KINGS 2

CHAPTER 1: AHAZIAH DIES

• Ahaziah King of Israel injures himself and sends messengers to Baal-Zebub to consult with him whether he will recover.
• On the way the messengers are confronted by Elijah who asks them is it because there is no God in Israel that you go to consult Baal-Zebub? He then informs them to tell Ahaziah that he will surely die.
• The messengers return to Israel and inform Ahaziah of Elijah’s message. Ahaziah then sends out a company of men to seize Elijah. When the men arrive Elijah says if I am a Man of God the lord will send down fire to consume you. Fire comes down and consumes them.
• Ahaziah sends another company of men, and the same outcome occurs.
• Ahaziah sends a third company of men, but these men bow before Elijah. Elijah then goes with them to King.
• Elijah tells the King he will die because the Lord left him and he sent messengers to Ball-Zebub.
• Ahaziah dies, and because he has no Son his brother Joram succeeds him.

CHAPTER 2: ELISHA SUCCEEDS ELIJAH

• Elijah and Elisha were on the road when Elijah warns Elisha that the Lord is going to take him up to heaven soon. He then attempts to leave Elisha behind multiple times, but Elisha insists on coming with Elijah.
• When Elijah reaches the Jordan river he strikes it with his cloak, and the water splits.
• Once they crossed Elijah asks Elisha if he can do anything for him before he dies. Elisha responds he wants a double portion of his spirt. Elijah replies that if he witnesses when the Lord takes him he will be granted his request.
• As they were walking along chariots of fire come down and take Elijah up to heaven.
• Elisha then tests to see whether he has received Elijah’s powers and strikes the Jordan river with his cloak to see if the waters separate. The waters do. Other prophets witness this and realize Elisha has inherited Elijah’s powers.
• The prophets believe Elijah may be still alive and go search for him, but cannot find him.
• Elisha is asked to heal water that is bad, and does.
• On his way to Bethel Elisha is jeered by children, Elisha then curses them and bears come and eat them.

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CHAPTER 3: MOAB REBELS

• After Joram becomes king, Moab rebels against Israel.
• Joram gathers the Israelites and assembles an army. He also recruits the King of Judah and Edom to fight with him. Together they march on Moab.
• On the way they run out of water and call on Elisha’s help. Elisha instructs them to dig ditches throughout the field. The next morning the field fills with water.
• The Moabites then attack the Israelites forces, but the Israelites drive them back and defeat them

CHAPTER 4: ELISHA’S MIRACLES

• The wife of one of Elisha’s servants who has died asks to Elisha to help her repay a debt her family owes. He asks what she has in her house. She say a little oil. Elisha then tells her to get as many jars as she can find and pour the oil into them. The woman pours oil into the jars until they all are full. Elisha then tells her to sell them and pay her debt.
• A Shunammite woman offers Elisha a place to stay at her and her husbands house. In return Elisha offers to help them but they decline. Elisha’s servant then suggest he makes her pregnant for she is childless. Elisha then tells the woman in a year she will give birth to a son. Later after the Son has grown he gets sick, and dies. The woman then tells Elisha, and Elisha heals their Son.
• There is a famine in the region of Gilgal and Elisha cooks a stew with unknown plants that his servants picked. A man then came with 20 loaves of bread, and Elisha tells him to give it to the men. The man does not believe it will be enough to feed 100, but Elisha claims it will be enough and there will be left overs.

CHAPTER 5: ELISHA HEALS NAAMAN

• Naaman who is the commander of the army of Aram has leprosy. A girl who serves Naaman’s wife tells Naaman there is a prophet in Samaria who can cure his leprosy. Naaman then contacts the King of Aram who tells him he will write to the King of Israel.
• When the King of Israel receives the letter he becomes confused and tears his robes in frustration because the letter asks him to cure Naaman’s disease, and does not refer to Elisha. The King wonders why the King of Aram thinks he has these powers.
• When Elisha hears the King has torn his robes, he sends him a message telling him to send the man with leprosy to him. Naaman comes to Elisha’s house.
• Elisha instructs Naaman to wash himself in in the Jordan river 7 times and he will be cured. Initially Naaman is unsatisfied with the form of cure that Elisha has offered, but his servants convince him to try it. When Naaman washes himself in the Jordan he is cured.
• Naaman’s servant offers Elisha a reward but he refuses it. Naaman and his servants then leave.
• Later Gehazi Elisha’s servant catches up to Naaman and asks for some of the reward without Elisha’s permission. When Gehazi returns to Elisha, Elisha rebukes him and tells him he will be cursed with leprosy.

