Week 26a--2 Kings 16-18, 2 Chronicles 28-31

There aren’t very many chapters in our history lesson this week, but we’ve seen before that a lot can happen in a few chapters. 

We begin when Ahaz is king of Judah. He is an evil king, who makes altars to many Ba’al’s and causes his own children “pass through the fire.” This refers to human sacrifice, a horrific practice...and also forbidden by God. He also alters the Temple to make it match pagan temples in Damascus and adds more high places. Seems he hasn’t learned from what his brother kings in Israel have done! Judah is raided by Edom during this time.  

Isaiah and Hosea prophesy during this time.

Meanwhile, Hoshea takes the throne of Israel from Pekah.  He is the last king of Israel, because the final judgment has come on God’s disobedient people. King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacks Israel and the people are carried off into captivity. The nation of Israel is no more. History tells us this happened in 722 BC. A priest comes to Assyria to teach Israel how to properly serve the Lord again, so that they will be restored (the Bible does not give his name). Unfortunately, the Israelites both serve God and follow the idols of their new native land.

Back in Judah, Ahaz dies and his son Hezekiah ascends to the throne. He does right, correcting the mistakes of many generations of kings. The temple is repaired again, and most importantly, Hezekiah renews the covenant between God and Judah. He decides to celebrate the Passover for the first time in years (if not decades). Messengers are sent out to all the remaining cities, with invitations to celebrate the Passover. The messengers are mocked, but many people come to Jerusalem anyway. 

Now Hezekiah has the timing a little off, and some of the details of this Passover are not quite right, and there are so many people in Jerusalem that extra Levites are recruited to make the sacrifices. Passover rites are very specific--God set them up in a very definite way, and at this time Hezekiah and his people are not able to follow all of the rules to the letter. However, God sees the intent of their heart is to honor and follow Him. Because of this Passover celebration, God heals and purifies the remaining children of Israel. There was rejoicing such as had not been seen since the days of Solomon. The Asherah poles and high places are finally removed, a tithe is brought to the temple, and all the people are registered. The kingdom of Judah is entering a time of blessing and prosperity, just as God has promised.

Hey, week 26! We’re halfway through!

Week 25a--2 Kings 11-15, 2 Chronicles 22-28

As we jump feet-first back in to Judah and Israel’s history, we find Ahaziah king of Judah dead. His mother, Athaliah, reigns for 6 long years; her first act on achieving the throne is to kill all of Jehoram’s children (except one that was hidden) so none of them can take the throne from her. Sweet lady, huh? Finally, she is run off the throne and killed. Joash, the last surviving child of Jehoram, becomes king at the ripe old age of 7. He does what is right in the sight of the Lord, but those pesky high places are still around. The temple is repaired in the 23rd year of Joash’s reign. Why did it take so long? Well, in the 23rd year of his reign he was 30 years old. Give him a break. However, once his advisor the priest Jehoiada dies, Joash turns from following God and kills his advisor’s son Zechariah. (Not quite sure why...)

Meanwhile, in Israel, Jehoahaz son of Jehu becomes king of Israel. He did what was evil. Then his son Jehoash becomes king and also does evil. Huh. Imagine that! Jehoash speaks with the prophet Elisha who promises three victories over the Arameans. Elisha dies, but Jehoash defeats the Arameans three times. All is well. For now.

Back in Judah, Joash is killed because he killed the sons of Jehoiada the priest; his son Amaziah becomes king. Amaziah, king of Judah, kills the servants who had murdered his father. Israel goes to war with Judah, and Amaziah brings back false gods. He is also captured in battle. Amaziah, is put to death, and his son Azariah is made king. (Azariah is the one referred to as Uzziah by the prophet Isaiah). Azariah reigns 52 years. He is a good king and does what was right! He goes to war against the Philistines (for old time’s sake). Azariah/Uzziah also builds up and fortifies Jerusalem’s city gates.

Jeroboam II king of Israel--no surprise here--does evil in the sight of the Lord. When he dies, his son Zechariah is made king. He is killed, and the throne is taken by Shallum. The Bible reminds us of the promise that 4 generations of Jehu’s descendants would sit on the throne--the promise ends with Zechariah. Shallum is only king for one month! Then Menahem takes the throne.

Jonah and Amos prophecy during this time. (They each have separate posts.)

Menahem, king of Israel, does what is evil in the sight of the Lord! What a shock! He manages to keep the throne for 10 years. His son Pekahiah becomes king, and is king for 2 years. Then Pekah takes the throne, and is king for 20 years.  Finally, as God has been promising for hundreds of years, the Assyrians come and take the land of Naphtali captive. This is the beginning of the fall of the 10 tribes of Israel.

