Home | Lessons | Old Testament | 2 Kings | Lesson 27 – 2 Kings 18
en Flag
Lesson 27 – 2 Kings 18
Overview
Transcript
Slides

About this lesson

Power, rebellion, and divine judgment—2nd Kings unveils Israel and Judah’s rise and fall, from fiery prophets to exiled kings. Witness God’s unwavering justice and mercy through Elisha’s miracles and the nation’s downfall. Join Tom Bradford’s Torah Class and uncover the truth!

Download Download Transcript

2 ND KINGS

Week 27, chapter 18

Momentarily we’re going to re-read a goodly portion of 2 nd Kings 18, so rich is it not only in Israel’s history but in great and timeless spiritual lessons that seem to be regularly forgotten not only by Believers but by the Jews of modern-day Israel as well. And let there be no doubt that the weakened state of the modern church is at least partly because of the abandonment of God’s Word in favor of manmade traditions and glib Christian sayings, and especially because the Old Testament, where these important God-principles are developed and the lessons they teach us are recorded, has been declared null and void by many influential but misguided Christian leaders.

The 5 th verse of this chapter sums up God’s perspective of His new King of Judah, Hizkiyahu (Hezekiah):

2Kings 18:5-7 CJB

5 He put his trust in ADONAI the God of Isra’el; after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Y’hudah, nor had there been among those before him. 6 For he clung to ADONAI and did not leave off following him, but obeyed his mitzvot, which ADONAI had given Moshe. 7 So ADONAI was with him……………………….

There is scarcely a sharper contrast in the Bible between 2 individuals (let alone a father and his son) than between Hezekiah and his father, the former King of Judah, Achaz . Because of Achaz , Judah had begun to look an awful lot like the northern kingdom, which was now in exile thanks to the Assyrian Empire. But God being of unchangeable character showed great mercy and patience by raising up a far better king for Judah, one that He compared favorably to the greatest king of Israel, and ancestor of the Messiah, King David. Hezekiah was more than a reformer, he was a transformer. So while the first 4 verses of chapter 18 speak of how he r eformed the religion of Judah by destroying the pagan idols, tearing down the Asherah trees and essentially abolishing idol worship in his kingdom, the next several verses speak of how he transformed the nation of Judah’s military, government, and civil society into one that could better deal with the geopolitical realities of that era. And those realities were that Assyria was the greatest empire that the world had ever known up to that time, and they had Judah squarely in their sights. Apparently Hezekiah sensed that while prayer and obedience to God and attending to spiritual matters was his first and foremost duties, there was also a time of trouble just ahead and concrete action was needed, not merely pious passivity or wishful thinking. Therefore he spent the first few years of his reign fortifying his nation’s defenses and preparing for the inevitable war with Assyria.

We’re going to spend considerable time with this chapter, because we’ll be reading extensively from the Book of 2 nd Chronicles that adds much needed information and perspective to Hezekiah’s reign. We’ll get the practical side and the heavenly side of the story. Let me remind you that we’re at a point of around 700 B.C. and therefore but one century from Judah suffering a similar fate as their long lost brothers of the 10 tribes. So as marvelously successful and righteous as Hezekiah’s reign would be, it was but the proverbial finger-in-the-dyke that could only hold back the floodwaters of divine judgment but temporarily.

Let’s re-read a portion of 2 nd Kings 18.

