The Book of 2 Kings, along with 1 Kings,
was likely written between 560 and 540 B.C.
The Book of 2 Kings is a sequel to the Book of 1 Kings.
It continues the story of the kings over the divided kingdom
(Israel and Judah.)
The Book of 2 Kings concludes with the final overthrow and deportation
of the people of Israel and Judah to Assyria and Babylon, respectively.
2 Kings 17:7-8:
"All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD
their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the
power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the
nations the
LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that
the kings of Israel had introduced."
2 Kings 22:1a-2:
"Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left."
2 Kings 24:2:
“The LORD sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite
raiders against him.
He sent them to destroy Judah, in accordance with
the word of the LORD
proclaimed by his servants the prophets.”
2 Kings 8:19:
“Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.”
Second Kings depicts
the downfall of
the divided kingdom.
Prophets continue to warn the people that the judgment of God
is at hand, but they will not repent.
The kingdom of Israel is repeatedly ruled by wicked kings, and, even though a few of Judah’s kings are good, the majority of them lead the people away from worship of the Lord. These few good rulers, along with God’s prophets, cannot stop the nation’s decline.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel is eventually destroyed by the Assyrians, and about 136 years later the Southern Kingdom of Judah is destroyed by the Babylonians.
There are three prominent themes present in the Book of 2 Kings.
First, the Lord will judge His people when they disobey and turn their backs on Him. The Israelites’ unfaithfulness was reflected in the evil idolatry of the kings and resulted in God exercising His righteous wrath against their rebellion.
Second, the word of the true prophets of God always comes to pass. Because the Lord always keeps His word, so too are the words of His prophets always true.
Third, the Lord is faithful. He remembered His promise to David
(2 Samuel 7:10-13),
and, despite the disobedience of the people and the evil kings who ruled them, the Lord did not bring David’s family to an end.
Jesus uses the stories of
the widow of Zarephath from 1 Kings
and Naaman in 2 Kings
to illustrate the
great truth of God’s compassion toward those
the Jews deemed unworthy of
God’s grace
—the poor, the weak, the oppressed,
tax collectors, Samaritans, Gentiles.
By citing the examples of a poor widow and a leper, Jesus showed Himself to be the Great Physician who heals and ministers to those in the greatest need of divine sovereign grace. This same truth was the basis of the mystery of the body of Christ, His Church, which would be drawn from all levels of society, male and female, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 3:1-6).
Many of the miracles of Elisha foreshadowed those of Jesus Himself. Elisha raised the Shunammite woman’s son (2 Kings 4:34-35), healed Naaman of leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-19), and multiplied loaves of bread to feed a hundred people with some left over (2 Kings 4:42-44).
God hates sin and He will not allow it to continue indefinitely.
If we belong to Him, we can expect His discipline when we disobey Him.
A loving Father corrects His children for their benefit and to prove that they indeed belong to Him.
God may at times use unbelievers to bring correction to His people, and He gives us warning before delivering judgment.
As Christians, we have His Word
to guide us and warn us
when we go astray from His path.
Like the prophets of old, His Word is trustworthy and always speaks truth. God’s faithfulness to His people will never fail, even when we do.
The stories of the widow and the leper are examples for us in regard to the Body of Christ. Just as Elisha had pity on these from the lowest levels of society, we are to welcome all who belong to Christ into our churches. God is no “respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34), and neither should we be.
Hezekiah’s story is told in 2 Kings 16:20—20:21; 2 Chronicles 28:27—32:33; and Isaiah 36:1—39:8. He is also mentioned in Proverbs 25:1; Isaiah 1:1; Jeremiah 15:4; 26:18–19; Hosea 1:1; and Micah 1:1.
Hezekiah, a son of the wicked King Ahaz, reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah for twenty-nine years, from c. 715 to 686 BC. He began his reign at age 25 (2 Kings 18:2). He was more zealous for the Lord than any of his predecessors (2 Kings 18:5).
During his reign, the prophets Isaiah and Micah
ministered in Judah.
After Ahaz’s wicked reign, there was much work to do, and
Hezekiah boldly cleaned house.
Pagan altars, idols, and temples were destroyed.
The bronze serpent that Moses had made in the desert (Numbers 21:9) was also destroyed, because the people had made it an idol (2 Kings 18:4).
The temple in Jerusalem, whose doors had been nailed shut
by Hezekiah’s own father,
was cleaned out and reopened.
The Levitical priesthood was reinstated
(2 Chronicles 29:5),
and the Passover was reinstituted as a national holiday (2 Chronicles 30:1).
Under Hezekiah’s reforms,
revival came to Judah.
Because King Hezekiah put God first in everything he did, God prospered him. Hezekiah “held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook” (2 Kings 18:6–7).
In 701 BC, Hezekiah and all of Judah faced a crisis. The Assyrians, the dominant world power at the time, invaded Judah and marched against Jerusalem. The Assyrians had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and many other nations, and now they threatened Judah (2 Kings 18:13). In their threats against the city of Jerusalem, the Assyrians openly defied the God of Judah, likening Him to the powerless gods of the nations they had conquered (2 Kings 18:28–35; 19:10–12).
Faced with the Assyrian threat, Hezekiah sent word to the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 19:2). The Lord, through Isaiah, reassured the king that Assyria would never enter Jerusalem. Rather, the invaders would be sent home, and the city of Jerusalem would be spared (2 Kings 19:32–34). In the temple, Hezekiah prays a beautiful prayer for help, asking God to vindicate Himself: “Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God” (2 Kings 19:19).
God, faithful as always, kept His promise to protect Jerusalem. “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!” (2 Kings 19:35). The remaining Assyrians quickly broke camp and withdrew in abject defeat. “So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. . . . He took care of them on every side” (2 Chronicles 32:22).
Later, Hezekiah became very sick. Isaiah told him to set things in order and prepare to die (2 Kings 20:1). But Hezekiah prayed, beseeching God to be merciful and to remember all the good he had done. Before Isaiah had even left the king’s house, God told Isaiah to tell Hezekiah that his prayer had been heard and that his life would be extended fifteen years. Isaiah applied a poultice, and Hezekiah was healed (2 Kings 20:5–7).
However, soon after his healing, Hezekiah made a serious mistake. The Babylonians sent a gift to Hezekiah, for they had heard Hezekiah had been sick. In foolish pride, Hezekiah showed the Babylonians all of his treasures, all the silver and gold, and everything in his arsenal. There was nothing Hezekiah did not parade in front of them. Isaiah rebuked Hezekiah for this act and prophesied that all the king had shown the Babylonians would one day be taken to Babylon—along with Hezekiah’s own descendants.
During the years following his illness, Hezekiah fathered the heir to Judah’s throne, Manasseh, who would turn out to be the evilest king ever to reign in Judah (2 Kings 18—20; 2 Chronicles 29—32; Isaiah 36—39). Tradition has it that Manasseh is the one who murdered Hezekiah’s friend, Isaiah.
Hezekiah’s life is, for the most part,
a model of faithfulness and trust in the Lord.
His faith was more than superficial, as his bold reforms show.
Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord was rewarded with answered prayer, successful endeavors, and miraculous victory over his enemies. When faced with an impossible situation, surrounded by the dreadful and determined Assyrian army,
Hezekiah did exactly the right thing—he prayed.
And God answered.
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