Elisha also raised the dead, instructed Naaman to bathe seven times in the Jordan River so Naaman could be healed of his leprosy, caused an axe head to float, and prophesied of a famine that lasted seven years.
The book records that Isaiah advised the righteous King Hezekiah of Judah and prophesied that Babylon would conquer and pillage Judah. Judah and Israel unite in a war against Moab and are victorious. The Lord heals Naaman, the captain of the Syrian army, of his leprosy.
The people of Israel experience famines. The wicked Jezebel is killed, and the house of Ahab is destroyed. Elisha dies. King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria takes many of the Israelites captive. King Ahaz of Judah reigns in wickedness. The idolatrous ten tribes of Israel are carried into captivity by King Sargon of Assyria.
Clearly, the story serves to explain why Canaanites remained living in Jericho after Joshua vanquished them long ago. Similarly, we can look at the entire narrative arc of the Deuteronomistic History in order to deduce its purpose and perhaps who wrote it. The Deuteronomistic story starts with a covenant between God and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, followed by the conquest of the land. After a period of charismatic leaders the judges , God and the people of Israel decide they need a king.
God enters into a second covenant, this time with the line of King David. The narrative repeatedly tells how the people of Israel defied the divine will, were punished, and submitted to a forgiving God.
It is during his reign — BCE that an early form of the Book of Deuteronomy, with the long-lost covenant made between God and Israel, was supposedly discovered lying around in the Temple. It starts to seem that the Deuteronomistic History was written during the reign of King Josiah.
The whole story seems to lead up to his reign, and he is portrayed very favorably in it. If this is indeed true, and most scholars think it is, Josiah's kingdom was actually rather puny, and his purpose in having the Deuteronomistic History written was to unite the various warring Israelite tribes into a single powerful empire under his rule. All this was an attempt to bolster a new imperial ideology - one people worshiping one God in one temple under one king.
Josiah, an ally of the Babylonians, led his forces to check the Egyptian army at Megiddo. I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Lion from original Babylonian Ishtar Gate Dreamstime.
Possibly believing his own propaganda, Josiah expected God to be on his side. But, the Egyptians crushed the Judean army and Josiah was killed in battle. But now the writers of 1 and 2 Kings resume their descriptions of the reigns of these kings.
The stories alternate between the two kingdoms and focus mainly on the way the kings sinned against God by allowing idol worship. Under the leadership of the next king, Jeroboam II, the northern kingdom of Israel enjoys its most prosperous period. After Jeroboam II, the fall of the northern kingdom became inevitable. This final major section relates the history of Judah, the surviving southern kingdom, from B. Manasseh ruled Judah for fifty-five years, longer than any other king of Israel or Judah.
He is remembered as an evil and sinful king. How are Elijah and Elisha alike? How are they different? What words or phrases would you say best describe Elisha? Who functions like an Elisha in our world today? Elisha performed about twice as many miracles as Elijah.
Explain your answer. Why or why not? Why does the author often not mention the specific names of Israelite or foreign kings in the stories about Elisha? What means did he use to come to power? What is your reaction to the killing of Ahab and the other acts of violence in these chapters? What do you make of these passages?
The author of 2 Kings consistently condemns the kings of Israel for allowing the people to worship idols. Why do you think the people of Israel and their leaders were attracted to worshiping the Canaanite fertility gods?
Idols in 2 Kings are statues made of wood or stone. But idols can also be understood to be anything other than God that people turn to for comfort and protection. What are some idols that people worship today? Israel the northern kingdom experienced prosperity and a certain amount of political stability during his rule. Why do you think that is so? What does the author of 2 Kings want the reader to understand about Jeroboam as a ruler of the Israelites?
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