Recap

So far in 1-2 of Kings, we've read through Solomon's reign, the splitting of the kingdom, the era of kings and prophets, and the northern kingdom of Israel's exile by the Assyrians. Solomon's reign began with eliminating his rivals. He then asked God for wisdom, which led to peace and prosperity in Israel. Solomon built the temple and his palace but disobeyed God by accumulating wealth, horses, and marrying foreign wives, leading to idol worship.

God told Solomon his kingdom would be divided after his death: Israel in the north under Jeroboam and Judah in the south under Rehoboam. Jeroboam led the northern tribes in worship of other gods. After Jeroboam, leaders like Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab followed in Israel, all doing evil. In Judah, Rehoboam also did evil, as did his son Abijam. Then came Asa, who returned the people to God but relied on Syria instead of God when attacked. He was replaced by his son, Jehoshaphat.

The story shifted to Elijah, a prophet who condemned Ahab for idolatry and predicted a drought. Elijah performed miracles, defeated Baal's prophets, and fled from Jezebel. He met God, anointed new leaders, and chose Elisha as his successor. We read as Elijah was taken to heaven, and Elisha stepped up to fill his place. We saw Elisha performing many of the miracles Elijah had done. Under Elisha, we saw the rise of Syria and much suffering in the northern kingdom of Israel.

This then started the section of the book focused on Israel's journey to exile. We read of much murder and fighting for both the northern and southern thrones. Hazael led the Syrian army to wage war and defeat the northern kingdom of Israel. They were then followed by the Assyrians who eventually led the Israel into exile. The northern kingdom was no more. In its place, the Assyrians resettled various different people groups who were taught the ways of the God of Israel but also continued worshipping their gods.

At the same time, we saw much wickedness in the southern kingdom of Judah, highlighting that they were on a similar path. We picked up with king Hezekiah, one of the few kings to destroy the foreign places of worship in Judah. When the Assyrians came to defeat Judah, at first he panicked and gave them all the wealth of the temple. But when they continued to come, Hezekiah turned to God with the help of Isaiah. And God defeated the Assyrians for them. We read yesterday as Hezekiah made the mistake of showing Babylonians ambassadors all of his wealth, putting himself on their radar. Hezekiah was followed by Manasseh and Amon, both who rebuilt all the foreign places of worship and brought back human sacrificing.

They were then followed by Josiah, who restored the temple and rediscovered the book of law. Upon realising how far the people have sinned against God, Josiah enquired to find out what to do. The prophetess Huldah explained that God planned do deal with harshly with his people, but wouldn't do it in Josiah's reign.

2 Kings 23-25

Yesterday we read as Josiah discovered God’s plan for his people for their sign. Unlike Hezekiah, who heard that bad things would happen after his reign and was happy that it would not affect him, Josiah wasn't going to just sit back and let it happen. He spends the rest of his reign trying to get the people right with God, hoping God might change his mind and have mercy on Judah.

First, he called all the people together and led them in recommitment to God. Next, he removed anything involved in the worship of other gods. He took all the idols out of the temple and got rid of all the priests that were involved in their worship. He destroyed the place where child sacrifices had been happening. He even killed horses that had been dedicated to other gods.

Anything and everything that was even a little bit connected to worship of gods other than the God of the Bible, were removed and destroyed. Josiah purged the land of false worship. He reintroduced the Passover, because it had been many years since the people had kept it. He also got rid of necromancers and mediums (people who tried to raise people from the dead or speak to the dead).

But it wasn't enough. As far as God was concerned, Judah's disobedience was too deep and had gone too far. Josiah was killed by the Pharoah of Egypt, and his son, Jehoahaz, replaced him. Jehoahaz was a wicked king and despite all the changes that Josiah had made, he went back to worshipping other gods. Then the Pharoah of Egypt came up, conquered Judah, captured Jehoahaz, and put his brother Eliakim (now to be known as Jehoiakim) in his place, so he could lead Judah for Pharoah.

Jehoiakim would give Pharoah regular taxes of silver. Then the Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came and defeated Egypt, so Jehoiakim started giving those taxes to Babylon instead. After a while, Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylon and stopped paying his taxes, so God sent various different tribes to attack and raid Judah.

After Jehoiakim came his son Jehoiachin. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, comes up to Jerusalem and conquers it, this time taking all the nobility and skilled people out of Jerusalem and leading them into captivity back to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar puts Mattaniah in charge of what is left of Jerusalem and renames him Zedekiah.

