2 Kings
I. Introduction
A. 2 Kings: Elijah and Ahaziah to Jehoiachin's release from prison
in exile
B. The rest of the story of the kings
1. Exile of Israel to Assyria
2. Renewal in Judah, return to sinfulness, exile to Babylon
C. Let us consider what can be gained from 2 Kings
II. 2 Kings: The Details
A. Authorship
1. Author entirely unknown
2. No doubt of its inspiration
3. Luke 4:27 / 2 Kings 5:1-19
4. Author seems responsible for 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings,
2 Kings
5. In Greek Septuagint, book called 4 Reigns
B. Dating
1. Events involve 260 years of history, from Ahaziah to
Judah's exile (ca. 820-560 BCE)
2. Book likely based on records, information nearly
contemporaneous with events
3. Actual final composition likely around the exile
(ca. 586 BCE)
C. Audience
1. The audience of the book is Israel in exile and beyond
2. We can also gain much from it
D. Purpose
1. To describe God's messages through the prophets to the
last kings of Israel and Judah
2. To set forth the history of Israel and Judah leading up
to exile
3. To explain why God exiled His own people
III. 2 Kings: The Story
A. Main Sections
1. Ahaziah and Elijah (2 Kings 1-2)
2. Elisha (2 Kings 3-8)
3. The end of Israel (2 Kings 9-17)
4. The end of Judah (2 Kings 18-25)
B. Ahaziah’s Impiety (2 Kings 1)
1. Moab's revolt (2 Kings 1:1)
2. Ahaziah fell, becomes ill; seeks after Beelzebub of Ekron
(2 Kings 1:2)
3. Elijah meets messengers, tells them of God’s condemnation of
Ahaziah to death (2 Kings 1:3-4)
4. Ahaziah told of it; sends two sets of fifty men to fetch
Elijah; fire from Heaven consumes them (2 Kings 1:5-12)
5. Third set of fifty more humble; Elijah goes to Ahaziah,
condemns him in person; he dies (2 Kings 1:13-18)
C. Elijah's Translation (2 Kings 2)
1. Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel; Elisha knows of his near
departure (2 Kings 2:1-3)
2. Elijah keeps going; Elisha remains with him (2 Kings 2:4-8)
3. Elijah asks what Elisha wants from him; double portion of
his spirit; Elijah and Elisha separated by chariots of fire;
Elijah taken up in a whirlwind; with cloak of Elijah, Elisha
parts Jordan River, returns to sons of the prophets
(2 Kings 2:9-14)
4. Sons of prophets wish to find Elijah, unable to do so
(2 Kings 2:15-18)
5. Water of Jericho not good; Elisha heals it (2 Kings 2:19-22)
6. Boys of Bethel mock Elisha; Elisha curses them; bears come
out and kill many (2 Kings 2:23-25)
D. Israel and Moab (2 Kings 3)
1. Jehoram king of Israel; Mesha king of Moab rebels against
Israel; Jehoram and Jehoshaphat march against him
(2 Kings 3:1-8)
2. Wilderness without water; Jehoshaphat seeks prophet; Elisha
there; promises that the LORD will provide water; water
comes (2 Kings 3:9-20)
3. Moabites come out against Israel, overconfident by false sign;
Israel defeats Moabite army; Mesha offers own son as offering,
leads to wrath against Israel; Israel goes home
(2 Kings 3:21-27)
E. Acts of Elisha (2 Kings 4-8)
1. Widow of prophet speaks to Elisha, sons about to become
slaves; he tells her to obtain jars, pour her one jar of oil
into all the jars; from that, woman able to pay debts and live
(2 Kings 4:1-7)
2. Shunammite woman builds extra room for Elisha when he comes
by; because of her faith, he promises her that she will have
a child; she does so (2 Kings 4:8-17)
3. Woman's son grows, has head difficulty, dies; she goes to
Elisha; Elisha goes, lays upon the child, child revives
(2 Kings 4:18-37)
4. In Gilgal during famine, stew made for sons of prophets;
someone accidentally puts poisonous vine in it; Elisha
informed of it, takes flour, cleanses stew from malady
(2 Kings 4:38-41)
5. Man comes with firstfruits for Elisha; told to give them to
the men; God makes sure that all the men eat and have
leftovers (2 Kings 4:42-44)
6. Naaman the Aramean army commander leprous; told of Elisha;
goes with all kinds of finery and money to be cured to king