RE-READ 2 ND KINGS 18: 5 – 16 Verse 7 explains that Hezekiah inherently knew that the Kingdom of God could not coexist under of the rule of a foreign occupier, which by definition gave their allegiance to a different god or gods. Hezekiah’s father Achaz had agreed to turn Judah over to Assyria in exchange for Assyria allowing him to retain his title as King of Judah (that was the rather standard vassal arrangement for that era). Thus we read of Hezekiah informing the King of Assyria that no further tribute would be paid; this was rebellion. But in addition to this direct act of rebellion Hezekiah also took control of Philistia. Why was he interested in Philistia? Because at this time Philistia was under the rule of Assyria. Assyria needed the Philistine territory because of the important highway that linked Mesopotamia to Egypt, the Via Maris. And although I just told you that Judah was squarely in Assyria’s sights, it was mostly because of Assyria’s aspirations to conquer Egypt. And the fertile and productive land located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River (what was essentially Judah) was vital for Assyria to prosecute a war against Egypt. Philistia gave Assyria a needed seaport and a highway, but they would also need the resources of Judah to provision a large expeditionary force that would necessarily be in the field for several years (wars of this kind took a long time to resolve). By rebelling and then taking possession of Philistia, King Hizkiyahu was denying Assyria both. He knew that Assyria wouldn’t stand still for this for very long, so he sought strategic alliances as well. By denying Assyria the land route they needed to attack Egypt, suddenly Egypt and Judah found themselves as uneasy partners against the Assyrian war machine. Then in verse 9, the narrative takes a step back to explain that the siege of Assyria against Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (that finally resulted in the exile of the 10 northern tribes) had actually begun in the 4 th year of King Hizkiyahu’s reign. Thus this latest King of Judah was an eyewitness to the destruction and exile of the northern kingdom. Since Prophets like Elijah and Isaiah had warned the northern kingdom about what was coming if they didn’t repent and change their faithless and idolatrous ways, Hezekiah was aware of these prophecies and their catastrophic outcome. Notice verse 12 that explains, in part, Hizkiyahu’s actions.

CJB 2 Kings 18:12 This happened because they (Israel) did not heed the voice of ADONAI their God, but violated his covenant, everything that Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered them to do, and would neither hear it nor do it.

Twice in this verse the Hebrew word shema was used to describe what it is that the northern kingdom of the 10 tribes did NOT do in regards to God’s commandments given through Moses. That is, they did not DO what it is that they HEARD. We’ve discussed this import principle that is contained in the word shema on numerous occasions. It is fascinating to me that both Jews and Christians declare that the principle of ‘love your God with all you heart, mind, and strength’ is the basis of even the 10 Commandments, and therefore the common denominator of our faiths. In fact so recognized is this God-principle in Judaism that they have given a formal name to the Scripture passage where this principle is presented (Deuteronomy 6:4 & 5). Recall that this passage begins with the words, “Hear O Israel”, or shema Yisra’el . Thus they call it The Shema.

I will not relent from chastising the church that in general, until recently, we have listened to God’s words but have determined NOT to DO God’s words. And what this leads to is what is happening now in the post-modern era church. The church (again, in general, not universally) has stopped LISTENING to God’s Word. Fine speeches from the pulpit that pull a verse or two, or even part of a verse, out of context and then is used to validate some social or religious point of view of the speaker is NOT the same thing as listening to God’s word. Reading books about the end times, or about heaven, or about how to grow the church, or about the nature of the human soul, or about social justice is not the same thing as reading God’s word. So the principle is this: unlike what it might seem, it is not that being deaf to God’s word leads to not DOING God’s word. It is the other way around. In reality the ONLY people on this planet who are supposed to do God’s Word are God’s chosen and redeemed people. When God’s worshippers hear God’s Word but don’t do it, it eventually leads to no longer listening to it. Why? Because as James said, even the demons know who God is and what God’s principles are. But those who hear God’s word and don’t do it possess a dead faith. And a dead faith eventually loses interest in even hearing the Lord’s word to us. And that is exactly what has happened.

Hezekiah didn’t want the same thing to happen to Judah that happened to Israel. As the great Hebrew scholar Abarbanel suggests: Assyria was able to sweep to victory not because it was all powerful, but because the 10 tribes and their king had sinned beyond reprieve, so God turned them over to Assyria for judgment rather than protecting them from conquest as He had up until then. So for Hezekiah step 1 was to lead Judah in repentance of their apostasy, and step 2 was to build up the kingdom’s defenses against a formidable Assyrian army that was designed for world domination.

Verse 13 proves that Hezekiah had wisdom, because just as he had anticipated and prepared for, Assyria finally attacked Judah in retribution and in hopes of recapturing Judah, which would also then return Philistia and the valuable north/south Via Maris highway to their control.

