Articles
Isaiah and the Kings
Isaiah and the Kings
Isaiah begins: "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (1:1). Before Isaiah began as a prophet he apparently was a court historian. 2 Chronicles 26:22 states: "Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote." Then in 2 Chronicles 32:32 we read "Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel." The early part of his life was spent in the kings courts observing and writing the history of these kings. Then, the year king Uzziah dies Isaiah is called by God to be a prophet (Isa. 6:1).
Uzziah had been a good king but became unfaithful when he attempted to usurp the work of the priests and offer incense in the temple. He was struck with leprosy and spent the end of his life separated from the people.
While Uzziah was a leper he shared his regency with his son, Jotham. Thus we see about a 10 year overlap in the dates of their reigns. According to 2Kgs 15:34-35, Jotham "did what was right before the LORD… nevertheless." The neverertheless indicates that he did NOT remove the pagan influences and hence the people continued their unfaithfulness to the LORD.
With the death of Jotham in 730, Ahaz becomes king and rules until 715. You may notice in the chart that during these days of the kings they often co-ruled with their son / father. This was a way of strengthening the transition as the 'son' would already be recognized as the next and rightful king. Ahaz however was not like his father or grandfather but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel (i.e., idolatry and unfaithfulness to the LORD) (2Kings 16:1-3). When he was attacked by the co-alliance of Israel and Syria, he went and made a political alliance with Assyria to protect himself. While this brought the defeat of Israel and Syria, it cost Ahaz much. He emptied both his treasury and the things of the temple in order to pay tribute to Assyria.
The last king of Isaiah's time as a prophet was Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz. It is amazing to me how so many good kings had bad sons, but even more amazing that you also find an evil king producing a godly son. Such it was with Ahaz and his son Hezekiah. Again we read "… he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 2 Kgs. 18:3) During his days as king Assyria attacked but God protected Judah.
It was at the end of his reign that he showed a weakness in his faith. After he saw how God protected Judah from the Assyrians, he turned to make an alliance with Babylon. For this he is reproved by Isaiah and the fall of Judah to Babylon is predicted (2Kgs. 20:16-19).
As we conclude with the book of Isaiah we see that his ministry extended for some sixty years. Smith writes that "According to tradition Isaiah died a martyr’s death about 680 b.c., early in the reign of the wicked King Manasseh. Legend has it that he was sawed asunder by this king (cf. Heb 11:37)." (James Smith, The Major Prophets).
