2 Kings 14

"And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.  He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers." vv.21-22

Read chapter 14
One king after the next after the next.  Civil wars, world wars, good king to bad king to worse king to good king.  Just seems to be going on and on never learning from past generations, no formula to what good fathers to carry out good sons to reign in their place. Crazy how young some are when they are made king.  Here we see Azariah become king at 16 years old.  Can you imagine if you were to become king when you were sixteen?  Scary thought.   Azariah wasn't the youngest boy to become king that we read about in scriptures, Jehoash was only seven years old (2 Kings 11:21).  Azariah may not have been the oldest since his father was 59 years old at his death, but the phrase that the people of Judah "took" Azariah to be king shows that he was preferred of the sons (his father Amaziah was murdered by his people, Judah).  We can also figure out that Azariah was only about three or four years old when his father died but didn't become king till he was sixteen, Judah therefore didn't have a king for twelve years so the government lied in the hands of protectors.
If you became king at 16 or whatever your age is now, what would you do as king?

2 Kings 13

"Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.  So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet."  vv.20-21

Read chapter 13
Even in death the body of Elisha did miracles.  These men are getting ready to bury a man but because of group of raiders they make haste to get the body buried that they put it in Elisha's tomb.  The tomb must have been open or something since most tombs were then sealed by a large stone.  In tombs there wasn't coffins placed in a whole dug in the ground but the body would be wrapped in grave clothes and laid on the floor most likely.  So here where the body is said to be "let down" it is actually more like "came in to."  Because they were making haste to bury the body they might have roughly thrust the body in to the tomb causing the body to fall on to Elisha in a way that they touched.  This miracle is most surprising as we don't see this of any prophet after they've died still have this power in their body. Through a dead body God can still work miracles!  This miracle hopefully encouraged not only Elisha's followers but also all Israel and even Syria (who knew of Elisa too) of the Almighty God.  How have certain deaths of those in your life brought you closer to God?  How have they drawn you away from Him?

2 Kings 12

"Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him...Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the Lord...Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully." v.2, 9, 15

Read chapter 12
Jehoash and Jehoiada are a wonderful pair of ruling over Judah.  Jehoash the king of Judah and Jehoiada the high priest did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days they were together.  Yet pay special note to that phrase "Jehoash did what was right...ALL the days in which Jehoiada instructed him."  Unfortunately we see in 2 Chroinicles 24 how Jehoash changed after Jehoiada died, and that for the worse:( 

Jehoash sets plans to repair the temple commanding the priests to use from the things dedicated to the house of the Lord by men.  Nothing was done effectually till the twenty-third year of his reign. Another method was therefore taken and Jehoiada makes a money box for offering specifically to repairing the temple and not a debate about how much of the general offerings were to be divided out. The repairs then became skillful men to do the work.  And these men did so faithfully.  "When public distributions are made faithfully, public contributions will be made cheerfully" (Matthew Henry).  

Do you have a Jehoiada in your life that helps you do what pleases the Lord?  If that person were out of your life would you still continue in the right path?  How do you know?  

What compels you to give cheerfully and faithfully?

2 Kings 11

When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.  But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed.  So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land. vv.1-3

Read chapter 11
A heroic aunt!  Jehosheba is not a well know women in scripture but is an amazing woman of God that we can learn from.  Both her mother and grandmother are two of the most wicked women in scripture, Athaliah and Jezebel.  Once her mother finds out her son, king Ahaziah, is dead Athaliah starts killing off all the royal seed of David, her grandchildren.  Yet Jehosheba hides Joash who is around only one year old in the temple, and that for six years.  Just like Ruth and Tamar and many other women in scripture that make action to preserve the seed of David that would ultimately lead to Christ.  
Jehosheba was married to the high priest Jehoiada.  "Despite having a horrible grandmother (Jezebel) and an even more horrible mother (Athaliah) she herself was a righteous woman of God. Instead of getting tangled up in the goddess and idol worship her mother and grandmother practiced she tied herself to the temple (it helps if you marry the priest) and to the True and Living God. Her life was much different than that of her grandmother and her mother because she was able to recognize truth and embraced it with her whole soul" (womeninthescriptures.com).
How do you think she managed to keep Joash hidden for seven years? Do you know any women that remind you of Jehosheba? Women who grew up in homes that were not conducive to the spirit of God but who were still able to embrace truth and break free of unrighteous traditions?

