A SURVEY OF THE BIBLE
(“The Book of Second Kings”) (I)
II Kings 17:1-24; 24:8-20 (NASU)
20“For through the anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence …” (II Kings 24:20)
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
(1) We noted in an earlier message1 that the Books of First and Second Kings were originally one volume.2 It should come as no surprise, then, that the Book of Second Kings picks up where the first book left off – i.e. with the united kingdom having become a divided kingdom – so that Ahaziah is ruling as king over Israel in the north (c.f. I Kings 22:51; II Kings 1:2), while Jehoram is ruling as king over Judah in the south (c.f. I Kings 22:50; II Kings 1:17).
(2) Together the two books cover a period of about four hundred years3 – taking us from the end of the reign of King David (c.f. I Kings 1:1), to the “thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah” in Babylon (c.f. II Kings 25:27). Indeed, two major historical events in the Book of Second Kings are – Israel being “carried … away into exile to Assyria” in chapter seventeen (c.f. II Kings 17:1-23) – and, Judah being “led away into exile” to Babylon in chapters twenty-four and twenty-five (c.f. II Kings 24:8-16; 25:1-21).
(3) The first ten books of the Old Testament (from Genesis through Second Samuel) have described the giving and gradual fulfillment of God’s covenant promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to bless them (in part) by giving them the land of Canaan, and making them a great nation (c.f. Genesis 12:1-3). To this, God has added the promise that David’s kingdom and throne will endure forever – as will that of his son (c.f. II Samuel 7:12-16).
In contrast, the Books of First and Second Kings now tell us about a series of events that can only be described as a major setback to the fulfillment of these promises4 – as both Israel and Judah experience God’s curse (in part) by having their respective populations decimated by war – ceasing to be distinct nations – no longer having a king sitting on the throne of David – and having their people (for the most part) literally removed from the land of Canaan, and resettled in foreign countries (which is how Daniel ends us in Babylon, for example – c.f. Daniel 1:1-6) (and Esther and Mordecai came to be living in the Persian capital of Susa – c.f. Esther 2:5-7).
(4) And if we inquire as to why all this has happened, it’s NOT because God has failed to keep His covenant promises. Rather, all the kings of Israel and most of the kings of Judah have failed to hold up their end of the covenant – by failing to lead their people in wholehearted devotion to the Lord – by failing to encourage their people to obey God’s laws and commands – by failing to maintain the pure and exclusive worship of God alone, choosing instead to lead their people into idolatry!5
(5) I can’t for sure this applies to the leaders of nations today (although my guess is that it does), but it was certainly true of the kings of Israel and Judah, that they were expected to set the spiritual tone for their nation – that they were expected to lead their people, by example, in the acceptable worship of the true God – while also removing every trace of idol worship they became aware of. In other words, theirs was not just a political office, but a spiritual office – in that, they (along with the priests and prophets) were to be the champion of true religion, as well as the enemy of all false religions.
This is why the Books of First and Second Kings always evaluate the rulers of Israel and Judah in terms of their spiritual leadership, rather than their military victories or their political accomplishments. Hence, we’re told (for example) that King Hezekiah of Judah, 3“did right in the sight of the Lord … (by) 4… remov(ing) the high places … (breaking) down the sacred pillars and cut(ting) down the Asherah. (And) He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent … Moses had made” back in the Book of Numbers (c.f. Numbers 21:8-9), because some people had actually started worshiping it (c.f. II Kings 18:3-4).
On the other hand, we’re told that King Manasseh of Judah (Hezekiah’s son) 2“did evil in the sight of the Lord … (by) 3… rebuil(ding) the high places … Hezekiah … had destroyed … erect(ing) altars for Baal … (making) an Asherah … and worship(ing) all the host of heaven …” (c.f. II Kings 21:2-3). In other words, he essentially “undid” all the good things his father had done!
(6) As I said, God made the kings of Israel and Judah responsible for setting the spiritual tone of their respective nations – which every one of them did in one way or another, either for good or evil. The fact most of Israel and Judah’s kings failed to promote the true worship of the true God is one of the major reasons why the two nations eventually went into exile. Hence, we’re told (for example) (in chapter twenty-three) that 26“the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath … against Judah, BECAUSE OF all the provocations with which (King) Manasseh had provoked Him. 27(On the contrary, He said), ‘I will remove Judah … from My sight, as I … removed Israel …” (c.f. II Kings 23:26-27).
Of course, the other reason each nation went into exile is because so many of the PEOPLE THEMSELVES chose to pursue various forms of idolatry, rather than personally striving to worship the true God the way He had commanded (even if their king wasn’t). Hence, we’re told in chapter seventeen (for example) that, “the sons of Israel” went into Assyrian captivity because they 10“set (up) FOR THEMSELVES sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree …11burned incense on all the high places … 12(and generally) served (all kinds of) idols” (c.f. II Kings 17:17-23).
