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Week 30

Come Follow Me 2026 · Week 30

Weekly Overview

July 20–26 - 2 Chronicles 14–20; 26; 30

Week at a Glance

This week traces four kings of Judah across nearly two centuries: Asa, who began in faith and ended in fear (2 Chronicles 14–16); Jehoshaphat, who allied unwisely with wicked King Ahab but later prayed Judah out of a three-nation invasion (2 Chronicles 17–20); Uzziah, whose long and prosperous reign collapsed under pride (2 Chronicles 26); and Hezekiah, who reopened Jerusalem's temple to a divided nation for Passover (2 Chronicles 30). The Come, Follow Me manual centers the week on Jehoshaphat's prayer at the temple, when he told the Lord, 'we know not what to do: but our eyes are upon thee' (2 Chronicles 20:12).

Lesson Big Idea

Every king in this week's reading prospered while he sought the Lord and faltered the moment he trusted in himself instead.

Main Stories

4 stories · Narrative arc and teaching angle

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Asa: From Reformer to Self-Reliant King

2 Chronicles 14-16

What Happens

Asa begins his reign by tearing down altars, images, and groves dedicated to foreign gods, and Judah enjoys ten years of peace under his rule (2 Chronicles 14:1-5). When the Ethiopian general Zerah marches against Judah with a massive army, Asa cries out, 'Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power' (2 Chronicles 14:11), and Judah routs the invaders. The prophet Azariah meets Asa afterward and reinforces the lesson: 'The Lord is with you, while ye be with him' (2 Chronicles 15:2). Asa responds by leading a national covenant renewal at the temple. Years later, when King Baasha of Israel threatens Judah's northern border, Asa does not repeat his earlier pattern. Instead of seeking the Lord, he pays the pagan king of Syria to attack Israel from the north. The prophet Hanani confronts him, reminding him that the Lord who delivered him from a million-man Ethiopian army could have delivered him from Baasha too. Asa imprisons Hanani in a rage, and the chapter ends with Asa diseased in his feet, still refusing to seek the Lord even in illness (2 Chronicles 16:12).

Turning Points

  • •Asa's prayer before the Ethiopian invasion sets the pattern of victory through dependence on God (2 Chronicles 14:11).
  • •Asa's payment to Syria instead of prayer marks the reversal of that pattern (2 Chronicles 16:2-3).
  • •Asa imprisons the prophet Hanani rather than receive correction (2 Chronicles 16:10).

Why It Matters

Asa's story refutes the idea that one great act of faith secures a person permanently. The same king who trusted God against impossible odds later solved a smaller, more manageable problem by his own political maneuvering. The principle is that past faith does not substitute for present faith; each new crisis is its own test of where a person's trust actually lies.

Teaching Angle

Build a simple two-column board: 'Where Asa trusted' and the outcome each time. The visual makes the contrast between chapter 14 and chapter 16 unmistakable. Ask: why might it be harder to trust God in a manageable problem than in an overwhelming one?

Jehoshaphat: A Costly Alliance and a Desperate Prayer

2 Chronicles 17-20

What Happens

Jehoshaphat strengthens Judah, fortifies its cities, and sends Levites throughout the kingdom to teach the law of God (2 Chronicles 17:7-9). But he forms a marriage alliance with the wicked King Ahab of Israel and joins him in a war against Syria at Ramoth-gilead. Ahab's four hundred prophets all promise victory, but Jehoshaphat presses for one more voice. Micaiah is summoned, and the king's messenger pressures him to agree with the others. Micaiah refuses, prophesying disaster, and is struck and imprisoned for it. Ahab dies in the battle exactly as Micaiah foretold (2 Chronicles 18:1-34). Later, the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites march together against Judah. Jehoshaphat, afraid, proclaims a fast and gathers the nation at the temple, praying, 'we know not what to do: but our eyes are upon thee' (2 Chronicles 20:12). The Lord answers through the Levite Jahaziel: 'Ye shall not need to fight in this battle... stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:17). Judah marches out singing, and the enemy armies destroy each other before Judah even reaches them.

