A few days ago, I shared some thoughts about King Jeroboam in 2 Kings 14, and how God used him to deliver Israel in spite of his sin. In 2 Kings 15:1-10, you see a similar thing happening with a king named Azariah, in a way that is both encouraging, but also deeply challenging.
It says that while
Jeroboam was reigning in Israel, a king named Azariah came to the throne of
Judah. Azariah, it says, did right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah
had done. It's far less frequent for 2 Kings to say a king did right in God's eyes, so this stands out.
But
then, just as you're ready to pat Azariah on the back, verse 5 says that the
Lord "afflicted Azariah with leprosy." Another book of the Bible, 2
Chronicles, will explain why (apparently Azariah tried to offer incense in the
Temple when only the priest was supposed to...a big no-no) but in 2 Kings it
just sits there unexplained and rather starkly.
Azariah did right in YHWH's
eyes, and yet he was afflicted with leprosy.
This story sort of directs our thoughts in two equal and opposite direction. On the one hand, it humbles us, to
realize that "doing right in God's eyes" does not necessarily mean we
will be spared difficulty, hardship or struggles; Azariah "did right in
God's eyes" but still faced affliction. At the same time, however, it
encourages us, or should, to know that our afflictions (even those afflictions we bring on
ourselves, as Azariah did his) do not exclude us or preclude us from "doing
right in God's eyes," and accomplishing beautiful things for him.
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