(B) ISRAEL AND JUDAH (II Kings 1-17)
(1) The Book of Second Kings can be divided into two sections6 – with the first found in chapters one through seventeen (c.f. II Kings 1-17), which covers the continuing history of Israel and Judah, up to the time Israel goes into Assyrian captivity.
In chapter one (c.f. II Kings 1) we’re told about King Ahaziah of Israel, who falls ill and decides to inquire of “Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron” as to whether or not he will recover (v. 2). Whereupon, God sends the prophet Elijah to King Ahaziah, with an unsolicited message that said (in verse three): 3“Is it because there is no God in Israel that you (have chosen) to inquire of … the god of Ekron? … 4thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not (recover) … you shall surely die’” (vs. 3-4). And we’re told in verse seventeen: “So Ahaziah (who had worshiped Baal and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger by his many idolatries) (c.f. I Kings 22:53) died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken” (v. 17).
(2) In chapter two (c.f. II Kings 2), Elijah is taken up to heaven in a “chariot of fire” drawn by “horses of fire” (v. 11) – thereby becoming the second man in Scripture to go straight into the presence of the Lord without dying (c.f. Genesis 5:24) – and Elisha takes his place. In fact, Elisha becomes a very prominent figure in the Book of Second Kings for the next eleven chapters.
(3) In chapter three (c.f. II Kings 3), King Jehoram of Israel enlists the help of King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him defeat the army of Moab. Before the battle, Elisha is called upon to inquire of the Lord as to what the outcome of this military endeavor will be. And the prophet replies that, if it were not for the presence of King Jehoshaphat, for whom he has regard, he would not even have bothered to come (vs. 9-14) – but, having come, he prophesies that the Lord will give the Moabites into King Jehoram’s hand (v. 18) – which He does.
(4) Chapters four, five, and six (c.f. II Kings 4-6) contain a record of some of the miracles Elisha performed. One involved a continuous flow of oil from a destitute widow’s jar, the selling of which gave her money to live on (4:1-7) – another involved the raising of a woman’s dead son (4:8-37) – and another the purifying of a poisonous pot of stew (4:38-41). Elisha also fed a large number of people with a few loaves of bread (4:42-44) – cured a Gentile named Naaman of leprosy (5:1-4) – and caused an axe head to float on water (6:1-7). If some of these miracles sound familiar, that’s because they foreshadow things our Savior would do during the course of His ministry on earth (c.f. Luke 7:12-16; 17:12-19; John 6:4-14).
(5) In chapter seven (c.f. II Kings 7), the city of Samaria (which was capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) is under siege by the Arameans, and the people are about to starve. However, the Lord causes the invading army to hear what they think is the sound of an even greater army approaching – whereupon they all panic and run for their lives, leaving everything behind (vs. 6-7) – including food the besieged people of Samaria desperately need (v. 16). Thus, God saved the people OF ISRAEL from defeat and death, even though they certainly didn’t deserve to be spared – thereby underscoring passages found elsewhere that praise Him for being “compassionate and gracious, (and) slow to anger” (c.f. Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:15).
(6) In chapter eight (c.f. II Kings 8), the scene shifts to Judah and the reigns of King Jehoram and King Ahaziah, both of whom we’re told, “did evil in the sight of the Lord” by following the example of the kings of Israel (vs. 18, 27). Interestingly, we’re told in verse nineteen that despite how evil these men were, “the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, (because) He had promised … to give (David) a lamp … through his sons always” (v. 19). In other words, God was not going to forget His covenant promise to David, no matter how wicked some of his descendants were!
(7) Chapters nine and ten (c.f. II Kings 9-10) tell us about the reign of King Jehu of Israel. This is the man God raised up to fulfill the prophecy made earlier by Elijah, that the house of Ahab would be completely cut off (c.f. I Kings 21:21-22) (10:1-11) – and, he’s also responsible for the death of Jezebel, whose body was left lying in the street, where it was eaten by dogs (9:33-37), in fulfillment of another prophecy made by Elijah (c.f. I Kings 21:23).
Jehu also destroys the worshipers of Baal, and turns the house of Baal into a latrine (10:18-28) – for which he is commended by God (10:31). But then, we’re told he continued to worship other false gods, after the example of Jeroboam, including the golden calves that were still enshrined at Bethel and Dan (10:29-31).
(8) Chapter eleven (c.f. II Kings 11) tells us about a woman named Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, who ruled as Queen over the nation for six years She attained that position (after her son’s death) by having all the royal offspring killed (i.e. her grandchildren!). However, in God’s providence, she missed one – a one-year old named Joash (a.k.a. Jehoash) (vs. 1-3), whom Jehoiada the priest hid for six years – thereby preserving the line of David from extinction! Athaliah is eventually seized and killed – after which we’re told that “all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet” (v.20).
