APRIL 12 & 13 2 KINGS 18-21

2 Kings 18-21

 If we ask, “Could there ever be another king like David, a man after God’s own heart?” the answer is, “Yes!” And the name is…

Hezekiah! 

The author of 2 Kings puts it this way: And [Hezekiah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done (2 Kings 18:3). Not only did he forbid the worship of false gods, he ended all inappropriate worship directed to the Lord. His zeal for the Lord translated into battle success against the dreaded Philistines.  

When the mighty Sennacherib came from Assyria and demanded all Israel’s gold, Hezekiah gave it to him. But when he began to insult Hezekiah’s faith in the Lord and undermine the people’s faith in Hezekiah, he knew what to do!

• He humbled himself.
• He prayed.
• He sent to Isaiah for a word from the Lord.

When Hezekiah received a threatening letter from the Assyrians, he went into the temple, spread the letter out before the Lord, and prayed some more.

Messengers returned with Isaiah’s prophetic word, and it came to pass! An angel of the Lord descended to the Assyrian camp and struck down 185,000 soldiers; Sennacherib went home and was soon assassinated! (2 Kings 19:35-37)

Once, when Hezekiah so sick that he was about to die, he wept and prayed before the Lord, and the Lord added 15 years to his life (and proved it by backing up the sun’s shadow 10 steps!).

Hezekiah, like David, wasn’t perfect. Once, he showed off the treasures of the temple to some emissaries from far-away Babylon; they would be back one day! And, like David, he failed miserably as a father. His son, Manasseh, was as evil as Hezekiah was righteous. And so was his grandson!

When will the next “David” appear? We shall see on Monday,

Your fellow Bible trekker,

Pastor Gary

 

APRIL 11 2 KINGS 13-17

2 Kings 13-17

 Five of the saddest chapters in the Bible! And here are five reasons:

There is the relentless refrain: So and so began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he also did evil in the sight of the Lord. Not one of all the kings of Israel, the northern kingdom, is given a passing grade by the historian. 

There are the conspiracies: how many of the kings of Israel fell to assassins! Shallum became king by conspiring against Zechariah just six months into his reign. After just one month, Menahem assassinates Shallum (“He who lives by the sword...” Matthew 26:52). Mehahem’s son, Pekahiah, was assassinated by Pekah, the son of one of his captains. Pekah managed to rule Israel for twenty years, but, in the end, he, too, was assassinated by Hoshea. Hoshea was Israel’s last king. Too bad; his epitaph had an encouraging ring to it: “And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.” (2 Kings 17:2)

There is the fall of Samaria. Because of their persistent idolatry, their endless love affairs with foreign gods, God sent Assyria to capture Samaria (the capital of Israel) and carry many of the people of Israel into a permanent exile. Folks from other nations were brought into Samaria for the purpose of diluting the nation, and obscuring the “ten lost tribes” forever.

There is the death of Elisha. This is recorded in 2 Kings 13, before the final string of royal assassinations in Israel. The last loud voice for the Lord in the northern kingdom was silenced. Yet even in death, Elisha’s bones brought a dead man to life! (2 Kings 13:21)

 There is the reign of Ahaz in Judah. Throughout these five chapters, the kings of Judah maintain a holding pattern; Amaziah, Azariah (Uzziah) and Jotham “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,” despite allowing sacrifices in the high places. But when Ahaz becomes king, Judah finally has a king whose wickedness outweighs them all. Ahaz participated personally in every available idolatry, even to the extreme of burning his own son as a human sacrifice to a foreign god. 

Pretty sad stuff. Is there any hope?

Until Tomorrow, when we discover that hope’s name is Hezekiah!
Pastor Gary

P.S. Another confusing name exchange: Joash (also called Jehoash) reigned rather well in Judah for 40 years (835-796 B.C.). Jehoash (also called Joash) reigned rather poorly in Israel for 16 years (798-782 B.C.) including a “civil” war with Amaziah, king of Judah (2 Kings 14:11f). 

APRIL 10 2 KINGS 9-12

2 Kings 9-12

Once Elisha fades from the scene, keeping track of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah gets challenging, especially when they share the same name. The 8th king of Israel was Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, who reigned for just two years, serving Baal just like his mom (Jezebel), and dying from injuries he received in an accident: he fell through the lattice in his upper room (2 Kings 1). Around 11 years later, another Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, began to reign in Judah. He was killed because he was friends with Joram, king of Israel. How did this happen?

God had had enough of Israel’s Baal worship (and God wasn’t so happy with Judah’s Baal worship, either!) So, Elisha called a young prophet to pay a quick visit to the commanders of Israel’s army. Elisha instructed him to anoint Jehu king, tell him to strike down Ahab’s household, and then run! Once Jehu is anointed and proclaimed king, he begins a house-cleaning like Israel had never seen. All Ahab’s family is destroyed, including Jezebel. The image her putting on make-up, just before being tossed out her window, is striking (2 Kings 9:30-37). Because Judah’s king Ahaziah is visiting his buddy, Joram, they are both killed when Jehu arrives. After Jehu has assassinated the kings of Israel and Judah, Jezebel, and all the descendants of Ahab, he strikes down the prophets of Baal using a cunning ruse. Despite this zeal, Jehu never disposed of the golden calves Jeroboam set up in Dan and Bethel.