of Israel; king of Israel distressed, tears clothes
(2 Kings 5:1-7)
7. Elisha informed, tells king to send Naaman to him; sends
messenger to Naaman, telling him to wash in the Jordan seven
times; Naaman insulted, considers Aramean rivers better;
servants persuade him otherwise; he bathes in Jordan, becomes
clean (2 Kings 5:8-14)
8. Naaman returns to Elisha, confesses faith in YHWH; wants two
loads of soil, will offer only to YHWH; seeks forgiveness for
state duties relative to Rimmon (2 Kings 5:15-19)
9. Gehazi goes after Naaman to obtain some of the gifts he was
going to give; Elisha knows of it; Naaman's leprosy upon
Gehazi and descendants (2 Kings 5:20-27)
10. While cutting down trees, son of prophet’s axe head falls
into Jordan; Elisha throws stick in, iron floats to
surface (2 Kings 6:1-7)
11. Aram fights against Israel; Israel constantly informed of
Aramean camp location by Elisha; Aramean king goes to fight
Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-14)
12. Elisha's servant concerned; Elisha not bothered, prays that
God will open eyes of servant; servant sees spiritual host
ready to fight (2 Kings 6:15-17)
13. Elisha prays for blindness of Arameans; leads Arameans to
Samaria (2 Kings 6:18-19)
14. Eyes opened in Samaria; king asks what is to be done with
them, told to provide them food; they went back to Aram,
and no more raids on Israel (2 Kings 6:20-23)
15. Arameans besiege Samaria; destitution, desperate measures
taken; messengers sent to Elisha (2 Kings 6:24-33)
16. Elisha promises that food would be plentiful the next day;
captain doubts, told of his fate (2 Kings 7:1-2)
17. Lepers at entrance of gate go out to Arameans; no one there;
LORD had made sound of chariots come in their ears, feared
reinforcements for Israel, Arameans fled; lepers take
advantage, take food and stuff (2 Kings 7:3-8)
18. Lepers inform gatekeepers who inform king's house; king
conservative, sends out horsemen, who see evidence of panic
and flight but no Arameans (2 Kings 7:9-15)
19. People went out, plundered camp; food plentiful; captain
trampled in gate, fulfilling word of Elisha (2 Kings 7:16-20)
20. Shunammite from earlier sojourns at decree of Elisha;
returns after seven years, appeals to king for land; king
told of how woman was helped by Elisha, land restored
(2 Kings 8:1-6)
21. Aramean king Ben-hadad ill; Hazael his servant told to see
Elisha, inquire whether he would recover; Elisha weeps before
Hazael, knowing how Hazael will bring Israel low; Hazael
kills Ben-hadad, becomes king of Aram (2 Kings 8:7-15)
22. J(eh)oram becomes king of Judah; wicked; Edom in rebellion
(2 Kings 8:16-24)
23. Ahaziah king of Judah; he and Joram king of Israel fight
Hazael, Joram wounded; Ahaziah goes to visit him
(2 Kings 8:25-29)
F. Jehu (2 Kings 9-10)
1. Elisha sends son of prophet to Jehu to anoint him king of
Israel (2 Kings 9:1-10)
2. Jehu's soldiers proclaim him king (2 Kings 9:11-13)
3. Jehu to Jezreel; messengers sent to him, go with him; Joram
and Ahaziah go out to meet him; Jehu shoots both of them;
they die (2 Kings 9:14-29)
4. Jezebel executed (2 Kings 9:30-37)
5. Jehu summons sons of Ahab, all of them killed, whole house
of Ahab destroyed as Elijah foretold (2 Kings 10:1-11)
6. Relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah come up, executed
(2 Kings 10:12-14)
7. Jehu and Jonadab wipe out rest of Ahab's family
(2 Kings 10:15-17)
8. Under pretense of serving Baal, Jehu has all the prophets,
worshipers, and priests of Baal come for a feast; has them
all executed; Baal pillar overthrown, temple destroyed, made
into a latrine (2 Kings 10:18-26)
9. Jehu's reign secure, but does not remove golden calves; has
four generations of kings promised, longest Israel would see;
Hazael defeats Israel constantly, takes over Transjordan
(2 Kings 10:28-36)
G. Athaliah and Joash (2 Kings 11-12)
1. Queen mother Athaliah of Judah has royal family killed; Joash
