2 Kings — Introduction - The Book that Details the Destruction of the Kingdom.

The Bible Project Daily Podcast is a daily, in-depth study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Episode Notes:  Introduction -  2 Kings: The Book that Details the Destruction of the Kingdom.

Today, we begin a new chapter in the next stage of our journey through the whole bible, as we step from 1 Kings into 2 Kings. 

2 Kings is a book that stands like a solemn monument in the overall landscape of the bible. If 1 Kings is the book of decline, 2 Kings is the book of collapse. If 1 Kings shows the cracks forming in the kingdom, 2 Kings shows the walls finally giving way.

This is not a cheerful book, but it is a necessary one, and it is profoundly relevant for our times.

Transcript

2 Kings — The Book that Details the Destruction of the Kingdom.

Today we begin a new chapter in the next stage of our journey through the whole bible, spiritually and literally, as we step from 1 Kings into 2 Kings.

2 Kings is a book that stands like a solemn monument in the overall landscape of the bible. If 1 Kings is the book of decline, 2 Kings is the book of collapse. If 1 Kings shows the cracks forming in the kingdom, 2 Kings shows the walls finally giving way.

This is not a cheerful book, but it is a necessary one, and it is profoundly relevant for our times.

Introduction: One Book, One Story, One Tragedy.

Originally, 1 and 2 Kings were a single volume — one continuous historical narrative. The division into two books came later, largely for practical reasons. The split occurred when the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek.

Together, the books of Kings pick up where Samuel left off. They trace the story of Israel from the height of its glory under Solomon to the ashes of its destruction under Nebuchadnezzar. They show us:

The division of the kingdom,

The decline of both Israel and Judah,

The fall of the northern kingdom, followed by the collapse of the southern kingdom, and the dispersion of God’s people into exile.

If 1 Kings was a slow descent, 2 Kings is the crash at the bottom.

This is why many scholars whom I read in my preparation for this series, people like Keil and Delitzsch, to modern commentators like Iain Provan and Dale Ralph Davis, all describe 2 Kings as “the theological obituary of a nation.”

But it is not merely a record of political failure. It is also a record of spiritual failure. And yet, and this is important, it is also a record of God’s faithfulness, even in judgment. As the great Puritan Bible Commentary by Matthew Henry put it:

“When God judges, He remembers mercy; and when He scatters, He also sows.”

2 Kings is the book where God uproots His people, but it is also the book where He begins to plant them again.

Author — The Voice Behind the Story.

Jewish tradition attributes the writing of Kings to Jeremiah, and there are compelling reasons to take that seriously.

Firstly, the literary style is strikingly similar.

The tone, vocabulary, and theological emphases in Kings are similar to Jeremiah’s writing. Both books emphasise covenant faithfulness and highlight the sins of the kings.  They also show the inevitability of judgment, and end with the same historical event. (More on that later)

Secondly, the closing chapter of 2 Kings is nearly identical to Jeremiah 52.

This is not a coincidence; in fact, it suggests a shared author or at least a shared editorial hand.

Thirdly, Jeremiah lived through the events described.

Some argue that Jeremiah died in Egypt before the final scenes of Kings. But ancient Jewish sources, including the Talmud, say Jeremiah lived into his 90s. If so, he could easily have witnessed or recorded the release of Jehoiachin in Babylon.

And finally, the omissions make sense only if Jeremiah wrote it.

If someone other than Jeremiah wrote Kings, why would they omit Jeremiah’s own ministry, his confrontations with the kings, and his role in the fall of Jerusalem?

The simplest explanation is the best one being that Jeremiah didn’t include himself because he was the author.

As the scholar Gleason Archer put it: “The theological perspective of Kings is unmistakably that of Jeremiah.”

Now, can we prove this with absolute certainty?

No…. But the evidence points strongly in that direction.

And if Jeremiah wrote Kings, then this book is not merely a history; it is pastoral prophecy written by a man who watched his nation burn and still clung to the promises of God.

Recipients: 

So, who was the book written too?

2 Kings is a book written to broken people.

If Jeremiah wrote or completed Kings in Babylon, then the original recipients were the Jewish exiles themselves, the people carried away by Nebuchadnezzar.

