2 Kings - Chapter 14

The host, Julie Callio, discusses chapter 14 of 2 Kings, focusing on King Jehoash of Israel and King Amaziah of Judah. Amaziah executes the officials who killed his father and goes to war with Jehoash, resulting in defeat and the capture of Amaziah. Amaziah's son, Uzziah, becomes king and expands Judah's territory. The chapter also mentions Jeroboam II of Israel, who captures land from Aram. The writer emphasizes that the Lord saw the suffering of the people and saved them through Jeroboam II. The chapter ends with Jeroboam II's death and the succession of his son Zechariah. The discussion then transitions to the prophets and their role in addressing idolatry and social injustice. The prophets are divided into three sections based on historical periods. The passage encourages seeking the Lord and obeying him. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at theab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are looking at chapter 14 of 2 Kings, which deals with both Israel and Judah. The king of Israel is Jehoash, also known as Joash, the second descendant of Jehu on the throne. We learned in chapter 10 verse 30, The Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. King Jehoahaz was the first generation, and now Jehoash, also known as Joash, is the second generation. It was during his second year that Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. Now Joash was the boy king that made repairs to the temple. His son became king at 25 years old and reigned for 29 years. His mom was Jehoiadan from Jerusalem. Verse 3 says, He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. King David was the only king that was described as a man after God's own heart. First Samuel chapter 13 verse 14. Not even Solomon was compared to David in that way, because his heart turned away from the Lord at the end due to his many wives from other nations that turned his heart to their gods. The Jews in Judah were supposed to go to the temple to worship, but many high places with altars were located throughout Judah. Once Amaziah was established, he executed the officials who had murdered his father Jehoahaz who was also called Joash. We read about his murder in chapter 12 verses 20 and 21. Now here in verse 6 it reads, Yet he did not put the sons of the assassins to death in accordance with what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers. Each is to die for his own sins. This is Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 16. And this shows us that Amaziah was familiar with the scriptures. He also was remembered for defeating the Edomites and expanding their territory in the south. Then verses 8-14 talk a little bit about the war against Amaziah king of Judah and Jehoash also known as Joash. We first found a clue of this in 2nd Kings chapter 13 verse 12. It seems that the king of Judah, Amaziah, became proud after conquering the Edomites, so he started the war with a face to face challenge to the king of Israel, Jehoash also known as Joash. He responded by calling Amaziah a skinny thistle and he was a tree of Lebanon. Then he told the king of Judah, Amaziah, to stay at home. Why ask for trouble? Amaziah was too big for his britches and he attacked Israel who overpowered Judah and they fled to their homes. The king of Israel, Jehoash also known as Joash, proved his point because he captured Amaziah king of Judah, plus he tore down a part of the wall of Jerusalem, he took all the gold, silver and articles found in the temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, plus he took hostages and returned to Samaria the capital of Israel. Amaziah had fled south to Lachish but he was killed there and his body brought back to Jerusalem to be buried with his fathers in the city of David. His son Azariah also known as Uzziah became king at the age of 16 and it says all the people wanted him as king. Verse 22 says he was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his fathers. What this means is that Uzziah also known as Azariah conquered more of the land of Edom and it extended all the way to the Red Sea which was how far it was with King Solomon Because Elath was a port city this opened up trade routes for the nation of Judah. Verses 23 to the end of the chapter focus on the nation of Israel with the third descendant of Jehu Jeroboam the second. If you remember the first Jeroboam was the first king of Israel which built the two golden calves for his people to worship so they would not want to go to Jerusalem to worship. Jeroboam the second reigned for 41 years. Verse 24 says he did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat which he had caused Israel to commit. If you remember from yesterday's lesson Jehoash also known as Joash met with Elisha the last time. He hit his arrows to the ground only three times which made Elisha angry because if he would have done it more then Israel could have destroyed Aram completely but instead Israel would only win three battles and with that he increased the land. But now with his son Jeroboam the second he has captured more of the land of Aram also known as Syria almost to the point of what Solomon had. Then verse 25b said this was quote in accordance with the word of the Lord the God of Israel spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai the prophet from Gath Hefer. Yes this is the Jonah of the minor prophets and we are going to read his story tomorrow. In verses 26 and 27 the writer makes it clear that the Lord saw the suffering of the people in Israel and it was the Lord who saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash. This chapter ends with the death of Jeroboam the second and his son succeeded him Zechariah which would be generation number four. Roy L. Honeycutt Jr. said in his commentary not since the era of Solomon had Israel known the prosperity and grandeur associated with Jeroboam the second rivaled only by the Amride dynasty in the significance which he brought to Israel. Jeroboam is quite strangely and almost totally ignored by the Deuteronomic editor. Another thing that is totally ignored in this section is the invasion of Assyria to Aram also known as Syria. Paul R. House gives a history lesson in his commentary around this era and it was that Assyria defeated Syria in 802 B.C., Hazael the wicked king who had caused much damage to Israel had died in 806 B.C. and Ben-Hadad the second was king. Assyria crushed their capital of Damascus and this was why Aram also known as Syria stopped attacking Israel because all their strength went toward Assyria and Israel was able to live in peace. It seems that instead of enjoying that peace they decided it was a good idea to fight each other. Now that Elisha is dead we are moving into an era where the words of the prophets are being written down. In the Christian Bible the prophets are split up into two sections the major and the minor prophets. Now the word minor does not mean insignificant it only means they are shorter books. Another change is that the prophets not only spoke to the king to tell him what to do there usually was a cry to all the people to repent as well. One thing that Dr. Betts said in Old Testament class was that the prophets addressed two main issues their idolatry against God the Lord of Israel and then how they treated people with respect to social injustice. This also ties into the New Testament when Jesus said that all the laws and all the prophets depend on these two commandments love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. This is Matthew chapter 22 verses 37 through 40. Now the written books of prophecy are called either canonical meaning they are included in the canon which is our Bible or they are also called classical prophets. Both the minor and major prophets are categorized into three sections according to C. Hassel Bullock in an introduction to the Old Testament prophetic books he calls the first section the Neo Assyrian period. What this means is these prophets spoke while Israel was in existence before Assyria demolished them in 722 BC. Included in these are Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah and Isaiah. Section two is the Neo Babylonian period. These were prophets that spoke while Judah was still in existence before the Babylonian Empire came and tore down the walls of Jerusalem and burnt the temple down in 586 BC. Then the third group of prophets were during the Persian period where the Jews were placed in exile in Babylon and other cities. I've also heard the prophets categorized pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic meaning before, during and after the exile of the Jews. During these next few days we are pausing the story of 2 Kings so we can read the prophets of the Neo Assyrian period, Jonah, Amos, Hosea and then intermingle with 2 Kings and Micah and Isaiah. Ladies, in this story we find that the Lord knows what he is doing with regards to national affairs, which reminds me that there is so much more going on than just my world. Verses 26 and 27 read, The Lord had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering. There was no one to help them. And since the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash. The Lord God of heaven knows what you are going through and he cares. If you have heard his voice today, please don't harden your heart against him because he cares for you. Instead, let's be women who seek the Lord, hear from him and obey. Until next time, and thanks so much for listening.