20-2 Kings 6 – 2 Kings 23:20

2 Kings 6 – 2 Kings 23:20 May 9, 2009

We will begin our study this week in the Book of 2 Kings 6. Last week we talked about the beginning of the divided kingdom and the kings and prophets on both sides. This week we will pick up the account in Chapter 6. A group of men who were studying under Elisha came to him and wanted to build a place for them to study and live. They wanted permission to go to the Jordan River and cut some beams for the building. They also asked Elisha to go with them. He agreed and they went to cut the wood. While they were there one man lost an axe head in the river. The man was very upset because the axe had been borrowed. Iron was scarce and very valuable in Israel at this time and the man could not afford to replace the axe head. Elisha understood and threw a stick into the river and the axe head miraculously floated to the waters surface where it could be retrieved. This was another example of the miracles associated with the prophets to authenticate their office. The chapter then shifts to the story of a war in Israel with the Arameans. The king of Aram found out that Elisha had told the king of Israel all of Aram’s plans before he could carry them out. He became enraged and sent his army with horses and chariots to capture Elisha. When Elisha’s servant went out in the morning he saw the army circling them. He told the prophet and Elisha replied in Chapter 6:16 “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” The Lord opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. The Lord struck the Arameans with blindness and Elisha led them into the heart of Samaria. When the blindness lifted from the army, they realized where they were. Elisha had the men fed and released instead of being killed. They went back to their homes and, out of fear, did not come back and trouble Samaria again. The king of Aram then came to Samaria and besieged the area. His army encircled the land and did not let any food go in. The people of Samaria were in a great famine because of the siege, and resorted to cannibalism to survive. Elisha was in the city and gave a promise from the Lord for food. Four lepers who were starving outside the city gate decided to go to the Arameans instead of dying there outside the gate. When they came to the Arameans camp they found it empty. The Lord had caused a great fear to come upon the army and they thought a large army was coming against them. They fled back to Aram and left everything at their camp. The lepers went back to the city and told the elders what they had found. The people then plundered the camp of their enemy and the siege was over. In Chapter 8 Elisha told the woman whose son he raised from the dead to get away from Samaria. He knew there was going to be a famine that would last for seven years. The woman took her son and went to the land of the Philistines for the seven years. When she returned Elisha had the king of Israel restore to her all of her land and the value of everything it produced since she was gone. Elisha then went to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Aram was sick and he sent Hazael to Elisha to find out whether he would recover or not. It is interesting to note that even though the Arameans did not follow the Lord their king enquired through his enemy for an answer to his illness instead of his own gods. Hazael asked Elisha the king’s request in Chapter 8:9 “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” Elisha replied in verse 10 “Go, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” Elisha then wept for Israel for what Hazael would do to God’s people when he became king of Aram. The Lord had foretold Elijah about this when he had been at Horeb. Hazael then returned to Ben-hadad, killed him and took over as king. The end of the chapter tells us about Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram being made king over Judah and Edom’s revolt. The text says Jehoram was as Ahab in Israel, and even married one of his daughters. This woman was also a daughter of Jezebel. Jehoram allowed the worship of Baal in Judah as Ahab did in Israel. Even with this evil the Lord would not destroy Judah for his servant David’s sake. Jehoram then died and Ahaziah reigned in his place. His mother was named Athaliah and was the granddaughter of Omri the king of Israel. Ahaziah was also evil and did not follow the Lord. He went to war with Joram the son of Ahab against Hazael the king of Aram. Joram was wounded in the fight and went to Jezreel to recover. Even though the kingdom was still divided both sides got together to do evil because of their common relatives in Ahab and Jezebel. Satan used these two in another attempt to corrupt and break the line that led from Adam to Jesus Christ. In Chapter 9 Elisha had one of his students go to Ramoth-gilead with a flask of oil and find Jehu and anoint him king over Israel. The man did this and also told Jehu to strike down the house of Ahab. He also repeated prophesy against Jezebel. The man then fled from there as he was told. Jehu then ran out and told his fellow men what had happened and they acknowledged him as king. Jehu then went to Jezreel where Ahaziah and Joram were. When he came to Joram the king asked him “Is it peace, Jehu?” he replied with the words recorded in Chapter 9:22 “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?” Jehu then drew his bow and shot an arrow through Joram’s heart. His body was dumped into the field of Naboth. Ahaziah fled from the scene but was also shot by Jehu. He escaped wounded and fled to Megiddo before he died. Jehu then went again to Jezreel and went to Jezebel. She was found looking out her window with her face painted up as royalty. She sarcastically called Jehu Zimri to imply that the people would also turn on him. She was thrown from her window by her own officers. Jehu then trampled her with his horses and chariot. He then went in to eat and before he returned the dogs had eaten all of Jezebel except her skull, feet and the palms of her hand. This fulfilled the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah concerning Jezebel’s fate. Jehu continued to purge the land of the family