Second Kings 15:27-31 describe another king who had ascended the throne of Israel during the reign of Uzziah. This time it was Pekah, the son of Remaliah. Having conspired and assassinated Pekahiah, he became king of Israel and ruled for 20 years. Though we must have gotten tired of hearing the sad refrain, here it is again in 2 Kings 15:18. Pekah, like the rest of the kings, “did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.”
Verse 29 said that in Pekah’s reign, Tiglath-Pileser, the king
of Assyria came to and captured Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh
and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the land of Naphtali. Besides
capturing these areas, he also carried captives to Assyria. Pekah was assassinated by Hoshea who led a
conspiracy to strike him, put him to death, and became king in his place. This took
place in the 20th year of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. Pekah's other
acts were also recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of
Israel.
The root of all the kings of Israel’s sin could be traced to Jeroboam. Practically every king was said to have indulged in the idolatry he had perpetrated. The sin he started was both invasive as well as pervasive. It was not only aggressive but also widespread. By the way, that's the nature of sin. The sad refrain of the son he had started had influenced the kings of Israel after him. And it has shown us how they all had allowed that sin to become a foothold in their lives. This can be the story of us too if we are not careful. We must keep a short account with God. We must pause periodically to check our lives. Else, we may be unwittingly perpetuating a sin of someone we had influenced us. Let us not be found initiating or perpetuating a sin.
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