Turning Points

  • •Jehoshaphat allies with Ahab against the warning implicit in Ahab's character, leading to Ramoth-gilead (2 Chronicles 18:1-3).
  • •Micaiah stands alone against four hundred court prophets and tells the truth anyway (2 Chronicles 18:13-27).
  • •Facing three invading armies, Jehoshaphat turns the whole nation toward the temple instead of toward his own army (2 Chronicles 20:3-4).
  • •The Lord declares the battle is His, not Judah's, and Judah is told to stand still and watch (2 Chronicles 20:17).

Why It Matters

These four chapters show two different relationships to power. In chapter 18, Jehoshaphat borrows strength from a corrupt ally and very nearly dies for it. In chapter 20, he asks God directly and watches God act without Judah lifting a sword. Micaiah's courage in between shows that telling an unpopular truth to a king, even at personal cost, is itself an act of faith. Together the chapters teach that the source we lean on, whether human alliance or divine power, determines both the outcome and the character of the victory.

Teaching Angle

Note the irony for class: in chapter 18, Jehoshaphat survives a battle he should have lost; in chapter 20, Judah wins a battle it never fights. Ask what 'our eyes are upon thee' would look like applied to a specific current worry, named concretely rather than abstractly.

Uzziah: Fifty-Two Years, One Fatal Decision

2 Chronicles 26

What Happens

Uzziah becomes king at sixteen and reigns fifty-two years, longer than almost any king of Judah. He seeks God 'in the days of Zechariah' and prospers extraordinarily: he defeats the Philistines, Arabians, and Meunites, builds towers and cisterns in the wilderness, develops agriculture, and assembles a professional army equipped with engineered weapons, 'for he loved husbandry' (2 Chronicles 26:10). His fame spreads, 'for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong' (2 Chronicles 26:15). That final phrase pivots the chapter: 'when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction' (2 Chronicles 26:16). Uzziah enters the temple to burn incense on the altar, a duty reserved exclusively for Aaronic priests. The priest Azariah and eighty others confront him, warning that this will not bring him honor. Uzziah grows angry, and while the censer is still in his hand, leprosy breaks out on his forehead. He is driven from the temple and spends the rest of his life isolated, while his son Jotham governs in his place.

Turning Points

  • •Uzziah's prosperity is explicitly tied to his seeking God: 'he sought God... and God made him to prosper' (2 Chronicles 26:5).
  • •Strength itself becomes the trigger for pride: 'when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction' (2 Chronicles 26:16).
  • •Uzziah ignores the priests' direct warning and is struck with leprosy on the spot (2 Chronicles 26:19-20).

Why It Matters

Uzziah's fall is not caused by failure but by success. He had decades of evidence that God was the source of his strength, and that very strength convinced him he no longer needed the boundaries God had set. The chapter teaches that prosperity is a test in its own right, often harder than adversity, because it tempts a person to credit themselves for what God provided.

Teaching Angle

Ask the class to identify the exact verse where Uzziah's story turns (26:16). Discuss how a person recognizes pride forming in their own life before it produces a visible consequence, since most people don't get a warning as dramatic as leprosy.

Hezekiah's Passover Invitation to a Divided Nation

2 Chronicles 30

What Happens

Early in his reign, Hezekiah reopens and repairs the Jerusalem temple after his father Ahaz had closed it. He decides to hold a national Passover, but the priests are not yet ready and not enough people have gathered by the regular date in the first month, so Hezekiah uses the law's provision to celebrate Passover in the second month instead (2 Chronicles 30:2-3). He then sends letters and runners not only throughout Judah but to the remnant of the northern kingdom of Israel, 'from Beersheba even to Dan,' inviting them to come to Jerusalem and keep the Passover, 'for ye have not done it of a long time' (2 Chronicles 30:5). Many in the north mock and ridicule the messengers, but some from Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, Issachar, and Zebulun humble themselves and travel to Jerusalem. The congregation that gathers is large enough that many had not properly purified themselves, yet Hezekiah prays for them and the Lord heals the people rather than striking them down for the ritual lapse (2 Chronicles 30:18-20). The celebration extends seven additional days, and the chapter ends noting that nothing like it had happened since the days of Solomon.

