Saturday, June 18, 2022

Bible in one year 6/18/ 2022 2Kings Chapter 14- 16 By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Bible in one year 6/18/ 2022  2Kings Chapter 14- 16 

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries : Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry & Counseling

 

2 Kings Chapter 14 The Reign of Amaziah in Judah twenty-nine years  (796-767;2Chron.25:1-28)

      

Amaziah , song of Joash king of Judah,  began to reign when he was twenty-five years old. He reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.(vv.1-4). Amaziah, king of Judah executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. Yet he did not put the sons of the assassins to death, in according with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “Father shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins.”(v.5-6). He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day.(v.7).

Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, son of Jehu, king of Israel with the challenge : “come, meet me face to face.”(v. 8). But replied to Amaziah king of Judah:A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘ Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a mild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant. Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”(vv.9-10). Jehoash tried to cut Amaziah down to size with this parable: a thistle tried to make himself equal with a cedar tree until a wild beast accidently stepped on him and stopped his ambitious plans. Likewise, Amaziah should stay home and be content with his little trophies.

Amaziah, however, would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel attached. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home. Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah at Beth Shemesh. Then, Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate – a section about six hundred feet long. He took all the gold and silver and all the articles  found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. He also took hostages and returned to Samaria. (vv.11-14).  Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah fled to Lachish, but was killed there. He was brought back by horse and was buried in Jerusalem in the City of David.(v.20). Then all the people of Judah took his son Azariah who was sixteen years old and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.(v.21).

The Reign of Jeroboam II in Israel forty –one years (794-753)

 Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah, son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.(vv.23-25). The Lord had seen how bitterly, everyone is Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. And since the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash. (vv.26-27). Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the king of Israel. And his son Zechariah succeeded him as king. (v.29).

 

2Kings Chapter 15 The Reign of Azariah (Uzziah) in Judah fifty-two years (790-739)(2 Chron. 26:1-23)

            Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign when he was sixteen years old. He became the king of Judah and reigned in Jerusalem fifty–two years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord just as his father Amaziah had done. However, the high places were not removed, the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. (vv.1-4). The Lord afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house. Jotham the king’s son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. (v.5). Azariah (Uzziah) was made a leper because he usurped functions that belonged to the priests (2Chron.26:17-21). Azariah  rested with his fathers and was buried near them in the City of David. Jotham his son succeeded him as king.(v.7).

The reign of Zechariah in Israel (753) reigned six months.

In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He didn’t turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attached him in front of the people, assassinated him and succeeded him as king. So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled: “ Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”(v.12).

The Reign of Shallum in Israel one month (752)

 Shallum son of Jabesh became in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria one month. The Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum in Samaria, assassinated him and succeeded him as king. (vv.13-14).

The Reign of Menahem in Israel ten years (752-742)

            At the time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open the gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.(v.16). In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy man had to contribute fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and stayed in the land no longer. (vv.19-20). Pul. Tiglath –PileserIII (1Chron.5:26), a general who took the reins of the Assyrian government and made its army into an efficient military machine. A thousand talents = 3 million shekels. Therefore about sixty thousand men contributed to this levy. Menahem rested and Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.(v.21).

The Reign of Pekahiah in Israel two years (742-740)

            In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him, he assassinated Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palca at Samaria.and succeeded him as king.(vv.23-25).

The Reign of Pekah in Israel twenty years (752-732)

            In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In the of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath –Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon,  Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria. Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attached and assassinated him, and succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.(vv.29-30). A year after Pekah began to reign, Uzziah, king of Judah, died as a leper, and Isaiah saw the great vision recorded in Isa.6. Because Judah refused to join an anti-Assyrian alliance with Israel, she was successfully invaded by Israel (2Chron.28:5-15). A second invasion a few months later was not successful because Tiglath -Pileser(III) of Assyria attached northern Israel about 733 (v.29;Isa.7), thus marking the beginning of the end for the Northern Kingdom. Hoshea, a puppet king and the last king of Israel, attempted an alliance with Egypt and was imprisoned by the Assyrians who besieged Samaria, the capital, conquering it in 722 and ending the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

The Reign of Jotham in Judah twenty five years (750-731;2Chron.27:1-9)

             In the second year of Pekah son of Remalian king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord. (vv.32-35). In those days the Lord began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah). Jotham rested with his fathers, and Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.(v.37-38).

 

2Kings Chapter 16 The Reign of Ahaz in Judah sixteen years (731-715; 2 Chron.28:1-27)

            In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the helltops and under every spreadking tree. (vv.3-4).

 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, king of Judah. But they could not overpower him. At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the men of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day. (vv.5-6).

            Ahaz, king of Judah  sent messenger to say to Tiglath –Pileser king of Assyria, “ I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”(v.7). And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. (v.8). The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He departed its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death. (v.9). Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. (vv.10-11). Ahaz was likely in Damascus to pay tribute to Tiglath –Pileser when he saw the heathen altar and commissioned his high priest to duplicate it for use in the worship in Jerusalem.

 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar. The bronze altar that stood before the Lord he brought from the front of the temple from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord and put it on the north side of the new altar.(vv.12-14).

King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest : “ O the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.” And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.(vv.15-16).

King Ahaz took away the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria. (vv.18). The king Ahaz broke up the furniture (1Kings7:23-39) to use the metal for paying tribute. The Sabbath canopy. Perhaps some kind of covered walkway used by the king when attending the Temple on the Sabbath. Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king. (v.20). 

 

 Bibliography,

 Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986 

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