Decline of the Kingdoms
Summary of 2 Kings
Elijah outlasts a number of kings in both Israel and Judah, calling them to account for their actions. In reward for his efforts Elijah does not die but ascends to heaven, and he leaves his pupil Elisha to continue his work. Like Elijah before him, Elisha confronts the kings. He also performs miracles as signs of God’s work in the world.
Some kings are more successful than others, but a theme of significant military conflict emerges through 2 Kings. Land is lost, fought over, reconquered and lost again to other nations, again as signs of God’s judgement on the people for following idols and other gods. Over time, the neighbours involved in this conflict become bigger and more powerful, until in 2 Kings 17 we are told that all the people of the northern kingdom are captured and carried off by the Assyrian Empire (in approximately 721 BC) as punishment for their incorrect worship. In the place of Israel, we read that the Assyrians then brought in captives and settlers from other parts of their empire to settle the north—a practice used to stop nationalist movements in conquered regions. From this point, the Kingdom of Israel ceases to be an entity—“exiled from their own land until this day”. We do not hear of those tribes again.
Judah, we are told, had adopted many of the customs from Israel and were faced with similar consequences to Israel. However, a couple of notable kings arise towards the end of the book of kings, particularly Hezekiah and his great-grandson Josiah. Hezekiah turned to God for help and saw Jerusalem through a significant siege, while Josiah brought about tremendous reforms and oversaw destruction of the shrines to other gods that had begun emerging in Judah. Josiah’s work was a consequence of ‘rediscovering’ the Law, which some scholars believe was around the time that the book of Deuteronomy was actually written down.
These reforms were seen to give Judah a reprieve. However, counteracting the good work of those kings was some terrible activity from others (including child sacrifice) and ultimately, Judah is also conquered. This time, the enemy was King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian Empire (586 BC), who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and carried many of its people off.