Monday, January 23, 2006

Bible Reading Comments

I had a lovely chart that listed the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah, and mentioned whether they were good, bad, or indifferent, but blogspot does not like my chart. So--the following may be muddled, but it's a list of the kings after Solomon and their heart's condition. I hope it helps you keep track of this complicated cast of characters.

Rehoboam (930–913) Evil King
1 Kings 11:43-12:24; 14:21-31

Jeroboam I (930–909) Evil king
1 Kings 11:26-14:20

Abijah (913–910) Bad King
1 Kings 14:31-15:8

Asa (910–869) Godly King
1 Kings 15:8-24

Nadab (909–908) Evil king
1 Kings 15:25-28

Baasha (908–885) Evil king
1 Kings 15:27-16:7

Elah (885–884) Evil king
1 Kings 16:6-14

Zimri (884) Suicide king
1 Kings 16:15-20

Tibni (884–880)

Civil Unrest (884–880)61

Omri (880–874) Evil king
1 Kings 16:15-29

Coregency (872–869)

Ahab (874–853) Evil King
1 Kings 16:28-22:40

Jehoshaphat (869–848) Godly King
1 Kings 22:41-50

Ahaziah (853–852) Wicked king
1 Kings 22:40-2 Kings 1:18

Coregency (853–848)

Joram (852–841) Evil King
2 Kings 3:1-9:26

Jehoram (848–841) Bad King
2 Kings 8:16-24

Ahaziah (841)Bad king
2 Kings 8:24-9:29

Jehu (841–814) Good king
2 Kings 9:1-10:36

Athaliah (841–835) (Queen) Evil
2 Kings 11:1-20

Joash (835–796) Good king
2 Kings 11:1-12:21

Jehoahaz (814–798)
2 Kings 13:1-9

Jehoash (798–782) Evil King
2 Kings 13:10-14:16

Amaziah (796–767) Good king
2 Kings 14:1-20

Coregency (792–767)62

Coregency (793–782)

Jeroboam II (782–753)Evil king
2 Kings 14:23-29

Azariah/Uzziah (767–740) Bad king
2 Kings 15:1-7

Zechariah (753–752) Evil king
2 Kings 14:29-15:12

Shallum (752) one month reign, Evil conspirator
2 Kings 15:10-15

Coregency (750–740)

Menahem (752–742) Brutal king
2 Kings 15:14-22

Pekahiah (742–740) Evil King
2 Kings 15:22-26

Jotham (740–731) Good king
2 Kings 15:32-38

Pekah (740–732)63 Evil King
2 Kings 15:27-31

Coregency (735–731)

Hoshea (732–722) Evil King
2 Kings 15:30; 17:1-6

Ahaz (731–715) Evil King
2 Kings 16

Hezekiah (715–687) Good king
2 Kings 18-20

Coregency (697–687)

Manasseh (687–642) Evil king, but converted
2 Kings 21:1-18

Amon (642–640) Evil king
2 Kings 21:19-26

Josiah (640–609) Good king
2 Kings 22:1-23:30

Jehoahaz (609) Neutral
2 Kings 23:31-33

Jehoiakim (609–598) Evil king
2 Kings 23:34-24:5

Jehoiachin (598–597) Evil king
2 Kings 24:6-16

Zedekiah (597–587)64 Evil king
2 Kings 24:17-25:30

Have you noticed all the occasions where Scripture tells us that God put an idea into men's hearts (usually to go to war, etc), in order to punish a king or the nation of Israel for disobedience? I see examples of God's sovereignty in the affairs of men on almost every page of these readings!

Angie

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Angie,
Thanks for the kingly overview. One thing that always amazes and puzzles me about the good kings--almost all of them, with the exception of Josiah, failed to get rid of the idol worship places. I can't figure out why they didn't see that as a critical part of following God? I always hate reading that "so-and-so did what was right in the sight of the Lord, BUT he failed to tear down the high places, etc." Hmmm.

Anonymous said...

I think, Lynda (and this is just my supposition), that the reason they didn't go "all the way" and tear down the high places was that they were afraid to stand up to public opinion. I mean, it's one thing to honor God, and it's another to go into a man's backyard and say that he's not allowed to sacrifice a goat there.

The people were devoted to their sin of sacrificing on the high places, and I'm sure they had a superstitious loyalty to them. And while many, many kings determined to follow God, they weren't willing to be unpopular--at least not, "all the way."

There's a lesson in that, no?

Angie