2 Kings 14:23

2 Kings 14:23 says, In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years.  In Amaziah's fifteenth year as king of Judah, Jeroboam, Joash's son began to reign in Israel, and he reigned for forty-one years, which was the longest of the reigns of any of the kings of Israel according to Matthew Henry.  Sometimes, the names can be confusing, because they are the same or the same as some king before.  We may at times have rulers in the world by the same name or something very similar, and this might be confusing at times. but there is only One name that we need to acknowledge as our ruler as Christians, and that is Jesus Christ.  There can be no other.  Verse twenty-four adds, And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.  This Jeroboam did evil in God's sight as did his ancestor Jeroboam.  We should never be guilty of following those who have sinned against God and led others to do so, even if they were people in positions of power.  Verse twenty-five continues, He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.  Even though Jeroboam did evil in God's sight, God still used him to restore the coasts of Israel in accordance with His prophesy through Jonah.  Matthew Henry says this was later in Johah's life, after he gone to Ninevah.  If so, he was still being used by God.  God's word is going to be fulfilled, no matter who is in charge in the world, but it is better for us if we as His people follow His will and allow Him to work through us.  Verse twenty-six states, For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.  Even though they were not following God's leadership, God had mercy on them because of their affliction in the world.  Even when we are not following God's leadership, He has shown us His mercy by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us that we might be restored to Him spiritually.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.  We are told that instead of blotting out the people of Israel that God saved them through Jeroboam, even though he did evil in God's sight.  We can be saved only through faith in one Person and that Jesus Christ.  If we do not put our faith in Him, our name will be blotted out of the Lamb's book of life.  Verse twenty-eight continues, Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?  We are told of a couple of things that Jeroboam did, or more accurately that God did through him, and then are told as usual that the rest of his actions were recorded in the chronicles of the kings.  God will make note of all that we do, whether good or bad, and what will matter is our relationship to Jesus Christ.  We cannot do enough good to earn salvation nor enough bad to keep us from being saved if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty-nine concludes, And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.  As with every king except the one true King, Jesus Christ, even though Jeroboam reigned for a long time, he died.  No matter how long we live nor how powerful we might be in the eyes of the world, we will all one day die.  Jeroboam was replaced by Zachariah his son, but there will never be any other ruler who will replace Jesus Christ as the King of God's people, because He will never die.