Jesus Family Tree - The Kings of Israel ... A Mixed Bag! Matthew 1:7-11

We continue with Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, which the gospel writer uses to assure the Jewish Christians of their faith in the promised Messiah.  He starts with Abraham and the first 14 generations of his lineage. Then continues with the next 14 generations of King David.  God promised Abraham that he would bless him and make his name great and that all nations would be blessed through him. This is called the "Abrahamic Covenant". 

King David was given a promise from God, which we call the "Royal Covenant", which promised  there would always be a king coming from his family line.  This lineage will lead us to the "King of kings", Jesus the Messiah.  "Messiah" in Hebrew means "Anointed One". Each of the kings of Israel were anointed with oil as a part of the ritual when they came to their throne.  

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, David was called, "a man after God's own heart".   But we know David was not perfect.  Note Matthew does not even list Bathsheba, David's wife.  Bathsheba was originally Uriah, the Hittite's wife.  David sent Uriah out into battle so he could be with Bathsheba.  Obviously this is the low point of an otherwise admirable life.  David was one of the greatest kings of Israel and yet even though he was a man after God's own heart, he allowed his heart to go after something that wasn't his.  Though he paid the price for his sin, he will still go down as one of the greatest kings in the history of the Jewish people.   

Solomon was described as the wisest man in the world.  We often use the phraise in our prayers give us, "the wisdom of Solomon".  When God asked Solomon what he wanted, instead of asking for riches or fame, he asked for wisdom.  As a result God gave him not only wisdom, but also riches and fame. During Solomon's reign was the height of Israel's prosperity.  And Solomon was richer than any kings upon the earth. 

This lead to Solomon having many wives and concubines from foreign countries, which eventually led him into idolatry in his later age.  This made God angry and as 1 Kings 11 says, "The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command."

The introduction of these foreign gods and the idolatry that accompanied them would become a corruption in Israel that they would never be able to shake in the generations to come.  Despite Solomon's failing toward the end of his life, God kept his promise to David and did not take the kingdom away from him. A good start is not enough to finish well.  Though Solomon was given the most wisdom of any man, he sought the wisdom of those he associated with instead which led to his downfall. 

Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Rehoboam was the next king to succeed Solomon, as Israel's 3rd king.  Rehoboam turned out to be unfit for ruling.  He formed strict policies against the Northern Kingdom (10 tribes of Israel), which eventually split the tribes of Israel. This was also a consequence of Solomon's turning away from God.  For the sake of David, and his covenant with him, God allowed Rehoboam to continue to be kingdom over Judah, also known as the Southern Kingdom, whose the temple was in Jerusalem.  The two tribes were Judah and Benjamin.  

Abijah the father of Asa, Abijah only reigned for three years.  He was a wicked king and committed all the sins of his father.  King Abijah engineered some victories over the Northern Kingdom of Israel, as he tried to reclaim the 10 tribes of the Northern kingdom back to Judah.  The northern kingdom was led by an even more wicked king named Jeroboam.  Jeroboam removed the Levitical priests and allowed priests to worship false gods.  For the sake of God's covenant with David, Abijah defeated Jeroboam, but his kingship was marked by his lack of devotion to God.  You can see the state of the kings in Judah were going downhill quickly.

  
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Asa ruled for 41 years.  He brought many reforms and 2 Chronicles 2: says, "He did what was "good and right in the sight of the Lord". Notably he,  "Removed the male shrine prostitutes, cut down Asherah poles, and even deposed his grandmother from her position as queen mother because of her involvement with Asherah worship." (Got Questions.org)  

Israel was at peace for 10 years with surrounding nations under his leadership.  Though he made some mistakes as well, he was generally regarded as a good and godly king. 

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,  Jehoshaphat began is reign at 35 years old and reigned for 25 years.  Generally speaking he was considered a good king, as his father was, though he did not completely remove some of the idol worship that was going on in his father's reign.  He did not remove what the bible calls, "high places", which were simply elevated places designated to worship false gods like "baal".  The kings in the Northern Kingdom were getting much more wicked and Jehoshaphat made an alliance with one of the most wicked, King Ahab, though he was warned against it by a prophet.  He started his reign in a positive way, following in David's ways, as he fortified defenses against the Northern kingdom and also sent out men to teach the book of the Law (Pentateuch) 

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,  Jehoram was 32 years old when he began his reign. He reigned for 4 years with his father, and 8 years on his own. Jehoram did not follow in his father's footsteps and became an evil ruler.  He married evil King Ahab's daughter.  Despite his failings, God did not destroy Judah for the sake of the covenant he made with David. If you read in 2 Chronicles 21, things ended very badly for Jehoram.  Because of his bad leadership and continued allowance of idolatry, God allowed foreign nations to come a judge Jehoram, and as a result his wives and sons were all carried off, except for his youngest son Ahaziah. 

9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Uzziah was one of the good kings of Judah.  He was 16 years old when he began his reign, and reigned for 52 years. He did what was "right in the eyes of the Lord".  He listened to the prophet Zechariah, which kept him focused in the right direction.  He was an intelligent, innovative leader and Judah prospered under his leadership and had military success against the Philistines and the Arabs.  After Zechariah died, unfortunately he started making some of the mistakes of his predecessors.  He became prideful and in one story he brazenly went to offer incense in the temple, which was only allowed by the Levite priests.  He was basically acting as if he were above the Law.  As the priests confronted his behavior, he raged at them and was struck with leprosy, which eventually took his life.  

Do you see a pattern here?  God grants the faithful king success as they rely on Him. Then the king takes his eyes of  God and his ways and things go downhill very quickly. 

