King of Israel: Jeroboam II

Jeroboam II served as the fourteenth king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel from 793-753 BC. On the surface, his 40-year reign was marked by prosperity and national security. In fact, Jeroboam’s successful military campaigns against Syria recaptured territory that expanded Israel’s borders to their greatest extent since the days of Solomon.  Before Jeroboam II came to power, his father, Joash (also called Jehoash) served as the thirteenth king of Israel.

(Important: we must differentiate between King Jehoash—the father of Jeroboam II, in the Northern Kingdom from 798-782 BC—from  Joash—who served as the eighth king of the Southern Kingdom from 835-796 BC.)

King Jehoash of the Northern Kingdom spearheaded a brief revival following a long period of suffering at the hands of the Syrians (2 Kings 13:7). However, as was often the case, outward prosperity and political success were rarely a sign of God’s spiritual blessing, especially as the nation continued to worship false gods and the “high places” at Dan and Bethel remained. Accordingly, the biblical writers summarized that Jehoash “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; but he walked in them.” (2 Kings 13:11)

During Jeroboam II’s reign, this son of Jehoash achieved what few kings in Israel had accomplished since the days of Solomon. Known for his military prowess and leadership, Jeroboam II reclaimed portions of territory from the Syrians, who had been weakened through fighting the Assyrian Empire. Jeroboam II and the armies of Israel successfully reclaimed Damascus. They expanded the boundaries of Israel from Hamath in the north to the sea of Arabah in the south, including land that had once belonged to Judah (2 Kings 14:28).

This expansion followed the word God had spoken through the prophet Jonah—the same Jonah who traveled to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, with a message of repentance (2 Kings 14:25; Jonah 1). The territory recaptured by Jeroboam II was the crowning achievement of his tenure, but because the people of Israel rested in their political prosperity and Jeroboam II’s leadership, God sent His prophets to remind the nation that true victory belonged to Him alone.