2 Kings 14:23-29--Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel

2 Kings 14:23-29
English Standard Version

Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher. 26 For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27 But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

​28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

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Jeroboam II ascended to the throne of Israel during the 15th year of Joash, king of Amaziah, king of Judah.  Jeroboam II reigned in Israel for 41 years.  It is no surprise to us given his name and the line of kings he has come from that he too did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam I.

There were however some good points to his reign as king.  He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah (that is the Salt Sea or the Dead Sea), according to the word of the LORD spoken by the prophet Jonah the prophet (we'll see Jonah again in a book that bears his name later). The LORD gave Israel this victory because He saw that they bitter and that there was no one left in Israel, slave or free, who was able to help them, and the LORD had made a covenant with Israel that their name would not be blotted out from under heaven.  So it was that the LORD Himself intervened once again on their behalf not so much because of who they are, but because of who He is and because His Name was on the line if He did not keep His covenant with them.  So, the LORD used an imperfect king such as Jeroboam II to deliver the people of Israel when there was no one else more fit for the job.  God always uses imperfect people, but we usually expect Him to use people of upstanding character and those who are daily seeking Him and listening to hear His voice.  It seems Jeroboam II was none of these things, but the LORD used him anyways.

We are encouraged to read the rest of the story of Jeroboam II in the book of Chronicles, especially how he fought and restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel (we think of these northern cities as belonging to Syria, but they are part of the Promised Land that the LORD gave to the Twelve Tribes).  Then Jeroboam II died and was buried among the royal tombs in Samaria, and his son Zechariah reigned in his place as the next king of Israel.