Even though Hezekiah had reformed and transformed the Kingdom of Judah back to a strong and God-fearing nation, when the moment of truth finally arrived he acted in a way that surprises us. These passages seem to indicate that he panicked, and in a moment of weakness he reverted to his (and our) natural human carnal instincts. Hizkiyahu had reigned in righteousness for 14 years when King Sennacherib began attacking the fortified cities of Judah. When the large Jewish fortress city of Lachish was surrounded and near collapse, it greatly alarmed Hezekiah because it was only a couple of days march from there to Jerusalem. He appears to react by trying to buy his way out of trouble, instead of beseeching God. The narrative implies that Hezekiah was thinking that Assyria’s forces were much too large and experienced to be defeated by natural means, so he sued for peace in the typical Middle Eastern way of that time. Sennacherib named his price: 20,000 pounds of silver and 2000 pounds of gold: an enormous amount that he probably didn’t think Hezekiah could come up with. However by emptying the royal treasury, the Temple treasury, and even stripping slabs of gold off of the Temple doors, the King of Judah was able to meet the demand. But as we’re about to see, the King of Assyria was insincere in his demands, and to give-in only emboldened him to press for more. RE-READ 2 ND KINGS 18: 17 – end The King of Assyria was apparently present with his troops as they laid siege to Lachish. When word came to him that King Hezekiah was willing to admit his “sin” in rebelling, and to meet Sennacherib’s outrageous price of 10 tons of silver and a ton of gold, he sent a delegation of underlings to meet with the Hebrew king with yet another set of demands in hand. And, let’s not misunderstand the use of the word “sin” in relation to King Hizkiyahu pronouncing in verse 14 that he had “sinned” (or as in the CJB, “done wrong”) against the King of Assyria by rebelling against him. This was just a common way of speaking; further, in no way had Hezekiah ever agreed to be Assyria’s vassal. His father had done that, and it was usual that when the king of a vassal state vacated the throne and a new king took his place, that a new agreement had to be reached. There is no evidence from Assyrian or biblical records that such a thing had occurred; so it’s not as though Hezekiah had vowed in God’s name to be a vassal to Assyria and then reneged on the deal. Thus there was no wrong-doing against Assyria, and certainly no trespass against Yehoveh was involved.

In order to get a fuller picture of what happened next, turn your Bibles to 2 nd Chronicles 32. We’re going to read it all.

READ 2 ND CHRONCILES 32 all It appears from these verses that while Hezekiah indeed offered a bribe to Sennacherib to stop attacking Judah, and that in 2 nd Kings 18 it leaves us wondering that perhaps he had done a cowardly if not bad thing in paying off the Assyrian King with gigantic amounts of gold and silver, some of it from the Temple treasury, we now understand from 2 nd Chronicles 32 that at least part of his reaction was strategic in order to buy more time to prepare. And perhaps the most important thing that Hezekiah wanted to do with that time was to deny the Assyrian army a water source as they surrounded Jerusalem, and at the same time to protect that water source and keep it available to the besieged city residents and military defenders. Thus he began a project to not only fortify and expand Jerusalem’s defensive walls, but he ordered that an impressive water diversion project be undertaken and that it must happen in an impossibly short period of time.