of Ahab in Chapter 10. He killed the seventy sons of Ahab in Jezreel with their families along with the relatives of Ahaziah in Samaria. He also killed all that remained of Ahab in Samaria. After Jehu had rid the land of the relatives of Ahab he went against the worshippers of Baal. He used deceit to gather the men of Baal together and killed them with the sword. Jehu did not worship Baal, but he did sin in all the other ways of Jeroboam even down to using his golden calves. The Lord promised him his sons would remain on the throne of Israel for four generations as a reward for the destruction of the worshippers of Baal. Jehu followed the Laws of the Lord, but still did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam. The text says the Lord then began to remove portions of Israel from His people. The land east of the Jordan was removed first. Jehu then died and his son Jehoahaz was made king in his place. When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah found out her son was dead she killed all of the royal offspring. She wanted to become queen over Judah. Jehosheba, the sister of Ahaziah took one of his sons and hid him from Athaliah. The boy named Joash was kept hidden for six years in the temple while Athaliah reigned over Judah. Jehoiada the priest caused the people to rebel against the false queen and had her put to death. Joash was made king over Judah when he was only seven years old. The people rejoiced at the death of Athaliah. Joash did right in the sight of the Lord but did not tear down the high places. He wanted to repair the temple, but the priests took the treasures and offerings for themselves. Hazael then came against Jerusalem and king Joash removed what was left of the treasures of the Lord and gave them to the Aramean so that he would leave them in peace. Joash was killed by his servants and his son Amaziah was made king in his place. In Chapter 13 Jehoahaz was now king over Israel. He was evil and the Lord used Hazael and the Arameans to oppress Israel during his reign. Jehoahaz finally asked the Lord for help and the Lord gave Israel a deliverer to help them escape from Aram. They still did not stop doing evil before the Lord and Israel was left with only a small army. Jehoahaz then died and Jehoash his son became king. During the reign of Jehoash over Israel Elisha the prophet became sick and was near death. Jehoash came to him and Elisha had him take his bow and shoot an arrow into the air to the east. Elisha said this was a sign of victory over Aram at Aphek. He then told Jehoash to take his arrows and strike the ground. He struck the ground three times and Elisha was angry that he did not strike five or six times. They would only have victory over Aram three times; five or six would have destroyed them. Elisha then died and was buried. In the spring when the land was invaded by marauding bands of Moabites the men of Israel tried to bury a man. When the band came they threw the man into the grave of Elisha. When his body touched Elisha’s bones the man revived and stood up on his feet. Chapter 14 covers the reign of Amaziah over Judah. He became king after Joash when he was twenty five. He did right in the sight of the Lord, but unlike David he did not tear down the high places. He was defeated by Joash, the king of Israel in battle. The text then shifts back to Israel and we are told a second Jeroboam had succeeded Joash on the throne. We now go back to Judah and Azariah succeeded Amaziah on the throne. Meanwhile in Israel Jeroboam did the same as his namesake and was evil towards the Lord. During his reign he restored the land that Israel had lost. The prophet Jonah spoke for the Lord during this time. The end of the chapter says that Zechariah became king over Israel after Jeroboam. Chapter 15 lists a number of kings over both Israel and Judah, and by Chapter 16 it looks like a change is coming. Ahaz was now king in Judah and did evil before the Lord. He even sacrificed his own son with fire as the people of the land were known to do. Ahaz sold Judah out to Tiglath-pileser the king of the Assyrians to protect them against Israel and the Arameans. Assyria went up against Damascus and captured the city. The king of the Arameans was executed and his people were exiled to Kir. We will see later in our study of God’s Word that many of the Books of the Prophets were written about this period of history during the latter part of the divided kingdom. The prophets tried to convince the people to return to the Lord so they would not be scattered and exiled into service in foreign lands. Ahaz died and his son Hezekiah became king over Judah. In Chapter 17 Hoshea became king in Israel. He reigned for nine years and also did evil in the sight of the Lord as all the kings of Israel did before him. He refused to give tribute to Assyria like his father did. Assyria was now the main power in the known world. Hoshea sent messengers to Egypt to enlist their help against the Assyrians. Shalmaneser the king of Assyria captured Hoshea and put him in prison. Assyria then invaded Israel and besieged Samaria for three years. At the end of the three years Israel was defeated and the people were deported to the cities of the Medes. God allowed Israel to fall because they refused to follow Him and walk in His ways. The people and their kings never did what was right before the Lord. Even as longsuffering as God was because of His covenant with the patriarchs He had a limit. Israel had reached that limit and what God spoke in the Book of Deuteronomy 28: 49-50 came to pass “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand,a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.” The king of Assyria then filled the cities of Israel with strangers from other lands of his conquest. It was a common practice for a world power to scatter the people they conquered to keep them from regaining power over them. This was done by Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, and also Rome. It also helped the ruling powers to keep control over the land. Now in Chapter 18 we will go back to Judah and King Hezekiah. Unlike the kings of Israel Hezekiah was a good king. He did what was right