CHAPTER 6: ELISHA’S MIRACLES

• Elisha travels with a group of other prophets to Jordan. Once they reach Jordan they began to cut down trees, but one of the axe heads falls into the water while cutting and it sinks. Elisha then causes it to float and they pick it up from the water.
• The King of Aram is at war with Israel and is attempting to ambush the Israelites, but Elisha always warns the King of Israel of their location. The King of Aram then sends a company of men to capture Elisha. When the men find Elisha, Elisha calls on the Lord and the Lord blinds the men. Elisha then leads the men to the King of Israel where they are treated with hospitality and then sent away.
• There is a famine in Samaria and the King of Aram attacks Samaria. The King of Israel is passing by a woman when she cries out to him that she is hungry, She then negotiates with the King that they should eat each other’s sons, but they should eat his first. The King agrees but after they eat his Son the woman hides her Son.
• The King then becomes angry with Elisha because he claims the famine is from the Lord.

CHAPTER 7: THE ARAMEANS RETREAT

• Elisha tells the King tomorrow the prices will drop on the food.
• The next day there are some men who have leprosy at the gates of Samaria. They decide to go surrender to the Arameans. When they reach the Arameans camp they find that the Arameans have retreated and left all their supplies behind. They report this to the King.
• The King then sends out an entourage of men to scout the situation the Arameans camp. They find that is empty with supplies left behind. The Israelites then plunder the camp and prices drop as Elisha predicted.

CHAPTER 8: KINGS

• After the famine the Shunammite woman who has been in Palestine subsisting returns. She begs the King of Israel to restore her land, and Gehazi vouches for her saying Elisha blessed her. The King restores her land.
• Elisha travels to Demascus where the Ben-Hadad king of Aram is ill. The King sends his servant Hazael to consult with Elisha about his sickness. Hazael ask Elisha whether his master will die? Elisha tells him he will die but not by sickness. He then tells Hazael he will become King of Aram and attack Israel. Hazael then goes back to Ben-Hadad and tells his he will not die by sickness, then kills him and becomes king.
• In Judah Jehoram succeeds Jehoshaphat as King and does evil in the eyes of the Lord. Under his rule the Edomites rebel.
• Jehoram’s son Ahaziah succeeds him as King and does evil in the eyes of the Lord. Ahaziah ally’s with Joram King of Israel and goes to war with Hazael King of Aram. In the battle Joram is injured and travels to Jezreel for safety.

CHAPTER 9: JEHU BECOMES KING

• Elisha orders one of his fellow prophets to travel to Ramoth Gilead and anoint Jehu King, and to order him to destroy the house of Ahab. The prophet does this.
• Jehu tells his officers the news and the proclaim him King.
• Jehu and his officers then travel to Jezreel where Joram is recovering from his injury. They kill Joram, and Ahaziah who is with him.
• Jehu then finds Jezebel and kills her too.

CHAPTER 10: JEHU’S PURGE

• Jehu sends messengers to the officials of Jezreel and instructs them to kill the family of Ahab under their protection if they are loyal to him. They kill them and present their heads to Jehu.
• Jehu then travels to Samaria. On his way he runs into some relatives of Ahaziah and kills them.
• When Jehu reaches Samaria he kills the rest of Ahab’s family.
• Jehu then tells the people he is going to serve the false God Baal just like Ahab, but this is actually trick. He then calls all the prophets of Baal to meet him. When they arrive they believe Jehu desires to serve Baal, then Jehu kills them.
• Jehu did not obey the laws of the Lord, and di evil. Under his reign Israel lost territory to the Arameans.

