Judah’s King Jotham
27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah daughter of Zadok.
Jotham was in a practice run as the king, he served as the governor because his dad was unable to carry out his duties as king to the public. This allowed the 25-year-old to lead the people in his father's stead. This also gave him a view of what it was like to be king of Judah.
(Judah was faithful in making sure who sat on the throne according to the descendants of David. No matter the sins of the previous leader of Judah, they remained faithful to the bloodline.)
2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Uzziah had done. In addition, he didn’t enter the Lord’s sanctuary, but the people still behaved corruptly.
Jotham was a good king. He did things that were right as his father had done. He did not do as his dad did in going into the temple. He learned a lesson from his father's mistake.
All though he obeyed God, the people he led refused to obey God. This may have been because of the sin of his father. The people got off course. When a pastor or teacher leaves an assistant in charge, the students do not show (most times )the level of obedience to the substitute person/ teacher. As long as Uzziah ruled himself, we have no account of the people going astray. Could have been when King Uzziah sinned and his son took his place as the substitute, the people rebelled against God?
3 Jotham built the Upper Gate of the Lord’s temple, and he built extensively on the wall of Ophel.
Jotham stayed busy. He saw things that were in disrepair, he attended to it by making them secure.
4 He also built cities in the hill country of Judah and fortresses and towers in the forests.
He saw his father work and he continued the same upkeep to make Judah as safe as he could.
5 He waged war against the king of the Ammonites. He overpowered the Ammonites, and that year they gave him 7,500 pounds[a] of silver, 60,000 bushels[b] of wheat, and 60,000 bushels of barley. They paid him the same in the second and third years.
Jotham seems to be a quiet king. People did not adhere to his leadership, but he did not allow their behavior to stop him from doing what needed to be done. He was paid handsomely from the Ammonites (enemy) for at least three years the same amount of silver and grain.
6 So Jotham strengthened his position because he did not waver in obeying[c] the Lord his God.
God strengthened Jotham's position because he stood firmly on the word of God.
7 As for the rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, along with all his wars and his ways, note that they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Jotham is recorded as the only king of Israel who led while being king quietly. If God corrected him in anything, he responded accordingly. This is a king who is not well known, but a king who did things well.
8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
9 Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. His son Ahaz became king in his place.
There was not much recorded concerning the 25-year-old who king for 16 years. He did his job and died at age 42.
This article is from The Amazing Timeline of the History of the Bible. I think this is an excellent source to understand chapter 27 of 2 Chronicles.
He was 25 years old when he took the throne and ruled Judah for 16 years. His mother was named Jerusha and she was queen to Uzziah. The Lord considered Jotham a good king because he did what was right according to his expectations.
King Jotham influenced his son in the ways of God. Throughout the course of Uzziah’s life he continuously sought the Lord. God had blessed him tremendously for faithfulness to him. Jotham recognized the importance of serving God from observing his father. Uzziah almost had a perfect life with the Lord but toward the end of his reign he became proud. He entered the temple and burned incense on the altar. The priest told him that he should not be doing such a thing but the king didn’t listen to them and became outraged. God then struck him with leprosy and he had to live outside of his kingdom until the day he died. This event was very significant to King Jotham because he never entered into Solomon’s Temple during his time in power.
While Uzziah was still alive and living outside of kingdom with leprosy he still ruled the land but he did so with the aide Jotham. They were co-regents that ruled together. Jotham rebuilt the upper gates of Solomon’s Temple and he was careful to live in obedience to the Lord. Even though he personally served God he could not influence his subjects to follow in his ways. King Jotham didn’t destroy the pagan shrines. The people still offered sacrifices and burned incense to foreign gods. This is probably one reason why God sent the Arameans, Rezin and King Pekah of Israel against Judah as punishment for their sins.
King Jotham lived during the time of the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, Amos and Micah. Since he was a god fearing man he apparently listened intently to these messages from the Lord. He not only listened but he obeyed them as well. The fact still remains is that the people did not obey the messages from these prophets nor were they influenced by this king no matter how much he tried to do what was right according to God. God faulted the people and not the king for this situation.
The king waged war against the Ammonites and defeated them. He received a three year tribute of silver, wheat and barely from the Ammonites. Throughout the years of his rule, King Jotham was careful to obey all the commands of God. The Lord blessed King Jotham with power since he was personally obedient to his commands. Though the Bible doesn’t go into specific details about how God expanded the power of King Jotham, it’s safe to assume that the Lord built up his military forces and treasury in the same way that he did for his father Uzziah. King Jotham eventually died and was buried in the City of David. His son Ahaz took over the throne after he passed away.
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