Turning Points

  • •Hezekiah postpones Passover to the second month using a provision in the law, rather than holding a smaller, half-attended observance on time (2 Chronicles 30:2-3).
  • •Hezekiah extends the invitation across the political and religious divide to the northern kingdom (2 Chronicles 30:6-9).
  • •Hezekiah prays for the ritually unprepared worshippers rather than excluding them, and the Lord heals the people (2 Chronicles 30:18-20).

Why It Matters

This chapter occurs before the Assyrian deportation of the northern kingdom in 722 BC, which means Hezekiah's invitation reached a population whose time to return was running out. He prioritized gathering Israel over technical perfection in scheduling or ritual purity, choosing inclusion within the bounds the law allowed rather than exclusion for the sake of precision. The episode models how covenant invitations can cross old grievances and political boundaries when the goal is worship rather than victory over a rival.

Teaching Angle

Highlight that some northern Israelites mocked the invitation and some accepted it, both responses recorded honestly. Ask what made it possible for Hezekiah's messengers to keep extending the invitation despite the ridicule, and where that kind of persistence applies today.

Historical & Cultural Context

5 topics · Geography, customs, archaeology

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Judah's Geography: A Kingdom of Ridges and Frontiers

Judah occupied the southern Levant's central highlands, a ridge of rounded hills sloping west into the Shephelah lowlands and dropping east into the arid Judean Desert and the Dead Sea basin. The kingdom ran from Jerusalem south through Hebron into the Negev. This terrain shaped Judah's defense strategy: kings fortified a ring of border cities rather than relying on open-field armies alone.

Jehoshaphat's Fortress Network

Excavations at Lachish, Tell en-Nasbeh (biblical Mizpah), Beth-Shemesh, and Arad reveal fortified-city strata dating to the first half of the 9th century BC, the era of Jehoshaphat's reign. These layers, along with Judean storehouse complexes built with standardized administrative rooms, show a kingdom capable of organizing both a military perimeter and a functioning bureaucracy. A clay seal impression reading 'belonging to King Jehoshaphat,' with paleography matching other 9th-century royal seals, confirms that royal documents were sealed in his name during this period.

The Moabite Stone and the War of 2 Chronicles 20

The Mesha Stele, a black basalt inscription discovered at Dhiban, Jordan, was commissioned by King Mesha of Moab and confirms Moab's conflicts with Israel and Judah in this general period. It provides independent, non-biblical confirmation that Moab was a real, organized kingdom capable of mounting the kind of coalition invasion described in 2 Chronicles 20:1, where Moab, Ammon, and the Meunites march together against Jehoshaphat.

Uzziah's Earthquake

Amos 1:1 and Zechariah 14:5 both reference a major earthquake during Uzziah's reign. Archaeologists have found physical evidence of a massive 8th-century BC earthquake, estimated at magnitude 7.8 to 8.2, at Hazor, Gezer, Lachish, Gath, Deir 'Alla, and most recently in Jerusalem itself, dated to roughly 760 BC. Two seals from officials in Uzziah's court, naming him directly, and an 8th-century fortress at Kadesh Barnea attributed to his building program, add further material confirmation to the reign described in 2 Chronicles 26.

Co-Regency in the House of David

Judah's kings frequently ruled jointly with a father or son before sole succession, a practice called co-regency. Jehoshaphat reigned alongside his father Asa before Asa's death, and Uzziah's son Jotham took over day-to-day government once Uzziah was struck with leprosy and excluded from public and temple life (2 Chronicles 26:21). This system explains why reign lengths in Chronicles sometimes overlap rather than running strictly end to end.

