2 Kings: THE SECOND Book of Kings is a continuation of the First. The author is not known, but it is believed that these histories of the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah were compiled under the direction of Ezra. The Second Book of Kings extends from the reign of Ahaziah, king of Israel (898 BC) tothe first year of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon (561 BC). This book tells the story of the reigns of the kings of Israel down to the destruction of their kingdom by the Assyrian armies under King Sargon in 721 BC. The mighty religious reformation begun by Elijah was continued by Elisha, his successor, who re-established the system of schools set up in the days of Samuel. Elisha died in the reign of Joash (Jehoash), king of Israel (842-825 BC). Apostasy soon revived, civil war and crime prevailed in the kingdom, while it suffered several invasions by the Assyrian armies. Finally, the Assyrians removed the people to distant lands, and settled Samaria with Gentiles. A brief parallel account is given of the reigns of the kings of Judah from that of Jehoshaphat (915 BC) down to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian armies of Nebuchadnezzar in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah (588 BC). The independence of the Hebrew people, as a free and sovereign nation, then came to an end. Apostasy to Baal worship, the sun cult of the Phoenicians, gradually developed in the kingdom of judah until Jerusalem itself became a center of idols and idolatrous practices. God-fearing kings and prophets brought about religious reformations from time to time and thus delayed the day of doom for the southern kingdom. Such noted prophets as Jonah, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Nahum, Obadiah, Micah, Isaiah, Zephaniah Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel were the spokesmen of Heaven during the period covered by this book
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 09:32:08 +0000
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