CHAPTER 11: JOASH BECOME KING

• When Athaliah mother of Ahaziah finds out he is dead she goes crazy and proclaims she is going to kill the whole royal family.
• Jehosheba Ahaziah’s sister then hides Joash Ahaziah’s at the temple of the Lord.
• After 7 years in hiding Jehoiada a priest at the temple calls the army to the temple and reveal Joash to them. They then proclaimed him King.
• When Athaliah hears of this she heads to the temple and Jehoiada orders her to be killed.

CHAPTER 12: JOASH REPAIRS THE TEMPLE

• Joash orders the priests to collect the money brought as offerings and use it repair the temple.
• After a few years Joash has seen no progress in the repair of the temple, so he order the priests to give the offerings directly to the construction workers and they will direct the repairs. The temple repairs begins to show progress.
• Hazael King of Aram captures Gath, and then attacks Jerusalem. Joash sends him tribute and Hazael then retreats.
• Eventually Joash’s officials conspire against him and have him murdered

CHAPTER 13: KINGS OF ISRAEL

• Jehoahaz son of Jehu becomes King of Israel. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Under his reign the Lord delivers Israel from the oppression of the Arameans.
• After Jehoahaz dies his son Jehoash becomes King. He also did evil in the eyes of the lord.
• Under Jehoash’s reign Elisha dies. However before he dies Jehoash visits him. During his visit Elisha instructs him to get a bow and shoot an arrow through the window. Elisha tells him this is the arrow of victory over Aram. He then instructs Jehoash to strike the ground. Jehoash strikes the ground 3 times and Elisha tells him this represents the amount of times he will defeat the Arameans.
• Hazael King of Aram eventually dies and his son Ben-Hadad succeeds him. Ben-Hadad is defeated in battle 3 times by Jehoash.

CHAPTER 14: KINGS

• After Joash King of Judah dies, his son Amaziah becomes King. He does what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
• Amaziah executes the official who have his father murdered.
• Amaziah defeats the Edomites.
• He then challenges Jehoash king of Israel. Israel defeats Judah.
• Later Amaziah is murdered by his people, and his Son succeeds him.
• In Israel Jeroboam II succeeds Jehoash as King. He does evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• Jeroboam II expands Israel’s border recapturing several cities.

CHAPTER 15: KINGS

• Azariah son of Amaziah becomes King of Judah. He did what is right in the eyes of the Lord. There are still some temples for other Gods that people worship at. Azariah is infected with leprosy.
• Zechariah son of Jeroboam becomes King of Israel. A man named Shallum assassinates him and becomes King.
• A man named Menahem assassinates Shallum and becomes King of Israel. He does evil in the eyes of the Lord. Pul King of Assyria invades Israel and Menahem pays him off.
• After the death of Menahem his son Pekahiah becomes King of Israel. One of his officers Pekah assassinates him and becomes King.
• Under Pekah Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria invades Israel and seizes large amounts of territory. Hoshea then assassinates Pekah and becomes King.
• Jothahm son of Azariah/Uzziah becomes King of Judah. He repairs part of the temple of the Lord. High places for other Gods are still in use. He does what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

CHAPTER 16: AHAZ

• Ahaz the son of Jotham becomes King of Judah. He does what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• Rezin the King of Aram and Pekah the King of Israel create an alliance and attack Judah. Ahaz then recruits Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria to attack the Aram-Israel alliance and pays him. Tiglath-Pileser complies.
• Ahaz meets with Tiglath-Pileser in Demascus. When he is there he notices an altar. He then instructs a priest named Uriah to build an identical altar in Judah. When he gets back to Judah he makes offering to the altar.

CHAPTER 17: ISRAEL IS EXILED

• Hoshea the King of Israel does evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• Shalmaneser King of Assyria attacks Israel after Hoshea stops paying tribute to him.
• The Israelites were then exiled and brought to Assyria, and other nations were brought to Israel to settle.
• These other nations did not worship the Lord, so lions were sent into Israel and killed many of them. The King of Assyria the brought back an Israelite priest to teach them, but they did not listen.
• This happened to Israel because they did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.