(9) Chapter twelve (c.f. II Kings 12) tells us about the reign of King Jehoash of Judah, who was put on the throne of David when he was just seven years old (11:21). He turned out to be one of Judah’s better kings – doing “right in the sight of the Lord” all the years Jehoiada the priest was there to instruct him (v. 2) – with his best work being that he oversaw the repair of the temple, which had been damaged by neglect and abuse (vs. 4-16).
(10) Chapters thirteen through sixteen (c.f. II Kings 13-16) tell us about the rule of nine kings over Israel, and five kings over Judah. Only three of these fourteen kings, however, receive a favorable evaluation – and even then those evaluations are tempered with exceptions. Those three kings were Amaziah, King of Judah (14:3) – Azariah, King of Judah (15:3) – and Jotham, King of Judah (15:34).
An interesting aside is that Jonah the prophet is mentioned in chapter fourteen (14:25) – the same Jonah God sent to Nineveh (c.f. Jonah 1:1-2), capital city of the Assyrian Empire, where a revival broke out (c.f. Jonah 3:5-10), which delayed Assyria’s demise for at least another one hundred years. This is the same empire that eventually carries Israel off into captivity – which explains why Jonah was so reluctant to go there and preach (c.f. Jonah 4:1-2).
We also see the foreshadowing of future exiles in these chapters. For example, chapter thirteen, verse three, says that during the reign of King Jehoahaz of ISRAEL, “the anger of the Lord was kindled against ISRAEL, (so that) He gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad (his) son …” (13:3) – while in chapter fifteen, verse thirty-seven, we’re told that in the days of Jotham, King of JUDAH, “the Lord began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah against JUDAH” (15:37).
(11) Chapter seventeen (c.f. II Kings 17) is an especially important chapter in the Book of Second Kings, because it tells us how and why Israel went into Assyrian captivity – with the emphasis on “why”. Hence, we read (in part) (starting at verse seven):
7“Now this came about (i.e. their exile) because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt … and … had feared other gods 8and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before (them), and in the customs … the kings of Israel … had introduced. 9The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God. … they built for themselves high places in all their towns … 10They set (up) for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11and … burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the Lord had carried away to exile before them … they did evil things provoking the Lord. 12They served idols, concerning which the Lord had said to them, ‘You shall not do this thing.’ 13(Moreover) the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, (and) My statutes … which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.’ 14However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them … they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do like them. 16They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17… they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire … practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. 18So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight … (20)The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight … (23) … So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day. 24(And) The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and … Avva and … Hamath … and Sephar-vaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities” (vs. 7-24).
And so the nation of Israel (as represented by the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom) came to an end, never to return to the land of Canaan, or be restored as a national entity! And all because, for some three hundred years, her kings and a majority of her people simply refused to obey the Lord’s commands and worship Him alone – despite constant warnings, and appeals to repent.
(C) JUDAH ALONE (II Kings 18-25)
(1) And that brings us to the second section of the Book of Second Kings, which is found in chapters eighteen through twenty-five (c.f. II Kings 18-25), and covers the history of Judah alone – from the time Israel goes into exile around 722 B.C., until Judah herself goes into exile around 586 B.C.
In chapters eighteen, nineteen, and twenty (c.f. II Kings 18-20), we meet King Hezekiah who was one of the best kings Judah ever had – for we’re told in chapter eighteen, starting at verse three, that 3“he did right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father David had done. 4He removed the high places … broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent … Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. 5He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. 6For he clung to the Lord; (and) did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses” (c.f. II Kings 18:3-6).
Several years into his reign, Hezekiah rebels against the King of Assyria and stops serving him (18:7) – which, in turn, prompts an invasion. And so, an Assyrian official comes to Jerusalem with a message from the King of Assyria, in which he tries to scare Hezekiah into surrendering before the whole army even arrives, by boasting (in part): “Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (18:35).
Hezekiah takes the matter (and the insult) to God in prayer (19:14-19) – who answers him through the prophet Isaiah, saying (in part) of Assyria and her king: “Because … your raging against Me, and … your arrogance has come up to My ears, therefore I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came” (19:28) – while to Hezekiah God says: 32“‘(the king of Assyria) will not come to this city or shoot an arrow (here); … he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,’ declares the Lord. 34‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake’” (19:32-34). And then we’re told, that night “the angel of the Lord … (killed) 185,000” Assyrian soldiers in their camp – so that the King of Assyria was forced to return to Nineveh, without ever having reached Jerusalem, where he was assassinated while “worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god” (19:35-37).