spared (2 Kings 11:1-6)
2. Seven years later, Jehoiada the priest informs guards of
Joash's existence, weapons brought forth; Joash hailed as
king (2 Kings 11:7-12)
3. Athaliah goes to Temple on account of commotion, seized,
taken to king's house, executed (2 Kings 11:13-16)
4. Jehoiada gets people to forsake Baal and serve YHWH; Joash
follows God as long as Jehoiada lives (2 Kings 11:17-12:3)
5. Repairs needed for Temple; not done for many years
(2 Kings 12:4-8)
6. Money brought to Temple then provided for repairs; Temple
repaired (2 Kings 12:9-16)
7. Hazael conquers Gath, goes to Jerusalem; Joash gives him
sacred gifts of Temple to buy him off, he leaves; Joash dies
at hand of conspiracy (2 Kings 12:17-21)
H. The End of Israel (2 Kings 13-17)
1. Jehoahaz king in Israel; laid low by Ben-hadad son of Hazael
(2 Kings 13:1-9)
2. Jehoash king in Israel; Elisha dying, tells Jehoash to shoot
arrows, strike ground with them; does so three times; will
defeat Aram three times (2 Kings 13:10-19)
3. Elisha dies, buried; Moabites who raided came upon men burying
another man; corpse touches Elisha's bones, revived
(2 Kings 13:20-21)
4. Conflict with Aram; Israel laid low in time of Jehoahaz, more
successful under Jehoash; he recovers cities of Israel
(2 Kings 13:22-25)
5. Amaziah king in Judah; defeats Edom; fights Israel, defeated
by Israel; wall of Jerusalem breached, Temple plundered,
Amaziah captured; later returns to Judah, passed over in favor
of his son (2 Kings 14:1-22)
6. Jeroboam (II) rules in Israel; prosperity and restoration
(2 Kings 14:23-29)
7. Azariah rules Judah; faithful; a leper (2 Kings 15:1-7)
8. Zechariah rules Israel; dies at hand of conspiracy
(2 Kings 15:8-12)
9. Shallum rules Israel one month; killed by Menahem
(2 Kings 15:13-16)
10. Menahem rules Israel; buys off Pul king of Assyria by
extorting the wealthy (2 Kings 15:17-22)
11. Pekahiah rules Israel; dies at hands of conspiracy
(2 Kings 15:23-26)
12. Pekah rules Israel; Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria captures
all of Aram, most of Israel save Ephraim; dies by conspiracy
(2 Kings 15:27-31)
13. Jotham king of Judah; faithful (2 Kings 15:32-38)
14. Ahaz king of Judah; wicked; Rezin and Pekah against him;
Ahaz becomes vassal of Assyria to ward off threat
(2 Kings 16:1-9)
15. Ahaz sees altar in Damascus, has replica made, put it in the
Temple; innovates Temple worship with Assyrian elements
(2 Kings 16:10-20)
16. Hoshea king of Israel; Shalmaneser king of Assyria comes in,
besieges Samaria; son Sennacherib conquers Israel; Israel
later exiled to Assyria (2 Kings 17:1-6)
17. Exile took place on account of idolatry, refusal to heed
prophets; Judah also seduced; Jeroboam's sins led to exile
(2 Kings 17:7-23)
18. Assyria resettles land; YHWH sends lions among them because
they did not fear Him; priests sent to land from Assyria to
teach of YHWH (2 Kings 17:24-28)
19. Settlers feared YHWH but also served their gods; God was
willing to make covenant with them, but they persisted in
idolatry (2 Kings 17:29-41)
I. Hezekiah (2 Kings 18-20)
1. Hezekiah king of Judah; very faithful; removed Nehustan;
removed high places; rebelled against Assyria, defeated
Philistines (2 Kings 18:1-8)
2. Capture, exile of Israel (2 Kings 18:9-12)
3. Sennacherib against Hezekiah; provides ransom, still fights
Judah (2 Kings 18:13-18)
4. Rabshakeh makes speech, claiming Hezekiah unfaithful to YHWH;
king's men seek him to speak in Aramaic, not Hebrew; he speaks
in Hebrew; extols Assyria and its gods, claims that no god
can deliver Jerusalem from Assyria (2 Kings 18:19-37)
5. Hezekiah laments, sends messengers to Isaiah; Isaiah
establishes that Sennacherib will leave (2 Kings 19:1-7)
6. Letter to Hezekiah again denying YHWH’s ability to save;
Hezekiah prays to God; Isaiah comes and prophesies the fall
of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:8-34)