But Zedekiah also rebels against Babylon, and this time Nebuchadnezzar comes back to finish the job. He destroys Jerusalem and the temple. He takes all of its riches; silver and gold. He takes the rest of the people and brings them into exile as well. The kingdom of Judah is no more.

Even though we saw this coming, this is a devastating and surprising end to 1 and 2 Kings. There are so many questions left unanswered. God promised David that one of his descendants would reign forever. Now there is no kingdom, let alone a king. How is God going to keep his promise? What about his promise to Abraham? He promised Abraham that his descendants would be a mighty nation that would bless the rest of the world.

Well, that nation split into two separate kingdoms, and both kingdoms have now been destroyed. All these questions are meant to be whizzing round our heads. But the very end of the book ends with a brief glimmer of hope.

After king Nebuchadnezzar, comes a new king of Babylon, Evil-merodach (his name is unfortunate). This new king releases Jehoiachin from captivity, invites him to eat at the king's table every day, and gives him an allowance of money to live of every day. It's a minor thing. But it's there to let us know God has not forgotten his people. 

And this brings us to the end of the Deuteronomistic books. We started in Deuteronomy, on the far side of the river Jordan, reiterating the covenant between God and his people. This was summarised in obedience leads to blessing and disobedience leads to curses. Then in Joshua we read as the people entered the promised land and start to remove the Canaanites from it. Unfortunately, they didn’t finish the job and in Judges, we saw how the Israelites let themselves adopt the wicked ways of the Canaanites. We read of various different judges who rose up to lead Israel, but ultimately saw their decline into wickedness.

Ruth gave us an example of God’s redemptive power, and then 1-2 Samuel saw the birth of the kingdom. We saw the rise of Saul, David, and then Solomon. These three kings defeated Israel’s enemies and brought order and peace. But we’ve now read through 1-2 Kings where we’ve seen the kingdom split in two, and once again the Israelites allow themselves to take on the wicked practices of the other nations as they became more and more depraved.

Now, with all God’s people in exile, we’re left with the stark consequences of human wickedness, and the smallest glimmer of hope that God will still somehow make this all right.

Psalm 108

This psalm is attributed to king David and falls into the category of praise psalm. It is a reworking of Psalm 57 and Psalm 60. Psalm 108:1-5 almost directly quotes Psalm 57:7-11, while Psalm 108:6-13 almost directly quotes Psalm 60:5-12. Both these psalms are lament psalms, and so it is noteworthy that this psalmist repurposes them into a praise psalm.

Psalm 108:1-5 - Exalt God before all the nations for his steadfast love

Psalm 108:6-9 - God redeems his people from their enemies

Psalm 108:10-13 - Victory comes from God

The psalmist starts with praise to God, because it is in God they have become steady. They will start the day with praise for God, almost awaking the dawn itself with their praise.

They will praise God in public, letting other people know of all that God has done. This includes people of other nations. Why? Because he is a loving and faithful God. So the psalmist exalts God on high over all the earth.

This praise turns the psalmist to future victories. They recall God’s promise to them. He starts by saying he will divide up Shechem and the Vale or Succoth. These are both place that Jacob/Israel visited as entered back into the land of Canaan (Genesis 33:17-19).

He then lists places in Israel from north to south. Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Judah all belong to him. In short, God is in control over his land.

God then turns to Israel’s enemies and discredits them. Moab, Edom, and Philistia will all submit to his authority. Who could defeat God and lead him to submit to these nations?

The psalmist asks for God to go with them in future battles. Help us defeat our enemies because we can’t do it in our own strength. If God were to go with them, they would see victory and defeat their enemies.

This psalm was likely written after the exile when the people have returned to the land. They have experienced the victory that the generations before them were asking God for. To celebrate this, they take the lament psalms of the previous generation and repurpose them as praise psalms, to celebrate the very answer to prayer the lament psalms had been asking for.

This new psalm affirms the authority that God has over all nations, and celebrates and praises him for it.

God then turns to Israel’s enemies and discredits them. Moab, Edom, and Philistia will all submit to his authority. Who could defeat God and lead him to submit to these nations?

The psalmist asks for God to go with them in future battles. Help us defeat our enemies because we can’t do it in our own strength. If God were to go with them, they would see victory and defeat their enemies.

This psalm was likely written after the exile when the people have returned to the land. They have experienced the victory that the generations before them were asking God for. To celebrate this, they take the lament psalms of the previous generation and repurpose them as praise psalms, to celebrate the very answer to prayer the lament psalms had been asking for.

This new psalm affirms the authority that God has over all nations, and celebrates and praises him for it.