Day 107: 2 Kings 13-15

(The previous post covered Jehu's complete removal of Baal as well as the following kings: Jehoahaz, Joash, and Amaziah.)

2 Kings 13

(This chapter continued Elisha's story.)

¹ In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.

(Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, began his reign over Israel while Joash, the son of Ahaziah, was still the king of Judah.)

² And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
³ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually.

(God delivered Israel into the hands of Syria because of Israel’s sin, which was led by Jehoahaz. Since the split of the nation, we have yet to see a king of Israel who did not do evil.)

⁴ And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened unto him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.

(Verses 5-9: the rest of Jehoahaz's reign.)

⁵ (And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as beforetime.
⁶ Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin, but walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.)
⁷ For he left not to Jehoahaz of the people save fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing.
⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
⁹ And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.
¹⁰ In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.

(Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, reigned over Israel.)

¹¹ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein.
¹² Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
¹³ And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
¹⁴ Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over him, and said, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!

(Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, wept over Elisha when Elisha was sick to the death.)

¹⁵ And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows; and he took unto him bow and arrows.
¹⁶ And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow; and he put his hand upon it. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands.
¹⁷ And he said, Open the window eastward; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot; and he shot. And he said, Jehovah's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

(This first arrow, shot eastward toward Syria, symbolized the coming victory over Syria.)

¹⁸ And he said, Take the arrows; and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground; and he smote thrice, and stayed.

(Jehoash hit the ground with his bow and arrow three times and stopped.)

¹⁹ And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

(Jehoash would only have three victories over Syria, which would not be enough to completely defeat them. Basically, the shooting of the arrow was qualitative: it determined who would be defeated in battle. The hitting of the ground was quantitative: it determine how many battles Israel would win over Syria.)

²⁰ And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
²¹ And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

(A man who touched Elisha’s bones was revived. Revived meant "to live, have life." The man who touched Elisha’s bones repaired.)

²² And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
²³ But Jehovah was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.
²⁴ And Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.
²⁵ And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash smite him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

(Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, smote Syria three times, as Elisha said.)




2 Kings 14
¹ In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel began Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah to reign.

(Amaziah began to reign over Judah while Jehoash, the son of Joahaz (Jehoahaz), was king of Israel.)

² He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.
³ And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, yet not like David his father: he did according to all that Joash his father had done.
⁴ Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

(Amaziah did right before God but not quite like David, like his father Joash. The high places were still there.)

⁵ And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father:
⁶ but the children of the murderers he put not to death; according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.

(The children did not pay for the sins of their fathers. This was written in Deuteronomy 24:16.)

⁷ He slew of Edom in the Valley of Salt ten thousand, and took Sela by war, and called the name of it Joktheel, unto this day.

(Joktheel meant "blessedness of God." It was also called "Selah" and "Petra.")

⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.
⁹ And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle.
¹⁰ Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: glory thereof, and abide at home; for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

(Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, confronted Amaziah with a parable. Jehoash thought Amaziah was being prideful.)

¹¹ But Amaziah would not hear. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.
¹² And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent.

(Israel attacked Judah. Another civil war.)

¹³ And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

(Jehoash took Amaziah as prisoner. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall, from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate.)

¹⁴ And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
¹⁶ And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

(Jehoash, the king of Israel, died but not until he had taken all the gold, silver, and vessels from the temple and brought them back to Samaria (Israel).)

¹⁷ And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

(Amaziah was like his father. He began doing what was right and ended by giving up all the hallowed things and gold that was in the temple.)

¹⁹ And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.
²⁰ And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
²¹ And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
²² He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

(Amaziah's son, Azariah (also known as Uzziah) began to reign in Judah.)

²³ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years.
²⁴ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
²⁵ He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel, which he spake by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.

(Jeroboam began his reign over Israel during Amaziah's reign. The prophet Jonah was mentioned.)

²⁶ For Jehovah saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was none shut up nor left at large, neither was there any helper for Israel.
²⁷ And Jehovah said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
²⁹ And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his stead.

(Jeroboam died and his son reigned. The narrative returned back to Ahaziah/Uzziah's reign in Judah, while Jeroboam was still alive...)




2 Kings 15
¹ In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
² Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
³ And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

(Azariah/Uzziah began his reign over Judah. He did right before God as his father Amaziah did. However, what was said about Amaziah was that he did right but not like David.)

⁴ Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
⁵ And Jehovah smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house. And Jotham the king's son was over the household, judging the people of the land.

(The high places were not removed and God struck Azariah so that he was a leper until his death.)

⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
⁷ And Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

(Azariah/Uzziah was listed as seventh from David in Matthew's genealogy of the lineage of Christ. Jotham was listed eighth from David.)

(Verses 8-31: this section began the story of five kings over Israel. It anticipates the final overthrow of this half of the nation, the ten tribes of Israel. It described the corruption and chaos that would make them an easy target for the Assyrians.)

⁸ In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.

(The first of five kings, Zechariah, reigned over Israel. Amaziah reigned fourteen years after Jeroboam began to rule. Azariah/Uzziah reigned thirty-eighty years by the time Zechariah began ruling. This made fifty-two years. However, Jeroboam only reigned for a total of forty-one years. There was an eleven year period between Jeroboam and Zechariah where no king reigned over Israel.)

⁹ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

(Zechariah did evil like the kings of Israel.)

¹⁰ And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
¹¹ Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
¹² This was the word of Jehovah which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons to the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.
¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned the space of a month in Samaria.

(The second of five kings, Shallum, reigned over Israel for one month.)

¹⁴ And Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
¹⁶ Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the borders thereof, from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.
¹⁷ In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
¹⁸ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

(The third of five kings, Menahem, reigned over Israel and did evil.)

¹⁹ There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
²⁰ And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
²¹ Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
²² And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.
²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.
²⁴ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

(The fourth of five kings, Pekahiah, reigned over Israel for two years and did evil. After eleven years of no king over Israel, Israel had four kings (Zechariah, Shallum, Manahem, and Pekahiah) in a span of less than fifteen years.)

²⁵ And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the castle of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites: and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.
²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
²⁷ In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
²⁸ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

(The fifth of five kings, Pekah, reigned over Israel and did evil.)

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.

(ISRAEL'S CAPTIVITY BEGAN)

(Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, started carrying parts of Israel captive to Assyria.)

³⁰ And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

(Pekah ruled for twenty years. Israel had nine years of anarchy. Then Israel's last king, Hoshea ruled for nine years before all of Israel was taken captive.)

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.

(Jotham reigned over Judah.)

³³ Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.
³⁴ And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
³⁵ Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah.

(Jotham did right before God but did not take the high places away. He did build the upper gate of the temple. Would this lead to some revival?)

³⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
³⁷ In those days Jehovah began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
³⁸ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

(Joash, Amaziah, and Ahaziah/Uzziah did right but had ignoble endings. Jotham did right and did not have an ignoble ending. The high places were still not taken down. Ahaz, ninth from David in Matthew's genealogy of the lineage of Christ, began to reign.)

(This post covered Jehoash's three victories against Syria and the rest of the kings before Israel was first taken into captivity by Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria. As for Judah, the following kings were covered: Joash, Amaziah, and Ahaziah/Uzziah.)

Day 108