Key People

5 people in this week's reading

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Asa

King of Judah for 41 years, roughly 912 to 871 BC, and grandson of Rehoboam. Asa began his reign with sweeping religious reforms, removing foreign altars and idols, and led Judah to a stunning military deliverance against a vastly larger Ethiopian army through direct prayer. Decades later, facing a smaller threat from King Baasha of Israel, he hired the pagan king of Syria for help instead of seeking the Lord, and imprisoned the prophet who confronted him about it. His reign is the week's clearest case study in the difference between trusting God once and trusting God consistently.

Jehoshaphat

Asa's son, king of Judah for 25 years including a co-regency with his father, roughly 872 to 848 BC. Jehoshaphat strengthened Judah's cities, sent teachers of the law throughout the kingdom, and is remembered for the prayer at the temple that gives this week's lesson its title: 'we know not what to do: but our eyes are upon thee' (2 Chronicles 20:12). His earlier alliance with the wicked King Ahab of Israel nearly cost him his life at the battle of Ramoth-gilead, making him a study in both the danger of compromised alliances and the power of direct dependence on God.

Micaiah

A prophet of the Lord summoned by Ahab and Jehoshaphat to confirm a planned military campaign against Syria. While four hundred of Ahab's court prophets predicted victory, Micaiah told the kings the truth, that Ahab would die in the battle, even though Ahab's messenger urged him to fall in line with the popular prediction. Micaiah was struck and imprisoned for his honesty, and Ahab died at Ramoth-gilead exactly as Micaiah foretold, making Micaiah a model of prophetic courage under direct royal pressure.

Uzziah (Azariah)

King of Judah for 52 years, roughly 791 to 739 BC, one of the longest reigns of any Judahite king. Uzziah expanded Judah's military and agricultural strength, built fortifications across the Negev, and is possibly the 'Azaria'u of Ya'uda' named in fragmentary Assyrian annals of Tiglath-Pileser III. His reign collapsed in its final years after he entered the temple to burn incense, a priestly function he had no authority to perform, and was struck with leprosy for the rest of his life, governing afterward only through his son Jotham.

Hezekiah

King of Judah whose reign likely spans roughly 730 to 695 BC. In 2 Chronicles 30, early in his reign, Hezekiah reopens the temple his father Ahaz had closed and invites both Judah and the surviving population of the northern kingdom of Israel to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem, an invitation issued before the Assyrian deportation of Israel in 722 BC. His willingness to delay the festival by a month and to overlook ritual imperfections in the gathered crowd marks him as a king who prioritized covenant participation over procedural exactness.

Doctrinal Themes

Our Eyes Are Upon Thee: Dependence on God in Crisis · Pride After Prosperity · Gathering Across Division

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Our Eyes Are Upon Thee: Dependence on God in Crisis

Jehoshaphat's prayer at the temple is built on an honest admission: Judah faced three invading armies and had no military answer. 'O our God... we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee' (2 Chronicles 20:12). The Lord's answer through Jahaziel removes the burden from Judah entirely: 'the battle is not yours, but God's... ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:15, 17).

Mosiah 7:33D&C 123:17Exodus 14:13-14

Pride After Prosperity

Uzziah's fall follows a precise pattern: God blessed him for seeking God, and that blessing itself became the occasion for pride. 'God made him to prosper' (2 Chronicles 26:5), then 'when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction' (2 Chronicles 26:16). The Book of Mormon names this exact cycle directly: 'because of their oppression to the poor, they had send away the poor and the needy... it had come because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches' (Helaman 4:11-12). President Ezra Taft Benson taught that pride is 'the universal sin, the great vice' precisely because it grows out of success rather than failure.

Helaman 4:11-12Deuteronomy 8:11-14President Ezra Taft Benson, 'Beware of Pride,' Ensign, May 1989

Gathering Across Division

Hezekiah's invitation in 2 Chronicles 30 crossed a political boundary that had separated Israel and Judah for generations, reaching out to a kingdom on the verge of collapse and exile. Some scorned the invitation; some traveled to Jerusalem and kept the Passover despite imperfect preparation, and the Lord healed rather than rejected them (2 Chronicles 30:18-20). This anticipates the latter-day gathering work described in the Doctrine and Covenants, where the invitation goes out widely and the response varies, but the gathering itself does not stop for the sake of those who accept.