7. Angel of LORD strikes down 185,000 Assyrians; Sennacherib
returns to Assyria, killed by his sons (2 Kings 19:35-37)
8. Hezekiah ill; told he will die by Isaiah; Hezekiah prays,
God hears prayer, grants him 15 more years; sign provided
of shadow retreating ten steps (2 Kings 20:1-11)
9. Babylonian delegates visit; Hezekiah shows them storehouses;
Isaiah predicts Babylon's return, capture of all such things;
Hezekiah not bothered since things well in his own day
(2 Kings 20:12-20)
J. Manasseh and Amon (2 Kings 21)
1. Manasseh king in Judah; evil; served all kinds of gods,
installed foreign divinities in Temple (2 Kings 21:1-9)
2. Prophets denounce his idolatry, proclaim that God will destroy
Jerusalem; Manasseh as killing many innocents
(2 Kings 21:10-18)
3. Amon king in Judah; wicked; conspiracy against him;
conspirators also killed (2 Kings 21:19-26)
K. Josiah and the Beginning of the End (2 Kings 22-23)
1. Josiah king of Judah; faithful; has Temple repaired
(2 Kings 22:1-7)
2. In midst of repairs, book of the Law found; book read to the
king; he tears his clothes, knows wrath of God for Judah's
sins (2 Kings 22:8-13)
3. Huldah the prophetess visited; foretells doom for Judah, but
not in days of Josiah (2 Kings 22:14-20)
4. Josiah has Law read to people; people reaffirm the covenant
(2 Kings 23:1-3)
5. Josiah removes all idolatrous objects; defiled Topheth;
defiled high places; tore down temples of Dan and Bethel,
finds tomb of prophets who foretold it would take place;
sacrificed high priests of Dan and Bethel on their altars
(2 Kings 23:4-20)
6. Passover restored, observed in way not seen since Judges
(2 Kings 23:21-23)
7. Mediums, necromancers, teraphim, etc. cast out; faithful to
Law of Moses; God's anger not ameliorated, doom to come
(2 Kings 23:24-27)
8. Josiah fights Necho king of Egypt; Josiah killed, son Jehoahaz
reigns three months in his place; Necho takes him to Egypt,
installs Jehoiakim king in his place as vassal
(2 Kings 23:28-37)
L. The End of Judah (2 Kings 24-25)
1. Jehoiakim serves Babylon 3 years, revolts; Nebuchadnezzar and
others fight against him; he fills Jerusalem with blood;
wicked; Egyptian "empire" lost to Nebuchadnezzar
(2 Kings 24:1-7)
2. Jehoiachin king of Judah; Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem;
Jehoiachin gives himself up along with many officials; carried
off to Babylon with treasures of Jerusalem and entire middle
and upper classes (2 Kings 24:8-17)
3. Zedekiah installed as king of Judah; rebels against Babylon;
Babylonians come up, besiege Jerusalem; Zedekiah attempts to
flee, is captured, his sons killed, himself blinded
(2 Kings 24:18-25:7)
4. Jerusalem, Temple captured, plundered; Temple and city
destroyed; almost everyone sent into exile (2 Kings 25:8-20)
5. Gedaliah made governor of few who remained; killed later;
rest of people remaining in land flee to Egypt in fear of
Babylon (2 Kings 25:21-26)
6. 25 or so years later, Jehoiachin freed by Evil-merodach;
dined at king's table (2 Kings 25:27-30)
IV. 2 Kings: Important Passages
A. 2 Kings 3
1. In land of Moab, stelae of Mesha found, proclaiming his revolt
from Israel
2. Does not speak of military defeat, but indicates that he keeps
power
3. Independent attestation of Omri, YHWH
B. 2 Kings 5:1-19
1. Naaman
2. Type of baptism
3. Luke 4:27
C. 2 Kings 6:15-17
1. Spiritual reality looks different than physical reality!
2. "More for us than there are for them!"
D. 2 Kings 17:1-23
1. Exile of Israel on account of idolatry
2. Sobering warning!
E. 2 Kings 18-20
1. Hezekiah
2. Great example of a man faithful to God
F. 2 Kings 22-23
1. Josiah
2. Another example of faithfulness
V. Conclusion
A. We have seen the events of 2 Kings
1. Overall, a quite sad picture
2. Idolatry and sin lead to exile and destruction
3. Nevertheless, a few bright spots
B. Let us learn from Israel's example and not follow in their
disobedience!
C. Invitation/songbook