2 Kings Chapter 21 Manasseh starts reigning over Judah at the age of twelve and continues for fifty-five years. Unlike his father, he’s a bad king. He rebuilds the high places that Hezekiah had demolished, builds altars to foreign gods in the Temple, and brings back the worship of sacred poles and of Baal. He […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 20 When Hezekiah grows sick and near death, Isaiah comes to him and tells him that God says it’s his time to die. Hezekiah weeps and prays to God, asking him to remember Hezekiah’s service and faithfulness. God sends a message to Isaiah, saying that he’ll add fifteen years onto Hezekiah’s life. […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 19 Hezekiah is disturbed by his servants’ news, tears his own clothes (man, doesn’t anyone respect the threads around here?), dons sackcloth and ash, and heads into the Temple. He sends Shebna, Eliakim, and some priests to talk to the prophet Isaiah. They ask Isaiah to say a prayer to God to […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 18 In the third year of Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Ahaz’s son Hezekiah rules as king in Judah. Unlike his father, Hezekiah is a good king. In fact, he’s an uncommonly good king. Beginning at age twenty-five, he reigns twenty-nine more years, during which time he removes the sacred poles, pillars, and […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 17 Twelve years into Ahaz’s reign in Judah, Hoshea starts up as king in Israel. He continues doing evil religious practices—presumably the “sins of Jeroboam”—but he apparently wasn’t as bad as the kings who came before him. He reigns for nine years and becomes a vassal of the King of Assyria. However, […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 16 Ahaz is, however, a bad king, breaking Judah’s record of good kings up to this point. He even goes so far as to sacrifice his son in fire (probably to the god Moloch) and worships at various unsavory, polytheistic locations: trees and hills and so on. But King Rezin of Aram […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 15 Twenty-seven years into Jeroboam II’s reign in Israel, King Azariah starts his reign in Judah. He’s sixteen when he starts his reign and rules for fifty-two years. He continues the righteousness of his father, but also doesn’t take away the high places. But Azariah is struck with leprosy and lives in […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 14 In the second year of Jehoash’s reign in Israel, Joash’s son Amaziah starts to reign in Judah. He begins when he’s twenty-five and keeps on for twenty-nine years. Like his father, he’s a good king. Still, he’s not like David since he still permits sacrifices at the high places. He has […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 13 Twenty-three years into Joash’s reign, Jehoahaz succeeds his father Jehu as the new king of Israel. Like his dad, he doesn’t do what’s right in the eyes of God. He still follows the sins of Jeroboam. God gets angry. He lets first Hazael of Aram and later his son Ben-Hadad attack […]
MORE ...2 Kings Chapter 12 Joash starts reigning seven years into Jehu’s reign and continues for forty years. He ends up being one of the somewhat rare good kings, since Jehoiada guides him. However, he still doesn’t end worship at the high places—which the narrator thinks needs to go. Joash orders the priests to use the […]
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