CHAPTER 18: HEZEKIAH

• Hezekiah son of Ahaz becomes King of Judah. Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
• Hezekiah destroyed all the temples and altars dedicated to other Gods.
• Sennacherib the King of Assyria attacks Israel, but Hezekiah offers to pay him off.
• Sennacherib sends the commander of his army to Judah in attempts to convince the Jews to submit to the King of Assyria. But they do not.

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CHAPTER 19: SENNACHERIB’S FALL

• Hezekiah is angry over what Sennacherib says and calls upon the Prophet Isaiah for council.
• Isaiah tells him not to worry he is going to put a spirit on Senna cherib and he will return to his own country and die.
• Hezekiah then prays to God, and Isaiah then informs Hezekiah of the words the Lord has spoken.
• That night and angel goes and kills 85,000 of the men in the Assyrian army. Sennacherib then retreats.
• When Sennacherib is back in Assyria he gets murdered by his sons Adramelech and Sharezer. His other Son Esarhaddon becomes King.

CHAPTER 20: HEZEKIAH’S ILLNESS

• Hezekiah becomes ill. He calls on Isaiah for consulting. Initially Isaiah says he will die. But after Hezekiah weeps to the Lord, Isaiah says the Lord has changed his mind, and his life will be extended 15 years.
• Merodach-Baladan the prince of Babylon sends Hezekiah gifts due to his illness. Hezekiah then invites the Babylonians to his palace and gives him a tour of the entire palace.
• Isaiah then confronts Hezekiah about his visitors, wondering who they were. Hezekiah tells him it was the Babylonians. Isaiah then warns Hezekiah that soon the Babylonians will conquer Judah.

CHAPTER 21: KINGS OF JUDAH

• After Hezekiah’s death his son Manasseh become King. Manasseh does what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• Manasseh rebuild the temples for other Gods, and sets up altars for them. Because of this the Lord promises Jerusalem will be conquered.
• After Manasseh’s death his son Amon becomes King of Judah. Amon does what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• His officials assassinate him. Then the Jews kill those officials, and make Josiah King.

CHAPTER 22: JOSIAH FINDS THE BOOK OF LAW

• Josiah the King of Judah orders that the temples are to be repaired.
• During the repairs Hilkiah the high priest finds the Book of Law and delivers it to Josiah.
• When Josiah reads he becomes furious because of all the sin the Jews are committing.
• Hilkiah and several other priest go seek council from a prophetess named Huldah who lives in Jerusalem. She tells them the Lord is going to bring disaster onto Judah.

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CHAPTER 23: JOSIAH RENEWS COVENANT

• Josiah reads the Book of Law to the Jews and renews the covenant.
• Josiah then tears down all the temples and altars in Judah.
• Even though Josiah completely gave his life to the Lord, the Lord still planned to destroy Judah.
• Later Josiah goes to war with Pharaoh Neco and is killed.
• Jehoahaz son of Josiah becomes King. He is Kidnapped by Pharaoh Neco and taken to Egypt.
• Pharaoh replaces Jehoahaz him with his brother Eliakim, whose name is forced to be changed to Jehoiakim

CHAPTER 24: BABYLON CONQUERS JUDAH

• During Jehoiakim’s reign Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon conquers Judah. Initially Jehoiakim becomes a vassal state, but eventually rebels. The Babylon army raids Judah.
• Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim becomes King. Jehoiachin and his family are captured in the 8the year of the raid. The Babylonians deported all the Jews to Babylon accept for the poorest.
• A man named Zedekiah became King in Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 25: BABYLON

• The Babylonians return to attack Jerusalem again. They capture Zedekiah and deport him and more Jews to Babylon.
• Gedaliah a Babylonian is appointed to rule over Judah. He is assassinated by Ishmael who is related to the Jewish royal family. After the assassination Ishmael flees to Egypt.
• In Babylon King Jehoiachin is released by Babylonian King Evil-Merodach who is Nebuchadnezzar’s son. Jehoiachin is treated for the rest of his life.