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.
And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
Kings sums up Jotham's reign in one line: he did right, in the pattern of his father Uzziah — the headstrong king who had lifted himself up before the high priest. Commentators weigh both halves of that verdict.
The phrase "according to all that his father Uzziah had done" is praise with a ceiling. One writer weighs what it means that a son copied this particular father:
We may still ask what exactly is meant by Jotham walking in his father's steps. It means, we judge, that it was good as far as it went, but it was not godliness or obedience of the highest kind. Of both Hezekiah and Josiah the record says that David their father was their model. David was the man after God's own heart; Uzziah was not, and to remember this is to see the difference... Believers today fall into the same mistake. They make their parents' walk their standard, or the walk of other Christians they admire — instead of the walk of the only perfect Example.
Chronicles explains where this king's power came from:
The account in Chronicles teaches us that Jotham "became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God." Godliness is a source of strength for us too, and of spiritual power. The moment our ways are no longer ordered before God, strength leaves us. That is serious for all of us, and a thousand times more serious for anyone who carries a particular responsibility toward the people of God. But being aware of that strength carries a danger. We saw with Uzziah how that feeling pushed him to lift himself up before the high priest.
Chronicles adds one limit to the same verdict. Commentators differ on whether that limit is credit or loss. One sees a son who kept out of the place where his father had pushed in:
So we read that he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, "except he did not enter the temple of the LORD." He avoided the folly of his headstrong father. He did not rush in where angels fear to tread.
Another reads the same clause as a gap in his life, and turns it into a question for ordinary believers:
Jotham was not a worshipper, and so he did not meet the mind of the Lord... It is plain, therefore, that the Spirit of God marks it as a failure that Jotham did not enter the temple of the Lord. If so, is there no warning for us through Jotham? Sadly, many who profess to be Christians are not worshippers — and some of them are real Christians.
Jotham left the high places standing, yet he still cared about the temple itself:
Verse 35 tells us that, though Jotham failed to remove the high places from Judah, he did build the upper Gate of the house of the Lord. So despite his lack of faith in getting rid of the high places of worship, he did have serious respect for the house of the Lord, God's only centre of worship. 2 Chronicles 27 tells us also that he did a lot of building on the wall of Ophel — that wall speaks of godly separation.
One writer ties the corruption among the people to the king's own neglect:
As the anointed king he was responsible to know the Lord's mind, and to walk according to it, so that he might lead the people in the way of God's commandments. The higher the position, the greater the influence; and so Jotham's neglect of the temple could not fail to open the door to the corruptions which the Spirit of God has pointed out.
For all these limits, no charge stands against this king. One writer notes how rare that is:
Jotham is the only one of all the Hebrew kings, from Saul down, against whom God has nothing to record. In this his character is in beautiful accord with 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.
- Pattern — Jotham copied his father Uzziah. That was good as far as it went, but not the highest obedience: Uzziah was not the man after God's own heart.
- Standard — David was the model for Hezekiah and Josiah. Copy a parent or an admired Christian instead of the one perfect Example, and you repeat Jotham's mistake.
- Strength — He grew strong because he ordered his ways before God. When our ways are no longer ordered before God, strength leaves us.
- Restraint — He stayed out of the temple. Commentators differ on this: one sees a son who refused his father's folly, another sees a king who was not a worshipper.
- Reach — He left the high places standing. The higher the position, the greater the influence — and his neglect of the temple opened the door to corruption among the people.
Only, the high places were not removed the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. It was he who built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah.
Jotham's record in Kings is short and mostly good. Then one word turns the verdict: he built a new gate at the temple, but the shrines on the hills still stood.
One writer places Jotham between the idol-worshipping kings and the wholehearted ones. His weakness was the order of his priorities.
Jotham, king of Judah, held a position midway between these two classes. He was not an idolater, and yet the house of the Lord did not hold the place in his thoughts that it deserved. You could say he began his work outside the sanctuary. He went out to the mountains to build before he had gone into the sanctuary to worship. He stood on the battlefield before he had stood at the altar… True, he did much. He built castles and towers. He even went so far as to build the high gate of the temple of the Lord. Yet despite all this there was a "nevertheless" — the high places were not removed, and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.
God named one place for sacrifice, and that settled the matter.
The Word alone must govern them in everything to do with worship, as indeed in everything else. The Lord would choose His own centre. There His people must come with their burnt offerings and sacrifices… The time soon came, sadly, when Israel chose high places for themselves. Some of these were for idol worship, and some for the worship of the Lord. But all the high places were offensive in His sight, whatever the motives of those who set them up. They were the expression of self-will — of hearts not subject to His commandments. Some of Judah's best kings tolerated high places, not those dedicated to idols, we may be sure, but those where people professed to worship the Lord. This weakness is specially recorded of Jotham (2 Kings 15:35), Asa (2 Chron. 15:17), and Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:33).
Another writer shows why worship in the wrong place was still dangerous.
True, they offered the sacrifices and incense to the Lord. But Scripture said Jerusalem was "the place where people ought to worship." Many godly Israelites probably thought this departure unimportant. It only paved the way for greater and more serious violations of the law. God's people are only safe while they hold closely to the very letter of the word of God. The slightest departures are often the first step toward wide and serious disobedience to God's will as revealed in His Word.
