2 Kings starts with Elisha succeeding Elijah. Elijah trained Elisha
as his successor. Elisha’s ministry lasted 50 years. Most of the miracles which
God did through him were deeds of kindness and mercy.
2 Kings 1 to 7 talks about the corruption of Israel. Jeroboam, the
ruler of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, made Shechem his capital. It was the
center of the land. It was the custom, according to the law, to go up to
Jerusalem regularly to worship (Deuteronomy
12:11,14; 16:6,15,16; 1 Samuel 1:3,7). Jeroboam was afraid to have the 10 tribe’s
journey to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, Rehoboam’s kingdom, to worship God.
So he made two golden calves and placed them in convenient spots – Bethel and
Dan in the northern end of the kingdom, so people would not have to go to
Jerusalem. For more than 20 times we see his name mentioned as “Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused
Israel to sin”. It shows us to beware of man-made religion. After 200
years, the people were carried into captivity by the king of Assyria (2 kings 17). Many of God’s prophets had
warned Israel of captivity, but they would not turn from their idolatry to
Jehovah. 
For 80 years there was continuous
war between them. Then there was a period of 80 years of peace between these
two kingdoms following the marriage of the son of Jehoshaphat (Judah) to the
daughter of Ahab (Israel). In Judea (southern kingdom), there was only one
dynasty (David) from King Rehoboam to Zedekiah. The great prophets of that day
were Nathan, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Joel and Zephaniah. 
About 136 years after the
Northern kingdom (Israel) had been taken into captivity by Assyria, the
Southern Kingdom (Judah) was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple burned and the princes led away. It is
because the people had forgotten God and refused to listen to the warnings of
the prophets.
There is a great difference
between the fall of Israel and Judah. Israel was scattered throughout the
nations for an indefinite period, but God specified the length of Judah’s
captivity to seventy years. Judah was to return to Jerusalem, which happened
later. The Messiah was to come out to Judah and God was preparing the way for
him to come there and not to Babylon or Assyria. God was using even the rulers
of foreign nations to work out His plan.
The history of Jews is a record
of Gods dealings with disobedient children. In all punishment, He is kind and
merciful for He loves them still. As new Israel, we the people in Christ needs
to learn from the mistakes these people did against God by being obedient to
Him and live a life that pleases Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment