Three Blind Kings
Devotions for Growing Christians
Three Blind Kings
2 Chronicles 21:6, 18-20 - Jehoram did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels...and he died in great pain...He passed away, to no one's regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
2 Chronicles 26:16, 21 - But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the Temple to burn incense...King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house--leprous, and excluded from the Temple of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 33:9 - Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
Many of us know the old nursery rhyme about three blind mice - but who were the three blind kings? Three kings who reigned in the ancient kingdom of Judah were blind - but not physically blind! They were blind to their God-given heritage and responsibilities.
All three kings were descendants of good King David. All three knew that they were responsible to lead the kingdom of Judah for the glory of God. And it's possible that all three knew the promised Messiah was to come through their kingly line of descent. Yet all three failed to see the importance of their God-given position. What lessons can we learn from these three blind kings?
King Jehoram - Blind to Heritage
King Jehoram of Judah is the king who "departed with no one's regret" (2 Chronicles 21:20). How would you like to have that inscribed on your gravestone? His story would have been very different if he had only followed in the steps of his predecessors! Jehoram's father was good king Jehoshaphat, and his grandfather was King Asa, who "did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God" (2 Chronicles 14:2).
But Jehoram was blind to his godly heritage. When he became king, he systematically eliminated all rivals to the throne, even killing his own brothers! Rather than choosing a wife who followed the Lord, he married Athaliah, the notorious daughter of wicked and idolatrous Queen Jezebel and King Ahab. The saying, "like mother, like daughter" certainly applied to Athaliah. After the deaths of her husband and son, she murdered all but one of the royal family of Judah - including her own grandchildren! This atrocity was all part of her plan to usurp the throne of Judah and eliminate all potential future rivals. (See 2 Chronicles 22:10-12.)
Rather than continuing the godly legacy of his father and grandfather, Jehoram walked in the ways of the wicked kings of the northern kingdom of Israel. He caused the people of Judah to turn away from the Lord and follow the religious prostitution and other evil practices of the pagan foreign gods. The great prophet Elijah sent Jehoram a letter, warning him about departing from the godly ways of his father and grandfather, but Jehoram ignored it. Even when the prediction of a slow and painful death became a reality, King Jehoram refused to turn from his spiritual blindness. Until the day of his horrible death, this wicked king remained blind to his godly heritage and the God of his forefathers.
There are many people like King Jehoram today. Although they were raised in solid Christ-centered homes, they have walked away from "the way of their fathers." Materialism, earthly ambition, hedonism, social success, and other forms of spiritual idolatry have blinded them to their spiritual heritage. "Christians" in name only, they may lose sight of the Lord altogether, or pay only lip-service to the God of their fathers at family gatherings, like Christmas and Easter.
In our consumer-oriented, hedonistic and success-driven society, it's difficult even for true believers to keep their spiritual eyesight clear. If God has blessed you with a wonderful spiritual background, don't lose sight of what you have learned! Continue to build on the solid foundation of biblical knowledge you have received. Follow the example of righteous living provided by godly parents, grandparents and teachers. Don't be blind to your godly heritage. Guard your spiritual eyesight carefully!
King Uzziah - Blind to Role
In 2 Chronicles 26 we read about another spiritually blind king. King Uzziah was not an evil king, and he wasn't blind for his entire reign. In fact, Uzziah was one of the good kings of Judah, and "God gave him success" (vs 4-7). King Uzziah had vision and administrative ability, and he used Judah’s resources and the technical know-how and skill of his people wisely (vs 9-15). Uzziah was "greatly helped until he became powerful" (v15). But then we read one of the saddest verses of the Bible: "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall." How sad!
Uzziah may have had good motives for deciding to enter the Temple, but pride blinded him to the fact that God set the Temple apart. According to God's Law, only priests were allowed to enter the Temple and burn incense to the Lord. Kings were not allowed to enter the Temple building! Uzziah, however, was not satisfied with the kingly position God had bestowed on him, and he arrogantly decided to do what he wanted. When the courageous priests confronted him, Uzziah didn’t respond with proper humility, but with furious anger. "While he was raging at the priests before the incense altar of the Lord, leprosy broke out on his forehead" (v19).
God had made Uzziah a king. He had a tremendous position and an awesome opportunity to serve God and his people! Instead of an attitude of humble gratitude to God for blessing on his life and kingdom, Uzziah became proud and self-willed. He wanted more! He took a role that God had not given him, and he reaped the results of his spiritual blindness. Because of his pride and presumption, God humbled the arrogant king with leprosy. Uzziah is known as the king who "was a leper to the day of his death."
Being arrogantly blind to his God-given role was costly for Uzziah, and it will be costly for us as well. Humility is increasingly lacking in our society. Our culture tells us to "go for anything we want to do or be," and "do anything you have to do to get what you want." It's amazing, but unfortunately true, that Christians often succumb to the same sins of pride and self-gratification. Most of the time we don't even realize our lack of humility before our sovereign and holy God! We often try to run our lives our way, frequently setting our own goals, making our own plans and decisions - and then requesting God to bless our plans?
Do we subconsciously tend to think of ourselves as being more important than we really are? Do we subtly seek to increase our own visibility in the church or in our areas of ministry? Do we sometimes take the credit for things God has done in our lives? Are we sometimes dissatisfied and desire more, grasping for positions or roles that God’s plan for us? Or do we have a servant's attitude, humbly allowing God to make His sovereign choices for our lives, and giving Him the glory for what He does in and through us?
