The previous book, 1 Kings, left Israel divided. Judah, with David’s line of kings was, after a bad start, doing quite well under Asa and Jehoshaphat. In contrast, Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom, Israel, had brought in calf worship and the country had gone from from bad to worse. We then saw king Ahab and his wife Jezebel sink even lower to, actually, confront their country’s true God. Jezebel assembled her many prophets of Baal against Elijah on Mount Carmel but they were no match for his faith and the fire of God. 2 Kings (1v1) starts by telling us that, after the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel; things had started to go very wrong. 2 Kings is all about the terrible consequences of unfaithfulness to God and ends with Israel taken into exile by the Assyrians and Judah, by the Babylonians, 136 years later.
ELIJAH AND ELISHA’s DOUBLE PORTION
The book continues, dramatically, with Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, falling from his upper chamber and sending messengers to enquire of the god Baal-zebub (v2) to find out whether he would die from his injuries. The angel of the Lord gave Elijah a special message for the king that, because he enquired of a false god, he would now die. The king then sent three bands of soldiers to capture Elijah and, on the first two occasions, Elijah asked for fire from heaven to consume them (v10-12). Perhaps this was an appropriate last act for the prophet who knew something about God’s fire. Elijah, the hairy man with a leather belt around his waist (v8), was on his final journey (chapter 2) which was to end with him carried to heaven in a fiery chariot, pulled by horses of fire (v11). Elisha, sensing the significance of this final journey, refused to leave his fatherly mentor and made his well-known final request (v9) that he should inherit a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Immediately, we see the anointing on Elisha’s life as he parted the Jordan river (v14) as Elijah had done and, then, was used by God to cleanse the bad water in Jericho (v19-22).
Elisha, like Elijah, was going to intervene in the national life of Israel and in chapter 3, following a rebellion by Moab, he prophesied a remarkable water supply for their thirsty army (v20) that would lead to a resounding victory. The widow of another prophet was in debt and about to have her two boys taken into slavery (ch4) until Elisha came along and prophesied a miraculous provision of oil for her. When a wealthy woman set apart a travel guest room for him (v10) he, not only prophesied a child for her (v16), but also later raised him from the dead when he died as a young man (v34). This was typical of the ministry style of Elisha which seemed very different to Elijah’s; gone were the fiery confrontations and in came the compassionate caring acts. Amazing, and sometimes unusual, miracles happened around him. A poisonous stew (v38-41) became edible, food was multiplied(v42-44), a lost axe-head found(ch6) and Naaman’s leprosy was healed by dipping seven times in the Jordan river (ch 5).
THE LORD WORKING WITH OTHER NATIONS
Regarding Naaman, it is interesting to find in chapter 5v1 that although he was actually commander of the Aram army, Israel’s main enemy, we are told he was a great man and the Lord had given him success. This is the pattern of 2 Kings where we see God using other nations to work out his purposes for Israel. Isn’t it also interesting that there seem to be more prophets of God than ever seen before? Elijah had set up schools for them and they feature frequently in the book. On more than one occasion (ch6v10), Elisha had disrupted Aramean battle plans with prophetic revelations and so the frustrated enemy set out to capture Elisha and surround his city (v14). This is the place where Elisha asked for his servant’s eyes to be opened to see God’s spiritual horses and chariots of fire protecting them and at Elisha’s word, the soldiers were struck with blindness (v18). On another occasion Aram squeezed Israel with a dreadful siege of the city of Samaria and, just one day after Elisha had prophesied its end, four lepers found the enemy camp deserted (ch7). In chapter 8 Elisha actually received a message for the Aramean enemy that Hazael would take over from King Benhadad and go on to cruelly oppress Israel (v12). Sadly, Judah started to go seriously wrong when Jehoram took one of Ahab’s daughters as his wife (8v18) and the power and influence of the country was declining fast as various bordering countries started to rebel. Edom (8v20), Libnah (v22) and, of course, Aram (v28).
THE FINAL END OF JEZEBEL AND AHAB’S FAMILY
In chapter 9 we see the end of Jezebel and Ahab’s family, as prophesied (v7- 9), and to bring this about God asked Elisha to appoint the army commander as king (v3). Jehu was an impressive soldier, perhaps young, strong and athletic, for in verse 20 he is identified as driving a chariot like a “maniac”. He had no problem disposing of the kings of both Israel and Judah ; one with his own bow and arrow (v24). We read that Jezebel painted her eyes and adorned her head (v30) when she heard Jehu was coming. This did not distract Jehu who asked her attendants to throw her down from the window (v33); the horses trampled on her (v33) and, as prophesied, she was eaten by dogs (v36). Jehu was a man on a mission, God’s mission, and in chapter 10 we see how he disposed of seventy sons of Ahab and all who remained of his family (v17). The Baal priests with their idols and pillars were, also, destroyed and their temple used as a latrine (v27). Sadly, despite his success against evil kings and Baal idolatry, Jehu continued the sin of Jeroboam by worshipping the calves he had made. Consequently, we are told that the Lord began to “trim off parts of Israel” (v32) starting with territory east of the Jordan.
BOY KINGS WERE GOOD
While Israel was beginning to fall apart, the mother of Judah’s dead king, Ahaziah, set out to destroy the royal family (11v1) so that she would be left as the rightful queen. She did not know that Ahaziah’s sister had managed to hide one son called Joash. Seven years later Jehoiada, the priest, (v12) proclaimed Joash as king instead of his grandmother and with a priestly advisor the young king, starting at the age of 7, did what was right in the sight of the Lord for his reign of 40 years. The temple was renovated (chapter 12) and they were saved from the oppression of Hazael of Aram (v18).
