Gold for the heart - 2 Kings 15-17

2Kings15

God struck the king with leprosy

1 In the 27^th year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah, king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; 4 Except the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places. 5 And the LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper until the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house. And Jotham, the king’s son, was over the house, judging the people of the land.

God’s first concern is man’s heart.
This king did right in God’s eyes. So the leprosy was not because of sin.

John 15:2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

6 And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 7 So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his place. 8 In the 38^th year of Azariah king of Judah, Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months.

Samaria was the northern kingdom of Israel.
The record of the kings switches between the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel.
They were two separate nations at that time.
God divided them after the reign of Solomon.

9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. 10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, struck him before the people, killed him, and reigned in his place. 11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 12 This was the word of the LORD that he spoke to Jehu saying, Your sons will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.

God always fulfills His word.
This was promised to Jehu in 2 Kings 10:30.

Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the 39^th year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. 14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, came to Samaria, and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, killed him, and reigned in his place. 15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 16 Then Menahem struck Tiphsah, and all that were in it, and the borders of it from Tirzah: because they did not open to him, so he struck it; and he ripped up all the women in it that were with child.

Azariah did right in the eyes of the Lord and reigned 52 years says v 2.
But Shallum only reigned 2 months.

17 In the 39^th year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. 18 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD: all his days he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

Psalm 91 reveals all the protection God gives those who abide in Him.
Promotion and blessing come from God.
The sin of Jeroboam was the two golden calves.
Notice that the ruler who led the people in false worship ‘made the people sin.’

2Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods except me.

19 And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. 20 And Menahem got the money from Israel, from all the mighty men of wealth, fifty shekels of silver from each man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay in the land.

The king taxed the rich people in the land to raise the protection money.

21 And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 22 And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place. 23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. 24 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. 25 But Pekah, the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and struck him in Samaria, in the palace of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh, and fifty men of the Gileadites: he killed him, and reigned in his place. 26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

The two golden calves again.
Pekahiah led the people into false worship.
That leads to eternal death.
That makes such a king worse than a murderer.
It makes him an eternal murderer.

Psalm 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

27 In the 52^nd year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. 28 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. 29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, came and seized Ijon, Abel-beth-maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

Assyria brought God’s discipline to correct all the evil and injustice of His people.
When laws are not God’s laws that nation makes people sin.
Israel was God’s nation on earth.
They were to give out the amazing treasure of His love to the whole world. Instead, they became filled with evil.

30 And in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah, Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, struck him, killed him, and reigned in his place. 31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. 33 He was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. 34 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 However the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD. 36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

God sent an enemy against the southern kingdom of Israel

37 In those days the LORD began to send Rezin the king of Syria against Judah, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. 38 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and his son Ahaz reigned in his place.

Judges 5:8 They chose new gods; then war was in the gates…

2 Kings 16

God considers child sacrifice an abomination

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. 3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.

God preserved obedient kings for long reigns.
Leviticus 18 lists the abomination for which God cast the people out of the land of Canaan.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. 6 At that time Rezin, king of Syria, recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elath: the Syrians came to Elath, and lived there until this day. 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria saying, I am your servant and your son: come, save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, that rise up against me. 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

Instead turning back to God and asking God to fight for them, he hired another army.
Because of their idolatry, God was fighting against them.
They paid off evil instead of trusting God and making it right.

9 The king of Assyria listened to him: the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, captured it, carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin. 10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar, and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. 11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: Urijah the priest had it ready when king Ahaz returned from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar: the king approached the altar, and offered on it. 13 And he burned his burnt offering, his food offering, poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

Remember in verse 2 that God is called ‘the LORD his God.’
This king was offering sacrifices to God.
He was offering the offerings that pictured the work of Jesus Christ for our salvation, on a heathen altar that he’d copied from Damascus.

14 And he took the bronze altar, which was before the LORD, from the front of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar. 15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest saying, On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening food offering, the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his food offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their food offering, their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the bronze altar will be for me to inquire by. 16 Urijah the priest did this, according to all king Ahaz commanded. 17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stones. 18 And the covered pathway for the sabbath that they built in the house, and the king’s outside entrance, he removed from the house of the LORD because of the king of Assyria. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

God had given Moses and Israel all the instructions for worshipping Him.
The Holy Spirit had given David the pattern for everything at Solomon’s temple (1 Chronicles 28:11, 12).
Ahaz made big changes.
The altar that portrayed Christ’s death for the sin of the world, Ahaz used for divination.