People sitting by the rivers of Babylon, grieving the loss of their land and wondering if God had abandoned them. Asking themselves why everything went so wrong.

To those people, this book was written because it asks and answers the burning questions of the exile.

Why did this happen?

Where did we go wrong?

Is God finished with us?

Is there any hope left?

And the books of the King's answer those questions, saying this happened because of sin. But it also says God is not finished with you, and his judgment is not the end of the story.

Among those exiles were Daniel and Ezekiel, two men who shaped the spiritual life of the nation in captivity. Daniel even refers directly to Jeremiah’s writings (Daniel 9:2), showing that the exiles had access to these texts.

And during the era covered by 2 Kings, we will see God raise up a remarkable group of prophets:

Elisha in Israel,

Amos and Hosea in the north,

Also, Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah in Judah.

It was a generation overflowing with prophetic voices, and yet the nation still fell.

As one commentator I read said:

“When a nation falls with prophets on every corner, the problem is not the lack of truth but the refusal to hear it.”

2 Kings is written to remind the exiles, and us today, that God always speaks before He judges, and He always preserves a remnant even when the nation collapses.

Now that we’ve set the stage by identifying the author, the audience and the historical moment, we need to ask the big question:

The Message:

What is the message of 2 Kings…. What is this book trying to say?

Because 2 Kings is not just a history book. It’s not just an archive of ancient kings and forgotten battles; it is a spiritual commentary on the collapse of a nation, and if you read it closely, it can speak with a voice that sounds eerily contemporary.

The core message of 2 Kings is that disobedience always destroys people individually and collectively, and if you were to boil the entire book down to one thought, it would be this.

It also tells us that disobedience always leads to decay, defeat, and destruction. That’s the core message of 2 Kings.

The book is not written to entertain us with royal dramas; it is written to explain why the kingdom fell.

As Dale Ralph Davis puts it: “Kings is not about political failure; it is about covenant failure.”

The kings didn’t lose their thrones because Assyria was strong or Babylon was clever; they lost their thrones because they abandoned the Lord.

And the book shows this in slow motion, king after king, choice after choice, compromise after compromise.

Christopher Wright says:

“The exile was not a historical accident. It was a theological inevitability.”

That’s the message of 2 Kings.

But there’s another side to the message — a quieter, gentler thread woven alongside the main theme because we can also see that even in judgment, God is faithful.

And even in collapse, God preserves a remnant, and even in exile, God is not finished with his people.

We see this in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha.

We also see it in the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah, and we will see it in the final paragraph of the book, which documents for us the release of Jehoiachin and flickers as a tiny glimpse of hope in the darkness.

As Walter Kaiser says:

“The last paragraph of Kings is a whisper of grace in a world of judgment.”

So, the message is twofold:

Sin destroys…. But God preserves…. Judgment is real…. But so is God’s mercy.

And 2 Kings holds both these truths in tension.

But how does the book communicate that message?

It does it through the reigns of these kings.

2 Kings is structured a little bit like a long procession, one king after another stepping onto the stage, ruling, failing, and stepping off again.

And the book is very selective, it doesn’t tell us everything each king did, but it does tell us what matters spiritually.

As Iain Provan notes:

“Kings is not interested in political achievement but in covenant fidelity.”

So, the book moves forward with a rhythm you’ll hear again and again:

“In the ___ year of King ___, so‑and‑so became king…”

It’s like a drumbeat, a steady march toward judgment.

And as we walk through this book together, we’re going to follow that rhythm, but we’re also going to slow down where the text slows down,

linger where the Spirit lingers. Because we need to pay attention to the stories the writer highlights.

Because those stories — especially the ministries of Elijah and Elisha are where the story of God is seen at its brightest and clearest.

The Road Ahead — So, How Will We Travel Through 2 Kings?

So, let me give you a sense of the journey we’re about to take.

2 Kings divides naturally into two major movements:

1st Movement: The Destruction of the Northern Kingdom (Chapters 1–17)

This is the story of Israel — the northern kingdom spiralling downward until Assyria finally sweeps them away.

Along the way, we’ll meet:

·         Ahaziah — who falls through a lattice and sends messengers to the wrong god.

·         Jehoram — and the breathtaking ministry of Elisha, filled with miracles, mercy, and judgment.

