Brief Notes on 2 Kings 8-25

(Originally written June 4, 2008 in the Journal)

Thank you Lord for today. May all earth praise you for what you have done. The weather is beautiful. Tonight we go to meet with our counselors. Lord use tonight to begin the reconciliation process. Give me the strength to endure this process and separation. Give me the wisdom to speak what needs to be said. Pour out your spirit on Kris and John that they may enlighten us. Circumcise our hearts, ears and minds. Above all may you be glorified in this meeting! Grant me some wisdom from this reading.

Notes on 2 Kings

Chapter 8

Elisha told of a seven year famine that was coming and it came to pass.

Ben-hadad, king of Aram became ill and sent Hazael to seek out Elisha to see if he would recover. Elisha told Hazael to tell Ben-hadad that he would live but told Hazael that he was in fact going to die. Elisha then wept. Hazael asked why he was crying and Elisha told him that he wept for the monstrous things that Hazael would do to Israel. Hazael asked how he would do these things and Elisha told him that he would become king of Aram. Ben-hadad died and Hazael became king.

Jehoram succeeded his father, Jehoshaphat as king of Judah. Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Ahaziah succeeded his father, Jehoram as king of Judah. Ahaziah reigned only for one year and did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Chapter 9

Elisha sent a prophet to anoint Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat as king of Israel. The prophet then doomed the house of Ahab. Jehu then killed Joram, the king of Israel. Next, he killed Ahaziah, king of Judah who was visiting Joram in Jezreel. Jehu had three eunuchs throw Jezebel out of a window. He rode over her with a chariot. Dogs then devoured her flesh as the prophet decreed.

Chapter 10

Jehu then killed all of Ahab's descendants and supporters. Jehu then had 42 men of the house of Ahaziah killed. Jehu then called all of the worshippers of Baal in Israel into the temple of Baal. He slew them all and destroyed the temple, turning it into a latrine. While Jehu did good in the sight of the Lord, he still continued the sins of Jeroboam. He reigned over Israel for 28 years.

Chapter 11

Athaliah, mother of Ahaziah, killed all the royal family of Judah to rule. Joash was hidden from her though. Seven years later Joash was crowned as king of Judah. At the coronation of Joash, Athaliah was put to death. Judah then destroyed the temple of Baal and killed its high priest.

Chapter 12

Joash was seven years old when he became king. He reigned for 40 years and did good in the sight of the Lord because he was guided by the priest Jehoiada.

Chapter 13

Jehoahaz, son of Jehu became king of Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord. Then, Jehoash became king of Israel. He also did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Elisha died and was buried.

Some men were burying a man when Moabite raiders came upon them suddenly. They threw the dead man's body into the grave of Elisha and fled. The man came back to life when he touched the bones of Elisha.

Chapter 14

Amaziah succeeded Joash as king of Judah. Amaziah pleased the Lord, but not as much as David. Amaziah killed the officials who murdered his father. He defeated the Edomites and captured the city of Sela. Amaziah was killed in Lachish and his son Azariah replaced him as king.

Jeroboam II became king of Israel after his father Jehoash died. Jeroboam II did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Chapter 15

Azariah, son of Amaziah, reigned over Judah for 52 years. He pleased the Lord, but did not destroy the high places. He became afflicted with leprosy.

Zechariah succeed his father Jeroboam II in Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord and only reigned for six months.

Shallum killed Zechariah and ruled one month over Israel. Menahem killed Shallum and became king of Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord. Pekahiah, son of Menahem, succeeded his father on the throne of Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord. Pekahiah was killed by Pekah. Pekah then took over Israel. Hoshea, son of Elah, killed Pekah and took over Israel.

Jotham, son of Azariah, became king of Judah. He pleased the Lord, but did not destroy the high places.

Chapter 16

Ahaz, son of Jotham, succeeded his father as king of Judah. Ahaz did evil in the sight of the LOrd. He even immolated his son.

Rezin, king of Aram and Pekah, king of Israel then besieged Jerusalem. Ahaz enlisted Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria to help him. Together they defeated Aram and Israel. Tiglath-pileser killed Rezin.

Ahaz then removed the altar of the Lord from the Temple and replaced it with one that was similar to the one in Damascus.

Chapter 17

Hoshea became king in Israel after killing Pekah. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not to the extent of the other kings of Israel. Under Hoshea, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported its citizens to Assyria. The Lord allowed this to happen because Israel was a stiff-necked people and served other gods.

Chapter 18

Hezekiah came to power in Judah. He pleased the Lord. He removed the high places and shattered the pillars and cut down the sacred poles. Hezekiah never turned from the Lord.

The king of Assyria taunted Jerusalem. He tried to turn Judah against king Hezekiah.

Chapter 19

Hezekiah called upon the Lord for deliverance from Assyria. The angel of the Lord came down and killed 165,000 Assyrians and so Sennacherib, king of Assyria returned to Nineveh. Sennacherib was killed in the temple of his god.

Chapter 20

Hezekiah became ill and Isaiah came to him to tell him to get his house in order for he was going to die. Hezekiah wept and prayed to the Lord. He was healed and lived 15 more years. Isaiah told Hezekiah that a time was coming when the people of Judah would be carried off to Babylon.

Chapter 21

Manasseh succeeded Hezekiah in Judah. He was 12 years old and reigned 55 years. Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord. He rebuilt the high places, erected altars to Baal and set up a sacred pole. He immolated his son and practiced witchcraft. Manasseh did more evil than any other king of Judah and shed much innocent blood.

Amon, son of Manasseh replaced Manasseh as king of Judah. Amon abandoned the Lord and did evil. Amon was killed in his house.

Chapter 22

Josiah, son of Amon became king at age 8. Josiah pleased the Lord and reigned 31 years.

Chapter 23

Josiah removed from the temple all things given to other gods. Josiah removed the sacred pole from the temple and burned it. He tore down the apartments of the cult prostitutes. He defiled all the high places and removed all the priests that were not Levites. He removed the place of Molech so there would be no more immolations. He cut down the sins of Jeroboam.  Josiah reestablished the Passover. No Passover had been seen since before the time of the Judges. Josiah did away with all witchcraft and idolatry. Josiah was killed in battle against Egypt at Meggido.

Jehoahaz, son of Josiah replaced him as king of Judah. Jehoahaz did evil in the sight of the Lord. Jehoahaz was carried away to Egypt and Pharaoh Neco appointed Eliakim, son of Josiah as king of Judah. Eliakim changed his name to Jehoiakim and did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Chapter 24

Jehoiakim was made a vassal by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Jehoiachin replaced Jehoiakim as king and did evil in the sight of the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and carried of its treasure. He also deported the Judahites from Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle as king. Mattaniah changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

Chapter 25

Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and caught Zedekiah. Zedekiah's sons were killed in front of them and then he was taken to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar burned the Temple and the Palace. He burned all of Jerusalem. They carried away all the treasure and people of Jerusalem. Judah was carried away in exile.

Jehoiachin, king of Judah was released by Evil-merodach, successor of Nebuchadnezzar and given a seat of honor in Babylon.

The penalty of sin is great my Lord. I deserve no less than these of you chosen people. My sin is great indeed. Look upon me with mercy for I choose to serve you every day of my life. Do not destroy me, but show me your grace.

Brief Notes on 2 Kings 1-6

(Originally Written June 3, 2008 in the Journal)

Notes on 2 Kings

Chapter 1

After the death of King Ahab the Moabites rebelled against Israel.

Ahaziah fell and injured himself. He sent for Baalzebub to see if he would survive his injuries. The Lord sent Elijah to him and told him that he would die because he had sought the counsel of another god.

Chapter 2

Elijah was taken up to the Lord in a fiery chariot and the spirit of Elijah passed on to his pupil Elisha. Elisha then purified water in the name of the Lord for a city.

On the way up to Bethel children came and mocked Elisha for being bald. Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord and two she bears came and mauled 42 of the children.

Chapter 3

Joram succeeded his father Ahab as the king of Israel. He did away with the Baal worship, but not with the sins of Jeroboam.

Now Moab rebelled against Israel so Joram called Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom to join him against Moab. Elisha prophesied that they would crush Moab through the Lord.

Chapter 4

Elisha then performed a miracle through God to save a widow's children from slavery.

A woman named Gehazi showed kindness to Elisha. She was without children and her husband was old. Elisha said the Lord would give her a son. The boy was born but died very young. Gehazi went to Elisha and wept over her son. Elisha went to her house and found the boy dead. Elisha prayed to God and the boy rose from the dead.

Elisha then fixed a stew that was poisoned. He put meal in it and it became poisoned no more.

Chapter 5

Naaman was the captain of Aram and won many victories in the Lord, but was a leper. Elisha told Naaman to wash in the Jordan River and be clean. Naaman became angry at this but was convinced to listen and was healed. Naaman tried to pay Elisha for this healing, but Elisha refused. Finally Naaman asked for dirt of Israel to worship the true God and Elisha consented. Elisha's servant however ran behind Elisha's back and asked for payment. When Elisha learned of this he inflicted the servant with leprosy.

Chapter 6

While getting wood for their lodging a prophet lost the iron of his ax in the Jordan River. Elisha raised it to the surface.

Aram tried to attack Israel but Elisha warned the king of Israel every time the Arameans mounted an attack and they were defeated. The king of Aram set out to kidnap Elisha.

Elisha blinded his kidnappers and took them to Samaria. The king of Israel served them food and drink and then sent them home. No more raiders of Aram entered into Israel.

All of Aram then came and besieged Samaria. The famine became severe and the people turned to cannibalism. The king of Israel was angry and set out to behead Elisha for this.

The Lord caused the army of Aram to hear phantom chariots coming for them and they fled their camp in fear.