Leviticus 14:1 - Meaning and Application

This book begins with Solomon’s reign and the building of the temple. It then continues the history of the kings of Judah from that point until the captivity, and ends with the fall of that famous kingdom and the destruction of the temple.

The line of David, who was Israel’s king, came before the great kingdoms Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about, and it was greater in honor and worth than all of them. Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian ruler, was the head of gold in that dream, and his empire lasted only about seventy years. The Persian Empire, across several ruling families, lasted about 130 years; the Greek Empire, in its many branches, about 300; and the Roman Empire lasted about 300 years more, and even that was not the end of its influence.

David was a greater hero than any founder of those empires, and Solomon was a more splendid king than any of their famous rulers. The throne also stayed in David’s family through the whole kingdom, which remained important for about 400 to 500 years. After a long time of seeming defeat, that royal line rose again in the kingdom of the Messiah, whose rule and peace will never end.

This history of the Jewish kingdom is more reliable, more interesting, and more useful than the histories of those other empires. We already had the story of David’s house in 1 and 2 Kings, where it was mixed with the history of the kings of Israel, and that kingdom took up more space there than Judah did. Here, however, we have Judah’s history by itself.

Much of this material is repeated from before, but many parts are explained more fully, and some new details are added, especially about matters of religion. This is church history, and it is written to teach us that nations and families can expect real success only when they live in obedience to God. Again and again, the good kings prospered, and the wicked kings suffered.

We read of Solomon’s peaceful reign in chapters 1 to 9, Rehoboam’s troubled reign in chapters 10 to 12, Abijah’s short but active reign in chapter 13, Asa’s long and happy reign in chapters 14 to 16, Jehoshaphat’s godly and prosperous reign in chapters 17 to 20, Jehoram and Ahaziah’s ungodly and shameful reigns in chapters 21 to 22, Joash and Amaziah’s unstable reigns in chapters 24 and 25, Uzziah’s long and prosperous reign in chapter 26, Jotham’s orderly reign in 2 Chronicles 27:1-9, Ahaz’s ungodly and wicked reign in chapter 28, Hezekiah’s gracious and glorious reign in chapters 29 to 32, Manasseh and Amon’s wicked reigns in chapter 33, Josiah’s reforming reign in chapters 34 and 35, and the ruinous reigns of Josiah’s sons in chapter 36.

When we put all this together, we see the truth of God’s word: those who honor him, he will honor, and those who despise him will be held in low esteem. Mr. Whiston, a scholar who worked on Bible chronology, suggests that the historical books written after the captivity, namely Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, contain more mistakes in names and numbers than all the other Old Testament books, because copyists were careless. But even if that were true, the errors are so small that we can still be sure the foundation God has laid remains firm.