Bible Survey: 2 Kings
The theme of 2 Kings is the judgment of God. Nations rise and fall, and not even Israel could escape it. God was patient and sent prophet after prophet, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes (2 Kings 17:13). Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks (2 Kings 17:14).
The book carries the divided kingdom all the way to the captivity, some three hundred years. Israel went first, carried away by the Assyrians, and not one of its kings was a good man. Judah had some good kings, but it followed Israel into captivity in Babylon, and the temple was burned.
It opens with Elijah going up by a whirlwind into heaven (2 Kings 2:11), after Elisha asked for a double portion of thy spirit (2 Kings 2:9). Elisha's ministry was the longer one, and his last miracle came after he died, when a dead man let down into his grave touched his bones and stood up alive.
God used Jehu to wipe out the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal, and yet Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart (2 Kings 10:31). God can use even an unsaved man to carry out His will. Joash is a different kind of warning. He did right as long as the priest Jehoiada was alive to guide him, and when Jehoiada died, he lost his way.
J. Vernon McGee said these books show man's inability to rule himself, and America ought to take that to heart. If our country keeps turning away from God, there is nothing ahead but judgment, and it will take more than politics to set it right. Christians need to be praying for our country and our leaders. America needs to turn back to God.
Next in the series: 1 Chronicles.
Taught by Brother James Barker in Sunday School at Naples Independent Baptist Church, July 5, 2020. Watch the lesson.
