Introduction: The books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings originally comprised a single volume, which was entitled "Kings." The two books were divided by early scribes and translators in order to copy the lengthy text of the book on separate scrolls and codexes.
The book of 2 Kings is the divinely inspired record of the kings of Israel and Judah, beginning with the reigns of Israel's King Ahaziah and Judah's King Jehoshaphat, and concluding with the captivities of both kingdoms, Israel's captivity to Assyria and Judah's captivity to Babylon.
2 Kings 1:1-2a — The reign of the evil King Ahab’s elder son, Ahaziah, began with Moab balking at paying him tribute and with him falling through the trellis of his balcony.
All sons who seek to fill their evil father’s shoes end up ill-fated.
2 Kings 1:2b — Ahaziah’s idolatry is illustrated by his inquiry, as to whether or not he would recover from his injuries, to the idol Baal-zebub, the false god of Ekron, rather than to the one and only true God, Jehovah, the God of Israel.
The name “Baal-zebub” literally meant “lord of the flies,” suggesting some nonexistent deity prayed to by pagans to drive flies away. Perhaps, to poke fun at so profane and pitiful a pagan deity, the Jews changed the name to “Beelzeboul,” which means “lord of dung” or “lord of filth.” It appears that the name had further devolved as a pejorative by the time of the New Testament, for it appears seven times in the Synoptic Gospels as “Beelzebub,” an epithet for Satan or “the prince of demons.” Herein a much darker and deeper truth is divulged; namely, that hiding behind ever worthless idol is the devil, who is the real recipient of all of the worship of all idolaters. (Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:36-37; 1 Corinthians 10:19-20)
2 Kings 1:3-4 — Ahaziah’s emissaries, who he sent to enquire of Baal-zebub, encountered Elijah on their way, who informed them that their master was doomed, because he had sought a prognosis from the “lord of the flies” rather than prayed for his healing to the Lord of Lords.
It is the job of God’s prophets to confront idolaters and to clearly and courageously proclaim to them the idiocy of their idolatry.
2 Kings 1:5-8 — From both the message of doom and the description of the messenger, Ahaziah knew it was Elijah, the Prophet of God, who his emissaries had encountered on their way to Ekron, to enquire of the pagan Philistines’ false god.
God’s true prophets are always identifiable by both sight and sound; that is, by their person and their preaching.
2 Kings 1:9-10 — Elijah is called the Prophet of Fire, because thrice he was proved by fire to be God’s prophet. Once, on Mount Carmel, when fire fell consuming his sacrifice. A second time, here, when fire fell consuming his enemies. And a third and final time, when he hitchhiked a ride into Heaven in a chariot of fire driven by horses of fire. (1 Kings 18:30-39; 2 Kings 2:11)
Ahaziah, infuriated over his prophesied demise, sent soldiers to arrest Elijah, the Prophet of God, and the soldiers, in total disregard of Elijah having called down fire on Mount Carmel, disrespectfully demanded that Elijah, who they knew to be a man of God, immediately come down from the hill upon which he was sitting. However, instead of the man of God being forced to come down to the soldiers, the fire of God came down and consumed the soldiers.
Many have literally interpreted and mistakenly identified one of the two witnesses of Revelation as Elijah, because fire is said to proceed out of their mouths to devour their enemies (Revelation 11:5). However, it was not fire that proceeded out of Elijah’s mouth that devoured his enemies, but fire that fell down from heaven that consumed them. In light of this, the two witnesses of Revelation remind us more of the Prophet Jeremiah than of the Prophet Elijah, since Jeremiah was told that God’s Word spoken from his mouth would be like a fire that would devour people like wood (Jeremiah 5:14; 23:29). As Jesus taught in John 12:48, it is His words that will judge us in the last day. Therefore, the fire that proceeds out of the two witnesses’ mouths is the Word of God they preach, which will devour and destroy all of their enemies.
2 Kings 1:11-12 — Despite knowing that Ahaziah was in the wrong, that Elijah was God’s man, and that fire had fell from heaven and consumed the first fifty, the captain of the second fifty not only demanded Elijah to come down, but impertinently insisted that he do so “quickly.”
Surely, the obstinacy of stiff-necked sinners, even when staring into the face of outright oblivion, serves as proof positive of the total depravity of fallen humanity.
2 Kings 1:13-14 — The captain of the third fifty, unlike the cocky and fire-consumed captains of the first two fifties, approached Elijah, the man of God, differently, not haughtily and pompously, but humbly and pleadingly.
Though the heart of Ahaziah was hardened, even to the point of sending a third battalion to be turned into charcoaled briquets by God’s Prophet of Fire, the captain of the third fifty bowed before Elijah and pleaded to him on his knees to spare his life and the life of his men.
2 Kings 1:15 — It was not that God forbid Elijah from going to King Ahaziah or that Elijah ever needed to fear to do so, but only that God had to be revered, his prophet respected, and it properly requested rather than ostentatiously ordered.
The prophet of God, like all who fear God, need not fear any man, not even a potentate, a prime minister, or a president.
2 Kings 1:16 — Elijah’s message, of the surety of Ahaziah’s demise over his sacrilegious idolatry, was the same to Ahaziah, Israel’s sovereign, as it had been to Ahaziah’s servants and soldiers. Elijah spoke truth to power every bit as boldly as he spoke truth to everyone else.
The true prophet of God can never be terrorized by any threat into compromising the truth. Regardless of coast and consequence to himself, his message is immutable, no matter how unpopular it is in the pews or perilous it is to preach from the pulpit.
2 Kings 1:17a — Elijah is again proven to be God’s prophet, but this time, not by fire, but by the fulfilling of his prophecy. Ahaziah perished just as Elijah had predicted.
