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2 Chronicles 27:6,
"So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God."
Only 9 verses are written about King Jotham, but we see he is one of the few Kings that, "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD," (27:2) - "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."
He learned from his fathers error not to be presumptuous and try to take on responsibilities only reserved for the priests, for Uzziah had entered the temple to burn incense, which we see in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21,
"But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.
Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.
And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.
And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land."
Jotham truly learned from this; seeing his father a leper and put out from the house of Yahweh, and could not even be in his own house, the King's house. It's rather sad, all because a man was lifted up in pride thinking he can just go ahead and go against the law of God as revealed to Moses. King Saul also did a similar thing, when he went to enquire of the witch of Endor, all because God was silent to him. He lost his kingdom and his life over that! These things should tell us, do not presume it's ok to do something that's against God's law. Forbidden is forbidden, and is sin, and sin has its consequences.
Now when it says Jotham prepared his ways before the LORD his God, the word prepared in Hebrew means to be firm, stable, and established: fixed securely, directed aright; prepared, fastened. It denotes a firm resolve to walk before the LORD in integrity, and to do that which is right, without turning to the right hand or the left, which basically means, not being sidetracked, or led astray. It means staying focussed and resolved on the path you are following: in this case, to serve the LORD.
We also see that even though the people did corruptly, Jotham was undeterred and was steadfast in his walk with God. "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 an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third." (27:4-5)
Here is a case where God blessed one man, even though the people were corrupt. It doesn't go into any detail about what they did here in Chronicles, but in 2 Kings 15:32-38 we find some other information that's not in Chronicles:
"And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok." (2 Kings 15:33) That's important because Zadok the High Priest during the reign of David and Solomon was a descendant of Eliazar, the son of Aaron, and Ezekiel 44:15 has this to say:
"But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:"
Then in 2 Kings 15:35 we find this, "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."
Then we find this,
" In those days the LORD 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 his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead." (2 Kings 15:37-38)
Perhaps this was because Jotham could not restrain the people, to stop them from their idolatry in the high places? It seems to be inferred here. However, because he himself "prepared his ways before the LORD his God," he does appear to have been blessed for a time during his 16 year reign, and I can't help but to think his mother being a daughter of Zadok had some godly influence in his life, which is probably why that little tidbit is given there as to who his mother was.
To conclude, we should all prepare our ways before the LORD our God, no matter what those around us do.
"So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God."
Only 9 verses are written about King Jotham, but we see he is one of the few Kings that, "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD," (27:2) - "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."
He learned from his fathers error not to be presumptuous and try to take on responsibilities only reserved for the priests, for Uzziah had entered the temple to burn incense, which we see in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21,
"But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.
Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.
And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.
And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land."
Jotham truly learned from this; seeing his father a leper and put out from the house of Yahweh, and could not even be in his own house, the King's house. It's rather sad, all because a man was lifted up in pride thinking he can just go ahead and go against the law of God as revealed to Moses. King Saul also did a similar thing, when he went to enquire of the witch of Endor, all because God was silent to him. He lost his kingdom and his life over that! These things should tell us, do not presume it's ok to do something that's against God's law. Forbidden is forbidden, and is sin, and sin has its consequences.
Now when it says Jotham prepared his ways before the LORD his God, the word prepared in Hebrew means to be firm, stable, and established: fixed securely, directed aright; prepared, fastened. It denotes a firm resolve to walk before the LORD in integrity, and to do that which is right, without turning to the right hand or the left, which basically means, not being sidetracked, or led astray. It means staying focussed and resolved on the path you are following: in this case, to serve the LORD.
We also see that even though the people did corruptly, Jotham was undeterred and was steadfast in his walk with God. "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 an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third." (27:4-5)
Here is a case where God blessed one man, even though the people were corrupt. It doesn't go into any detail about what they did here in Chronicles, but in 2 Kings 15:32-38 we find some other information that's not in Chronicles:
"And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok." (2 Kings 15:33) That's important because Zadok the High Priest during the reign of David and Solomon was a descendant of Eliazar, the son of Aaron, and Ezekiel 44:15 has this to say:
"But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:"
Then in 2 Kings 15:35 we find this, "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."
Then we find this,
" In those days the LORD 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 his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead." (2 Kings 15:37-38)
Perhaps this was because Jotham could not restrain the people, to stop them from their idolatry in the high places? It seems to be inferred here. However, because he himself "prepared his ways before the LORD his God," he does appear to have been blessed for a time during his 16 year reign, and I can't help but to think his mother being a daughter of Zadok had some godly influence in his life, which is probably why that little tidbit is given there as to who his mother was.
To conclude, we should all prepare our ways before the LORD our God, no matter what those around us do.