D&C 29:7-83 Nephi 10:4-6Isaiah 11:12

Come Follow Me Tie-In

What to expect in Sunday's discussion

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The manual centers this week on Jehoshaphat's prayer and the Lord's promise, 'Fear not, nor be dismayed' (2 Chronicles 20:17), framing the entire lesson around what to do when a problem is bigger than our own resources. Its study sections trace where each king placed his trust: Asa's shifting reliance across chapters 14 through 16, Micaiah's courage under pressure in chapter 18, Jehoshaphat's pattern of turning to God and His prophets in chapter 20, the turning point of Uzziah's pride in chapter 26, and Hezekiah's peacemaking invitation to Israel in chapter 30.

Class discussion will likely circle around personal application: what 'our eyes are upon thee' looks like in a real situation, what it costs to be the one dissenting voice like Micaiah, and how an invitation like Hezekiah's might apply to someone a family or class member has written off. Expect the lesson to return repeatedly to the idea that the kings' outcomes tracked directly with whether they sought the Lord or relied on themselves.

Reference Layer

Chapter-by-Chapter Summaries

2 Chronicles 14: Asa's Reforms and the Ethiopian Invasion

Asa removes idols and pagan worship sites · Judah enjoys ten years of peace · Zerah the Ethiopian invades with a massive army · Asa prays and Judah routs the invaders

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Asa begins his reign by removing pagan altars, images, and groves throughout Judah, and the land enjoys ten years of peace under his leadership (2 Chronicles 14:1-7). When Zerah the Ethiopian marches against Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, Asa does not match force with force. He cries out, 'Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee' (2 Chronicles 14:11).

Judah routs the Ethiopian army completely, pursuing them to Gerar and seizing enormous spoil. The chapter establishes the pattern the rest of Asa's story will be measured against: when he depended on God against impossible odds, God delivered Judah decisively.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 14:112 Chronicles 14:2

Key Events

  • •Asa removes idols and pagan worship sites
  • •Judah enjoys ten years of peace
  • •Zerah the Ethiopian invades with a massive army
  • •Asa prays and Judah routs the invaders

2 Chronicles 15: Covenant Renewal Under Azariah's Warning

Azariah delivers a conditional prophecy · Judah renews its covenant with God at Jerusalem · Asa removes Maachah for idolatry · Peace continues through Asa's 35th year

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The prophet Azariah meets Asa after the victory over Zerah and delivers a direct conditional promise: 'The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you' (2 Chronicles 15:2). Asa responds by leading a national assembly at Jerusalem, where the people enter a covenant to seek the Lord 'with all their heart and with all their soul' (2 Chronicles 15:12).

Asa also removes his grandmother Maachah from her position because of her idolatry, even destroying her idol. The chapter closes noting peace through the 35th year of Asa's reign, the high point of his relationship with God before the events of chapter 16.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 15:22 Chronicles 15:12

Key Events

  • •Azariah delivers a conditional prophecy
  • •Judah renews its covenant with God at Jerusalem
  • •Asa removes Maachah for idolatry
  • •Peace continues through Asa's 35th year

2 Chronicles 16: Asa's Decline: Self-Reliance and a Rejected Prophet

Baasha threatens Judah's border at Ramah · Asa hires Syria instead of seeking God · Hanani confronts Asa and is imprisoned · Asa grows ill and dies without seeking the Lord

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When King Baasha of Israel builds Ramah to blockade Judah's northern border, Asa does not repeat his earlier pattern of seeking God. Instead, he sends silver and gold to Ben-hadad, king of Syria, hiring him to attack Israel and force Baasha to retreat (2 Chronicles 16:1-6). The plan works militarily, but the prophet Hanani confronts Asa, reminding him that the Lord who delivered him from a million-man Ethiopian army could have delivered him from Baasha without a pagan alliance: 'the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him' (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Asa responds with rage rather than repentance, imprisoning Hanani. The chapter ends with Asa diseased in his feet, seeking physicians but explicitly not seeking the Lord (2 Chronicles 16:12), and his death follows shortly after.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 16:92 Chronicles 16:12