Jotham the father of Ahaz,  Jotham became a king at 25 years old and reigned for 16 years.  It was also said of him, "He did right in the eyes of the Lord".  Jotham did not follow the error of his father's ways by unlawfully entering the temple.  Unfortunately his people continued their corrupt practices.  Jotham became powerfful and rebuilt and fortified many of towns, gates, and towers of Jerusalem. However Jotham did not remove worship in the high places.  And most unfortunately his son Ahaz is regarded as one of the most wicked kings of Judah as we will soon see.

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,  Ahaz started his reign at age 20 and reigned for 4 years with his father, and then 16 years on his own.  Ahaz was a bad apple from the start.  He got involved in destructive practices like idol worship and sacrilege against the temple. The worst thing he did was to offer his own cbildren in sacrifice to the gods, which he borrowed from the evil practices of the Northern Kingdom.  Significantly he dallied in alliances with the king of Assyria, which resulted in further desecration of the temple.  Listen to the depth of his bad leadership, 
Ahaz’s sacrilege did not end there. To impress the king of Assyria, he removed the royal entryway of the temple as well as the Sabbath canopy, and cut the temple furnishings into pieces (2 Kings 16:17–18; 2 Chronicles 28:24). After shutting the doors to the temple, he placed altars at all the street corners in Jerusalem and high places for worshiping false gods in every city in Judah (2 Chronicles 28:24–25). (Got Questions.org)

10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Fortunately Hezekiah did not follow the evil ways of his father Ahaz. The bible describes Hezekiah as a man who had a close relationship with God and put God in first in all he did.  As a result of obeying the Law God had given to Moses, he prospered in all he did.  Hezekiah cleansed the temple of idols, pagan altars and temples.  

In 722 B.C. the Assryians (the dominant power in that region) destroyed the Northern Kingdom and were in route to destroy Judah twenty years later.  Hezekiah sought the famous prophet Isaiah who told him if he trusted in God, the Assyrians would be defeated and never enter the temple.  That night an angel of the Lord appeared and struck down 185,000 Assyrians dead.  When the rest of the camp of Assyrian men woke up in the morning, they saw the devastation and went home. 

Unfortunately at the very end of his life, Hezekiah became prideful and when the Babylonians (the up and coming world power who would eventually destroy Judah 150 years later) offered him a tribute, he accepted it.  Soon thereafter he was parading all of his treasures in front of the Babylonians.  Though he faced the consequences of his pride by mixing with the Babylonians, for the most part Hezekiah was one of the best kings in the history of Judah.  Importantly, when faced with the biggest threat in the form of the Assyrians, he prayed to God and trusted Him and God rewarded his faith and leadership.  
Manasseh the father of Amon,  For everything good that his father had done, Manasseh reversed all of his good decisions and made bad ones, including reviving the destructive and evil ways of idolatry.  He was a treacherous king and worst of all he killed is own son. 2 Kings 21:16 summarizes his evil ways, "Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end” 

Tragically he led all of Judah into these destestable practices.  As a consequence, the Assyrians invaded and took Manasseh away in exile.  Fortunately while he was in exile, Manasseh sought the Lord and repented of his wicked ways.  Once again we see God's mercy in the wake of a wicked king.  We see God keeping his covenant with David to keep someone from his family on the throne.  

The kingdom was reformed and godly practices were restored. but Manasseh was never able to root out the core practices he had marshalled before.  Though God forgave him, there were still consequences for his sin.  

Amon the father of Josiah, Amon was 22 when he became king and only reigned for 2 years, after which he was assasinated.  2 Chronicles 33 says this about him,
“He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the Lord; Amon increased his guilt” 

Amon's servants struck him down in his own house, but the people of the land conspired against them and avenged Amon's death.  Since Amon was so young when he died, they installed his seven year old son, Josiah as king.  

11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
Josiah was the 180 degree opposite of his father.  He brought about widespread reform in Judah.  The temple was rebuilt and Hilkiah, the priest, brought out the book of the Law, which was read publicly in Josiah's hearing.  When he heard the words read aloud, he tore his clothes a sign of humility and repentance.  Josiah saw his people's behavior and saw the holiness of God as expressed through His Word. and it literally "tore him apart".  2 Kings 23 sums his reign and character up quite nicely, 
“Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses”

Finally, Jeconiah was the king of Judah at the time of the Babylonian exile, when the Babylonians invaded Israel and deported King Jeconiah, his family and all the Jews into exile.  We will learn more about him next time as we look at the third set of 14 generations from Jeconiah to the birth of Jesus.  

As you think about all of the kings into today's lineage, I think we could summarize a few things about them though some were better than others:

1.  Israel wanted a king so they could be like other nations.  Before King Saul became the first king of Israel they chanted, "We want a king, we want a king!"  So God gave them what they wanted, a king. Or should we say, several of them.  Sometimes you get what you ask for. 
2. The problem with putting your trust in an earthly king, is that they are just that ... earthly.  As human beings, they are sinful as you just saw as we described the 14 kings in the Southern Kingdom.  As you know, the kings in the Northern kingdom were even worse, resulting in their own demise 140 years earlier than the Southern Kingdom at the hands of the Assryians.  
3. Despite failings of the kings, some worse than others, God was faithful to keep the covenant he made with David to have a king from his family on the throne forever. Though we often don't keep our promises, God does!  

What does today's passage teach you?  Have you put your trust in earthly "kings" for your happiness and well being?  One of the biggest sins tolerated by these kings was idolatry in its many forms of the day?  Where do today's idolatries come from?  How are you tempted to worship the idols of our culture?  How do you think God feels about it?  Note: you may not worship the high places, or offer sacrifices to pagan deities, but maybe our idolatry is more subtle.  The basic question is what do you put your trust in?  Is there anything you trust in more than God?  I would say that is your god.  Let's worship the true God, and like the good kings do what is rigbt in the eyes of the Lord.  And if we do we will prosper and so will those under our leadership!