Bible Study Notes 9/16/2025
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Jehoram (853-841 BC; Co-Regency with Jehoshaphat, 853-848 BC)
(2 Kgs 8:16-24 and 2 Chr. 21)
Jehoram kills his brothers with the sword after taking the throne to eliminate any competition for the throne.
Jehoram “walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” (2 Chr. 21:6).
- So Ahab’s daughter married Jehoram, so it’s not surprising that Jehoram establishes high places and leads “the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom,” just like Israel in the north during the days of Ahab (2 Chr. 21:11).
God announces judgment against Jehoram through the prophet Elijah, because he has caused Judah to whore after other gods and has murdered all his brothers.
At this time, God stirs up the Philistines and Arabians to invade Judah and they take away all the possessions of the king’s house, as well as Jehoram’s sons and his wives (2 Chr. 21:12-20).
- ONLY Jehoahaz (also called Ahaziah), his younger son, remains and becomes the next king (2 Chr. 22:1).
- God preserves Jehoram’s family because of his promise to King David (2 Chr. 21:7).
Jehoram dies of a painful bowel disease and “he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings” (2 Chr. 20:21).
Ahaziah (841 BC)
(2 Kgs. 8:24-29, 9:16-29, and 2 Chr. 22:1-9)
After Jehoram dies, Ahaziah, his son, is anointed king at age 42 and reigns only one year.
Ahaziah is connected to the northern kingdom through his mother, Athaliah, who is the granddaughter of King Omri (2 Chr. 22:2).
Ahaziah does what is “evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing” (2 Chr. 22:4).
He also allies himself with Ahab’s son, Jehoram, who is king of Israel; they join together to fight against the Arameans (2 Chr. 22:5).
- King Jehoram is wounded in battle and seeks refuge in Jezreel.
- Ahaziah visits the king at Jezreel and joins him to wage war against Jehu (he is the northern king who succeeded Jehoram).
Jehu kills both the northern king (Jehoram) and the southern king (Ahaziah), along with Ahaziah’s nephews.
- When his mother Athaliah finds out that he is dead, she kills the royal household and assumes the throne herself (2 Chr. 22:10).
Athaliah (841-835)
(2 Kgs. 11:1-16, 2 Chr. 22:10-12, and 23:12-15)
Athaliah is the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel, who worships Baal, like Ahab in the north (2 Chr. 24:7).
She is a murderer, but even though she tries to kill Ahaziah’s entire family, providentially, one son named Joash escapes.
- A woman names Jehoshabeath succeeds in hiding the infant son of Ahaziah in the LORD’s house.
- Jehoshabeath is the wife of Jehoiada the priest, but she is also King Jehoram’s daughter and the sister of King Ahaziah (2 Chr. 22:10-12).
- Joash remains hidden for six years while Athaliah, who sets herself up as queen, reigns over Judah.
- The seed of David is preserved according to the promise made to him (2 Sam. 7:12-15), even though Athaliah tries to wipe it out.
On the Sabbath day in the seventh year, and is a courageous move, Jehoiada the priest gathers the Levites and the ancestral heads of families in Jerusalem to anoint Joash as king (2 Chr. 23).
- Jehoiada recognizes that Joash has been preserved in fulfillment of God’s promise to David, for he says, “Behold, the king’s son! Let him reign, as the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David” (2 Chr. 23:3).
- All the people rejoice as 7-year-old Joash is anointed king, but when Athaliah arrives, Jehoiada has her killed (2 Chr. 23:11-15).
Joash (835-796 BC) – also called Jehoash
(2 Kgs. 11-12 and 2 Chr. 22:10-24:27)
During Joash’s reign, Jehoiada the priest makes a covenant amongst the LORD, the people, and the king, that they would be the LORD’s people (2 Chr. 23:16). Immediately following this covenant, the people eradicate Baal worship by tearing down the house of Baal and the images of Baal, and they kill the priests of Baal (2 Chr. 23:16-21).
- Eradication of Baal worship is in accordance with the covenant that the people have just made. In view of these religious reforms, it is said of Joash that he “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest” (2 Chr. 24:2).
Joash and Jehoiada instruct the people to provide resources so that the temple of the LORD might be repaired (2 Chr. 24:4-14).
BUT! Jehoiada the priest dies and everything changes (2 Chr. 24:15-17).