The main feature of that water project is a marvel of ancient engineering called Hezekiah’s Tunnel, located in what we now know was the City of David. It was rediscovered in the mid-1800’s by a Bible scholar and archeologist named Edward Robinson. However it took several more decades for the academic world to finally concede that this water tunnel was the project that is the subject of 2 nd Chronicles 32. One reason for the reluctance to agree with Robinson was that it seemed impossible that such a project could be built in 700 B.C. with such precision, and so quickly. In fact, excellent and reliable Bible commentaries written by such notables as Keil and Delitzsch, and Alfred Edersheim, were still guessing that a different water channel that was actually up a little higher in the holy city, nearby what is now called the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, or perhaps yet another channel that was discovered that goes under the Tyropean Valley, just to the west side of the Ophel and Temple Mount, was the one that Hezekiah ordered built. However the actual one turns out to be quite an engineering marvel as it was carved underground through bedrock, is about 600 yards long (about 6 football fields), and it was dug from both ends and the workers were somehow able to make it meet in the middle. That is not speculation: an inscription was actually found inside the tunnel that explained this is how they accomplished it. But the method they devised to allow the two excavations to precisely meet in the middle is still debated. I’ve walked through that narrow serpentine tunnel on several occasions, and at the bottom of it is the famous Pool of Siloam, itself only recently discovered in 2004. The bottom line is that the combination of this tunnel and the Siloam Pool, which was kind of a reservoir to hold the water that flowed through the tunnel, was completely inside the defensive walls of the City of David. Once dug, the waters of the Gihon Spring were dammed up and diverted to the tunnel, instead of running down the Gihon Valley to the bottom, mostly outside the city walls. While this didn’t solve the starvation problem besieged residents would face, it did solve the number one problem which was a nearly unlimited water source. And it kept the Assyrian army from having access to it for themselves. Since sieges could take from months or even years to come to a conclusion, a well defended and provisioned walled city could often outlast the enemy army, especially where inclement weather and a scarcity of water was an issue, as is the case with Jerusalem.

2 nd Chronicles 32 also explains that King Hezekiah was anything but afraid and timid; it turns out that it wasn’t fear that drove him to pay enormous sums of precious metals to the King of Assyria. In fact it is recorded that he gathered his military and civic leaders together and told them to have courage and not to fear the Assyrians because the God of Israel and not the size of the enemy forces is going to determine the outcome,. Oh, if only modern Israel had a Hezekiah to lead them! They still believe that their own military might, advanced weapons, and cunning strategies are the answer to their problems. If only they would turn to God and to His Son Yeshua, fall on their knees and exclaim as one, “Baruch haba B’shem Adonai” (blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord) then they would see miracles like the one that Hezekiah would soon witness.

Back to 2 nd Kings 18. In verse 17 we meet the delegation that Sennacherib sent to pow-wow with Hezekiah. It was an offensive display of arrogance that some lesser government officials would demand an audience with Judah’s king, but Hezekiah wisely countered it; if Sennacherib was sending envoys to speak for him, then Hezekiah would send his own envoys to hear them. So here are 3 Assyrian fellows called Tartan, Rav-Saris and Rav-Shekeh. These are not their names, these are their titles. Tartan means viceroy; so this was probably Sennacherib’s 2 nd in command. Rav-Saris means chief of the Eunuchs, which mostly has to do with the king’s household. Rav-Shekeh means something like chief baker, but probably was indicating that he was Sennacherib’s chief steward. These men made up the upper echelon of the King of Assyria’s royal court. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this incident, but singles out Rav-Shekeh as he was the leader, or at least the one who did all the talking.

Turn your Bibles to Isaiah 36.

READ ISAIAH 36:1 – 10

Sennacherib’s message was one of great impudence and designed to shame King Hezekiah and the people of Judah. Yet, there was truth in it. As Alfred Edersheim so rightly noticed: “Rarely, perhaps, was there an occasion on which faith in the unseen was put to a severer test than in the conference between the leaders of the Assyrian army and the representatives of King Hezekiah”. In other words, here is where the rubber meets the road. Faith in God is wonderful, and inspiring to sing about, and rather easy to maintain until one is severely tested. This particular test was one of life and death; not just of Hezekiah’s life but of an entire kingdom’s existence as a sovereign Hebrew nation. According to earthly eyes and logic, the situation was as hopeless as these representatives of King Sennacherib accurately portrayed to the 3 envoys of Judah and to all the common folk sitting and standing nearby. The Assyrian army simply had not known defeat; they were well equipped, well trained, large in number and expert in conquest. They had already taken on more formidable foes than Judah, and won handily.