Key Events

  • •Baasha threatens Judah's border at Ramah
  • •Asa hires Syria instead of seeking God
  • •Hanani confronts Asa and is imprisoned
  • •Asa grows ill and dies without seeking the Lord

2 Chronicles 17: Jehoshaphat Strengthens Judah

Jehoshaphat fortifies Judah's cities · He sends teachers of the law throughout the kingdom · Surrounding nations bring tribute · Jehoshaphat organizes a large standing army

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Jehoshaphat succeeds his father Asa and immediately fortifies Judah's cities against Israel while removing high places and groves from the land. Chronicles records that 'the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David' (2 Chronicles 17:3). He sends princes, Levites, and priests throughout Judah carrying the book of the law to teach the people directly, an administrative and religious initiative that archaeology suggests was backed by a genuine bureaucratic system.

The chapter closes with an account of Jehoshaphat's substantial military strength, organized by family and stationed in fortified cities throughout the kingdom, setting up the resources he will later choose to use, or set aside, in the chapters that follow.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 17:32 Chronicles 17:9

Key Events

  • •Jehoshaphat fortifies Judah's cities
  • •He sends teachers of the law throughout the kingdom
  • •Surrounding nations bring tribute
  • •Jehoshaphat organizes a large standing army

2 Chronicles 18: Alliance with Ahab and Micaiah's Warning

Jehoshaphat allies with Ahab against Syria · Four hundred prophets predict victory · Micaiah alone prophesies Ahab's death · Ahab is mortally wounded in battle as foretold

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Jehoshaphat forms a marriage alliance with wicked King Ahab of Israel and joins him in a campaign to recover Ramoth-gilead from Syria. Ahab's four hundred prophets unanimously predict victory, but at Jehoshaphat's request, the prophet Micaiah is summoned. Despite pressure from Ahab's messenger to match the other prophets' message, Micaiah declares, 'as the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak' (2 Chronicles 18:13), and prophesies that Ahab will die in the battle and Israel will be scattered.

Ahab imprisons Micaiah for the prophecy and goes to battle anyway, disguising himself to avoid being targeted. A Syrian soldier wounds him anyway, by what the text presents as no coincidence, and Ahab dies in his chariot exactly as Micaiah foretold (2 Chronicles 18:33-34).

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 18:132 Chronicles 18:33

Key Events

  • •Jehoshaphat allies with Ahab against Syria
  • •Four hundred prophets predict victory
  • •Micaiah alone prophesies Ahab's death
  • •Ahab is mortally wounded in battle as foretold

2 Chronicles 19: Jehoshaphat's Return and Judicial Reform

Jehu the prophet confronts Jehoshaphat over the Ahab alliance · Jehoshaphat seeks God and reforms the kingdom · Judges are appointed throughout Judah · Jehoshaphat charges judges to remember they judge for the Lord

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Jehoshaphat returns to Jerusalem safely, and the prophet Jehu son of Hanani confronts him for the alliance with Ahab: 'shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?' (2 Chronicles 19:2). Rather than reacting as Asa did to correction, Jehoshaphat responds by setting his heart to seek God and reforming the kingdom's justice system.

