In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign.
Pekah had murdered his way to Israel's throne, and the Bible dates Jotham's reign in Judah from Pekah's second year. Jotham came to power as an upright son of a father God had judged.
A Bible dictionary records what kind of man this Pekah was:
Son of Remaliah and captain to Pekahiah, king of Israel, whom he murdered, and then seized the throne: he reigned 20 years. He invaded Judah, and killed 120,000 in one day, and carried away 200,000 women, sons and daughters.
Why date a king of Judah by a king of Israel? One writer explains the plan of these two books:
The two Books of Kings retrace the history of the kings of Israel. They bring in the kings of Judah only as landmarks in the account, or to show how the two royal lines stood in relation to each other.
God's judgment had already fallen on his father Uzziah, and Jotham was running the kingdom in his place. One writer draws two conclusions from this — one about timing, one about the home Jotham came from:
"Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem." Jotham was regent over the kingdom after the judgment of God had fallen upon his father. "And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land." This shows that Uzziah committed his irreverent trespass in the very last part of his long reign. Jotham was only a young man of twenty-five when his father died... His mother was Jerushah, whose name means "possessed," and she was the daughter of Zadok, whose name means "just." This suggests that she truly belonged to the Lord, and was just before Him. Like every true mother, she would have had great influence in shaping her son's character.
Jotham did what was right, yet he stayed outside the temple. One writer finds two very different fears behind that:
The divine judgment on his father clearly moved King Jotham deeply, for "he did not enter the temple of the LORD." David was "afraid of the LORD" after Uzzah died for touching the ark, and Jotham was plainly the same. Reverential fear made king Jotham do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. But slavish fear kept him from God's presence.
Jotham was a builder, and one writer finds the clue to his whole reign in a single gate:
The "upper gate" led from the king's house to the temple, and Jotham's building it (rebuilding, or repairing) is very significant. He wanted free access from his own house to that of the Lord. He wanted to strengthen the link between the two houses. To use a military picture, he kept his supply line open to the source of his strength and wisdom. This is one of the secrets of his prosperity and power.
Jotham walked uprightly. His people did not, and that did not cancel the blessing on his reign:
Jotham, the son of Uzziah, walks uprightly. He avoids his father's fault. But the people are still corrupt. Even so, Jotham's faithfulness brings him blessing and prosperity. For it is always the state of the king which is the object of God's judgment. The people as such had failed long before.
He left one thing undone. Another writer names it, alongside all that made his reign strong:
Jotham became mighty "because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God." With so much to commend his reign, it is sad to read, "Nevertheless, the high places were not removed." How good it would have been if Jotham had shown the same zeal for removing what offended his God that he showed in his wars and in building his cities, castles and towers.
One writer measures Jotham against every other king in the line, then sets a careful limit on what that record proves:
Jotham is the only one of all the Hebrew kings, from Saul onward, against whom God has nothing to record. His character matches his name, Jehovah-perfect. "The whole world," we know, is "held accountable to God." "All have sinned," God says. But in his public life, Jotham, like Daniel, was perfect, or blameless... Man saw nothing to condemn: Daniel knew God's eye saw much.
- Dated — Pekah's second year clocks the start of Jotham's reign. Kings follows Israel's line and brings Judah in as a landmark beside it.
- Shaped — He ruled for his father under God's judgment. His mother's name marked her as the Lord's. Both shaped the king he became.
- Restrained — His father's judgment kept Jotham out of the temple. Reverent fear made him do right; slavish fear held him back from God's presence.
- Connected — He built the gate between palace and temple. That open line to God, not his walls, is a secret of his power.
- Unfinished — The high places stayed, and the people stayed corrupt. God's judgment weighed the king's own state, not the nation's.
He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
Jotham's reign opens with three plain facts: his age, his years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name. Behind that short summary stands a rare king — Scripture records nothing evil against him — yet his people stayed corrupt.
Jotham came to the throne at twenty-five. He had already been running the kingdom while his father Uzziah lived under God's judgment. One commentator reads his age as a clue to when Uzziah's sin happened:
Jotham ruled the kingdom in his father's place after God's judgment fell on Uzziah. "And Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land" (2 Chronicles 26:21). This shows that Uzziah committed his sin against God in the very last part of his long reign. Jotham was only a young man of twenty-five when his father died, so he could not have been judging the people of the land many years before this.
Why was the son governing at all? His father had reached for authority that was not his:
The idea of his dignity, of his great importance as king, led him, the civil power, to take over religious authority. The Lord judges Uzziah by striking him with leprosy. This authority, which he was so proud of and for which he had not given the Lord the honour, passes from him to his son Jotham years before his death.
The verse bothers to record Jerusha, daughter of Zadok. That habit is itself worth noticing:
His mother, Jerusha, daughter of Zadok, was probably of the priestly family. In her we again see the blessed role that the mothers of Judah's kings played. There is nothing like this among the kings of Israel.
One commentator draws meaning from the two names themselves:
His mother's name, Jerusha, means "possessed," and Zadok means "just." This seems to imply that she was really the Lord's, and just before Him. Like every true mother, she would have had considerable influence over her son in forming his character.
His reign was short. The verdict on it is unlike any other king's:
"All his wars" implies that he fought his enemies throughout his sixteen-year reign. He subdued some, like the Ammonites, and drove back the invasions of others (Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel). His "ways" too were written. God calls His saints to walk as well as to fight... Jotham is the only one of all the Hebrew kings, from Saul down, against whom God has nothing to record. In this, his character matches his name, which means "the Lord is perfect." "All have sinned," God says. But in his public life Jotham was perfect, or blameless.
He put his energy into war and building, and he left the high places standing:
Like his father, Jotham prospered in battle, and he made his name as a builder of cities and towers. He became mighty "because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." So much in his reign is worth praising. That makes it sad to read, "The people still acted corruptly" (2 Chronicles 27:2), and "Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places" (2 Kings 15:35). If only Jotham had shown the same zeal for removing what offended his God that he showed in his wars and in building his cities, castles and towers.
The crown changed what God required of him:
Before he came to the throne, judgment fell on his father for wrongly forcing his way into the holy place to burn incense, and Jotham governed the land (chapter 26:21). But God's estimate of his character and reign refers to him after his father's death. As the anointed king, God held him more directly responsible — for his own state, and for the state of his people and kingdom. Everywhere in Scripture the higher the position, the greater the responsibility. In the Lord's own words, to whom much is given, of him much is required.
- Home first. The verse names Jerusha, daughter of Zadok. Judah's kings have their mothers recorded; Israel's kings do not.
- Training next. At twenty-five he was no beginner. He had already judged the people while his father lived under God's judgment.
- Record clean. Sixteen short years, and not one charge against him. No other Hebrew king from Saul onward has that record.
- Strength borrowed. He became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God; that, not his walls, was the source.
- Reach limited. The high places stood and the people stayed corrupt. A faithful king can leave standing what he never had the zeal to attack.