But here there is yet another great spiritual lesson just under the surface. Hezekiah had been ruling for 14 years as a righteous king who had brought his kingdom back from apostasy to a proper worship and reverence of God. So why would God allow Assyria to invade now, and for Hezekiah to be humiliated? This issue has puzzled the Rabbis and Sages of old, and they have come up with various solutions. Radak and Abarbanel say that this was not Hezekiah’s failure but the people’s that God was reacting against. Other Sages agree that the invasion was all part of Yehoveh’s plan of redemption, and that essentially this was the war of Gog and Magog against Jerusalem. King Sennacherib was intended to represent King Gog and King Hezekiah the Messiah.

I think Abarbanel is the closest to exposing the principle that is being taught, but didn’t go far enough. Hezekiah indeed was not necessarily at fault, but the Kingdom of Judah in general had for a very long time erred to the point of unfaithfulness towards God. The Temple operated in an off-and-on fashion, there were high places built all over the hills of Judah, and idol worshipped was tolerated. Even though under Hezekiah’s leadership the citizens of Judah had righted the ship in repentance and struck out on the straight path of righteousness, and thus had every reason to expect some level of help and deliverance from the Lord in acknowledgment of their sincere change of heart and change of behavior, there would necessarily remain the residue of consequence for their past sins that they would have to suffer.

If one has lived long enough, and walked with God close enough, the truth of this principle is evident enough. Despite perhaps an extended time of being faithful and obedient to our Lord, if our past life was full of sin and rebellion and foolishness we shall not fully escape its effects in this life or on this earth. Our redeemed lives will indeed be eligible for God’s mercy and His favor; but we can also expect trouble that results from our failures of the past; some that we might call natural effects, and some that can be nothing other than God’s justice being meted out upon us.

Christ did not come to save our fleshly lives by being hung up on that execution pole; His sacrifice was not intended to give us a reprieve from the just earthly consequences of our past or present evil behavior (although that does seem to happen occasionally). His sacrifice had to do with pardoning the curse of the law upon us, also called in the New Testament the wages of sin. The curse (the wages of sin) is eternal death. But such pardon is only for those who sincerely trust in Him and make him Lord of our life. The law and its righteousness were not abolished as Yeshua so clearly stated in the Sermon on the Mount; only the eternal effects of breaking the law were dealt with.

The 3 representatives who King Hezekiah sent to receive the Assyrian envoys were Elyakim , Shevnah , and Yo’ach . Here is what they heard: the Assyrians wanted to know why it was that Hezekiah thought that by making all of these preparations for war that it would do him and Judah any good? What exactly was the source of Judah’s confidence that it could ward off the unstoppable Assyrian forces? Was it brilliant words of motivation to the troops, or an astounding battle strategy? Could it be that Hezekiah was relying on Egypt to come to his aid?

It couldn’t be, could it, that Hezekiah was trusting in Israel’s God? Because that would be the most foolish thing of all possibilities. After all, hadn’t King Hezekiah actually insulted his own god by breaking down the high places where his people had been worshipping the God of Israel, and instead forcing them to worship in only one place, a place that Hezekiah personally preferred, the Temple in Jerusalem? In other words, Rav-Shekeh, being primarily familiar with the Golden Calf cult of the former northern kingdom, thought that it was good and right that the citizens of Judah would have their own personal high places and altars of sacrifice. Therefore Hezekiah ordering them torn down was born of a selfish motive of some sort that allowed him to more fully control his people. And while it might please him, what god would be pleased with having all of his many high places torn down?

So, with the obvious conclusion that Judah stands no chance against Assyria, Rav-Shakeh presents an offer from his king to Hezekiah: the siege of Jerusalem wouldn’t happen if Hezekiah would agree to forward some kind of special surety that would be forfeit if he again rebelled against Sennacherib. Now the CJB and some other Bibles translate verse 23 a bit differently and have the offer as being a wager, a bet. In other words this offer was not real; rather it was but a diplomatic game mocking Hezekiah that the King of Assyria would give him 2,000 horses if Hezekiah could present 2,000 men who were competent riders (the assumption being that Judah didn’t have 2,000 competent riders). But that doesn’t seem right to me. The Hebrew word used is arob, and it ought to be translated as surety or guarantee. It is nowhere else used in the Bible to mean a wager or a gambling bet.

