A message from the series “1 & 2 Kings 2005-2006.” In chapters 14 – 16 of 2 Kings, the history of Israel shifts back and forth between the two kingdoms. During this time, we read of both the kings that reigned. The Northern Kingdom had no good kings. The South had some good kings namely Amaziah and Uziah, but not without their faults.
A message from the series “1 & 2 Kings 2005-2006.” In chapter 11 of 2 Kings the focus shifts back to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Years earlier, Jehoshaphat had arranged a marriage between his son, Jehoram, and Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. After her son, King Ahaziah was executed by Jehu, she sought to take the throne by killing all of the royal heirs. However, the godly priest, Jehosheba, hid young Joash for six years. Then when the time was right, Jehosheba conceived a plan to put this young heir on the throne and kill Athaliah. This resulted in a spiritual revival with repairs being done to the Temple. Chapter 13 shifts back to the North and the final days of Elisha.
A message from the series “1 & 2 Kings 2005-2006.” Even though the evil king, Ahab, was long gone, the prophetic curse regarding his dynasty had yet to come to pass. It wasn’t until Elisha was sent to anoint Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, that the entire descendants of Ahab’s family was eliminated. His first task was to kill Ahab’s evil wife, Jezebel. Next came Ahab’s seventy sons. Lastly, he executed the Baal worshippers of Israel. Yet with all that he had done to rectify the evil of Ahab and his house, Jehu did not turn from following the sins of Jeroboam.
A message from the series “1 & 2 Kings 2005-2006.” Chapters 6 and 7 continue with Elisha’s ministry to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Through ungodly leadership, the people had left God and fell completely into idolatry. Yet God in His grace, sent servants like Elisha to help turn the people’s hearts back to Him. It was Elisha that God used to recover a lost axe head. When the Syrian army surrounded Elisha’s residence, they were completely blinded and led into Samaria, fed, and released. A prolonged famine forced the people to do the unthinkable of eating their children. It was during this devastating time, that Elisha foretold of an abundant provision that no one believed would happen.
A message from the series “The Character Of The New Man.”
A message from the series “1 & 2 Kings 2005-2006.” These chapters describe Elisha’s ministry, a man who performed more miracles than any other prophet. It was through Elisha that a widow and her sons were sustained. It was Elisha that raised the Shunammite’s son from his death bed. Additionally, Naaman, the Syrian was cleansed of his leprosy.
A message from the series “1 & 2 Kings 2005-2006.” With the start of 2 Kings, Elijah comes back into the picture with his final assignment of warning King Ahaziah of his pending death. Upon hearing this message of doom, the king sent an entourage of 50 soldiers to capture Elijah, but he called fire down from heaven where it consumed them. Then the king sent another attachment and the same thing happened again. Finally the captain of the third group begged for his life and he was allowed to live. Chapter two describes Elijah’s departure into heaven and his mantle falling upon Elisha who became the next prophet to the Northern Kingdom.
A message from the series “The Character Of The New Man.”
A message from the series “1 & 2 Kings 2005-2006.” The final chapters of 1 Kings chronicles the wicked king of the North, Ahab. Notoriously, he covets a vineyard owned by one of his subjects, Naboth, which prompts his ungodly wife, Jezebel, to concoct a murderous plot to kill Naboth in order to secure the vineyard for her husband. The book ends with the death of Ahab on the battlefield, which then sets up the book of 2 Kings and the ongoing ministry of Elijah.
A message from the series “The Character Of The New Man.”
