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Story 13
Historical setting:
Time:From about 845 - 815B.C.
Place: Israel
and Judah.
Persons: The kings of Israel, Elisha,
and others.
Scripture: II Kings 8 through 13:13
Many tumultuous things happen in quick succession in the
land of Israel and Judah over the next thirty years. Confusion
in the kingdoms, famine in the land, raids and wars, all take
place. The sequence of the stories is sometimes confusing;
therefore, I am going to just touch on the events of these
years, and present a prepared review. But please read for
yourselves these chapters.
II Kings 8:1-6: The Woman from Shunem returns home.
You will remember the story of the kind-hearted and
generous woman who built a special room for Elisha, and in
return for her kindness Elisha prayed to God for a son for
her. You will also remember that the son died of sunstroke,
and was restored to life by Elisha. Now we meet the woman
again.
"There is going to be a famine in the land,"
Elisha tells the Shunamite woman. "It will last seven years.
Take your household and flee from this land. Find a place to
stay until the famine is over."
So the woman went to live in the land of the Philistines.
When the famine was over she returned to her homeland of
Israel, only to discover that the government had seized her
house and lands. She went to the king about getting her
property back. As it happened, at that very time, Elisha'
servant, *Gehazi, was talking to the king about all the
miracles that Elisha had performed, one of which was raising a
boy back to life. Gehazi turned and saw the woman standing in
the king's court. He said to the king. "Here she is now, the
woman I was telling you about, and with her is her son."
The king addressed the woman. "Is it true that your
property has been seized?"
"Yes, my lord, it is true," answered the woman. "And I have
come here today to request that the king restore to me my
rightful possessions, which were taken over when I left,
during the years of the famine."
The king ordered that all of the woman's belongings be
given back to her.
II Kings 8:7-15: Hazael Murders
Benhadad. Kings seem to have a habit of going to the
prophet only when it is convenient to them. The king of Syria
was no exception. Many times King Benhadad had wanted Elisha
out of his way, locked up, dead. But now, when he is very ill
and possibly dying, he wants something from him: information.
He had heard that Elisha had come to Damascus, so he said to
his head man, Hazael, "Take a gift to the man of God, and ask
him to enquire of the Lord God whether I shall recover from my
illness."
So Hazael went to Elisha with Benhadad's
question. Elisha had this to say, "Tell Banhadad that the Lord
has shown me that he could recover." Then Elisha
stopped. He stared at Hazael until the man became
uncomfortable.
"What's the problem, Elisha?" asked
Hazael. He was feeling hot under the collar. He felt as if the
man of God were looking right through him. And he was.
Elisha said to Hazael: "I know you. Although the Lord has
told me that the king of Syria could recover, I know he will
not. You are going to kill him. And what is more, you are
going to do terrible things to the people of Israel. You will
burn their cities, kill their young people, dash their
children to the ground and rip open pregnant women."
Hazael was astonished, and replied: "How could I do such
things? I am a nobody."
Elisha answered, "The Lord has shown me that your are going
to be the king of Syria."
Benhadad was pleased when Hazael reported that he was to
recover. However, the next day Hazael took a blanket soaked in
water, and held it over the king's face, smothering him. And
thus the prophecy of Elisha came true. Hazael was crowned the
next king of Syria, and did those atrocious things that Elisha
had said he would do.
II Kings 9: Jehu is anointed
king of Israel. And Elisha the prophet
called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him,
Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and
go to Ramothgilead--" Elisha gave the young prophet
explicit instructions as to what he wanted him to do. "Find
Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat. Call him into a private room,
away from his friends. Only you and he are to be in the room.
Pour this oil over his head and tell him that he is to be king
over Israel. Then get quickly out of the room, and run for
your life."
Jehu was given detailed instructions about killing every
last one of the family of Ahab, thus avenging Ahab for
destroying the prophets, during Elijah's life, and thus
fulfilling the instructions given to Elijah about Jehu being
king of Israel.
II Kings 10: Jehu carries out Elisha's orders regarding
Baal worship. He went about killing all the descendants of
Ahab...And by tricking the priests of Baal into thinking that
he was going to become a worshiper of Baal--even more than
Ahab was--Jehu gathered all the prophets and worshipers of
Baal together for a solemn assembly. In they flooded, filling
the temple of Baal. He ordered that all those assembled be
given robes. Then, as a double check, he ordered that the
warden makes sure that only Baal worshipers were there. No
worshipers of the Lord must be present. When all his
instructions had been carried out, he ordered his guards and
officers to "Go in and kill all of the people assembled. Don't
let any escape."