- People “abandon the house of the LORD, and God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols, so God’s wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
- Nonetheless, God sends prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD – they would not pay attention (2 Chr. 24:18-19).
- God’s people turn back to idolatry, but He raises up Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada and when the Spirit of God comes upon him, he speaks to the people, saying: “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you’” (2 Chr. 24:20).
- The people would not listen to Zechariah, so instead, they stone him to death at the command of King Joash.
- After Zechariah is stoned, God raises up the Arameans, with a small army, to attack Judah, and the Arameans are able to defeat Judah because God is using them to bring judgment upon Joash.
- The officials of Joash are wounded, as is the king, but while he is recovering, his own servants murder him because of the blood he has shed.
Amaziah (796-767 BC)
(2 Kgs. 14:1-20 and 2 Chr. 25)
After Joash is murdered, his son Amaziah takes the throne and reigns for about 29 years, doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD, although not like King David (2 Kgs. 14:3; 2 Chr. 25:2), since the high places continue to be a place of pagan worship during his reign.
The first thing Amaziah does when he becomes king is kill those who were responsible for the murder of his father, but he spares their sons, thereby showing restraint according to the law (2 Chr. 25:5; cf. Deut. 24:16).
- Then he strengthens the kingdom and wages war against the Edomites, defeating them, but he takes their gods and sets them up as his own gods.
- He bows down before them and burns incense to them (2 Chr 25:14-16).
- Now God is angry with Amaziah, so he sends a prophet to rebuke him, but he refuses to listen and commands the prophet to stop speaking.
Amaziah’s pride causes him to provoke a confrontation with the northern kingdom, but will soon be defeated in battle at Beth-shemesh while fighting against Joash, king of Israel – not to be confused with Joash, the previous king of Judah.
Joash of Israel tears down about six hundred feet of the Jerusalem wall, plunders the temple of the LORD and the house of the king, and then he returns to Samaria.
- Amaziah eventually flees to Lachish, where he is murdered (2 Chr. 25:27-28).
Uzziah (792-740 BC; Co-Regency with Amaziah, 792-767 BC)
(2 Kgs 14:21-22, 15:1-7, and 2 Chr. 26)
Amaziah is killed and his son, Uzziah (also called Azariah), assumes the throne as sole king.
Early in his reign he does what is right in the eyes of the LORD, although he does not take away the high places.
Uzziah fortifies his kingdom, and God gives him victory over the Philistines.
The Ammonites give tribute to him and his fame even extends to the borders of Egypt.
Uzziah builds up Jerusalem, is wealthy, and has a strong army ready for battle.
- God helps him and he is successful, but his strength will be his downfall, for his heart becomes proud (2 Chr. 26:1-16).
- He acts unfaithfully by presumptuously by entering the temple to burn incense on the altar.
- The chief priest Azariah and 80 priests follow Uzziah into the temple and warn him to leave immediately, for this activity was restricted to priests alone (2 Chr. 23:6).
- Uzziah is furious with the priests and while he is enraged, a skin disease begins to break out on his forehead as the priests are watching.
- The priests quickly remove him from the temple, for they recognize that God’s judgment had fallen upon him (2 Chr. 26:17-21).
King Uzziah remains a leper to the day of his death and he lives in a separate house, cut off from God’s temple as one who was ritually unclean.
Jotham (750-732 BC; Co-Regency with Uzziah, 750-740 BC)
(2 Kgs. 15:32-38 and 2 Chr. 27:1-9)
Uzziah’s son, Jotham, becomes sole king after the death of his father.
He follows God, but the high places remain and thus pagan religious practices continue (2 Kgs. 15:35).
Jotham builds up cities in Judah and fortifies the region.
He has military success, and even the Ammonites pay tribute to him.
Jotham “became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God (2 Chr. 27:6).
Even though the king does what is right, the people still follow corrupt practices (2 Chr. 27:2).
Jotham dies and his son Ahaz becomes king.
Please note:
We have covered almost 200 years of the southern kingdom thus far.
The next two kings, Ahaz and Hezekiah, are important ones.
The 8th century prophets, Isaiah and Micah, will be addressed.
These kings and prophets will end part 1 of the southern kingdom; then we will work through the final part 2.
(Much gratitude is given to Dr. Carol Kaminski for her Old Testament Survey course at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the study materials that accompany and inform this teaching.)