ASSYRIAN RE-SETTLEMENT FOR ISRAEL
Israel, at the same time, with the misguided leadership of Jehu’s son, were repeatedly oppressed by Hazael and Ben-hadad. Matters continued in this vein and it was only God’s compassion, we read (13v23), that held Him back from rejecting them altogether. Elisha was to die now (v20) but Israel was on the way down anyway. There were some successes because (14v25) God had pity on them and had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven (v27). A number of evil kings came and went and in chapter 15 we read that King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came, captured cities, and carried many people captive (v29). Later on, when Hoshea was king, Shalmanser the Assyrian leader at the time imprisoned Hoshea for non-payment of tribute (17v4). He then invaded the land (v5), eventually besieged and captured Samaria, and carried the Israelites away to the land of Assyria. So the end had finally come and chapter 17 (v7-22) explains how much they had provoked the Lord so that he “removed them out of his sight” (v18). In verse 20 we read the words that “He had banished them from His presence”. All God’s plans to put his presence among his people had come to nought. The Assyrians then brought people from other lands to occupy the captured cities (v24). They brought their gods and practices with them and mixed these with worship of the Lord (v25-for fear of lions!).
JUDAH’S KINGS DO WELL UNTIL AHAZ
Judah under Joash’s son, Amaziah (ch14), in contrast, continued to do well and also under his son king Azariah (ch15), who reigned for 52 years. Again when led by Uzziah and Jotham. The worship of God was compromised somewhat by high place worship but this was nothing compared to what was going to happen under king Ahaz who did evil in God’s sight and even made his son “pass through the fire”(16v1-4). Oppression started to increase with trouble from Aram, Israel and Edom. Ahaz only survived through making an allegiance with the Assyrians (v9) and, in the process, adopted a corrupted worship he had seen in Damascus (v10), one which mutilated God’s temple (v17).
KING HEZEKIAH TRUSTED IN THE LORD
Surprisingly, the next King Hezekiah trusted in the Lord so there was none like him, either before or after(18v5), and he even got rid of the high places. The Lord was with him, prospered him (v7), and enabled him to stand up against both the Assyrians and the Philistines. In chapter 18 king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh, his commander, to humiliate Hezekiah for his resistance. He wanted to repatriate Judah and had every confidence to expect victory because Israel and no other nation had been able to stand in his way. He was to find, though, that he could not mock the living God (19v4) and, on receipt of Rabshakeh’s letter, Hezekiah spread it out before the Lord (v14). In a prophesy from Isaiah, God explained how it was He who had planned Assyria’s success and, because of the king’s arrogance, God would now send him backwards (19v28). That very night, an angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrian warriors (v35) and, a little later, Sennacherib was worshipping his god in Nineveh when two of his sons killed him with a sword (v37). Hezekiah was to fall fatally sick (ch20) and he pleaded with God for his life and it was extended by 15 years. In those years, he went on to make a great political mistake by showing friendly Babylonians his treasury and Isaiah prophesied that some of his sons would end up in Babylon exile (20v18).
EVIL MANASSEH AND JUDAHS FINAL REJECTION
Sadly, Manasseh succeeded Hezekiah and led the country back to evil for 55 years. The high places were rebuilt, so were the Baal altars and much more (ch21); even putting heathen idols in the temple itself. In fact, the evil was worse than the Amorite tribes (v11), the original possessors of Judah’s land, and God could not delay any longer. God said “I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish” (v13) and “I will cast off the remnant of my heritage” (v14) and “they will become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies”. We are told that Manasseh had shed very much innocent blood.
JOSIAH ANOTHER GOOD YOUNG KING
Josiah, (ch22), another young king (only 8 years old) was to prove another good one and, during a temple repair, they found the book of the law (v8) and Josiah realised how far the country had gone downhill. God was set on course now but was willing to postpone judgement until after Josiah’s lifetime (v20). Josiah meanwhile engaged in a thorough destruction of pagan altars, and the like, and the Passover was celebrated for the first time since the times of the Judges (23v22). There was no king like him, or after him who had turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul and might (v25).
JUDAH, JERUSALEM AND GOD’S HOUSE REJECTED
But God was determined to continue with his wrath (v27) and said that He would:
1. Remove Judah out of his sight (like he had Israel).
2. Reject the city he had chosen (Jerusalem)
3. and the house where he said his name would be there (the temple).
In chapter 24 a later king Jehoiakim was reigning and became servant for 3 years to Nebuchadnezzar (v1) and then numerous bands of raiders (v2) were allowed by the Lord to weaken Judah. In the time of his son, King Jehoiachin, Babylon besieged Jerusalem and the king gave himself up and was taken prisoner in the eighth year of his reign (v12). The palace and temple were pillaged, all Jerusalem apart from the very poor were taken away (v14) to Babylon and Zedekiah was installed as a puppet king. When he rebelled in his ninth year, King Nebuchanezzar came down and (25v1) besieged Jerusalem again for a couple of years. The wall was breached and Zedekiah fled but was caught, blinded and bound in fetters (v7). Nebuzaradan, Nebuchanezzar’s bodyguard, came and burned the house of the Lord, the palace and all the great houses (v9) and another batch of people were taken into exile. Strangely king Jehoichin was treated with favour and left prison to eat regularly in the king’s presence and so the book ends.
EXPELLED FROM HIS PRESENCE
God’s people, as prophesied, had been expelled from his divine presence (24v20) but would that be forever? or would they be welcomed back when their hearts changed?