Author
Last week we learned that 1 and 2 Kings, like 1 and 2 Samuel, was originally one book. Ancient Jewish tradition credited Jeremiah as the author of 1 and 2 Kings. The consensus of modern scholarship is that 2 Kings is part of the Deuteronomic History that includes what are now seven books of the Old Testament: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. My former professor, Richard Elliott Friedman, believes that the author of the Deuteronomic History was Baruch, the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah.
In 1975, a clay bulla purportedly containing Baruch’s seal and name appeared on the antiquities market. The inscription says in Hebrew, “Belonging to Baruch, son of Neriah. In 1996, a second clay bulla emerged with an identical inscription. This bulla also was imprinted with a fingerprint. Richard Elliott Friedman thinks that in this artifact we may actually have the fingerprint of one of the authors of the Bible.
Date
Some scholars place the date of composition of 1 and 2 Kings prior to the end of the Babylonian exile in 538 BCE. Others put the date of composition later. If Baruch was the author of 1 Kings and the other books in the Deuteronomic History, then the date of composition was probably sometime in the sixth century BCE.
The key dates to remember from the history covered by 1 and 2 Kings are:
· 930 BCE…Division of the Kingdom into Israel & Judah
· 722-721 BCE…Fall of Samaria to Assyria
· 586 BCE…Fall of Jerusalem to Babylon
· 538 BCE…End of the Babylonian Exile
Themes
In the book of 2 Kings, we read of evil rulers, rampant idolatry, and a complacent populace. Despite the pressure to conform, to turn from the Lord and serve only self, a minority of God’s chosen people, a remnant, choose to move toward God. The Bethel prophets and others, as well as two righteous kings, speak God’s word and stand for him. As we read 2 Kings, we need to watch these courageous individuals, catch the strength of Elijah and Elisha, the commitment of Hezekiah and Josiah, and determine to be like them, people who go against the flow of the world.
2 Kings continues the history of Israel. In 1 Kings 12 we see the nation divided and the two kingdoms begin to slide into idolatry, corruption, eventual collapse, and captivity in exile. 2 Kings relates the sordid stories of the 12 kings of the northern kingdom (Israel) and the 16 kings of the southern kingdom (Judah). For 130 years Israel endured a succession of evil rulers until they were conquered by Shalmaneser of Assyria and led into captivity in 722 BCE (2 Kings 17). Of all the kings in both the north and the south, only two, Hezekiah and Josiah, are called good, without qualification. Because of the obedience of Hezekiah and Josiah before the face of God and the spiritual revivals during their reigns, Judah stood for an additional 136 years until falling to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 586 BCE.
Throughout this dark period the Bible mentions thirty prophets who proclaimed God’s message to the people and their leaders. Most notable of these fearless leaders are Elijah (who we looked at last week) and his successor (Elisha). As Elijah neared the end of his earthly ministry, Elisha asked for a double portion of his beloved mentor’s spirit (2 Kings 2:9). Soon after this, Elijah is taken to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11), and Elisha becomes God’s spokesperson to the northern kingdom. Elisha’s life is filled with signs, proclamations, warnings, and miracles.
We learn from 2 Kings that even amidst terrible situations, God has his faithful remnant (2 Kings 19:31). God is looking for courageous people to live out and proclaim his truth today.
Structure
I. The Divided Kingdom (2 Kings 1:1-17:41)
A. Elisha’s Ministry
B. Kings of Israel and Judah
C. Israel taken into exile by the Assyrians.
II. The Surviving Kingdom (2 Kings 18:1-25:30)
A. Kings of Judah
B. Judah taken into exile by the Babylonians.
Key Concept—Renew Your Covenant with God
In the time that we have left today I want to focus my remarks on King Josiah of Judah. I would like to note several things about Josiah. First, he was young. We read in 2 Kings 22 that: “Josiah was eight years old when he became king.”
Can you imagine that? Imagine Prince William’s son, George, becoming the King of England at the age of eight! Such things have certainly happened at other times in the history of the world. And certainly, being so young, Josiah would have had help in carrying out his duties, at least at first. He reigned for 31 years and so had a good long time to have a positive influence on the kingdom of Judah.
Josiah serves as a reminder to me that God is no respecter of age. God can never be accused of ageism. God can use the young, the middle aged, and the elderly. Age makes no difference to him.
Paul wrote to his young protégé, Timothy…
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)
Second, we read that Josiah “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.” (2 Kings 22:2)
I have already mentioned how, out of 28 kings of Israel and Judah mentioned in 2 Kings, Josiah and Hezekiah are the only ones who have a good report, without qualification. If the author of 2 Kings was handing out grades for the monarchs of Israel and Judah, he would have given Josiah and Hezekiah both an A+. Other leaders earn B’s. Some completely fail to pass the goodness test. But Hezekiah and Josiah both get an A+.
What an amazing distinction that is! Like the time in Israel’s history described by 2 Kings, I tend to think that we live in a rather evil age. It is, perhaps, harder to be good at this time in history more than many other times. To be a Christian in our culture today is to go against the flow. Josiah did not hesitate to go against the flow in his day, and so perhaps we can learn some lessons from him about how to do the same thing in our time and place.
