In the
Hebrew Bible,
First
and Second Kings are one book.
Collectively, they are a
history
of the
Israelite
monarchy. During most of this period, it is dual
monarchies because two southern tribes make up the
kingdom of
Judah, the remaining
tribes being
Israel.
Second Kings covers a period of about 250 years. It begins in the reign of
Ahaziah. It ends with the fall of Judah to
Babylon.
Fall is an appropriate word. The
book describes the decline of the Israelite monarchy. It is strongly associated with moral decline
and
apostasy. Israel was called out to be
God’s people. Instead, they worshiped the gods of the
people who occupied the land before them or of their neighbors. Sometimes this
idol worship was
introduced and encouraged by the kings.
Some of the practices associated with these foreign religions included
temple prostitution, sodomy, and child sacrifice.
When God established ancient Israel as a nation, he made a covenant
with them. If they followed Him, He
would cause them to prosper in the land He gave to them. If they did not, and especially if they
abandoned Him to worship other gods and do evil, he would cut them off from the
land and let their enemies overcome them.
That is exactly what happened.
Israel, the northern kingdom, succumbed first. It fell during the reign of
Hoshea. It became a vassal state to
Assyria. More than that, the Assyrians removed the
Israelite population to other lands and resettled Israel with people from
across its empire. Chapter 17 is an
indictment against Israel, listing its crimes the judgment of expulsion from
the land.
God did not let Israel go easily.
Much of the first half of the book is devoted to the exploits of
Elijah and
Elisha. These prophets called people back to God and
stood up against the influence of false religions. Later,
Isaiah would warn
against the coming captivity to Assyria.
Judah held out longer, in part probably because of fitful reforms by
kings such as
Hezekiah
and
Josiah. None of the kings of Israel committed
themselves to god, but some of the kings of Judah turned their hearts to God,
restoring the worship of God and sometimes even breaking down the idols of
false gods. Even so, they fell like
their brothers to the north.
Babylon was the empire that overtook Judah during the reign of
Zedekiah. Zedekiah himself was appointed by Babylon
after it took his nephew
Jehoiachin as
a prisoner. Babylon also moved much of
the population. The poor were left to
tend the farms, but anyone with status, military skill, training in crafts, or
education
was moved to Babylon to serve there. The
Israelite monarchy was finally broken and replaced with a Babylonian governor.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Second Kings. The Holy Bible. New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
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