What I Noticed Today (2 Kings 1-4)

2 Kings picks up right where 1 Kings left off. The first three chapters are a bit of a challenge because the narrative jumps around a little bit.

2 Kings 1:1 references the rebellion of Moab against Israel. Verses 2-18 record Ahaziah’s fall and death. 2 Kings, 2 records the end of Elijah’s life and the beginning of Elisha’s prophetic ministry. 2 Kings 3 jumps back to resume the events of Moab’s rebellion against Israel.

2 Kings 1

In verse 1, after Ahab, king of Israel died, Moab rebelled against Israel.

In verses 8-18, Ahaziah falls and dies:

• Ahaziah fell out of the window of his upper room and was badly injured.
• He instructed his servants to go and inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron whether he would recover.

• The Lord spoke to Elijah and told him to tell the king’s messengers to tell Ahaziah he would not recover.
• The king didn’t like that news and sent a garrison of 50 men to bring Elijah back.
• The men of the garrison demanded Elijah return with them to Ahaziah, and the Lord consumed the garrison of soldiers with fire.
• Ahaziah sent another garrison of 50 soldiers who also demanded Elijah come with them and the Lord consumed them with fire also.
• Ahaziah sent the third garrison of soldiers. The third garrison’s leader pleaded respectfully to Elijah to spare their lives, and the angel of the Lord told Elijah to accompany this man.
• Elijah delivered the news in person to Ahaziah, and just as he had prophesied Ahaziah died.
• Since Ahaziah had no sons, his brother Joram became king of Israel in the second year of Jehoram king of Judah (852 B.C.).

2 Kings 2

2 Kings 2 reveals Elijah’s time of ministry has come to a close.

In verses 1-12, as Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal, Elijah told Elisha to stay behind while he went to Bethel. Elisha refused to leave Elijah. From Bethel, they traveled on, and Elijah told Elisha to stay behind while he traveled on to Jericho. Again Elisha refused to leave Elijah. A third time Elijah told Elisha to stay behind while he traveled to Jordan, and again Elisha refused to leave Elijah.

• Elijah asked what he could give Elisha before the Lord took him away, and Elisha asked only for a double helping of his Spirit.
• Elijah promised that if Elisha saw him being taken up into heaven, he would inherit a double portion of His Spirit. Otherwise, he would not.
• Elisha was with Elijah when God took him up into heaven, and his reward was the promised double helping of Elijah’s spirit.

In verses 13-22, Elisha performed two miracles right away.

• The first miracle was to part the waters of the Jordan river just as Elijah had done.
• The second miracle was to purify the water of the city of Jericho.

In verses 23-25, Elisha curses the young men:

• As Elisha was traveling to Bethel, some boy came out of the city making fun of him.
• Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord and bears mauled 42 of them.
• From there Elisha went first to Mount Carmel and then returned to Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel).

2 Kings 3

2 Kings 3 resumes the account of Moab’s rebellion against Israel.

In verses 1-3, Joram, son of Ahab became king of Israel. He was evil, but not as evil as his father, for he removed the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

In verses 4-27, the king of Moab had been paying a high tribute to the king of Israel but decided to rebel.

• Joram formed an alliance with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the king of Edom to fight against Moab.
• Jehoshaphat suggested they inquire of God whether they would win their battle.
• Elisha agreed to give them God’s word because of Jehoshaphat.
• Elisha performed another miracle, providing water for the men and animals.
• Elisha told them God would hand the Moabites over to them, but that they were to destroy the Moabite land and all the cities completely.
• The Israelites defeated the Moabites, destroyed their land, stopped up their springs, and burned their cities.
• When the king of Moab realized he would lose the battle, he sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering on the city wall. This so horrified the Israelites that they withdrew and returned home.

Some additional thoughts for consideration:

• The alliance between Jehoshaphat and Joram was problematic. One nation was more inclined to seek God and follow him than the other. Without God’s help in the battle, all three kings would have lost to the Moabites.
• We need to be careful when we make alliances that the people we join up with have God in their hearts and are faithful to follow Him. Without God, there is no victory!

2 Kings 4

2 Kings 4 recounts four of Elisha’s miracles. There is the miracle of the widow’s oil, the woman who bore a son who died and was brought back to life, the purification of the deadly stew, and the multiplied loaves of bread.

In verses 1-7, in the widow’s story, God provided for the family because the husband had died.

• The woman’s two children were about to be sold into slavery for the payment of the debt, and she turned to Elisha for help.
• Elisha told her to go and borrow as many pots and containers as she could from her neighbors.
• The woman started pouring what oil she had into the containers and kept filling them until she had filled every container she had.
• Elisha told her to go and sell the oil to pay her debts and to live on the rest.

In verses 8-37, in the story of the Shunammite woman whose son died, God restored the family by bringing the boy back to life.

• A Shunammite woman provided an upper room for Elisha to stay whenever he was visiting the city of Shunem.
• During one particular visit, Elisha asked the woman what he could do for her to repay her hospitality. She said only that her husband was old and she had no children. Elisha promised that she would have a child by the next year.
• As promised, the woman became pregnant and had a son.
• One year, as the child had grown, he suddenly died. The woman went to see Elisha at Mount Carmel.
• The woman met Elisha in great anguish. Elisha gave his servant, Gehazi, his staff and told him to hurry to the boy and lay it on his face. Gehazi did as instructed, but the boy did not respond.
• When Elisha arrived, he found the boy dead, so he prayed to the Lord to restore him to life. The Lord restored the boy, and Elisha gave him back to his mother.

In verses 38-41, in the story of the deadly stew, a group of starving prophets were saved from poisoning by a deadly stew.

• When Elisha returned from Gilgal, there was famine in the land.
• A man went out into the field and gathered gourds to make stew unaware that the gourds were poisonous.
• God purified the stew through Elisha.
• The quantity of stew met the needs of the men, and they had food leftover.

In verses 42-44, in the story of the multiplied bread, the Lord multiplied bread to feed 100 men.

• A man brought a gift of 20 loaves of bread, and Elisha told the man to give it to the prophet to eat.
• The man protested that it would not be enough, but Elisha told him to distribute the bread and that he would have bread leftover.
• So the man distributed the bread and as promised all the men were fed and there were leftovers.

Tomorrow: 2 Kings 1-4