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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
One of the fast disappearing aspects of life in many modern countries is the ‘family business’. I wonder how many of you ever worked in a family business, maybe that of your own family? It’s very special isn’t it? Here’s even a more specific question: I wonder how many of you followed specifically in your parents footsteps? Doing what they did, where they did it?
I have had that great privilege… I was born in the same hospital my father was born in; I attended the same College my father attended; I returned as a missionary to the same country, with the same organization my father served with; now I’m living in the same retirement community my father lived in some years ago, and along the way I’ve attended several churches my father had served as a leader in.
So I can relate somewhat to a man named Jotham who had the very unusual experience of following in his father Uzziah’s footsteps as king of the people of Israel, in the kingdom of Judah. One big difference between Jotham and me… Jotham’s father Uzziah became prideful and was struck by God with leprosy and lived isolated from his family and the people for the final 10 years of his life. However during those 10 years, Jotham and his father Uzziah co-reigned as kings of Judah! Of course with Uzziah having leprosy he was unable to be in the palace or attend any public functions or even go to the great Temple in Jerusalem where there were so many people.
Now prior to COVID-19 we might have really struggled to understand such isolation, but now we can all see it quite clearly can’t we? And we understand how isolation and fear of a contagious disease feels!!
However Uzziah had reigned as king for 42 years and he had been remarkably successful and was highly regarded, so while struck with leprosy the people still wanted his wisdom, his leadership to somehow be active in their country and their lives. Thus Jotham, Uzziah’s son, was quickly elevated to the throne as acting king, but for those 10 years, until his father died, Jotham regularly sought the counsel and the advice of his father. I presume Jotham stood outside the house where Uzziah was restricted, and they spoke separated by a safe distance, but the people knew Jotham was ruling as king with great influence from his father.
I understand that. I have sought my father’s advice often over the past 60 years or so and I greatly value his perspective. He’s 93 yrs old now, but still thinks very clearly, loves God’s Word, and has great wisdom learned over his long journey with Jesus. May I ask…do you have someone in your life like this my friends? Perhaps you are the wise one who gives advice to those younger than you?
Jotham’s story is short in the Bible, found in 2 Chronicles 27:1-9 & 2 Kings 15:32-38. Jotham was 25 yrs old when he quickly stepped into the kingship and he reigned 16 years, 10 of those as a co-regent with his father Uzziah. Listen to this summary statement of his life: “Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike Uzziah, he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices.” (2 Chron. 27:2) Seems to me Jotham was a wise son. He learned well from his father’s good example, and continued leading the people in God honoring leadership. He learned from his father’s mistakes, and did not allow himself to become prideful as Uzziah had.
May I ask you to think for a moment about your parents… what did you learn from them? How have you been wise in duplicating the good things and how have you been cautious to not repeat the mistakes they made? And what about your children? How do you see wisdom in their lives as they’ve followed your path, hopefully duplicating the good they saw in you, but also learning from your mistakes? This is one of the great privileges of parenting isn’t it?
2 Chronicles 27:3,4 tell us Jotham followed in his father Uzziah’s footsteps continuing the build-up of many towns including the construction of forts and towers to protect the people. And then I see this wonderful statement in vs. 6 “Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.” My friends, what do you think that type of life and leadership would look like today where you live in our world? Business leaders, educators, political leaders, church leaders… how would where you live be different if leaders “…walked steadfastly before the LORD…”?
We have no information about why or how king Jotham died. But may I call us to notice something: King Jotham’s years of leadership were significant in continuing the God honoring leadership legacy he had inherited. It would have been very wise for his successor to continue that legacy, but sometimes rather than son’s choosing to follow a well worn, good path laid out for them by 2 previous generations, they reject all the good they’ve seen and choose a far different path. That is the sad story of Uzziah’s grandson, Jotham’s son, named Ahaz! We’ll look at him in a few days.
Please notice something very significant: God was not silent during these very important years. God sent four prophets to His people and their kings. First Amos and then Hosea to the northern kingdom Israel, and for the southern kingdom Judah God sent Micah and then Isaiah. While things may have looked good to some people, in truth there was great danger lurking in the near future and God knew it. Both the northern kingdom Israel and southern kingdom Judah were being watched by very powerful foreign governments who were planning to invade, overthrow, and conquer them. This was all happening around 760-740bc.
In closing today, I urge you to consider what’s been going on in our world in the past 20 years or so, wherever you live? Is God warning us, trying to get our attention, calling us back to Him from our global spiritual apathy and moral decline? Listen to Micah chapter 1 “Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who live on it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. Look! The LORD is coming from His dwelling place; He comes down and treads the high places of the earth…” (Micah 1:2,3) In the verses which follow in Micah 1, God makes it very clear BOTH Samaria and the northern kingdom of Israel and Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah will suffer greatly, be invaded and demolished because of the continual sin of God’s people and their refusal to return to Him! For Israel, that terrible prediction happened in 722bc, only a few years after God sent this warning through Micah!
May I ask that we spend some time today pondering the condition of our world, and asking God to help us understand how we, each and all of us, can help first within our own family legacies, then in the marketplaces where we work and do business, and then in all the areas of influence we each have? It may be, history is soon about to repeat itself… in our day!
Click to read today’s chapter: 2 Chronicles 27:1–9; 2 Kings 15:32-38; Micah 1. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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