According to Deuteronomy 18:20-22, the true test of a prophet was whether his predictions came true. If they did, he was a true prophet of God. He was God's mouthpiece, a spokesman for God, whose mouth the Spirit had filled with the very words of God. If his predictions did not come true, he was a false prophet, a charlatan, who was to be put to death by the people for presuming to put words into the mouth of God.
2 Kings 1:17b-18 — What a pitiful legacy Ahaziah left for posterity. He lost the tribute of Moab, Israeli troops through ill-gotten attempts to arrest God’s prophet, and died as an infamous idolater, from injuries suffered from falling through the trellis of his own balcony.
Since Ahaziah’s brief reign abruptly ended with him dying without an heir, his throne passed to his brother Jehoram, another son of the wicked King Ahab, who reigned over Israel, the northern kingdom, at the same time that another Jehoram, the son of the righteous King Jehoshaphat, reigned over Judah, the southern kingdom.
2 Kings 2:14 — Although Elisha asked, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah,” a better question today is: “Where are the Elijahs of the Lord God?”
As we learn from the life of Elijah, secret communion with God and prevailing prayers to God enable us, as they did him, to not only be confident and courageous for God, but also powerful witnesses of God. (James 5:17-18)
2 Kings 3:9-18 — Sometimes a prerequisite to God’s miraculous deliverance of us is us digging ditches for God. Make no mistake about it, our unwillingness to get our hands dirty in menial work for God can undercut God’s miraculous work for us.
God’s miraculous work for us may require us getting our hands dirty doing menial work for Him.
2 Kings 4:8-10 — A man of God should make such an impression on others as to convince them of his calling and to actuate their aid.
If Christianity were a crime, the case against most confessed Christians today would be dropped for a lack of evidence.
2 Kings 4:33 — Prayer is best prayed behind closed doors, with all the world shut out from us and us shut in alone with God.
Serious prayer warriors are normally solitary people.
2 Kings 4:42-44 — We can trust God to miraculously stretch our meager means to more than meet our real needs.
God not only supplies our needs sufficiently, but can also supply them supernaturally and superabundantly.
2 Kings 5:1 — Naaman’s sterling resume was ruined by a single stain: “But he was a leper.” Likewise, your resume, regardless of your good works and deeds, is also ruined by a single stain: “But you are a sinner.”
No matter how upstanding you consider your character or outstanding your conduct, all it takes is one committed and unforgiven sin to halt your entrance into a sin-free Heaven.
2 Kings 5:1-14 — Naaman's cleansing from leprosy, like the sinner's cleansing from sin, could not be bought, but only obtained by obeying God’s improbable and implausible prescription.
As Naaman the Syrian had to simply dip seven times in Jordan to cleanse his skin, the sinner needs only to depend on Jesus to be cleansed from sin!
2 Kings 6:15-17 — When hostile adversaries surround us the angelic host is summoned to safeguard us.
When the hordes of Hell come against us, we can be confident that the host of Heaven is with us.
2 Kings 13:14-19 — In prayer, we should never stop too soon nor pray too small, lest we miss out on the greater victory.
Contrary to today’s popular faith healers, sickness is not caused by a lack of faith, as is proven by the fact that Elisha, the man of God, got sick and died.
2 Kings 19:4, 6, 16, 22 — When the enemy attempts to intimidate us with threats, he angers and insults the God we trust; consequently, the indignation of the Almighty is incited against our adversary.
Whenever the devil attempts to intimidate us he simultaneously accuses God of being incapable of safeguarding us; therefore, he is not just bullying us, but also blaspheming God.
2 Kings 19:20-28 — Instead of seeing world events through the prism of world powers, as though mere men are this world's real movers and shakers, you should see them through the prism of ancient prophecy, realizing that men are really mere pawns in the hands of Divine Providence.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise up without His aid? (Benjamin Franklin)
2 Kings 20:1-7 — Sometimes divine healing requires a poultice, as well as a prayer.
“God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.” (Benjamin Franklin)
2 Kings 20:12-19 — When our leaders mistakenly appease our adversaries, they not only jeopardize the future of our country, but the future of our children as well.
Many a present-day politician placates, for the sole purpose of their personal political aspirations, our foreign foes, undeterred by the fact that by doing so they are imperiling both our representative republic and posterity.
2 Kings 20:12-19 — The wealth in a nation’s storehouses and the weapons in its armories are subject to be stolen in the future from its children when foreign foes who feign to be friends are presently being conducted around to case the country.
A foolish nation's heedless placating of foreign and hostile parties is perilous, especially to its posterity. Still, many a present-day adversary is appeased by a self-serving politician who is totally apathetic about the consequences to future generations of his current concessions to two-face foes.
2 Kings 20:12-19 — Many a foolish politician, who foolishly appeases our adversaries, without any concern for the consequences to our children, compromises the future of our country.
The appeasing of enemies today will inevitably lead to our being attacked tomorrow.
2 Kings 21:1-5 — In any sure house of God the altar of God is the single altar in sight. Wherever there is multiple altars there is no meaningful adoration, for God can only be worshipped alone, not along with other things.
If you don’t worship God as your all in all, you can’t worship God at all. (1 Corinthians 15:28)
2 Kings 22:3-13 — When the Word of God is lost in the house of God, the house of God stands in bad need of repair from the people of God.
Any so-called church that has lost the Word of God; that is, God’s Word is no longer its spiritual authority, upon which it bases its beliefs and behavior, has ceased to be a house of God and become a spiritual house of ill repute.
BACK TO TWEETS BY THE BOOKS