There for certain was sarcasm in Sennacherib offering to give King Hezekiah 2,000 horses if he would put up the requested surety, because he didn’t think Judah had 2,000 men who could ride. In fact, says Rav-Shekeh in the next verse, to emphasize just how weak and small Judah’s army was in comparison, the lowliest officer in the Assyrian army commanded 2,000 horsemen. To this point, there is much truth to Rav-Shekeh’s rant and indictment towards Hezekiah and Judah, even if it was wrapped up in a great deal of hyperbole. But now he crosses over the line; now he says that he is Yehoveh’s agent, and that YHWH will lead Assyria to victory over Judah.

Elyakim, Shevnah, and Yo’ach were becoming concerned that the common folks of Judah who were gathered all around and listening to Rav-Shekeh would become afraid and lose heart. So they pleaded with Rav-Shekeh to speak in Aramaic instead of Hebrew because they understood Aramaic but the people didn’t. Rav-Shekeh let it be known that it was his intent that the people hear what they are in for if their king defies the will of the King of Assyria. It was they who would suffer the worst and the longest, and suffer the most degradation of a siege.

This Series Includes

  • Video Lessons

    40 Video Lessons

  • Audio Lessons

    40 Audio Lessons

  • Devices

    Available on multiple devices

  • Full Free Access

    Full FREE access anytime

Latest lesson

Help Us Keep Our Teachings Free For All

Your support allows us to provide in-depth biblical teachings at no cost. Every donation helps us continue making these lessons accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Support Support Torah Class

    2 nd KINGS Week 1, chapter 1 The 2 books of Kings (1 st and 2 nd Kings) were originally 1 book that recorded the history of Israel’s monarchy from the last few days of King David’s life, through the civil war that split the unified Kingdom of Israel into…

    2 ND KINGS Lesson 2, chapters 1 and 2 As we left off in 2 nd Kings chapter 1 last week, the greatest prophet of the Bible, Elijah, has resurfaced and of course it is to bring a message of warning and doom to the latest king of the northern…

    2 ND KINGS Week 3, chapter 2 Last week’s lesson in 2 nd Kings chapter 2 led us up to the famous and mysterious account of Elijah’s translation into heaven. And we’ll look at that event closely today. But much more is going on in this chapter than only that.…

    2 ND KINGS Week 4, chapter 3 Beginning in 2 nd Kings Chapter 2, the beginning of the end of the Prophet Elijah’s reign as the highest and chief prophet among the many prophets of Israel and Judah was commenced. Eliyahu (Elijah), Elisha’s former master, who had been mysteriously removed…

    2 ND KINGS Week 5, chapter 4 As we continue in the Book of 2 nd Kings, Elisha is now firmly entrenched as the most spirit- filled and honored prophet in Israel. Even in the story in chapter 3 of Moab rebelling against Israel, and the subsequent attempt by Y’horam…

    2 ND KINGS Week 6, Chapters 4 and 5 We stopped our last lesson in the middle of 2 nd Kings Chapter 4, with the story of the wealthy woman of Shunem having rushed to Mt. Carmel to urge Elisha to come back with her to try and revivify her…

    2 ND KINGS Week 7, chapter 5 As we continue in 2 nd Kings Chapter 5 it absolutely glows with Biblical principles that we also find in the New Testament, and especially those associated with the life and works of Yeshua HaMashiach. The main figure in this narrative is a…

    2 ND KINGS Week 8, chapter 6 Last week’s lesson in 2 nd Kings 5 revolved around the gentile Syrian army commander Na’aman, who gave us a surprising look at the most foundational principles of the Gospel. I say surprising because most Believers (even seekers) expect to find such principles…

    2 nd KINGS Week 9, chapters 6 and 7 We ended our last lesson on a decidedly down note, as we read in 2 nd Kings 6 of a siege by Syria upon the northern Israelite capital city of Samaria. And because of the nature of siege warfare whose goal…