One writer sees a deliberate choice in the gate at the end of the verse.
The "high 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 would strengthen the link between the two houses. To use a military picture, he kept his line of supply open to the source of his strength and wisdom. This is one of the secrets of his prosperity and power.
One writer links the two halves of Jotham's record.
Could there be a connection between Jotham not being a worshipper and the idol worship of the people? If the Lord had held His rightful place in Jotham's heart, such open disobedience and rebellion would have been an unbearable grief to him.
The same writer applies this to servants today.
There are servants today who work hard and eagerly, caring, or seeming to care, for the Lord's interests… They seek to guard God's people from the enemy's attacks. They are first to draw the sword in defence of the truth they have received. Yet they have never entered into the enjoyment of their highest privileges themselves. They serve outside, but they have not learned what it is to worship in the holiest. It was in this very thing, we judge, that Jotham failed.
Jotham's son Ahaz used the shrines his father had left standing.
"He sacrificed and made offerings on the high places" (not removed in Jotham's day, 2 Kings 15:35), "and on the hills and under every green tree." It seems strange that the best of men often have the worst of sons.
- Left — The high places stayed. A shrine of human choosing is self-will, however sincere the worship offered there.
- Built — The gate Jotham raised linked palace to temple. He kept his own line to God open, and it made him strong.
- Missed — He built outside before he worshipped inside. Service can run ahead of worship and still earn a good name.
- Spread — The king's heart shaped the nation. A heart that held God would have grieved over what the people did.
- Inherited — What one generation tolerates, the next uses. Ahaz burned incense in the very high places his father never pulled down.
And 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?
Verse 36 closes Jotham's reign the way Kings closes most reigns. The fuller account, it says, lies somewhere else. Two questions follow: which book it means, and what kind of king left a record this short.
The verse ends by pointing to another book. One writer lists books of this kind and shows how the writer of Kings used them.
In several places we find references to other books. They contain more about the life of the king in question, and the writer may have based his accounts on them. One is the book of the acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41). Others, named several times, are the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel (1 Kings 14:19; 2 Kings 15:31) and the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah (1 Kings 14:29; 2 Kings 24:5)... The author of the books of Kings was able to use these "references" under the guidance of the Holy Spirit while writing his godly inspired work.
The fuller record kept two things about this king: his wars and his ways. One commentator takes each word in turn.
"All his wars" implies that he kept fighting enemies through his sixteen years' reign. He subdued some, like the Ammonites. He drove back the invasions of others (Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel). His "ways" too were written. God's saints are called to walk, as well as to war. "I have fought the good fight," said one; "I have finished the race," he also adds. This last was his "ways." Ours, like king Jotham's, "are written in the book." May we say then, like another Hebrew king, "I will guard my ways"!
What the record does not contain is itself striking, and writers read it in two ways. One treats the silence as a clean sheet:
Jotham is the only one of all the Hebrew kings, from Saul down, against whom God has nothing to record. In this his character is in beautiful accord with his name, Jehovah-perfect. We know the whole world is "held accountable to God." "All have sinned," God says. But in his public life, Jotham, like Daniel, was perfect, or blameless.
Another writer finds a real failure in him. Jotham let the high places of worship stand.
Even Jotham, who was mostly faithful to God, failed by allowing the high places of worship to continue (ch. 15:34-35).
Among the acts that were written down, the building of the upper gate of the temple is given special weight — and connected to the strength his reign enjoyed.
The "high gate" led from the king's house to the temple (see 2 Chron. 23:20), and Jotham's building it (rebuilding, or repairing) is very significant. He wished free access from his own house to that of the Lord. He would strengthen the link between the two houses. To use a military picture, he kept his line of communication open with the source of his supplies of strength and wisdom. This is one of the secrets of his prosperity and power... That high gate between the palace and the temple was better than a wall right around his kingdom. It is in communion with God that all real prosperity and power is found.
The record lists what Jotham built. It does not say why. One writer stops at that gap and applies it to servants today.
As a builder he excelled, here too following in his father's footsteps. We are not told whether he built to secure the Lord's inheritance, or to promote his own might and glory in his kingdom. There are servants today who work hard and with zeal, caring — or seeming to care — for the Lord's interests. Their motives may be mixed, and still the Lord can use them for the good of His people. They work to guard the people of God from enemy attack. They are the first to draw the sword in defence of the truth they have received. Yet they have never entered into the enjoyment of their own highest privileges. They serve outside, but they have not learned what it is to worship in the holiest place.
- Written elsewhere. The closing question points to other records the writer of Kings drew on — used, one writer says, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
- Written as wars. His sixteen years were years of conflict: Ammon subdued, Syria and Israel pressing in from outside.
- Written as ways. The fuller record keeps not only his battles but his walk. Our ways are written in the book too, one writer presses.
- Written with a gate. The gate he built kept the road open between his house and God's house. That open link was one secret of his strength.
- Written unfinished. Commentators differ on the verdict. One finds nothing on record against him. Another points to the high places he left standing.