2 Kings: Jesus the Promise Keeper
Chp. 1-17 Conquered, captive, castaway
- Records 131 years of Israel’s history: 19 different kings and 9 different dynasties, only once did a new dynasty emerge apart from murdering the predecessor, and not one of them walked with God.
Chp. 18-25 The Lord neither faints nor is weary
- Records 155 years of Judah’s history: 1 dynasty 20 different kings and 8 of them in part do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
In First Kings, we traced the life of Solomon to the dividing of the nation and the reigns of Jehoshaphat in Judah and Ahaziah in the 10 northern tribes of Israel spanning 120 years. The theme of 1st Kings centered on the truth that the welfare of Israel and Judah depended upon the faithfulness of the people and their king to God’s word. The book of 2nd Kings continues the drama only here the author, most likely Jeremiah compiled at the time of Judah’s captivity, traces the history systematically of the monarchs of both Israel and Judah for 286 years. In the first 17 chapters, the author looks at the 19 kings and 9 dynasties of the northern 10 tribes with not one king doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord their history ends in captivity to the Assyrians 136 years before Judah’s. In chapters 18-25 the author takes us back to the same historical timeline and only looks at the 20 kings (all descendants of David) up to their captivity in Babylon. Along the way, we see the fourfold process of the fall of a nation as well as all human failure:
- Loses its vision for God: This can be all at once or gradually through compromise but sooner or later in both kingdoms there arose men who occupied the throne who had lost vision of the One who sat upon the throne in heaven. And this is most clearly seen in that they turn to idols, no man who has a vision of God turns to an idol as an idol is always a substitute for what they no longer can see.
- Loses its moral life: When a nation or a man loses their vision for God they no longer can see His holiness, and His character, and as such they gradually stop living for Him. Oh, they will maintain a sense of national pride but it will be devoid of morality. It will be a form while at the same time denying the power of God. Such patriotism is nothing more than idolatry!
- Losing its conscience life: Live long enough without the vision of God and morality and a nation or a person will lose their conscience of what is right and what is wrong. Soon they will reverse these and right will be wrong and wrong will be right. Wickedness will prevail and hatred of all that is right and the promotion and elevation of all that is wrong will be what is taught everywhere.
- Loses what set it apart: The final nail will be captivity as the nation or the person will become what at one time it separated from. There will be no difference from what was once good to what is now evil as evil will now be called the “new good” and the nation or person will be “lost”.
Yet again throughout the book of 2nd Kings we see the Lord reaching out to both nations through His prophets:
- Northern Kingdom: Elijah, Elisha, Amos, and Hosea
- Southern Kingdom: Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk
Chp. 1-17 Conquered, captive, castaway
This book was the period where most of the Prophets lived and their words are recorded for us in their books. If one was to read this book as a background to all of the words of the prophets they would see it as man’s failure and God’s amazing faithfulness and His ultimate victory.
The book starts after the death of Ahab during the reign of Ahaziah in the northern kingdom when he falls through the lattice on the 2nd story of his house and is injured. He as well as the nation is so far from the Lord that he seeks insight as to his recovery from Baal-Zebub and Elijah is sent by the Lord to meet the king’s messengers on the road with a question, “‘ Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.”
So when the messengers come back quickly the king wants to know why they have returned so soon and they tell him the words God gave to Elijah. Well, the king becomes furious and sends 50 men to get Elijah and there he is sitting on top of a hill and they say, “Man of God, come down!” And Elijah says, “If I am a man of God then let fire come down and consume you and your 50 men.” And it does just as Elijah had said and 50 men were consumed by fire. Well, the king sends 50 more men and the same thing happens. Then the king sends 50 more men only this captain falls down on his knees and pleads for his life and the life of his men. And God tells Elijah to go with him to the king to which he repeats God’s word and the king dies.
Elijah’s ministry was like that he was bold and to the point no messing with him, and we see him being taken off in a chariot of fire. Ah, but in the 2nd chapter, we are introduced to Elisha who refuses to leave the side of his mentor Elijah and he receives a double portion as his ministry is full of grace and sweetness as well as boldness.
