Kings of Israel and Judah

King Solomon received all the blessing from God but he turned away to false gods.

1Kgs 11:5-8 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

Because of Solomon’s sins, God tore his kingdom into two – Israel and Judah. Below are the tabulations of the kings of Israel and Judah, and the verse that explains if they are good are bad. The good kings are colored green and the bad are colored in red.

Kings of Israel

Mesha stele: Victories of Moabite king
Mesha over the House of Omri
It is sad to see not a single king in Israel followed God and His laws, but instead worshiped idols.

Kings of Israel Reign (duration) Scripture Reference
(good or bad)
Jeroboam I 26 1Kgs 14:16 “And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.”
Nadab 1 1Kgs 15:26 And he [Nadab] did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.
Baasha 23 1Kgs 15:34 He [Baasha] did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.
Elah 1 1Kgs 16:13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.
Zimri 0 1Kgs 16:18-19 And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died, because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.
Tibni 0 Too little time to do any reform. It is safe to consider people still worshiped idols as the other kings
Omri 11 1Kgs 16:26 For he [Omri] walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.
Ahab 21 1Kgs 21:22 ‘I will make your [Ahab] house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’
Ahaziah 1 1Kgs 22:52 He [Ahaziah] did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin;
Joram/Jehoram 12 2Kgs 3:3 Nevertheless he [Jehoram] persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.
Jehu 30 2Kgs 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.
Jehoahaz 14 2Kgs 13:2 And he [Jehoahaz] did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them.
Joash 17 2Kgs 13:11 And he [Joash] did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.
Jeroboam II 65 2Kgs 14:24 And he [Jeroboam II] did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
Zechariah 1 2Kgs 15:9 And he [Zechariah] did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
Shallum 0 2Kgs 15:13 Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. (reigned just one month)
Menahem 11 2Kgs 15:18 And he [Menahem] did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
Pekahiah 2 2Kgs 15:24 And he [Pekahiah] did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
Pekah 27 2Kgs 15:28 And he [Pekah] did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
Hoshea 9 2Kgs 17:2 And he [Hoshea] did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

Kings of Judah

Sennacherib’s Annals: Siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC
There are a few kings of Judah who truly followed Lord our God but most of kings went after false gods.
King of Judah Reign
(duration)
Scripture Reference
(good or bad)
Rehoboam 18 1Kgs 12:22-24 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD.
Abijah 6 2Chr 13:10 “But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the LORD are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. (spoken by Abijah)
Asa 42 2Chr 14:5 He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.
Jehoshaphat 23 2Chr 17:6 And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah.
Jehoram/Joram 7 2Chr 21:11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.
Ahaziah 1 2Kgs 8:27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, like the house of Ahab, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
Athaliah 6 2Kgs 11:1 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.
Joash/Jehoash 39 2Kgs 12:2-3 Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. But the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
Amaziah 42 2Kgs 14:3-4 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like his father David; he did everything as his father Joash had done. However the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
Uzziah/Azariah 54 2Kgs 15:3-4 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done, except that the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
Jotham 13 2Kgs 15:34-35 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD.
Ahaz 15 2Chr 28:25 And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.
Hezekiah 29 2Chr 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and the altars–from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh–until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession.
Manasseh 55 2Kgs 21:1 Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Apsiba. … 2Kgs 21:11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols)
Amon 2 2Kgs 21:20-22 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. He forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.
Josiah 31 2Chr 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.
Jehoahaz 0 2Kgs 23:31-32 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
Jehoiakim 11 2Kgs 23:36-37 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
Jehoiachin 0 2Kgs 24:8-9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
Zedekiah 12 2Kgs 24:18-19 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He also did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

Conclusion

The house of Israel (ten tribes) worshiped false gods for 272 years. The house of Judah had some the good kings who reigned for 297 years and bad kings who went after false gods and did evil for 109 years. It is important to note, God in His grace and mercy had prolonged the kingdom of Judah for 134 years.

2Kgs 23:25-26 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him. Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.

Let us not bring curse upon our descendants because of our sins.  Let us also don’t forget the most important sin of Manasseh.

2Kgs 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

In today’s world, many kill innocent in the name of abortion crushing and killing the unborn child, much like Manasseh shedding innocent blood, sending his own sons to pass through fire and sacrificing them. If God did not spare Manasseh who was made king of His own people, how much more will He be angry towards this evil generation who kill 125000 unborn per day which did not happen even the last generation.
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