2 Kings 11:1 – 17:41
Faithfulness is what God is looking for in his people. Something I have
heard over-and-over from others studying Israel’s kings is “There weren’t very
many ‘good’ ones, were there?” The answer is, “No, there were NOT!” Friends,
Jesus is calling you and is calling me to faithfulness today. Israel was allowed to be
destroyed by the Assyrian army because the people had sinned against God. Are
you faithful? “All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the
Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of
Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of
the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the
kings of Israel had introduced.” (2 Kings 17:7-8 NIV)
Chapter Analysis
Passage
11:1-21
12:1-18
Observation
Interpretation
Correlation
[Athaliah
Athaliah was Ahaziah’s mom.
2 Chron.
Queen of
When she heard her son was
22:10Judah]
dead, she moved quickly to
23:21
destroy all the royal offspring.
This left her with the throne.
1 Chron.
Ahaziah’s sister saved one of
9:25
the children, Joash, by hiding
him in the Temple for six years. Josh. 24:25
He grew in God’s house while
his evil grandmother ruled. But, 1 Sam.
at age seven, he was brought out 10:25
to rule. The priest, Jehoiada,
orchestrated his ascension to the 2 Sam. 5:3
throne. Jehoiada made a
covenant with God publically.
All the people rejoiced when the
evil queen was put to death and
Joash became king.
[Joash
Joash was a good king. One of
Ex. 30:13ff
Repairs the
the first things he does as king is
Temple]
to repair God’s Temple (maybe, 2 Chron.
‘cause he lived there). When he 24:23-27
first gives this instruction, it
seems the priests had difficulty
administering the task. But, a
new system was devised to
collect the money for the
repairs. Joash ended up sending
the king of Aram a peace
offering to avoid war.
Application
A child raised in God’s
house has a better
chance of becoming a
good king. 
People rejoice when
extreme evil is removed.
One would think evil
would be removed more
often!
Doing a few good things
is not what satisfies God.
He expects my devotion.
Good is often enemy of
‘best’. Am I giving a
token to God, or am I
giving Him my best?
1
19-21
13:1-13
14-25
14:1-16
17-29
15:1-7
8-16
[Amaziah
A conspiracy arose among the
becomes king people, and Joash was killed by
of Judah]
his own men. His son Amaziah
became king.
[Israel’s
Israel’s army was decimated by
kings –
Aramians during Jehoahaz’s
Jehoahaz and reign as king. He and his son,
Jehoash]
Jehoash, were evil worshipping
the Asherah. While Jehoash was
king, he warred with Judah.
[Death of
Even in his death, Elisha made a
Elisha]
powerful influence on Israel.
Elisha spoke to Jehoahaz before
he died about his future
victories over Aram; and, when
Elisha was buried, a dead man
was thrown into Elisha’s open
grave. The dead man revived
when he touched Elisha’s
corpse.
[Amaziah
Jehoash warred against
Reigns over
Amaziah, king of Judah.
Judah]
Amaziah was a good king, but
during his reign he was taken
captive by Israel. The walls of
Jerusalem were torn down and
the temple was looted. The
people of Judah had continued
to worship in the high places,
but there were certainly worse
kings in Judah.
[Uzziah
Azariah or Uzziah is Amaziah’s
Succeeds
son. He reigns in place of his
Amaziah]
father. Meanwhile, Joash’s son,
Jeroboam became an evil king
of Israel and Samaria. God
saved His people from their
king in those days (27).
[Azariah is
A 16-year old becomes king of
king of
Judah and he does right in
Judah]
God’s sight reigning 52 years.
The people sinned though, and
God struck the king with
leprosy.
[Zechariah is Zechariah become king of Israel
king of
during Azariah’s reign in Judah,
Israel]
but Zechariah only lasted six
months because of a conspiracy
leading to Menahem (mayhem).
2 Chron.
24:33-27
This causes me to reflect
on the importance of
Loyalty.
2 Chron.
24:26
Sin chips away at our
resources until they are
slowly gone.
2 Kings
13:25
God uses all sorts of
events to communicate
to His people.
Deut.
24:16
relates to 7
One cannot do whatever
he wishes to do and
serve the Lord faithfully.
Judg. 9:815 is
similar to
analogy in
verse 9
2 Chron.
25:25-28
2 Chron.
26:3-23
Hos. 13:16
God intervenes
sometimes rather than
working through a man.
Today, the church is
God’s context for
change. What will He
do, if you don’t respond?
Everything rises and
falls on leadership.
Is that where the word
mayhem came from?
Anyway . . . conspiracy
leads to confusion.
2
17-22
[Menahem is
king of
Israel]
23-26
[Pekahiah is
king of
Israel]
[Pekah is
king of
Israel]
27-31
32-38
[Jotham is
king of
Judah]
16:1-20
[Ahaz Reigns
over Judah]
17:1-6
[Hoshea
Reigns over
Israel]
7-23
[Israel is
captive for its
sins]
24-41
[Cities of
Israel filled
with Aliens]
Menahem reigned in Israel for
10 years. He was an evil king
and he levied a heavy tax from
the upper class.
Another Israel king was
Pekahiah who was also evil.
Conspiracy took his life too.
Pekah was the next Israeli king.
He was evil and much of the
kingdom was lost to the
Assyrians.
Another good king in Judah was
Jotham. He was Azariah’s
(Uzzah) son. He allowed the
people to worship in the high
places. God allowed foreigners
to wreak havoc on Judah.
Ahaz becomes king of Judah.
He is an evil king. He tries to
bribe the Assyrians so they
don’t overrun the Southern
Kingdom like they did the
Northern Kingdom. He changed
the Temple at the instruction of
the Assyrian king.
Another evil king in Israel was
Hoshea. He also paid tribute to
the Assyrians. He had a puppet
regime until he was carried
away into captivity with his
people.
A summary is given in this
passage about the specific
reasons why God’s people were
carried off into captivity. God
did not abandon them. They
abandoned God. God was
patient with His people, but His
mercy did not keep them from
sinning. As He promised the
kingdom was torn away.
Assyria occupied the land. It’s
funny . . . the Assyrian king
made provision for God in Israel
even though God’s people had
not really done this.
1 Chron.
5:25-26
Ps. 31:20
2 Chron.
26:4-5
Is. 7:1
2 Chron.
27:1
2 Chron.
28
Rom.
7:14ff
Hos. 13:16
People notice injustice.
This must have caused a
big disconnect among
them.
The disconnect of the
people is played out.
Judgment comes. Don’t
think it has passed just
because it hasn’t
happened yet.
Doing some good is not
‘doing good’. God
expects my best. While I
won’t be perfect, God
looks at the heart.
One is in bondage to
God or in bondage to
sin. The Assyrian king
didn’t control Ahaz.
Ahaz’s sin controlled
him.
God will not be mocked.
Deut.
28:64
Gal. 6:7
Ex. 14:1530; 34:1214
Ezra 4:2
God keeps His promises.
Don’t think He will
forget your sin, friend.
God works in the years
ahead with His people in
captivity. And . . . Judah
is still hanging by a
thread!
3