Uzziah had to go into seclusion because of his leprosy, and his son Jotham succeeded him. Jotham was the twelfth king of Judah. The twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Lamed, which means “teaching and learning.” King Jotham learned from his father’s mistake and did well as king of Judah.
The Bible says no king of Judah, either before or after, was like King Hezekiah. Many remarkable things occurred during his reign. King Hezekiah was the fourteenth king of Judah. The Nun is the fourteenth Hebrew letter, and means “Faithfulness, soul and emergence.” King Hezekiah was, according to Scripture, the most faithful king of Judah.
King Josiah was the son of Amon and the grandson of Manassah, both of whom did great evil in Judah. Josiah was the seventeenth king of Judah and he sought to follow the Lord. He had the Temple cleaned and repaired. While the priests were cleaning and consecrating the Temple, they found a strange old book. It was the Word of God! When it was read to King Josiah, he trembled at the fact that Judah had rebelled against God. He made sweeping reforms in Judah. The seventeenth Hebrew letter is Peh, which means “mouth or speech.” King Josiah clearly fits the meaning of the seventeenth letter by his actions after he heard the speech or words of God.
Despite the reforms of King Josiah, Judah continued on its downward path. And the succeeding kings of Judah did likewise. They rebelled against God, and against the kings of Egypt and Babylon that ruled over them. The twentieth king, Jehoachin, is a good example of the rebellion. Because of Jehoachin, great evil was done to Judah and Jerusalem during his reign. It was because of Jehoachin that Nebuchadnezzar had enough of their rebellion and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. The twentieth Hebrew letter is Resh, and stands for evil. The letter and the king fit.
The last reigning king of Judah was Zedekiah. He was the twenty-first king. The uncle of Jehoachin, Zedekiah was not of the royal lineage, but he was a descendant of King David. To complete the picture, Zedekiah also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. The twenty-first letter is Shin, meaning divine power. In effect, the Lord withdrew His divine power from Judah and allowed the destruction and captivity because of their rebellion.
In order to complete this wonderful Biblical pattern, we need one more king of the House of David. This king will be the twenty-second king and will correspond with the twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Tav. In archaic Hebrew the Tav was an “X” or a cross. In the twenty-second Psalm, David prophesied the crucifixion of Jesus. Genesis chapter twenty-two, is about Abraham the father offering up his only son, Isaac, as a foreshadow of our Heavenly Father offering up His only son, Jesus.
Obviously, the twenty-second king will be King Jesus in His Millennial Kingdom. Not only does the Tav show us the cross, it also means “truth, perfection and judgment.” The reign of King Jesus will be a reign of truth and perfection, and He will judge the nations. How I look forward to that glorious day! Praise the name of King Jesus!