Ahaziah was a pretty good king. Not the best king, he was maybe like a 7 as far as kings go. He followed the Lord most of the time. Like, when he bought some soldiers from Israel once, a prophet came and told him that he was acting against God using Israeli soldiers since God did not favor Israel. Ahaziah paid them what he'd promised and then sent them home unused, even though it was not a popular decision. When he conquered the Edomites though, he ruined his pious streak by bringing their gods home and consulting them about things. This seems like a baffling thing to do, seeking the counsil of these, what I assume were some kind of little clay figurines or something, when he had seen first hand what the true God was capable of.
I guess people thought about gods differently then though. The only way I can make any sense of it is in thinking about Ahaziah like a rich man. Jesus says sometime later that *spoiler alert* it will be difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. This is because (I believe) a rich man accustomed to feeling secure and safe and believes that his own resources can sustain him and protect him. So it's easy for a rich man to have a little bit of faith because, hey, what's it going to hurt? Even if he's wrong, he's still got some layers of contingency plans tucked away. In ancient Judah, you couldn't just buy insurance plans and bullit proof vests and parachuets. Even rich men had to be a little bit wary of what was happening around them. So maybe having extra gods around felt for Ahaziah kind of like having extra money around feels for us, like a harmless back plan.
Anyway, God killed him for that later on. His 16 year old son, Uzziah, took over and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. At least for a while, until he bacame a little conceited because of his victories and went to go light some incense in the temple. The priests confronted him and told him that that was not his place, but that just made Uzziah angry. While he yelled at the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead and he suffered from leprosy until the day he died.
Jotham, Uzziah's son, became king next and he walked with the Lord for reals. Even though the people of Judah were not doing a great job of following the law at that time, Jotham followed the Lord and so he grew powerful and ruled for 16 years.
I guess people thought about gods differently then though. The only way I can make any sense of it is in thinking about Ahaziah like a rich man. Jesus says sometime later that *spoiler alert* it will be difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. This is because (I believe) a rich man accustomed to feeling secure and safe and believes that his own resources can sustain him and protect him. So it's easy for a rich man to have a little bit of faith because, hey, what's it going to hurt? Even if he's wrong, he's still got some layers of contingency plans tucked away. In ancient Judah, you couldn't just buy insurance plans and bullit proof vests and parachuets. Even rich men had to be a little bit wary of what was happening around them. So maybe having extra gods around felt for Ahaziah kind of like having extra money around feels for us, like a harmless back plan.
Anyway, God killed him for that later on. His 16 year old son, Uzziah, took over and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. At least for a while, until he bacame a little conceited because of his victories and went to go light some incense in the temple. The priests confronted him and told him that that was not his place, but that just made Uzziah angry. While he yelled at the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead and he suffered from leprosy until the day he died.
Jotham, Uzziah's son, became king next and he walked with the Lord for reals. Even though the people of Judah were not doing a great job of following the law at that time, Jotham followed the Lord and so he grew powerful and ruled for 16 years.
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