·         Jehu — the wild chariot driver who wipes out Ahab’s house.

·         Athaliah — the murderous queen who nearly destroys the Davidic line.

·         Jeroboam II — under whom Israel prospers outwardly but rots inwardly.

·         Hoshea — the last king of Israel, presiding over the final collapse.

And then comes chapter 17, one of the most important chapters in the Old Testament, where the writer pauses to explain why Israel fell.

We will slow down at that point, and we will sit and spend more time in those chapters because they are the theological heart of the book.

Then the 2nd Movement: The Destruction of the Southern Kingdom (Chapters 18–25)

Then the focus shifts south to Judah.

Here we meet:

·         Hezekiah — one of the greatest kings Judah ever had.

·         Manasseh — one of the worst kings Judah ever had.

·         Josiah — the reformer who tries to turn the tide.

·         Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah — the final tragic kings who led Judah into Babylon.

And then the book ends with:

The burning of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, the exile of the people, and finally a small, surprising note of hope in Jehoiachin being released from prison in Babylon.

It’s as if the writer is saying: “Judgment has fallen…. But God is not finished.”

In the episodes ahead, we’re going to initially trace the rise and fall of each king mentioned. We will also explore the miracles and messages of Elisha and pause at the spiritual high points. Hopefully, along the way, we will also draw out the lessons for our own spiritual lives whilst at the same time keeping our eyes on the thread of hope running through the ruins.

Because 2 Kings is not just about ancient Israel, it is about us as individuals, and it is about the posture of our own hearts and the consequences of drifting from God.

It’s also about the faithfulness of God, even when His people are faithless.

As Dale Ralph Davis says:

“Kings is a book for people living in the ruins, people who need to know that God is still God.”

And that’s why we’re studying it.

Tomorrow, we step into chapter one and see a nation on the brink

Let me tell you, 2 Kings does not ease us in gently. There’s no warm-up lap. No gentle introduction. The book begins with a jolt.

It opens with a king in crisis, a prophet confronting idolatry, and a nation already sliding toward the cliff’s edge.

This is not a slow burn; this is a spark landing in dry grass.

The very first words of 2 Kings are: “Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.”

That one sentence tells you everything you need to know about the state of the kingdom, and from that point onwards things don’t improve; in fact, the cracks begin to widen.

The vassal states sense weakness, and the political structure begins to wobble. And when the spiritual foundations crumble, the political walls always follow.

And that’s exactly what we see. Ahaziah inherits a kingdom already weakened by decades of idolatry, compromise, and spiritual drift. And instead of turning back to the Lord, he continues the downward slide.

A King and a nation fall, literally and spiritually

Ahaziah is a king who has fallen spiritually; he is a king who has no stability in his soul, and now he has no stability in his palace.

Will he seek the Lord, or will he seek another god?

This is the king of Israel, the king of the covenant people, and the king who has access to the God who parted the Red Sea.

A king with access to the God who fed them in the wilderness, who defeated their enemies, and who sent fire from heaven on Mount Carmel.

And he chooses to reach out to a Philistine idol.

This is the spiritual climate of the nation as 2 Kings begins.

A king who will not seek the Lord, a people who have forgotten the Lord and a kingdom already cracking under the weight of its own rebellion.

But into that darkness, God will send prophets who will ask the almost ironic question, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub?”

That question is the theme of the entire book.

Is there no God in Israel?

Is God not enough?

Is His Word not sufficient?

Is His covenant not binding?

As Matthew Henry wrote:

“Those who will not bow to God’s Word must burn under God’s judgment.”

2 Kings begins with a king who refuses to call on the Lord, and it will end with a king and a people carried away in chains.

That is the trajectory of the book. But — and this is important — woven through the judgment is a thread of grace.

A remnant will be preserved.

A promise will be remembered.

A king will be released from prison.

And God promises a Messiah will come and save His people.

So, that is where we’re headed.

Outro:

So, join me for the first full episode on 2 Kings tomorrow as we begin to explore what it means to seek the Lord, what it means to ignore Him, and how this ancient story speaks directly into our modern world.

I hope you’ll join me as we begin this journey through one of the most sobering — and most important — books in the Old Testament.

Until then, stay close to the Word,

and stay close to the God who still speaks through His Word….