A third thing that we see about Josiah is that he cared about the Temple. In 2 Kings 22:3-7 we read…
In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”
So, Josiah was 26 years old when he began to show great care for the physical worship space of the people of God. But Josiah did not care simply for the house of God, he cared for the people of God too. He cared about their spiritual state. According to 2 Chronicles 34:3, when Josiah was just 16 years old “he began to seek the God of his father David.”
How many people do you know who actively begin to seek God when they are young? It may not seem like there are many young people like this in our day, but they do exist.
2 Chronicles 34:3 also tells us that when Josiah was 20 years old “he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images.” I will say more about this in a minute. But for now, I just want to note that Josiah cared for God’s house and God’s people.
A fourth thing we see here about Josiah is that he cared about the book of the law. In 2 Kings 22:3 we see Josiah dispatching his secretary Shaphan to take care of things in the Temple. Then, beginning in verse 8 we read this…
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.
Scholars think that the Book of the Law that was discovered in the Temple was the Book of Deuteronomy.
Perhaps you have a Bible that, like the Book of the Law in the Temple, is just gathering dust. Maybe you need to take this message as a sign that it is time for you to take that Bible off the shelf and start reading it!
Now, when Josiah heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. Why? Josiah must have realized that as a people the Jews had not kept God’s Law and so he tore his robes as a sign of his repentant attitude. Josiah and his servants decided to inquire of the Lord through the prophetess Huldah. And Josiah received this message from her…
Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse[b] and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”
So, basically, Josiah receives a warning from the Lord that Judah will, eventually, receive a “time-out” from God just like the kingdom of Israel did. Judah will go into exile in Babylon, but Josiah, because of his repentant attitude, will not see this happen in his lifetime. This reminds me of the words of Billy Graham…
The Evangelistic Harvest is always urgent. The destiny of men and of nations is always being decided. Every generation is strategic. We are not responsible for the past generation, and we cannot bear the full responsibility for the next one; but we do have our generation. God will hold us responsible as to how well we fulfill our responsibilities to this age and take advantage of our opportunities.
Josiah was not responsible for future generations, but he did take responsibility for his generation. So, what does Josiah do next?
He leads his people in renewal of their covenant with God. We read in 2 Kings 23:1-3…
Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
We have already seen, throughout our study of the Hebrew Scriptures, how repeatedly, God makes covenant with his people and they with him. What is a covenant? In short, a covenant is an oath-bound relationship between two or more parties. God goes on record saying that he will take an individual or a group of people as his own and he promises what he will do for them; the people, in turn, promise on oath how they will relate to the Lord.
Covenants are still relevant to this day. As Christians, we are living under the New Covenant. The New Covenant is foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures. We will see more about this when we get to the book of Jeremiah. But basically, the New Covenant consists of God’s promise that he will forgive sin and restore fellowship with his people through his Son Jesus Christ.
When people are baptized in the church of Jesus Christ, covenant promises are made. And it is a good thing for us, frequently, to review and renew our covenant with God. That is one reason why every time someone joins our church as a new member I lead them, and our whole congregation, through a covenant renewal process.
One final thing that I want to point out about Josiah is that his “yes” to God meant that he also said “no” to false gods. We read a few moments ago from 2 Chronicles how Josiah “began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images.” And we read the same thing in 2 Kings 23. Josiah’s “Yes” to God meant that he also said “No” to false gods.
We need to do the same thing in our time. Do you know what the earliest confession of the church was? “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Everyone in the Roman Empire was called upon to confess Caesar as Lord. Every time a Christian said, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” they were saying, by implication, Caesar is not Lord. Confessing our faith in Jesus Christ always requires us to say “no” to false gods.
Tony Campolo is one of my favorite Christian preachers. Tony used to say that if he was on a plane and felt up for conversation, he would tell the person next to him that he was a sociologist. If he didn’t want to talk, he would tell them he was a Baptist evangelist. So, on this one flight he was feeling tired, and when the guy seated next to him asked him what he did for a living he said, “I’m a Baptist evangelist.” But that response backfired. The guy responded, “Oh, that’s very interesting. Do you want to know what I believe?” Tony didn’t want to know but he didn’t want to be impolite, so he said, “What do you believe?”
The guy said, “I believe there are many ways to God.” He went on about his philosophy of life for quite some time. Tony just listened. Finally, the guy shut up and Tony was able to get some shut eye.
Then, suddenly, toward the end of the flight, as the plane was on its final approach into the airport, there was terrible turbulence. Everybody quickly fastened their seatbelts, and everybody was nervous, including the guy sitting next to Tony. So, at that moment, Tony saw an opportunity. He said to the guy next to him, “I’m glad the pilot doesn’t hold to your belief, your philosophy of life.”
And the guy said, “What do you mean?”
And Tony said, “I’m glad the pilot isn’t up in the cockpit saying, ‘There are many ways into the airport.’ I’m glad the pilot is listening to very precise, and exact instructions he is getting from the tower about how to land this plane.”
In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There are not many ways into the airport of our heavenly home. There is just one. His name is Jesus. I hope that if you have never done so before, that today you will say “yes” to Jesus, and no to all the false ways of living that simply don’t work.
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