    2 ND KINGS Week 10, chapter 8 We’ll study 2 nd Kings 8 today, but before we do I want to explain the nature of what it is that we’ll be looking at because otherwise it can be a bit confusing, and also because we’ll see this same literary style…

    2 ND KINGS Week 11, Chapter 8 continued We continue today in 2 nd Kings Chapter 8 and the ongoing saga of Israel’s history during an era when Elijah and Elisha were raised up by God to bring His justice to the kingdoms of Ephraim/Israel and Judah. Elijah operated almost…

    2 nd KINGS Week 12, chapter 9 As a boulder gathers speed as it rolls down a steep hillside, so we see Israel and Judah tumbling out of control down their own slippery slope towards God’s wrath by means of their idolatry and apostasy. And just as the physics of…

    2 ND KINGS Week 13, Chapters 9 and 10 It’s about 840 B.C. Yehu has just been anointed King of Israel by an anonymous guild prophet who was sent under the authority of Elisha to the Trans-Jordanian fortress city of Ramot- Gilead for just that purpose. This anointing of Jehu…

    2 ND KINGS Week 14, chapters 10 and 11 The Book of 2 nd Kings spends quite a lot of time recording the deeds of Yehu (Jehu), and then the 3 kings who come after him that forms his 4 generation dynasty. And the reason for this is that Jehu’s…

    2 ND KINGS Week 15, chapter 11 As we continue our study of 2 nd Kings 11 today, we’re going to paint with a few very broad brush stokes and also some very fine detail. And we begin by finding that Athaliah, the equally wicked daughter of the recently (and…

    2 ND KINGS Week 16, chapter 12 We’ll study 2 nd Kings 12 this week, which continues the story of Joash, the latest King of Judah who was publically coronated at the tender age of only 7 years. Our previous lesson in chapter 11 told us why it was that…

    2 ND KINGS Week 17, chapter 13 It’s time to step back again and get the bigger picture of what is happening in the Book of 2 nd Kings. We need to do that because in the next few chapters some seismic shifts in Israel’s political, social and religious fabric…

    2 ND KINGS Week 18, Chapters 13 and 14 In 2 nd Kings 13, the subject is the northern kingdom of Israel and their accelerating decline towards God’s judgment upon them. As the name of the Bible book implies, the story is told in the context of the succession of…

    2 ND KINGS Week 19, chapter 14 We had just opened the divine door of Holy Scripture into 2 nd Kings 14 last week when we ran out of time, so we’ll continue with that this week, and we’ll even have to take some time next week to finish this…

    2 ND KINGS Week 20, Chapters 14 and 15 As we ended our lesson last week in 2 nd Kings 14 yet another Hebrew king looted the Holy Temple in Jerusalem for the sake of its valuable silver and gold articles. This time it was Joash, King of Israel, who…

    2 ND KINGS Week 21, Chapter 15 It might surprise you to know that 2 nd Kings 14 and 15 are some of the most extensively covered and minutely dissected chapters of the 2 Books of Kings by Bible scholars and by historians. There is more here to know and…

    2 ND KINGS Week 22, chapter 15 continued As we continue in 2 nd Kings 15, let’s briefly review. First recall that while 2 nd Kings has relatively few details regarding some of the Hebrew kings, the Book of Chronicles adds more. Thus in order to properly apprehend the deteriorating…

    2 ND KINGS Week 23, chapter 16 As we begin our study of 2 nd Kings chapter 16 today that will take a couple of weeks to complete, I’ll reiterate that in order to properly understand the times and to better understand certain events that are being depicted, we have…

    2 ND KINGS Week 24, chapter 16 cont. We’re in 2 nd Kings Chapter 16, and we only got a little way into it last week. Keep in mind that we are witnessing the last days of the existence of the northern kingdom of Israel. As of this chapter, some…

