The End of II Kings, Decline and Destruction

 We cannot study this lesson without the big picture. Just taking a few verses out of context will not honor the Lord or the Word.

We can consider the last part of II Kings like a countdown to judgment.

722: The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom (Samaria) were conquered and destroyed by the King of Assyria (Syria area today), Sargon II. He was soon replaced by Shalmenesser and then Senacherib.

716-687:

• The king of Judah, Ahaz, the southern kingdom that were the direct descendants of David and Solomon (line of Jesus Christ), died. He was an evil king.

• Hezekiah becomes king at age 25. Hezekiah is commended in II Kings 18:3 and following, although he was not flawless. He removed idolatrous practices, one of them being the worship of the bronze serpent from Moses’ time (Numbers 21).

• He tried to stop paying tribute to the king of Assyria, which almost caused a war, and he had to make extensive back payments by stripping gold and silver from parts of the temple (not the worship utensils).

• The main prophet during Hezekiah’s time is Isaiah. Some of Hezekiah’s activities are described in II Chronicles and Isaiah. Hezekiah also decided to trust the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho instead of God to protect the country from Assyria, but Isaiah preached to him and he repented (18:9-18). God saw to the end of the Assyrian army and Senacherib.

• Next, Hezekiah was ill and prayed; his life was extended fifteen years, miraculously (a sign accompanied it).

• But Hezekiah failed again by “showing off” his treasures to the Babylonian envoy from the king (Babylonian is not the main power at this time, but soon will be). (20:12-19). That is kind of the last straw.

687-642: Manasseh takes over at Hezekiah’s death. He is the worst of them all, but even he had a time of repentance (II Chronicles 33:10.) That came when the king of Assyria imprisoned and tortured him. That was not enough to turn the country around. He is said to have “seduced” the people

642-640: Amon becomes king, evil. Two years, not much to say about him.

640-608: Josiah is the last real king who reigns. He leads a revival. I believe this is an opportunity for individuals to repent and return to the law of God, but it will not change the future of Judah’s exile to Babylon. The high priest finds a copy of the Torah in the temple and it is read to Josiah and then the people. He ended the idolatrous practices that returned under his grandfather and father. The prophet promises that he will not see the destruction of his kingdom by Babylon before he dies (II Kings 22:20). To show how far the country had fallen, he restored the celebration of Passover, at least the careful celebration of it (23:22).

Starting in 608, two things happened: Nebuchadnezzar II began his conquering of Judah and Jerusalem. Daniel and the three friends are deported. The 70-year exile begins, and it will end about 535 B.C. under Cyrus of Persia. As far as kings, Josiah’s four sons served as kings in order, until 586: Jeohoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. They were evil and really under control of Nebuchadnezzar.

I think that it is important to understand these last 120 or so years of Judah. Two kings had times of revival. The people had the opportunity to return to God, and many did. God gave them grace as individuals to do this, but the long-prophesied and promised judgment of being taken into captivity by a foreign power was not negotiable. That was not going to change. This is one way to interpret the end times. God is able and active in calling out individuals and even people groups but that does not change what is predicted in Revelation.

I am going to go back to my trip to Turkey and talk about probably the grandest city from Revelation 2 and 3 we visited, Laodicea. As Dr. Womack said, “Laodicea had it going on.” They were super wealthy. They were a banking center; they cornered the market on black wool; they had a medical school that sold a sulfa-based eye salve; they were on the major trade routes. It is very clear from the ruins that the place was huge and rich. All these are mentioned in the letter from Jesus to the church, after the statement about lukewarmness.

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.[l] Therefore be [m]zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Verse 20 is about more than individual salvation, but it does say, “You have time—this minute—to repent. Horrible things are going to happen to judge the world that hates God, and they are happening to the church now under the evil Roman emperors. But if any individual person is willing (eager) and turns back to me from sin, we will have a sweet and intimate relationship.

My historical interpretation of this section of the Word, which I have taught through many times, is that the people of Judah went through the exile in Babylon, and in many cases were dispersed (such as Esther and Mordecai to Persia, etc.) and the idolatry pretty much got knocked out of them. After this time, we have the beginning of the synagogues, Jewish scholarship, Jewish nationalism (Maccabees and Esther), the return to Jerusalem and Judah under Cyrus, Ezra, Nehemiah, etc. If anything, they became more legalistic about the Word of God they had ignored. Hezekiah and Josiah’s work did matter, and it wasn’t just a short time of emotional revival, but the overwhelming apostasy of 400 or more years had to be judged for God’s purposes.

In Hezekiah’s time, he prayed, “ Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”

Judgment is about everyone knowing who really is God.