The title of this issue of The Christian is “Passing the Torch,” and perhaps nowhere do we find this event played out more frequently than in the succession of kings and queens. Monarchs are becoming increasingly scarce in the world of the twenty-first century, but for thousands of years it was the accepted way of governing a nation or an empire. Normally kings and queens would be succeeded by their sons, or occasionally by a daughter, and what the reigning monarch passed on to his son or daughter was most important.
Since the times of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire in 606 B.C., God has generally accomplished His purposes by allowing “the basest of men” to rule (Dan. 4:1717This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. (Daniel 4:17)). However, we can be most thankful that there have been exceptions to this way and that sometimes good rulers were able to be a help to those who succeeded them.
In the history of Israel and Judah, we see likewise good rulers and bad ones. In the history of Israel after the division of the nation in the time of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, there was never a really godly king, although some did have a degree of reverence for Jehovah. Some did carry out His will in a limited way, but none really reversed the serious idolatry that was introduced by Jeroboam.
In Judah there were a number of good kings, but also some who were evil in a very decided way. Let us look at a few of these kings and what kind of moral legacy they passed on to their successors.
The Ways of David His Father
If we begin with David, we find that in general, he passed on a good torch. It is true that he failed rather seriously in his life, but unlike some of his descendants, he always repented and returned to the Lord. An upright person is not one who never fails, but rather is one who does not pretend to be what he is not. As a result, we find that in the case of Josiah, who came to the throne of Judah hundreds of years later, it was said of him, “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father” (2 Chron. 34:22And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. (2 Chronicles 34:2)). That good torch which David passed on was still burning nearly 400 years after David had passed it on.
One of David’s outstanding descendants was a godly king named Jehoshaphat, who began to reign about 100 years after David had died. Jehoshaphat would never have known David, but he had a godly father, Asa, who, no doubt, had brought him up in the ways of the Lord. Jehoshaphat really loved the Lord and was much blessed in consequence, but he had a glaring fault that colored his legacy in a wrong way.
He badly wanted to be on good terms with the ten tribes, even though their king Ahab was a wicked man. He went to war allied with Ahab, and although the Lord graciously preserved him, yet this alliance with a wicked king resulted in his son, Jehoram, marrying Ahab’s daughter. When Jehoshaphat was dead, Jehoram became king, forsook the way of the Lord, and embraced idolatry. Eventually the Lord smote him with a dreadful disease, and he died when he was only 40 years old. This bad fault of Jehoshaphat had further results, for Jehoram’s son Ahaziah also perished at the hands of Jehu, whom the Lord raised up to destroy the house of Ahab. Just as a good torch can have far-reaching consequences in blessing, so a bad torch can have long-term effects for evil.
He Passed on a Bad Torch
We come now to a very wicked king in Judah named Manasseh. He was the son of another godly king, Hezekiah, yet he failed to pick up the good torch left to him by his father. Manasseh’s long reign of 55 years was characterized by a return to idolatry and evil of every description. He evidently reversed all the good that his father had done, and Scripture records that he “made Judah ... to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel” (2 Chron. 33:99So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. (2 Chronicles 33:9)). Later in his life, Manasseh repented and turned to the Lord, but the damage was done. He passed on a bad torch to his son Amon, of whom it is recorded that “he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served” (2 Kings 21:2121And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: (2 Kings 21:21)).
He Reversed the Evil Trappings
But God had His eye on the house of David, and as we have already noted, He could raise up a godly king, even if that same king had an evil background. Josiah became king when he was only eight years old, and he had Amon for a father and Manasseh for a grandfather. Yet it is recorded that “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 22:22And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. (2 Kings 22:2)). His reign was outstanding for faithfulness to the Lord and a desire to follow the law of the Lord perfectly. As such, he is one of the brightest lights in the history of the kings of Judah. He reversed all the trappings of idolatry that had been built up over many years, cleansed the house of the Lord, and removed idols from the high places that dated back to the time of Solomon. He kept a wonderful Passover, the like of which had not been seen since the days of Samuel.
Josiah was not passed a good torch, but instead of taking up a bad one, he followed the Lord and left a good torch for his own descendants. Sadly, they did not take it up as they should have, and his posterity did not follow the Lord. It was under their rule that Judah was carried away into captivity.
Finally, we will look at two of the kings of Israel, not as the kingdom was before it was divided, but as the ten tribes. The ten tribes are frequently referred to as Israel in the history after the division of the nation.
The King Who Made Israel to Sin
The first king of the ten tribes after the division was Jeroboam. He had been promised the kingdom by the Lord some years before the death of Solomon. He was given a strict promise from the Lord by the prophet Ahijah that his kingdom and dynasty would be firmly established if he followed the Lord and walked in the ways of David. But when Jeroboam became king, he reasoned that if the people went up to Jerusalem to worship, they would likely again want to be under Rehoboam’s rule, since Jerusalem remained under Rehoboam’s control. He did not trust the word of the Lord, who said that He would build him “a sure house” if he were faithful to Him. He then proceeded to fashion two golden calves and set up false altars and false worship in Israel, in Dan and Bethel.
God never forgot this signal departure from the law of Moses and the affront to God Himself, in the introduction of Jeroboam’s own ideas and methods into the worship of God. In referring to many other kings of Israel who followed Jeroboam, the Spirit of God constantly speaks of their following “Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.” This phrase is repeated, with minor variations, 20 times in the history of subsequent kings of Israel. None ever really reversed this idolatry or got rid of the two golden calves that Jeroboam had made. Jeroboam’s torch was a bad one, nor did he ever repent of it. It had an evil influence for hundreds of years.
The King Who Exterminated Ahab
The last king about which we will speak is Jehu. At first glance, it would appear that he was a godly man. He was anointed king by Elisha, who acted on the word of the Lord and gave him a charge to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. Jehu was a man of action, and he was ruthless in getting rid of Ahab’s family, including Ahaziah, the king of Judah, whose mother was Ahab’s daughter. He exterminated all who were related to Ahab, and the Lord honored him for it.
Jehu also dealt with the worshipers of the idol Baal in a decisive way by calling them together, but telling them as a ruse that it was to be a religious gathering for Baal. Then he slew all those who had come together and destroyed the house of Baal. Scripture records that Jehu “destroyed Baal out of Israel” (2 Kings 10:2828Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. (2 Kings 10:28)).
However, we read that after all this, “Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 10:3131But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. (2 Kings 10:31)). Jehu never took away the golden calves, nor did he restore the worship of God according to the law of Moses. The people continued to worship in Dan and Bethel instead of going up to Jerusalem, and they practiced a corrupt religion.
Because of Jehu’s zeal for Jehovah, the Lord promised that his children would sit on the throne of Israel for four generations. So it came to pass, for it is recorded of his sons, one by one, that they “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Jehu had a zeal for the Lord, but his energy was not matched by a heart for the Lord, and his life lacked that real godliness that would have pleased the Lord.
These few examples show us the serious and long-term consequences of what type of torch we pass on, how it is passed on, and how it is received by those to whom we give it. We also see that we do not need to be victims of a bad torch, for Josiah’s history shows us how a very young man chose to follow the Lord instead of taking up the bad torch of his father and grandfather.
W. J. Prost