June 20, 2025 -Footnotes and Podcasts
- brooks16055
- Jun 20
- 3 min read
2 KINGS 14:1-14
2 CHRONICLES 25:1-24
2 KINGS 13:12-13
2 KINGS 14:15-16
2 KINGS 14:23-27
2 CHRONICLES 25:25-28
2 KINGS 14:17-22
2 KINGS 15:1-5
2 CHRONICLES 26:1-21
JONAH 1:1-4:11
2 Kings 15:1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah[a] son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
5 The Lord afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house. Jotham the king’s son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
When I read this I was confused as to why God would afflict Azariah with leprosy if he "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord". I know that you can be faithful to God and still suffer from inllness and problems but when the bible says that God inflicted someone with something it is usually a form of punishment. So, I thought maybe in the Chronicles I could get some clarity.
2 Chronicles 26:3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
But instead of reading about Azariah king of Judah we read about Uzziah king of Jerusalem. But they both are sons of Amaziah, and their mother is Jekoliah. They both reigned for 52 years. Sounds like the same person. So, I had to go back and look at 2 Kings again. When you click on the [a] after the name Azariah it takes you to the reading for the day. This is one reading that you want to click on all the bracketed letters which are footnotes. Including the ones after leprosy and living in a separate house. It is nice to see a young man who "sought God...who instructed him in the fear of God." But it was only as "long as he sought the Lord" did he have success. He was so successful that he because well-known among many.
2 Chronicles 26:16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
How easy it is to become prideful when things are going well. Pride can be our downfall as well. When I read how he was so prideful that he did what only the descendants of Aaron were consecrated to do. And instead of being convicted and repentant when confronted he raged at the priests. No I understand why he was given a skin disease that resulted in him being removed from his place where he was relieved of his responsibilities.
Jonah 1-4
I just started listening to a podcast called Exploring My Strange Bible. It is by one of the founders of the Bible Project that I have shared some videos of in the past. His first series on the podcast is 5 sermons to cover the book of Jonah. I won't try to share with you all the stuff he covers. I will just share the link below. Very worth listening to.
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