Deuteronomy 8:1 All the commandments I command you this day you are to observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to your fathers. 6 Therefore you are to keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7 For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9 A land where you will eat bread without scarceness, you will not lack anything in it. 11 Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, his judgments, and his statutes, which I command you this day:19 And it will be, if you do at all forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you will surely perish. 20 As the nations that the LORD destroyed before your face, so will you perish; because you would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

Luke 6:46 And why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say?

2 Kings 17

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hoshea, the son of Elah began to reign over Israel in Samaria for nine years. 2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. 3 Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against him; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him gifts/paid tribute money. 4 But the king of Assyria discovered a conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no gift to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

When Hoshea quit paying the tribute money and hired the army of he king of Egypt against Salmaneser, then the King of Assyria took Hoshea and put him in prison.
Samaria is the northern kingdom of Israel.
They were captured and taken out of the Promised Land into Assyria.

Psalm 107:10 those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; 11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the most High:

God let His people be taken captive that they might return to Him

7 For the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 8 and walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 9 The children of Israel secretly did those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built themselves high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

10 And they set up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:

God is life and the Maker of all life.
He is holy and cannot bless evil or anything that comes from it.
But He can turn it to good if we will.

Deuteronomy 30:1 And when all these things are come upon you, the blessing and the curse, that I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 And return to the LORD your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul; 3 Then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If any of yours are driven out to the outmost parts of heaven, the LORD your God will gather you from there, and he will bring you from there: 5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, and you will possess it; he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.

11 And there they burned incense in all the high places, as the heathen did whom the LORD carried away before them; and worked wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 12 they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, You will not do this thing. 13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets and by all the seers saying, Turn from your evil ways, keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

Imagine being called into the eternal court of heaven and the witness against you is God Himself.
The LORD testified against Israel.
God is provoked to anger because He loves us so much and wants to bless mightily.
When we follow evil He must discipline.
Much suffering is caused by the evil that we follow.

Psalm 96:5 all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

14 However they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, so that they did not remain faithful to the LORD their God. 15 They rejected his statutes, his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies that he testified against them; they followed empty things, and became empty, and went after the heathen that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, Do not do like them. 16 They left all the commandments of the LORD their God and made molten images, two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Leviticus 18 lists all the abominations of the nations of Canaan that god forbid His people.
They burned their children to death to their false gods.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

18 Therefore the LORD was furious with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: none were left except the tribe of Judah. 19 Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel that they made. 20 The LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

Israel was God’s light to the world to give out His wondrous truth and love.
They followed evil and became darkness instead.
So He rejected and afflicted all of them.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

21 For he tore Israel away from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. 22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did; they did not depart from them; 23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. 24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Ava, from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the its cities.

Notice that the leader made the people sin. Leadership carries great responsibility before God. Assyrians came and dwelt in God’s nation.

The Lord sent lions among them

25 And it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD: so the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria saying, The nations that you have removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land: so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land. 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded saying, Take back there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and live there, and let him teach them the customs of the God of the land. 28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how to fear the LORD.

1Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:

Psalm111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all those that do his commandments: his praise endures for ever.

29 However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they dwelt. 30 And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

Burning children is a horrible blasphemy inspired by evil.

Matthew 18:6 But whoever will offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

32 So they feared the LORD, and made for themselves priests for the high places from among themselves, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the custom of the nations whom they carried away from there. 34 To this day they do the former customs: they do not fear the LORD, or do the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law and commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; 35 With whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them saying, You are not to fear other gods, bow yourselves to them, serve them, or sacrifice to them: 36 But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, fear him, and worship him, and sacrifice to him. 37 You are to observe to do for evermore the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you; you are not to fear other gods. 38 You will not forget the covenant I made with you; or fear other gods. 39 But you are to fear the LORD your God; and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. 40 However they did not listen, but did their former custom. 41 So these nations feared the LORD, and served their carved images, both their children, and their children’s children: as their fathers did, they do to this day.

God demonstrated His superiority over all the false gods of Egypt.
He showed them that He is the Maker of all things, by controlling all things as was demonstrated by the ten plagues.
Jesus proved who He was in the same way.
The miracles that He did showed His total power over all things.

Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom you are to fear: Fear him, who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, Fear him.

SUMMARY: 2 Kings 15-17

The LORD struck the king with leprosy
He sent an enemy to bring the people back to the place of blessing
God considers child sacrifice an abomination
He had His people taken captive to turn them back to Him
He sent lions among the new people to get their attention