ThThurs: 2 Kings Pt.4

* 2 Kings: The divided kingdom is symptomatic of Israel's separation from God. In the northern kingdom, the prophet Elijah passing on the mantle of his ministry, along with a double blessing from God, to Elisha. With the defeat of Moab, and the mocking of Syria's blinded army, God's covenant people had opportunity after opportunity to thrive. Instead, their sin brought judgment. Ahab's sons were killed after his wicked widow Jezebel was thrown out of a window to her death. In the southern kingdom of Judah, the sole surviving son of the royal family became king, but eventually Joash too was murdered. After Elisha died, Israel and Judah fought, with rampant paganism in the north so weakening the ten tribes that they were carried carried away captive by the Assyrians. Meanwhile down south, the more benevolent reigns of kings like Azariah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah only postponed God's judgment until Nebuchadnezzar carried away Judah in the Babylonian captivity. Lessons abound in Second Kings.