Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 15
The previous king, Amaziah, had served God loyally only during the first half of his rule as king of Judah (14:3). That was before his son Azariah (also called Uzziah) was born. At about that time, Amaziah began to serve false gods (2 Chronicles 25:14). We do not know whether he later turned back to the true God.
When Azariah became king, he was careful to follow his father’s right behaviour and not his wrong actions. He obeyed God’s law and he served God loyally. He had a wise adviser called Zechariah who taught him how to serve God (2 Chronicles 26:5). During Zechariah’s life, Azariah served God loyally. After Zechariah’s death, as we shall soon see, Azariah became proud. That caused him to act in a very wrong manner that brought God’s judgment against him (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). However, even in that situation, Azariah did not choose to serve false gods as his father Amaziah had done.
Like so many other kings of Judah, Azariah did not remove the places where people offered sacrifices (the animals that they offered to God). Those are called ‘the high places’; they were mostly in the hills. People sometimes used these places for false religions, and sometimes to pray to the true God. However, God’s law was that his people should not go to these places to pray. He had provided his temple, the house of God in Jerusalem. That was the only proper place where people should bring their sacrifices to him. There, in Jerusalem, the people should gather to pray together on their sacred holidays (Deuteronomy 12:1-14). Probably, Azariah and the other kings did not remove the ‘high places’ because they were afraid of the people’s reaction. They did not want to be unpopular.
Next part: Azariah's illness: leprosy (2 Kings 15:5)
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