King Azariah/Uzziah dies, and Jotham becomes king of Judah (this is when Isaiah is called to prophecy); Jotham does right for 16 years. His son Ahaz takes the throne but does not do right. At this time Israel’s king Pekah is at war with Jerusalem. More war. Captives. Plunder. These are dark times in Judah and Israel’s history. Light is promised by the prophets, though, and will be coming soon.

Week 25c--Amos

Amos is the second minor prophet we meet this week; he speaks in Israel during the days of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel. Many of the words in the book are actually the words of God Himself--and He is not happy with the nation of Israel (no surprise there--they refuse to love and honor Him and continue to chase the false idols of the surrounding nations).

Judgment is coming against many nations, including Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and Judah and Israel. Each nation is punished for “three crimes, even four.” Some crimes are listed; most have earned fire and exile.

Amos reminds Israel of God’s protection and also of their sin. The phrase “This is the Lord’s declaration” is repeated a dozen times in the middle chapters of the book. “I have warned you,” God says, “Judgment has been warranted for a very long time. I gave you chance after chance to return to me, but you have not obeyed. So, judgment is coming soon.”

Yet even here there is a promise of a remnant, for God says that 1 of 10 will be left at the end. These are really bad odds to be sure, but God never completely destroys his people. In fact, even among all the promises of judgment God offers His people the chance to seek Him, to seek good and to live.

God also demands that the people establish justice, for perhaps God will then be gracious (it worked for Nineveh). “I do not want your pointless sacrifices!” God says. “You congregate, you offer sacrifices, yet you steal from the poor and oppress the widow and orphan.” Again, judgment is coming.

God even goes to the trouble of detailing the judgments. Locusts and fire are both promised. However, God in his mercy relents from these specific punishments because of Amos’ prayers. Amos also sees a vision of a plumb line, a symbol of God’s righteous standard. The people don’t like these prophecies (obviously) but when they complain God sends down harsher consequences.

Amos then speaks of a new kind of famine--a famine of the word of the Lord.  People will seek the word but not be able to find it. 

Finally, Amos sees the Lord standing beside the altar in the temple. God tells him that the people will not be able to escape His wrath. In echoes of Psalm 139, God says He will find them if they hide on the mountain, the sea floor, or in the wilderness. The nation will be destroyed almost completely. But even here God is merciful, because He says He will save a remnant and will eventually restore the nation. A land and a future is promised to them--twice more we have the words “This is the Lord’s declaration,” so we can be sure that this, too, will come to pass.

Week 25b--Jonah

Jonah’s little story is familiar to many people; it’s a Sunday School and VBS classic. Probably because it’s really fun to pretend you’re getting swallowed by a big fish. But if you ask people about the end of the story of Jonah, you will probably get several different answers. 

Jonah starts out running from God, trying desperately NOT to take the message of love and mercy to a people who desperately need it. Jonah says “You want to judge and destroy these people? Fine. They deserve it.” But in his disobedience, Jonah inadvertently brings destruction on the heads of the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. Oops, I mean the sailors (sorry, too many VeggieTales). Jonah is chucked overboard and swallowed by a big fish.

Can we pause for a moment and focus on how utterly disgusting that must have been? There is not a lot of space in the belly of anything, even a Really Big Fish. Jonah is there for three days, and he manages not to get suffocated or swallowed and digested and...passed (shudder). It’s a miracle he survived at all. Perhaps that’s the point.

But Jonah prays in the belly of that fish.  He says, “I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple...You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God...I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay.” (Jonah 2:4-9) Notice that it was only after this prayer that God has the fish vomit Jonah up onto the land--a blessing in disguise if there ever was one!

Nineveh? Well, ok, here we go again...For 3 days Jonah walks the city warning that they will be overthrown. My husband says this came true; the evil that ruled Nineveh is overthrown, and a new Ruler--God--takes control. “Turn from evil,” the Ninevites say. “Perhaps God will spare us.” And He does. And this would be a really great place to end the story.

But Jonah doesn’t celebrate. He fumes. “I knew you were going to do this! That’s just the kind  of merciful God you are, to spare these awful people! They had judgment coming! But nooooooo....you had to go and forgive them! Humph!” And so Jonah pouts on a hill overlooking the city. And God says, “Seriously? You’re pouting about this? Did you miss the whole saved-from-certain-death-in-a-big-fish event last week? I’ll give you a plant to sit under while you stew about it.” The next day God had a worm eat the plant, and Jonah whined again. God confronts Jonah one last time. “You’re upset about the plant, but you couldn’t be bothered about the 120,000 lost souls in the city?”