Jehu did a complete job of destroying Baal's worshipers,
his temple, his idols and every sacred thing there. But he
kept the golden calves and did not turn entirely from
worshiping idols.
II Kings 11: Wicked Queen Athaliah rules in Judah.
When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned
that her son was dead, she went about to destroy the rest of
the royal family. But Ahaziah's sister, Jehosheba, the
daughter of King Jehoram, grabbed baby Joash and his nurse,
hiding them away in a bedroom. For six years, while Queen
Athaliah reigned, Joash and his nurse stayed hidden in the
Temple of the Lord.
II Kings 11:13 – 12: A Boy King
Rules. In the seventh year of the reign of Jehu in Israel,
Jehoiada, the priest of the Lord's Temple in Judah, planned
and carried out a successful revolt against Queen Athaliah,
during which she was killed. And at the age of seven, Joash
became ruler in Judah, where he ruled for forty years. During
the first part of his reign, while he was still growing up, he
took his instructions from the priest, Jehoiada. All during
his life he did what was pleasing to the Lord; however, he did
not destroy all the pagan shrines, and he still allowed people
to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings there. Joash's one
great accomplishment during his reign was to repair the temple
of the Lord.
II Kings 13:1-9: Jehoahaz rules in Israel. In the
twenty-third year of King Joash's reign in Judah, Jehoahaz,
son of Jehu, begins his reign in Israel. He was yet another
wicked king. God was very angry with Israel, and allowed
Hazael, king of Syria, to defeat Israel time and time again.
King Jehoahaz, in desperation, called on the Lord to help. Not
for his own sake, but for the sake of his ancestor, David, the
Lord heard his prayer and raised up a deliverer to rescue the
Israelites from the tyranny of the Syrians. For a while the
Israelites lived in safety again, but they continued to sin.
As a consequence, God allowed the Syrians to reduce Israel's
army to fifty mounted troops, ten chariots, and ten thousand
foot soldiers. God allowed Syria to kill all the others, as if
they were bugs under their feet.
II Kings 13:10-13: Jehoash Rules in Israel In the
thirty-seventh year of King Joash, of Judah, Jehoash begins
his reign in Israel. He was another wicked king. He did all
the sinful things of the kings before him, leading Israel
deeper and deeper into idolatry, and closer and closer to
God's judgement upon the land.
A Bit of History, In Review:
Of Judah
The next three monarchs of Judah were Athaliah, Joash, and Amaziah. During their reign the
rulers of northern Israel
were Jehu, Joash, Jehoash,
and Jeroboam II.
Athaliah killed all members
of the House of David (including her own grandchildren) except
for Joash who was hidden, and
escaped. She reigned for six years and was later killed by
order of the High Priest Jehoiada who became regent during the
infancy of Joash.
Joash in his reign in Judah was raided by Hazael, King of Syria. He repaired the
Temple but later turned to idol worship and slew the Prophet Zechariah. Amaziah (son of Joash) was the brother of Amoz who was the father of Isaiah the Prophet. He defeated Edom
and attacked Joash of Israel and was defeated. He was
dethroned by a coup and fled to Lachish in the southwest where
he held out for 15 years. During this time his son, Uzziah (also known as Azariah) ,
ruled over the rest of Judah.
Of Israel
Jehu lost control of the
territories east of the Jordan, i.e. the lands of Reuben, Gad,
and the half-tribe of Menasseh. They were conquered by Hazael, King of Syria. Joash:
During his reign Northern
Israel was oppressed by Aram
(Syria) but was saved by his son Jehoash. Jehoash defeated Amaziah of
Judah who had attacked him.
Helen Dowd
Note* Gehazi – I could find nothing on this
Gehazi, as to whether or not he was the same Gehazi who
contracted leprosy by receiving Naaman's gifts, against God's
wishes. I assume, however, that he must have been that Gehazi,
as he seemed to know a lot about the miracles of Elisha.
Most of this lesson was taken from the Living Bible. Dates
are approximate, and are taken from the KJV of the Bible. For more
'History" look up Works by Yair Davidiy
Please read Story Fourteen: A
Tired Old Prophet Goes
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