not by any means to make it a kind of study a kind of exclusive occupation, for nothing can be more drying up to spiritual affections than making, what I may call, a hobby of prophecy or of anything else; but I do say that where Christ has the first place, where all the precious hopes of grace, where all our associations with the Lord have their true place and power, a most important part is filled up by the understanding of that light which God gives to judge the present by the future. This was the object of the prophecies of Isaiah, for it is a very important thing to remember that the object of prophecy is, and must be, moral that it is not merely facts; and there is no greater mistake than to suppose that the prediction of events is what makes a prophet. Not so. I admit that prophets did predict events, but prophecy does not mean predicting. Prophecy is always bringing in God to deal with the conscience. If that is not done the grand object of prophecy has failed. And here you have a test, therefore, as to whether you understand and rightly use prophecy. Does it bring your conscience into the presence of God? Does it deal with what you are about? Does it judge the secrets of the heart? Does it shine upon your ways? Where this fails, God's object is not attained. I just draw attention, therefore, by the way, to this beautiful contrast to man's ways on the one hand this flood of evil that was now rising to its height. Nevertheless God, astonishing to say, instead of meeting it by immediate judgment answers it by prophecy. The glorious light that He caused to shine through the prophet Isaiah was His answer. No doubt that made the wickedness of what was going on in the land more apparent, but it had another purpose; it bound up the hopes of every believing soul in Israel with the Messiah that was coming. That was God's great object. It dissociated them from present things, giving them a sound judgment, and means to form an estimate of it, but it bound up their hearts with the Lord.

Therefore I need not say much about the enormous wickedness of Ahaz, which is brought before us in the sixteenth chapter, nor will I do more than just refer to the seventeenth chapter. There the Assyrian comes, but he comes now as an avenger; he comes as a scourge. He sweeps the land, and the ten tribes are carried away never to return till Jesus returns. The ten tribes from that day disappeared from the land of Israel. What took their place what formed the kingdom of Samaria was a mere mass of heathen that took up the forms of Israel that had been left behind, for God in a remarkable way visited the land. When the Assyrians were planted in the devastated cities of Israel they set up their old Assyrian religion, and the Lord sent lions among them. They understood it. Man has a conscience. They understood it; they knew that it was a voice from the God of Israel. It was the God of Israel that claimed that land. No doubt they thought to propitiate Him by renewing the old worship of Israel, and in their folly they sent for a priest of Israel from the captivity, and the old religion, accordingly, was brought in a most strange medley of the nominal worship of Jehovah and real idolatry. But so it was. Thus began not the Samaritan kingdom but the Samaritan religion the mixture of Judaism and idolatry carried on by heathen.

On this I do not now say more than just refer to it. It was a sad succession for a sad people. The ten tribes now dispersed in Assyria awaiting the day when the Saviour will awake them from the dust of the earth when the Saviour will call them back to the land of their inheritance. But we must look at other scriptures before we reach that blessed point.