Just as Uzziah was given the role of king to fulfill, so we have been given a role to fulfill in this life. In His sovereign wisdom, God Himself has designed this role. This unique role includes our place in our families, in the church and in society. It’s a serious mistake to abdicate a role that God has ordained for us, or to grasp at a role He has given to others.
The role of church leaders is to lead by example, to "speak the Word of God" and "keep watch" as a shepherd cares for a flock - not to assume the role of dictators. The role of church members is to respect their leaders - not to challenge or undermine their leadership (Hebrews 13:7 & 17).
If God has given us children, our primary role as parents is to "bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Parents must be actively involved as spiritual models and educators for their children - and not so busy assuming other roles that the training of their children is neglected or passed off to others. And the role of children is to honor and respect their parents, not to scorn or manipulate them (Ephesians 6:1-2).
Let's be content with the different roles we play in the body of Christ, as determined by the spiritual gifts God has given us, and where He has placed us. Blindness in our God-given roles may be rooted pride, jealousy, improper ambition and bitter dissatisfaction with God's decisions for our lives. Let's examine our hearts. God may have to discipline us - for the purpose of restoring clear spiritual vision! He’s looking for Christians who are willing to fulfill His will by functioning well in the places He has put them!
For our supreme example, read Philippians 2:3-11.
King Manasseh - Blind to History
King Manasseh is remembered as the worst king in Judah's history. 2 Chronicles 33:2 says that "Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites." These words are especially shocking when we realize that the reign of Manasseh followed one of the greatest revivals in Judah's history, and one of God's greatest miracles in the entire history of Israel. But Manasseh was blind to history.
Manasseh certainly knew of the great revival that had taken place during the reign of his father, good King Hezekiah. (Read 2 Chronicles 29-31.) 2 Chronicles 30:26 says of this revival that "since the days of Solomon there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem." The revival in Judah even swept up into the northern kingdom of Israel. All idols and high places were destroyed! God prospered Hezekiah and the southern kingdom of Judah because of their obedience. (See 2 Chronicles 31:1 & 21.) Manasseh certainly knew all about this historic revival, but in his deliberate spiritual blindness he ignored God's blessing in Judah's history.
The great revival was not the only recent history that was staring King Manasseh in the face. In 701BC, during his father's reign, the massive armies of Assyrian King Sennacherib overran the northern kingdom of Israel. They conquered the outlying fortress cities of Judah that were designed to defend Jerusalem, and then surrounded Jerusalem itself. All hope appeared to be gone. But the prophet Isaiah came to the beleaguered King Hezekiah, and encouraged him to trust in the Lord and resist Sennacherib's threats.
Hezekiah took the situation to the Lord in prayer, and one of the great miracles of all time took place, An angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night, and Jerusalem was delivered! This significant miracle of deliverance is recorded three times in the Bible: 2 Kings 19:35-37; 2 Chronicles 32:20-22 and Isaiah 36-37. King Manasseh was certainly familiar with this great event - but he deliberately turned a blind eye to the spiritual significance of this historic miracle.
How much more evidence for the existence and power of God did Manasseh need? And yet he deliberately chose to block God from his sight, and led his people into spiritual blindness as well. He reversed the effects of the great revival by systematically supplanting the worship of God with false pagan "deities" and their evil and immoral practices. He even polluted the Temple of the Lord with idols, and led the people of Israel into witchcraft, gross immorality and child sacrifice. As a result, Manasseh lost both his throne and his freedom. When he was in great distress as a captive in Babylon, he finally turned from his blind rebellion and looked to the God he had forsaken (2 Chronicles 33:12-13).
Leaders like Manasseh exist in the world today. Some are unbelievers who have deliberately chosen to turn a blind eye to the overwhelming evidence for the existence of God. They have chosen to bow (and led many others to bow) before the false god of humanism. In great part, the blinding influence of humanistic philosophy has led to the cynicism, selfishness, immorality, and lack of respect for life in our society today. Other modern-day Manassehs (some even professing Christians) have deliberately turned a blind eye to the evidence of God's work of creation, and His miraculous intervention for His people throughout history.
Many of these people have succumbed to the worship of the false god of intellectual pride. To appear scholarly and elite, they attack the Bible, attempting to diminish the historicity and reliability of the Word of God. Their influence has caused fuzzy spiritual vision and blindness for many others. People become confused or skeptical about the possibility of ever knowing truth, And some turn away from God, perhaps to eternal destruction.
It's often been said that “those who fail to learn from the mistakes of history are destined to repeat them.” It's also true that those who refuse to see God's hand in history are spiritually blind, and will remain in spiritual darkness. Have you looked at your own history? Have you seen the hand of God at work in events in your past? Have you learned the lessons of your personal history that God wants to teach you? Open your eyes and take a good look back. It's amazing - and humbling - what you will learn about our gracious God if you really look at the historical events in your own background!
The inspired accounts of Jehoram, Uzziah and Manasseh were not put in Holy Scripture for our entertainment. Romans 15:4 informs us that "whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction." God's intent is that we check out our own spiritual eyesight after reading about the three blind kings.
- Dave Reid