Thus ends the story of Jonah. It’s an unsatisfactory ending, to be sure. I was convicted as I read it, though. Are we all about grace and mercy, as long as it’s directed to the right people? Or are we just waiting for all those sinners out there to get what they deserve?

What do you think?

Week 24: 1 Kings 17-22, 2 Kings 1-10, 2 Chronicles 18-22

We continue this week with more of the history of the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Some of these stories may be familiar, and there aren’t too many kings to keep track of this week. Putting all their stories in order, well, that was a bit trickier. Here goes:

First we find the stories about Elijah that I grew up hearing in Sunday School. They include the tale of the widow with the never-ending flour and oil bowls; the same widow’s son dying and Elisha bringing him back to life; the grand showdown between Elisha and the prophet of Ba’al (a fabulous story which deserves much more time than I have to give it in this blog); the time when Elisha was hiding from Ahab and Jezebel and  the Lord was not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire but in the still small voice; finally there is the calling of Elisha. If you have trouble remembering which prophet comes first, remember that Elijah and Elisha appear in alphabetical order in the Bible. 

Next we have the first of many wars between Ahab and the Arameans. Ahab wins the first rout because the Arameans are all drunk. In the second year of battle, Ahab is supposed to destroy Ben-hadad, but he doesn’t, so he is warned that he is going to lose the kingdom.

The next year Ahab joins forces with Jehoshaphat when he goes to war against Aram. God is displeased with Ahab, so He puts false messages in the mouths of his prophets to deceive Ahab, who is destined to die in battle. Though Ahab goes to battle in disguise, he is still killed. There is no escaping the will of God, especially when He declares, “You are going to die.” Joram, son of Ahab, became king of Israel, and follows the ways of his father. 

Jehoshaphat cleans up Judah further, removing more Asherah poles and setting up judges in each city. Then we read another of my favorite stories. I know, I say that a lot. But whenever music is directly involved in the outcome of a battle, it’s a great story. The enemy is marching toward Judah, and Jehoshaphat and the whole nation pray for God’s diretion. God answers: “The battle is not yours but God’s...You need not fight this battle...stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.” The Israelites march out and sing, and all the invaders begin to kill each other instead of invading Judah. All Judah had to do was sing. LOVE it! When Jehoshaphat dies, his son Jehoram becomes king. Unfortunately, he is not a good king--he kicks off his reign by killing all his brothers.

For a few chapters we can take a breather and see what the prophets have been up to: Elijah is taken up in a chariot of fire in one of the coolest exits in the whole Bible. He is one of the few (the others are Enoch and possibly Melchizedek) who simply did not die, but are gathered up to God. Before this, though, he strikes the Jordan with his cloak, it parts for him, and he and Elisha cross over. His cloak falls down to Elisha, who strikes the Jordan with it, the river parts for him, and he crosses back over to begin his own ministry. 

Elisha visits a widow and performs the miracle of the never-ending oil, which helps the widow get out of debt. Notice that God provides a practical solution to her problem--money does not fall from the sky, but God provides a job and resources. Then Elisha stays for a time with a Shunamite woman and her husband. They show him a great kindness in housing him, and they are rewarded with a child--twice. The child is born when they were beyond hope, and when the child dies several years later, Elisha brings him back to life through the power of God. Elisha is empowered to work many more miracles--poisoned stew is made safe, water and land around Jericho is made clean and pure, Naaman is healed of leprosy, an axe head floats, and Elisha and his friends are surrounded by heavenly chariots of fire.

There is still more war, however. Despite Elisha’s mercy, and the face that he prevents the king of Israel from killing Aramean prisoners just three verses ago, the Arameans lay siege to the city of Samaria. There is no food and no hope; eventually the king of Israel calls for Elisha’s head on a platter. When the Arameans attack the next time, they hear the invisible chariots of fire that are surrounding the city and turn and flee. The famine is ended and Israel plunders the deserted Aramean camp.

War and rebellion breaks out against Judah and Jehoram dies; his son Ahaziah becomes king. Ahaziah, unfortunately, does evil in the sight of the Lord, influenced by his in-laws--he had intermarried with the house of Ahab (which had probably not been a very good idea). 

Meanwhile, Jehu is secretly anointed king of Israel. Jehu kills Joram king of Israel, and Ahaziah king of Judah. Jezebel is also killed, along with all of Ahab’s sons and 42 sons of Ahaziah. Jehu called all the worshipers of Ba’al together, kills them all and makes the  temple of Ba’al into a toilet. Sadly, he leaves the golden calves in place.