Chapter 1
Moving into a new book, the last of the historical books. (Well that first sentence does not seem correct. Both Chronicles are historical books too. Some repetition for sure, but still historical.) Yesterday's reading was mostly about the Southern Kingdom, today we switch to the north.
2 Kings is a continuation from where 1 Kings left off.
Ahab dies and Ahaziah becomes King in Israel. He falls through a lattice and is injured. He sends people to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, as to whether he will live. Elijah meets those sent to inquire on the way and prophesies that Ahaziah will die in that bed and never come down. Elijah's words are "Is there no God in Israel that you have to inquire of Baal-zebub in Ekron?" Very sarcastic. This also shows again that Elijah survives Ahab and Jezebel and is still active into Ahaziah's reign.
2022 - Ekron was one of the five principle cities of the Philistines. The name of their God may well be the origin of our word Beelzebub, as theirs was "Baal-zebub". I note also that Ahaziah does not inquire of the god of Moab, since they were at war at the time. Almost like he is willing to inquire of any god but God. Why is that?
This verse:
8 They answered him, "He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist." And he said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite." [2Ki 1:8 ESV] Same as John the Baptist. Are their other similarities between them? Well...there pretty much have to be some books written that compare the two. After all John was the "one like Elijah" who was to come.
Ahaziah sends 50 men to get Elijah. Fire comes down and consumes all 50. Happens a second time. Elijah also called down fire on the altar when he contested with the prophets of Baal in Ahab's time. John the Baptist never did this. However, the two witnesses in Jerusalem in Revelation are able to call down fire as I recall, and Elijah is taken to heaven in a whirlwind. He does not die.
2022 - Calling down fire is a big deal. So far as the Bible is concerned, up through the present day, only true prophets have ever been able to do this. But in Revelation, once the Man of Sin is in power, false prophets will also be able to call down fire, and will deceive many when they do so. The fire will be seen as evidence that they are from God. I need to look this up and see if it comes in that period between the revealing of the Man of Sin and his true source of power and the rapture. That is the time that will be cut short lest all men die. There should be a correlation. Here are the verses:
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. [Rev 13:11-14 ESV]. Out of the earth, so this is a man, not an angel, who has this power. This is the high priest of the Man of Sin. It is hard to say exactly at what time he will be on earth, so hard to say whether he is deceiving those remaining after the rapture, or this is that terrible time in between. Since it is in 13, and the rapture was in 6 or 7, you'd think later. But I think John in Revelation relates scenes in heaven, and then relates how those events in heaven are played out on the earth. So there are "stacked visions", one of each place, and these have to be separated in order to understand the events. I really need to get back to my Revelation notes and organize them all.
The Captain of the third 50 goes to Elijah, but begs to be spared. This time, an angel tells Elijah to go with them, and Elijah goes to Ahaziah. Elijah repeats the prophesy, and Ahaziah dies. Jehoram becomes King in his place. Jehoram was also King in Judah. A different Jehoram? Ahaziah had no son. In Chronicles, we see that Athaliah his mother took over, but a young son of Ahaziah is hidden away and becomes King later with the help of Jehoiada the priest. (This was all in the south though...again, I am very confused.) So what does it mean saying Jehoram becomes King in Israel? MSB says they are two different Jehoram's. The one in the north is another son of Ahab. See 2K3:1. It is pretty clear in this verse:
17 So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. [2Ki 1:17 ESV]
So Jehoram became King in Israel in the second year of Jehoram King of Judah. Same name at the same time. The one in the north is a second son of Ahab - we don't yet know who his mother was. Were there also two Ahaziah's?
2021 - I think it is interesting that Elijah called down fire in the case of the prophets of Baal, and now he calls down fire twice when soldiers are sent to get him. Elijah means "My God is Jehovah", not "I call down fire". I remember that passage in the NT where the apostles ask Jesus if he wants them to call down fire. Surely that is a reference to Elijah that I had not seen before. Here is the verse, and it most definitely looks back to Elijah: 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" [Luk 9:54 ESV] In the KJV, Elias is mentioned by name. Is it really t here??? 54 And when his disciples James and John saw [this], they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? [Luk 9:54 KJV]. It appears to be in the Textus Receptus but not the mGNT - the Elias part.
2023 - Double checked this. Elias is included in the TR, but is not present in the mGNT. The implication is that older manuscripts do not have that part in them. Someone decided to insert it so it would tie back to the OT. Then older manuscripts were found that did not include the reference to Elias. Dead Sea Scrolls may be the reason for this change.
Per the chart I have, it was Jehoshaphat, Jehoram - who was married to Athaliah who was Ahab's daughter, Ahaziah son of Athaliah, then Athaliah the Queen, followed by Joash the son of Ahaziah rescued and hidden away for seven years in the Temple by Johoiada the high priest in the South.
Jehoahaz is said to be Jehoram's youngest son in 2Ch 21:17. Then 2Ch 22:1 says Ahaziah , his (Jehoram's) youngest son, was made King in his place. How can he have two "youngest" sons??? Unless one was born right after the Arabians looted the place...but it says they took his wives, too. Found this in 2Ch 22:9 about the death of Ahaziah:
9 He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, "He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart." And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom. [2Ch 22:9 ESV] I still don't get this. This is two mornings now that I have bogged completely down here.
There is a note in MSB for 2Ch 22:1-6, that makes it look like Jehoahaz and Ahaziah in the South are one and the same, and refers me to the notes at 2Ki 8:25-29, but all that note says is that there was an Ahaziah in each kingdom - which I already figured out. It does not explain how J and A are the same person. Apparently, you have to link them up because they are BOTH said to be Youngest son of Jehoram and there can only be one person who meets that criteria- so it is the same person. Dropping the discussion right here.
In the north, it was Ahab, Ahaziah, Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz and Joash. So will again see Kings with the same name, Joash, a bit later. Ahaziah in the north, dies after a fall, and this Ahaziah has no son, so Joram (Jehoram in 2Ki 1:17) becomes King in his place. I believe Joram is a different son of Ahab, but hopefully we will figure that out as we go.