before the Lord like David before him. He even tore down the high places that had stood in Judah for such a long time. Chapter 18:7 records words we have not heard since David “And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered.” Hezekiah did not serve Assyria like his father Ahaz did and was victorious over the Philistines. It was during the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign when Israel was taken into captivity by the Assyrians. The Assyrians waited until the fourteenth year of Hezekiah and after Sennacherib became their king to go against Judah. Judah was the only place in the then known world that was not under Assyrian control. Hezekiah realized he was required to pay tribute to the Assyrians and removed parts of the gold of the temple to pay them. Sennacherib did not accept the amount of the tribute and sent men to Judah to bluff them into surrender. The Assyrians mistakenly thought that when Hezekiah did his reforms in the land and removed the idols and high places that they could no longer call on their God. The bluff did not work and no one from Judah replied to the men from Assyria. Even though Hezekiah defied the Assyrians, he was afraid and put on sackcloth and went into the temple. Isaiah the prophet came to him and encouraged him to pray. Sennacherib defied God and tried to turn the people away from Him. Hezekiah took the letter from Sennacherib into the temple and prayed to the Lord the prayer recorded in Chapter 19:15-19 “O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.“Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.“Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their landsand have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.“Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.” The Lord heard Hezekiah’s prayer and sent Isaiah to him with His reply. Sennacherib would be struck down for defying the Lord and a remnant of Judah would survive and thrive in Jerusalem for David’s sake. That same night the angel of the Lord killed one hundred eighty five thousand Assyrians in their camp. Sennacherib then went back to his home in Nineveh and was killed by his sons while he worshipped his gods. His son Esarhaddon became king in his place. In Chapter 20 it is recorded that in the days of Sennacherib Hezekiah became mortally ill. Isaiah came to him and said to get his house in order he was going to die. Hezekiah did not want to die and he prayed to the Lord to spare him. He reminded God of all that he had done and how he followed Him all his days. The Lord heard his prayer and added fifteen years to his life. Hezekiah asked Isaiah for a sign from the Lord so he could know His promise was true. Isaiah gave him the choice of observing a shadow travel the correct way down some stairs or for the shadow to impossibly go the other way. Hezekiah chose the impossible choice, and the shadow caused by the sun on the stairs miraculously reversed and went back ten steps. Hezekiah recovered and was sent a gift by the king of Babylon. He foolishly accepted the gift and proceeded to show the Babylonians all the treasures of the land. Isaiah came to Hezekiah and asked him what he had done. When Isaiah was told he spoke to Hezekiah these words from the Lord in Chapter 20:16-18 “Hear the word of the Lord.‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord.‘Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” Hezekiah had a strange answer for a man who followed the Lord and was given added years to his life. He answered Isaiah and said in verse 19 “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?” Hezekiah was only concerned about the days he lived and not the future of his people. Hezekiah then died and his son Manasseh became king in his place. Hezekiah had the advantage over all the other kings in that he knew the day of his death. He had made his son Manasseh king with him for the last ten years of his life. This time of training should have made Manasseh the same kind of king as his father. You would think Manasseh would have also followed the Lord and continued his father’s reforms. This did not happen. Even with his time on the throne Manasseh turned against the Lord and was the longest reigning and most wicked king in the history of Judah. He built up all that his father had torn down. He reestablished the high places and practiced divination and witchcraft. He also seduced God’s people in Judah to turn from the Lord and join him in idolatry. Because of the evil of Manasseh the Lord’s longsuffering also ran out over Judah. He said in Chapter 21:11-15 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols;therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.‘I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.‘I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies;because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’” The end to the kingdom of the children of Israel was now in sight. Manasseh then died and was succeeded by Amon who also was evil. Amon was killed by the people and his son Josiah was made king in his place. Josiah became king at eight years old and reigned for thirty one years in Jerusalem. He did what was right and repaired the damage to the temple. During the repairs the Book of the Law was found and read to Josiah. The king tore his clothes and asked for the word of the Lord. God’s word to Josiah was that Judah had gone too far to be reconciled to Him, and that Jerusalem would become desolate. As for Josiah, the Lord said he would die before his eyes could see what was to come to pass. There was then a time of peace in Judah while King Josiah lived. Josiah read the Book of the Law to the people and made a covenant to the Lord to walk in His ways. The people also joined him in the vow. Josiah instituted many reforms in Judah and also fulfilled prophesy spoken by the prophet to Jeroboam at the broken altar in Bethel from 1 Kings 13. He slaughtered the priests of the high places and burned their bones at the place of the altar and ground the stones to dust. This ends our study for this week. Next week we will finish the book of 2 Kings and begin the Book of 1 Chronicles and review the history of God’s people.