In chapter twenty, a son of the King of Babylon comes to visit Hezekiah, who, for some reason, decides to show his visitor all his wealth (20:12-13) – whereupon the prophet Isaiah tells Hezekiah: 17“‘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. 18‘(And) Some of your sons … whom you will beget, will (also) be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon” (20:17-18). Of course, this prophecy was looking ahead to the not-so-distant future, when Judah would go into Babylonian captivity on account of the accumulated sins of her people and kings.
(2) Chapter twenty-one (c.f. II Kings 21) tells us about the reigns of Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, and his grandson Amon – who were two of the worst kings Judah ever had. Ironically, God chose to let Manasseh (who was the worst of the two by far) reign for fifty-five years – which was the longest reign of any king in Judah or Israel.
Manasseh’s reign, more than any other king of Judah, sealed the fate of the nation – for we’re told (starting in verse ten): 10“Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11‘Because Manasseh king of Judah has done (all) these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; 12therefore 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. 13… I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14I 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 …”’” (21:10-14).
(3) And so it was. But not before one more decent king came along – for chapters twenty-two and twenty-three (c.f. II Kings 22-23) tell us about the reign of Josiah, who “did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left” (22:2).
It was during his reign that “the book of the law” was found “in the house of the Lord” (22:8) – presumably a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy7 – which was then read to the king, after which we’re told he “tore his clothes” (22:11), and told the Hilkiah the priest to: “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (22:13).
This book of the law (which is also called “the book of the covenant”) (23:21) becomes the basis and catalyst for the many reforms Josiah initiates8 – including reinstituting the Passover, which we’re told “had not been celebrated from the days of the judges … nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and … the kings of Judah” (23:22) – which is a shocking piece of information!
Josiah did a lot of good during his reign. In fact, we’re told that “before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him” (23:25). Nevertheless, Josiah’s reforms were not enough to stem the tide of impending judgment – for the very next verse goes on to say: 26“However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27The Lord said, ‘I will remove Judah … from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, “My name shall be there”’” (23:26-27).
(4) All of which leads us to the final two chapters of Second Kings, chapters twenty-four and twenty-five (c.f. II Kings 24-25), where we’re told about the last three kings of Judah (and one governor) – along with how Judah finally went into Babylonian captivity on account of her sins.
Unlike the people of Israel, who pretty much went into captivity all at once (c.f. II Kings 17), the people of Judah went in several stages (24:12-16; 25:8-12) – some think as many as three.9 One writer sums it up like this: “During the reign of Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem (around 597 B.C.) and takes the king of Judah, along with many others, captive to Babylon (24:10-16). Nebuchadnezzar then makes Zedekiah king – however, he eventually rebels – whereupon Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem again (around 586 B.C.), burns the temple and other important buildings, tears down the walls, takes more people into captivity, and generally leaves the city in ruins and uninhabited (24:17-25:21). A man named Gedaliah is then appointed governor over Judah, but is soon assassinated (25:22-26)”10 – after which, Nebuchadnezzar makes one more trip to Judah (around 582 B.C.) and carries off more captives. Moreover, we’re told (in the NIV) that, “It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, (so that) in the end He thrust them from His presence” (c.f. 24:20, NIV).
Although tragic, unlike Israel, this is not the end of the nation of Judah. Indeed, the Book of Second Kings ends on a note of hope – for we’re told that after languishing for “thirty-seven years” in a Babylonian “prison”, “Jehoiachin king of Judah” is shown favor by the King of Babylon, who orders him to be released, sets him on a throne above those of other captured kings living in Babylon, gives him “a regular allowance”, and lets him eat his meals at the king’s table (25:27-30). Hence, we see the line of David being preserved, even in captivity – even though no one will actually sit on the throne of David again until Jesus comes!
Still, the ending is a sad one – although it should not come as any surprise. After all, the kings and people of Judah (and Israel) had been warned repeatedly, ever since the days of Moses, that they would be thrown out of the Land of Promise if they disobeyed God’s laws, and worshiped other gods.10 They did – and so did He! It took almost five hundred years – from the time Saul was made king, to the exile of Judah11 – but it did happen, just like the Sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth said it would.
1http://www.wpcpca.org/Archive/05-09-10-pm.html
2MacArthur: The MacArthur Bible Commentary; p. 387.
3The English Standard Study Bible: Introduction to 1-2 Kings;
p. 585.
4Mathison: From Age to Age (The Unfolding of Biblical
Eschatology); p. 97.
5IBID; p. 98.
6The New Geneva Study Bible: The Second Book of the
Kings; pgs. 516-517,
7IBID; Footnote on II Kings 22:8; p. 552.
8The English Standard Study Bible: Footnote on II Kings
22:8; p. 689.
9IBID; Exile to Babylon; p. 695.
10Mathison: Ibid; p. 106.
11QuickVerse: Holman Bible Dictionary; Chronology of
the Bible.