1 & 2 Kings – Page 5

2 Kings 17:24-41 – Worship God Alone

girl looking up to the sky, smiling, reaching her arms out in adoration

I had a light bulb moment. In the New Testament, we recall how there is so much animosity between Jews and Samaritans (those from Samaria). As we’ve been reading through the history of the kings, we’ve seen how Israel’s king was situated in Samaria. Now we know the history that happened to cause such disdain by the Israelites toward the Samaritans.

It must go back to the Assyrian take-over of Israel and how foreigners were brought in by Assyria and resettled in promised land. Not only did they oppress the Israelites and take away their homes, they brought with them their own way of doing things. God was not pleased and sent lions to devour some of the people.

2 Kings 17:1-23 – What is Your Pagan Shrine?

Read 2 Kings 17:1-23

We all have them. Our pagan shrines aren’t necessarily physical places where we worship though. The pagan shrines I’m imagining are those “little” sins we overlook every day. When we look the other way long enough, we stop seeing them. That’s what I’d like to think happened to these kings of Judah. They were supposedly “good” kings who pleased God, but how could they be truly “good” if they left the pagan shrines standing?

In church on Sunday, we try to look all brushed off and “perfect,” even though we know we’re far from that. We can all “clean up” pretty good, on the outside. But God’s interested on what’s on the inside. Our inner thoughts are not a secret from God.

2 Kings 16:1-20 – Not a Stranger

Read 2 Kings 16:1-20

You may be thinking to yourself, “I’ve heard of Ahaz before. He was a bad dude!” Sometimes it’s easy to remember things about Bible characters and infuse them into other passages. Ahaz will also show up in Isaiah and 2 Chronicles, from a different vantage point. So, Ahaz should not be a “stranger.” And he was a very bad dude!

I was a bit appalled when I read that he sacrificed his son in the fire. You may recall this was a sin that God detests (see Deuteronomy 18:9-13 for more on that). I can’t even imagine doing such a thing. I heard a scary thing the other day about a bill waiting to be passed in the United States. In Maryland, this bill seeks to amend the state’s fetal murder-manslaughter statute. Apparently, infanticide is already allowed in the Netherlands if a child is born with birth defects. As if abortion wasn’t bad enough. While not a “sacrifice” per se, what could possess a parent to do such a thing? Evil is all around us still.

2 Kings 15:1-38 – Slippery Slope of Sin

Read 2 Kings 15:1-38

chasm showing how our choice results in separation from God

We covered a lot of ground in the reading today. It seems like Chapter 15 opens and closes the kingly episodes as quickly as possible. The allegiance of the Kings of Israel shows us how weak Israel has become in terms of its faithfulness. It’s now a slippery slope toward the doom the prophets have been speaking of. I think the Israelites were in denial, not believing the seriousness of their offense to God.

We also hear briefly about a few of Judah’s kings. For this period at least, they are all pleasing God, to a point. None of these kings have done away with the pagan shrines. People were still able to spend time separated from God despite having a king that was pleasing God. Why do you think each king left the pagan shrines alone? Were they trying to “please” the people not realizing how hurtful it was to God?

2 Kings 14:23-29 – God’s Grace

Read 2 Kings 14:23-29

In our last reading, we saw how bad things could still happen to a good king. Here we see how good things can happen when a bad king is in charge. Note, however, that the king had nothing to do with Israel’s fate. That was all God.

“For the Lord saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them.” Jeroboam II was in the right place at the right time to be used by God. It’s like God looked past his evil ways and used him anyway.