The saga continues! As much as I've been hating on Chronicles, I have to admit that today's reading wasn't so bad. It dealt with a handful of the more obscure kings, who were nearly impossible to keep track of in Kings because they were interspersed with Israelite kings. Here, we can get a better sense of who each of them were.
Yesterday's reading took us to the end of Jehoshaphat's reign, and today we begin with his son, Joram. Joram is a total asshole who kills all his brothers, "as well as some of the leading figures in Israel" (2 Chronicles 21:4). What a turd! He also marries Ahab's daughter and generally participates in evildoing, so God punishes him by allowing Edom to gain independence, and more significantly by inflicting him with "a chronic disease of the bowels, so that they prolapse and become severely ulcerated" (2 Chronicles 21:15). Oh geez! The bowel disease eventually kills Joram, and he is succeeded by his son, Ahaziah.
Ahaziah is a total mama's boy, and both he and his mother Athaliah are un-pious losers. Ahaziah gets killed in Israel early in his reign, and Athaliah responds to this event by trying to kill all the royal family -- namely, her grandsons -- so that she can rule herself. She assumes the crown for six years, but unbeknownst to her, one of the heirs to the throne was hidden away and survived; when he is seven years old, he becomes king of Israel, and Athaliah is killed.
This boy-king is named Joash and he is actually remarkably competent compared to his predecessors. He is known for renovating the temple, although his reign was marred towards the end when he was somehow led astray and wound up killing his own son. As punishment for this crime, God allows the Aramaeans to invade and plunder Judah. Joash, meanwhile, is killed by his own servants, and his son Amaziah becomes king.
Amaziah is a mostly good fellow, obedient and God-fearing, but like his father before him he slips up near the end of his reign. After his piousness earns him the defeat of Edom, he brings back their idols and begins to worship them. He also gets cocky and tries to invade Israel, but they tell him to cut it out because he just has a big ego and isn't actually capable of winning. Like his father, he is also killed by conspirators.
Amaziah's son Uzziah also follows the "good guy who fucks up a little" trope. While mostly a decent king, he makes one dumb mistake of trying to burn incense in the temple. This is the job of the priests, not the king, and as punishment, God makes him a leper.
The most lauded king of today's reading, Jotham, only gets a very short chapter. I guess the Chronicler shares my opinion that the fuck-up kings are way more fun to read about! He is succeeded by the reading's most sinister king, a fellow named Ahaz. Ahaz does lots of dumb things, like setting his children on fire, and as punishment is soundly defeated by both Aram and Israel. God does intervene to prevent the Judahites from becoming slaves, however.
The last three chapters center around Hezekiah, an excellent king who restores temple service after his predecessor's disastrous reign, and is generally very supportive of the Levites. Good for him!
I hope you learned something new from this summary, and weren't entirely bored. Tomorrow we finally -- FINALLY!!!! -- finish Chronicles. I am so ready for this Babylonian exile, you don't even know!
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