When Judah’s Ahaziah is killed, his mother, Athaliah, seizes power. No sooner had Jehu disposed of one wicked queen (Jezebel) in the north, another wicked queen springs up in the south, killing most of her family to do so. Only one infant grandson, Joash, was saved from Athaliah’s wrath. Six years later, when Joash was seven, the high priest, Jehoiada, was able to crown the boy king and execute the wicked grandmother. 

As king, Joash “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days.” Forty years he reigned, and the repair of the temple was one of his greatest works. In my home church, Salem E. U. B. Church in Barrington, Illinois, there was an offering box in the narthex for the building fund. They named it the “Joash Box” after a box fashioned by Joash’ high priest for collecting building offerings (2 Kings 12:9f). 

Sadly, but not surprisingly, a conspiracy of his servants led to Joash’ death.

Until Tomorrow,
Pastor Gary

APRIL 9 2 KINGS 4-8

2 Kings 4-8

If there were any doubts about whether or not Elisha would match Elijah in spiritual power, these chapters should dispel them! 

Elisha multiplies a prophet’s widow’s oil, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish, so that she and her children might live!
He prophesies that a wealthy, but barren, Shunammite woman would have a son, just as the angel had prophesied that Sarah would have a son.

He raises the Shunammite’s son from the dead, as Jesus raised people from the dead.

He purifies a poisoned stew, as Moses had purified bitter waters.

He heals Naaman, a Syrian general, of leprosy, and teaches him humility, at the same time.

He sees to it that Naaman’s leprosy clings to his greedy servant, Gehazi, who had tried to collect payment from Naaman for his healing.

He makes an axe-head float; who else has done such a thing?

He prays and asks God to open the eyes of his new servant, so that he could see the “chariots of fire” and the army of God poised to fight Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria.

He prophesies the flight of the Syrian army.

Elisha was no second fiddle!

Until Tomorrow,
Pastor Gary

APRIL 8 2 KINGS 1-3

2 Kings 1-3

Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.

Alongside Enoch (from Genesis 5:24), the only other human being to be “translated” into the next life without passing through death was Elijah. The “troubler of Israel,” as Ahab called him, was precious in the sight of God. Elijah’s brand of “troubling” was God’s prophetic call. And when his work was done and his successor chosen, chariots of fire came for Elijah and whisked him away in a whirlwind. Because Elisha witnessed this with his own eyes, he was granted a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit; the mantel (from 2 Kings 2:13) had been passed! And the first thing Elisha did was use the mantel to part the water, as Elijah had just before his departure.

As amazing as this event was for both Elijah and Elisha, the first three chapters of 2 Kings are weighty and worrisome in other ways. Some of the prophets’ acts are reminders to us all: do not mess with the Lord’s prophets. Who learned this lesson the hard way?

Ahaziah, king of Israel, had an accident and sent messengers to inquire of the God of Ekron, Baal-Zebub*, to see if he would recover. Elijah intercepted these messengers with a word from the Lord: Ahaziah would not recover!

Two captains with cohorts of fifty men each were consumed by fire at Elijah’s command, when they approached (or attacked) Elijah to bring him in. The third captain escaped the others’ fate by throwing himself and his men on Elijah’s mercy.

Forty-two smart-aleck boys, who jeered at Elisha and called him, “Baldy,” were cursed by the prophet and mauled by two huge she-bears.

Mesha, king of Moab, rebelled against Israel’s king Jehoram. Because Jehoshaphat, a pretty good king of Judah, allied with Jehoram, Elisha listened to their request, and gave them the go-ahead to fight and defeat Moab.

Neither Elijah nor Elisha were prophets to be messed with! 

Until Tomorrow,
Pastor Gary

*Baal-Zebub means “Lord of the Flies.” It was the author’s derogatory nick-name for Ekron’s god, Baal-Zebuv, which means “Lord of Princes.” It later became a nickname for the devil. Ever read Golding’s Lord of the Flies?

APRIL 7 1 KINGS 20-22

1 Kings 20-22

These are the last chapters in the wretched life of King Ahab, as well as the last chapters of 1 Kings. Reading them, I find my opinion of this complex monarch has moderated somewhat. Ahab is weak, moody, greedy, fearful and evil, no doubt, but nothing near to Jezebel’s jaded wickedness. She seems to have been his catalyst for corruption from the beginning. 

It was Jezebel who backed the Baal prophets and killed the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:13); it was she that threatened Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-3); and it was she that arranged the cold-blooded murder of Naboth, when Ahab pouted over his refusal to sell him his vineyard (1 Kings 19). We shall see in 2 Kings if Elijah’s gruesome prophesy about Jezebel comes to pass (1 Kings 21:23).

Ahab, by contrast, wages a successful God-led war against the bullying Ben-hadad of Syria. His only sin was showing mercy to the Syrian king, when God had decreed his destruction. After Jezebel had finagled Naboth’s vineyard for Ahab, Elijah came to prophesy against them. In the face of this condemnation, Ahab actually humbled himself in a sort of “poor me” repentance. When the young King Jehoshaphat of Judah comes north to join forces with Ahab, he gets Ahab to consult a prophet of the Lord before going into battle with the Syrians. 

 Sadly, when he gets a negative prophecy, Ahab treats this prophet, Micaiah, with a strange cruelty. In the end, Ahab goads Jehoshaphat into wearing his royal robes into battle, while Ahab fearfully fights in disguise. Despite his best efforts to protect himself, Ahab is mortally wounded. Too bad, if it weren’t for Jezebel, Ahab might have had a chance.

Tomorrow, Elijah passes the “mantel” to Elisha.

Until then,
Pastor Gary