2 Kings 21-25

Introduction

2 Kings written for those who would find themselves exiled in Babylon to explain “how they got there”

10 and 2 tribes

No good kings in the northern kingdom of Israel with Ahab the worst

some good some bad in Judah all range from Hezekiah being the best to this point

2 Kings 20:21 “21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.”

Chapter 21 "Manasseh's Descent: Undoing Righteousness"

Manasseh’s Sin

2 Kings 21:1–9 KJV

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

On top of rebuilding the high places Hezekiah had torn down, Manasseh was doing every other kind of evil as well:

abominations of the heathen (Deut. 18:10-11): (1) sacrificing children in the fire, (2) practicing witchcraft to determine the will of the gods by examining and interpreting omens, (3) soothsaying to attempt to control the future through power given by evil spirits, (4) interpreting omens to tell the future based on signs, (5) practicing sorcery to induce magical effects by drugs or other potions, (6) conjuring spells to bind other people by magical muttering, (7) being a medium who supposedly communicates with the dead but actually communicates with demons, (8) being a spiritist with an intimate acquaintance with the demonic spiritual world, and (9) calling up the dead to investigate and seek information from them.

2 Kings 21:16 KJV

16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Yahweh’s Judgement

2 Kings 21:10–15 KJV

10 And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: 12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15 Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

2 Kings 21:18 “18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.”

Amon (Manasseh’s son)

2 Kings 21:20–22 “20 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. 21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 22 And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.”

2 Kings 21:23–26 “23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 24 And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.”

Chapter 22 "Josiah's Reform: A Nation Reawakened"

2 Kings 22:1–2 “1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.”

2 Kings 22:8–13 KJV

8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD. 10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying, 13 Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

Chapter 23 "Josiah's Passover: Too Little, Too Late"

Josiah’s pledge to serve Yahweh

2 Kings 23:1–3 KJV

1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. 3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

2 Kings 23:21–25 KJV

21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. 22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

2 Kings 23:26–27 KJV

26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. 27 And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

2 Kings 23:28-37

King Josiah is killed in battle with Pharoah-Neco king of Egypt at Megiddo

his servants bring his body back to Jerusalem and he’s buried at home

2 Kings 23:30b “30 ...And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.”

2 Kings 23:32 “32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.”

2 Kings 23:33a “33 And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem;”

2 Kings 23:34 “34 And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.”

2 Kings 23:37 “37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.”

Chapter 24 "Jerusalem Falls: Babylon's Victory"

2 Kings 24:1–4 KJV

1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.

2 Kings 24:6 “6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.”

2 Kings 24:9 “9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.”

2 Kings 24:12–16 “12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.”

2 Kings 24:17–20 “17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”

Chapter 25 "The City Destroyed: Exile and a Glimmer of Hope"

2 Kings 25:1-7

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem for nineteen months, and the city falls and we see the brutality of the Babylonians as they capture Zedekiah and his family make him watch them kill his sons then blind him so he’ll live the rest of his life with that being the last image he sees.

2 Kings 25:8–9 “8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire.”

2 Kings 25:10-21

The Babylonians carried away most of the people to Babylon, leaving only the poorest people to work the land. The Babylonians also took the bronze pillars and all the valuable articles from the temple, and executed the chief priest, other religious leaders, and important officials from Jerusalem at Riblah.

2 Kings 25:22-26

Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor over the poor people left in Judah and told them not to fear as long as they served Babylon and it would go well with them. However, in the seventh month, Ishmael, who was of royal blood, assassinated Gedaliah along with the Jews and Babylonians with him at Mizpah, which caused the remaining people to flee to Egypt in fear of Babylonian retaliation.

2 Kings 25:27–30 KJV

27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; 29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. 30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

Conclusion

The book of 2 Kings opens with Elijah carried away to heaven, where all the faithful will be united fully and finally with God

It ends with God’s people in Israel, then Judah exiled and pressed down completely in pagan lands due to their failure in faithfulness

We started today with the evil of Manasseh: 2 Kings 24:3–4 “3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.”

We finished today with a hopeful story of Jehoiachin let out of prison and restored to a place of honor and provided for by the king

It’s hope in a hopeless situation! It’s a faint reminder that God will keep his promise to David that after he died, one of his descendants would become king and build a temple for God's name, and God would establish that descendant's throne forever, treating him like a son and punishing him when he does wrong but never taking away His love.

Though this promise was first fulfilled through Solomon, it ultimately points to Jesus Christ, the son of David, whose kingdom is everlasting and will never end.

Real quick, let me finish with how much hope there is in the grace and mercy of God:

2 Kings 21:9 “9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.”

2 Kings 21:16 “16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.”

2 Chronicles 33:9–13 “9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. 11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.”

2 Chronicles 33:14–16 “14 Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. 15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 16 And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.”