He appoints judges throughout Judah's cities and charges them directly: 'take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in judgment' (2 Chronicles 19:6). The chapter marks Jehoshaphat's course correction after chapter 18, setting up his very different response to crisis in chapter 20.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 19:22 Chronicles 19:6

Key Events

  • •Jehu the prophet confronts Jehoshaphat over the Ahab alliance
  • •Jehoshaphat seeks God and reforms the kingdom
  • •Judges are appointed throughout Judah
  • •Jehoshaphat charges judges to remember they judge for the Lord

2 Chronicles 20: Our Eyes Are Upon Thee

Three nations invade Judah together · Jehoshaphat gathers Judah to fast and pray at the temple · Jahaziel prophesies deliverance without battle · The enemy coalition destroys itself and Judah gathers the spoil

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Moab, Ammon, and the Meunites march together against Judah, a coalition confirmed independently by the Moabite Stone's record of regional conflict in this era. Jehoshaphat, afraid, proclaims a fast and gathers all Judah, including women and children, at the temple, praying, 'we have no might against this great company... neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee' (2 Chronicles 20:12).

The Spirit comes upon the Levite Jahaziel, who answers: 'Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's' (2 Chronicles 20:15). Judah marches out the next morning with singers leading the army, and the enemy coalition turns on itself and is destroyed before Judah's forces engage. Judah spends three days gathering the spoil, and the surrounding nations fear Judah afterward.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 20:122 Chronicles 20:152 Chronicles 20:17

Key Events

  • •Three nations invade Judah together
  • •Jehoshaphat gathers Judah to fast and pray at the temple
  • •Jahaziel prophesies deliverance without battle
  • •The enemy coalition destroys itself and Judah gathers the spoil

2 Chronicles 26: Uzziah's Prosperity and Pride

Uzziah seeks God and prospers militarily and economically · He builds fortifications and develops Judah's agriculture and army · Pride leads him to burn incense in the temple · Uzziah is struck with leprosy and isolated for the rest of his life

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Uzziah becomes king at sixteen and reigns 52 years, seeking God 'in the days of Zechariah' and prospering militarily, agriculturally, and architecturally (2 Chronicles 26:5). He defeats the Philistines and other regional enemies, builds towers and cisterns across the wilderness, and develops a professional army with engineered siege equipment, becoming famous 'till he was strong' (2 Chronicles 26:15).

That strength becomes his undoing: 'when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction' (2 Chronicles 26:16). Uzziah enters the temple to burn incense himself, a function reserved for Aaronic priests, and ignores the priest Azariah's direct warning. Leprosy breaks out on his forehead while the censer is still in his hand, and he is driven from the temple to live in isolation for the rest of his life while his son Jotham governs.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 26:52 Chronicles 26:162 Chronicles 26:19-20

Key Events

  • •Uzziah seeks God and prospers militarily and economically
  • •He builds fortifications and develops Judah's agriculture and army
  • •Pride leads him to burn incense in the temple
  • •Uzziah is struck with leprosy and isolated for the rest of his life

2 Chronicles 30: Hezekiah's Passover Invitation

Hezekiah reopens the temple and postpones Passover to the second month · He invites the northern kingdom of Israel to Jerusalem · Some northern Israelites mock the invitation while others accept it · Hezekiah prays for the unprepared and the Lord heals the people

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Early in his reign, Hezekiah reopens the temple closed by his father Ahaz and decides to hold a national Passover. Because not enough priests and people are ready by the regular date, he uses the law's provision to postpone the feast to the second month (2 Chronicles 30:2-3). He sends letters across Judah and into the surviving northern kingdom of Israel, 'from Beersheba even to Dan,' inviting all Israel to come keep the Passover in Jerusalem, 'for ye have not done it of a long time' (2 Chronicles 30:5).

Many in the north mock the messengers, but some from Ephraim, Manasseh, and other tribes humble themselves and come. Because many arrive ritually unprepared, Hezekiah prays for the people rather than excluding them, asking the Lord to 'pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God' (2 Chronicles 30:19), and the Lord heals the people. The celebration extends seven extra days, described as unmatched since Solomon's time.

Key Verses

2 Chronicles 30:52 Chronicles 30:192 Chronicles 30:26

Key Events

  • •Hezekiah reopens the temple and postpones Passover to the second month
  • •He invites the northern kingdom of Israel to Jerusalem
  • •Some northern Israelites mock the invitation while others accept it
  • •Hezekiah prays for the unprepared and the Lord heals the people
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