Apparently he was a bald man and one day as he went up the road and some young men came mocking him calling him “baldy” and he pronounced a curse upon them. Two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of them. There continues a constant theme in Israel of not wanting to hear the word of God from the prophets, even though Elisha can make bitter water sweet, oil not to cease (chapter 4), and raising Shunammite’s son, or the cleansing of Naaman from leprosy.
Folks that is always the ministry of the Word of God by the Spirit of God making those bitter things in our lives sweet, causing the fruit of the Spirit never to run dry in our lives, raising that which once had life but has since died back to life, or keeping our flesh from falling apart.
In the 6th chapter, we are told that those around Elisha wanted to expand the ministry, so they started a building project and one of the fellows had borrowed an ax to clear some timber near some water, and as he was doing so the head of the ax fell off into the water and was lost. This fellow’s work for the Lord began with borrowed power, oh dear ones may we never forget this truth. Our effectiveness is always based upon the Spirit’s power and sometimes dear ones it is possible in the midst of service to lose your ax head, your not as sharp as you once were.The thrust of power begins to slip away until well, “you fly off the handle” if you know what I mean?
Now to this fellow’s credit, he doesn’t keep chopping away with an ax handle, he’s lost his edge. So the first thing he does is go back to Elisha and confess that he’s lost his power. Second Elisha asks him where he’s lost it and we need to return to our first love my friends as well, get back to the place you lost your edge. The next thing we note is that Elisha cut down a stick and threw it into the water which speaks to us about trusting the Lord as He calls the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
Then finally Elisha tells the servant to bend down and pick it up, that’s what God always says to us after we have lost our edge “Pick it up for yourself”! What great lessons we learn from Elisha as we read in of the day when one of his servants saw a great army surround the city where they were camped and came to Elisha and asked, “Master whatever shall we do?” well in 6:16-17 Elisha says, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
Interspersed within these chapters is what God is also doing in Judah such as chapter 12:1-3 where we read “In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. But the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.” Did well as long as Jehoiada the priest instructed him to accept the high places were not taken away and the people still worshiped there.
In chapter 13:20 we are told that Elisha died and even in his death, he was of use to bringing folks back to life, verse 21. Dear ones that is often the case as God has a way of using us even after we have been laid to rest to bring others to His saving grace.
It is in 2 Kings 17:9-14 that we find out what was going on with Israel as we read, “The children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” Yet the Lord testified against Israel and Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” Nevertheless, they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.”
Chp. 18-25 The Lord neither faints nor is weary
Judah’s decline and fall were delayed some 136 years mainly due to 8 kings out of 20 who did right in the eyes of the Lord. Such a one as Hezekiah who we are told in 2 Kings 18:4-7 “Removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went.”
And after Israel had been led away captive by the Assyrians they came to Jerusalem seeking to get them to surrender, and we are told in 19:19-20 that King Hezekiah prayed, “O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.” Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.” And in 19:35 we are told that “It came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses–all dead.”
Amazingly Hezekiah’s father had been an ungodly king and in time his son Manasseh would also become ungodly but under Hezekiah’s reign they reinstituted the Passover, rebuilt the temple which took 16 days just to clear the ruble. He also destroyed the bronze serpent that God had used to heal the people who had been bitten by poison snakes back in the time of Moses.
These folks had begun to worship a symbol of God’s grace instead of God. Anything, even a God-given blessing and instrument of His grace and healing in our lives can become an object of idolatry if we put our trust in the object instead rather than solely in the One from whom all blessings flow. Hezekiah was near death and prayed that God would heal him and extend his life and was during this extend life that his son Manasseh was born and became one of the worst kings Judah ever had. But the rest of the story of Manasseh according to 2 Chron. 33:11-13, 18-19 is that once taken captive he repented and God restored Judah and he reigned wisely the rest of his life.
There was also Josiah whom we are told in 22:2 “Did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” So far had the nation gone that as they repaired the temple we are told in 22:8 that the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.” Think of this they had moved so far away from the Word of God that they didn’t even know that it was lost and needed to be found!
So moved was Josiah the King that he stopped work and brought it to the prophetess in 22:19 who said to him, “because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.”
As we close this story of the Kings of Israel and Judah listen again to one of the prophets of that day Isaiah where we are told in 6:1, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” And again in Isaiah 40:28 where he writes, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.”