2 Kings 10

Then Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu acted deceptively, with the intent of destroying the worshipers of Baal. vv.18-19

Read chapter 10
"At first, as we read this verse, it seems alarmingly as if Jehu has given up his great zeal for the LORD, and is about to let Him down in a major way. But we mustn’t jump the gun here, for we learn what is really going on in the next verse. Here, we see that the impression we might have gotten at first in the last verse was wrong. Jehu was not turning his back on the LORD. Instead, he is now planning to go far beyond simply wiping out the wicked family of Ahab. Now, he wishes to wipe out the idolatrous worship of Baal that Ahab and Jezebel had imported into the land of Israel. He was being zealous indeed! He was moving beyond merely keeping the command the LORD had given him, and was attempting to serve Him with all his heart and life. Now, we see how his plans worked out in the next verses...Interestingly, Jehu actually performs a burnt offering to Baal before springing his trap. I believe that he was being careful again. If any of those present had not sacrificed to Baal before, he wanted to be certain that they had now, so that they would at least be guilty of that before he had them slain. Thus, he ensured with all finality that none who were innocent would be slain with the guilty. Then, once this is finished, the trap is sprung, and the worshippers of Baal wiped out by the soldiers of Jehu...this was not something that God had commanded him to do. This was done on Jehu’s own initiative. The LORD had only commanded Jehu to wipe out the family of Ahab. Yet in his zeal, Jehu did this, and the LORD blessed him in it. This seems like a very harsh thing to do to us, to slaughter all these people like this, worshippers of false gods or not. Yet what Jehu did was just as he should have done according to the law of Moses in Deuteronomy 17:2-5" (Nathan Johnson, Precepts.wordpress.com).  
How can you have zeal like Jehu for the Lord?  Have you ever been in a situation like Jehu surrounded by all non-worshipers of the Lord and had pretend to follow another god?  Was it out of fear of men or out of ultimately glorifying God?

2 Kings 9

Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window.  Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, “Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?” vv.30-31

Read chapter 9
Oh Jezebel, one of the most evil women we read about in the Bible.  Her fate is not recorded in Chronicles as we see all the kings, good or bad, noted there.  Two kings are murdered in the same day, the king of Judah and the king of Israel, and now Jehu was going to Jezebel.  This was according to the word of the Lord, not just Jehu's own murderous desire.  Jezebel, being the queen mother of king Joram, is residing in Jezreel and heard the quick traveled news of the murders.  She then puts on her makeup and does up her hair, her doing this could be that she knew she would die too and wanted to go out looking like an adorned queen or was it that she could try to sway Jehu with beauty and intimidation as she also makes fun at him calling him Zimri (who murdered Baasha and had a very short reign).  Women, what kind of characteristics can learn from what we've read of Jezebel (in past chapters too)  that you don't want to have?  Men, what kind of "Jezebel's" have influenced you for your downfall and how can you "fight" against them?

2 Kings 8

"But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place." v.15

Read chapter 8

Suffocation.  Scary, torturous way to die.  It's not clear as to if Hazael killed Ben-Hadad here or if by another way the "he" in verse fifteen refers to someone else.   "It was not in Hazael's countenance that Elisha read what he would do, but God revealed it to him, and it fetched tears from his eyes: the more foresight men have, the more grief they are liable to. It is possible for a man, under the convictions and restraints of natural conscience, to express great abhorrence of a sin, yet afterwards to be reconciled to it. Those that are little and low in the world, cannot imagine how strong the temptations of power and prosperity are, which, if ever they arrive at, they will find how deceitful their hearts are, how much worse than they suspected" (Matthew Henry's Commentary).  The Hebrew word for cloth is more like carpet material, something very thick.  So it being wet and put over the face would cause suffocation very easily and with Ben-Hadad being ill and weak he could not fight it off.  Elisha had traveled to Damascus to give this prophesy concerning the king of Syria, a sad thing that he would be told he'd recover from his disease but really would die.  Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, was an enemy of Israel but because of affliction seemed to cause change of his mind toward Elisha the man of God.  Affliction to health  "often gives other thoughts of God's ministers, and teaches to value the counsels and prayers of those whom they have hated and despised."  How have you seen someone least expected do such a horrible thing?  How have you see emotions change due to affliction of health?