    2 ND KINGS Week 25, Chapter 17 As we begin 2 nd Kings 17 today, we will read of the end of the northern kingdom of Israel, and thus the beginning of the legend of the 10 lost tribes of Israel. At the conclusion of chapter 16 the subject was…

    2 ND KINGS Week 26, Chapters 17 and 18 As we resume our study of 2 nd Kings, let’s review. We are in chapter 17, at the time when the northern kingdom called itself Israel, and alternately Ephraim; the kingdom that was begun by Jeroboam after Solomon’s death, had just…

    2 ND KINGS Week 27, chapter 18 Momentarily we’re going to re-read a goodly portion of 2 nd Kings 18, so rich is it not only in Israel’s history but in great and timeless spiritual lessons that seem to be regularly forgotten not only by Believers but by the Jews…

    2ND KINGS Week 28, chapters 18 and 19 We’re in 2nd Kings 18, which is the story of righteous King Hezekiah, King of Judah, who is perhaps best known in modern times as the king that ordered that a water tunnel to be built to protect the water supply of…

    2 ND KINGS Week 29, chapter 19 We closed out our last lesson in 2 nd Kings by reading Ezekiel 38 because it is closely connected with 2 nd Kings 18 and 19. If you missed that lesson I suggest you obtain it as we’ll not be reviewing its importance…

    2 ND KINGS Week 30, chapter 20 Be aware that we’re going to take a couple of detours today in order to give you some information that ought to be helpful for your general understanding of the Bible. For several weeks, now, we’ve been following the see-saw progress of Judah,…

    2 ND KINGS Week 31, Chapters 20 and 21 In our day in the modern Western culture and body politic, human history and spirituality are considered as mutually exclusive subjects and realms. Thus in the United States we have this constant tension between the borderlines of Church and State. However…

    2 ND KINGS Week 32, Chapter 21 Open your Bibles to 2 nd Kings Chapter 21. We’ll be doing quite a bit of reading and referencing today from this chapter as well as it’s parallel in 2 nd Chronicles 33. Manasseh is the current King of Judah, having replaced his…

    2 ND KINGS Week 33, Chapter 22 Last time we concluded 2 nd Kings 21 with the notice that a new king of Judah was now on the throne, a fellow named Yoshiyahu (Josiah). Josiah was the son of Amon and grandson of Manasseh. It is the year 641 B.C.…

    2 ND KINGS Week 34, Chapters 22 continued The clock is ticking. Closer and closer we get to the moment when Judah will join their Israelite brethren in exile, and the people of Judah are oblivious to it. They are reveling in the good times as the economy was looking…

    2 ND KINGS Week 35, chapters 22 and 23 We’ll open this week in verse 14 of 2 nd Kings 22. It is here that we learn of a female prophet named Hulda , and of King Josiah sending an embassy to her consisting of his royal court plus the…

    2 ND KINGS Week 36, chapter 23 2 nd Kings Chapter 23 is one of those chapters in the bible that is so chocked full of historical information and divine principles and applications that it takes awhile to untangle it and address it all. I think the time we spend…

    2ND KINGS Week 37, Chapter 23 conclusion I hope you are ready for a considerable bible history lesson today, because the last couple of chapters of 2nd Kings contains one of the most studied periods of Israelite history, and certainly one of the most pertinent and fascinating for modern Christians…

    2ND KINGS Week 38, Chapter 24 Although we’re going to start a new chapter today in 2nd Kings, chapter 24, we’re going to continue in what amounts to a heavy-duty bible history lesson, along with an equally heavy dose of application. Last time we ended with the death of righteous…

    2 ND KINGS Week 39, Chapters 24 and 25 We’re entering the home stretch in our study of 2 nd Kings. This week and next should finish up the book. But what finishing up the book means, is that Judah will then be officially exiled from the Promised Land. At…

    2 ND KINGS Week 40, Chapter 25 END OF BOOK Today concludes our nearly one-year study of the Book of 2 nd Kings. It ends with the inevitable exile of Judah to Babylon. I say inevitable because the downward spiritual death-spiral that first enveloped the northern kingdom of Ephraim/Israel also…