In this episode of Add Bible, we embark on a journey through the Book of Second Kings, exploring the rich history and theological perspectives that shaped Israel’s monarchy. As we delve into chapters 1 and 2, discover how the narratives of kings like Ahaziah reveal profound lessons on faith and consequences. Join us as we reflect on the legacy of Elijah and the emergence of Elisha, a prophet destined for a double portion of spirit and power.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we begin the Book of Second Kings, a continuation of the Book of First Kings. First and Second Kings describe the period of the monarchy in ancient Israel between about 970 and 586 BC, excluding most of the reigns of King Saul and King David, which are mainly covered in First and Second Samuel. Ancient Jewish tradition attributes authorship to the prophet Jeremiah, although there is no evidence or mention of an author or authors in the books themselves. Whoever the author or authors were, they were heavily influenced by the Book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomic language appears throughout both books. Because of this, some speculate that 1 and 2 Kings could have been written by Levites, priests, prophets, or wise men of the Jerusalem court, but no one knows for sure. The theme of the two books is an explanation of Israel’s later monarchic period in terms of the theological vision outlined in Deuteronomy. Basically, that a good, all-powerful God oversaw the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the exile to Babylon because of Israel’s sin. Yet, there remains hope, because God’s chosen royal line of kings did not come to an end, and God remains ready to forgive those who repent. In the Hebrew manuscripts, 1 and 2 Kings are one book. We are taking them together in 28 days, finishing 1 Kings in 14 days and now looking at 2 Kings in the next 14 days. That means most of the days we will take two chapters a day. So let’s begin with 2 Kings chapters 1 and 2, chapter 1 being read by Faith Comes By Hearing, and chapter 2 being read by our guest reader, former President of the Colorado Senate, Senator Kevin Grantham. I met Senator Grantham over a decade ago as a member of the Colorado State Cabinet of the Gideons International. Kevin lives in Canyon City, Colorado, where he and his brother have a real estate sales and appraisal firm. In 2011, Kevin decided to try his hand at politics. He ran for a state senate seat and won. In 2014, he was re-elected and then served as the president of the Colorado Senate. He was term limited, so he just wrapped up his final legislative session as president in 2018. I had not seen nor talked to Senator Grantham for about 10 years, but when I asked him to be a guest reader for AdBible, he jumped at the opportunity, volunteering for Judges, Chronicles, and Kings. Pray for Senator Grantham as he transitions, as he looks beyond his public service as a state senator, to what God has next in his life. Now on to 2 Kings chapters 1 and 2.
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2 Kings 2 Kings 1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick.
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So he sent messengers, telling them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Akron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.
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But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is no god in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal’s above, the god of Ekron? Now therefore, thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die. So Elijah went.
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The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, Why have you returned?
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And they said to him, He said to them, What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things? They answered him, He wore a garment of hair with a belt of leather about his waist. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
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Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah who was sitting on the top of a hill and said to him, O man of God, the king says come down.
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But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.
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Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, this is the king’s order.
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Come down quickly.
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But Elijah answered them,
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If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.
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Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty.
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And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, ”O man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.”
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Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, Go down with him, do not be afraid of him.
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So he arose and went down with him to the king, and said to him, Thus says the Lord, because you have sent messengers to inquire of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no god in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.
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So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
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2 Kings 2 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel. But Elisha said, As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you? And he said, Yes, I know it. Keep quiet. Elijah said to him, Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you? And he answered, Yes, I know it. Keep quiet. Then Elijah said to him, Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. But he said, As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water. And the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, And Elisha said, And he said, Yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if you do not see me, it shall not be so. And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. And he saw them no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other. And Elisha went over. Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. And they said to him, Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send. But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and for three days they sought him, but did not find him. And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go? Now the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful. He said, Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water. From now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it. So the water has been healed to this day according to the word that Elisha spoke. He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, Go up, you bald head, go up, you bald head. And he turned around, and when he saw them, He cursed them in the name of the Lord, and two she-bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the boys. From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
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To help us through 2 Kings, I’ve selected three of my personal Bible reading journals. One from 1989 when I was 34 years old, one 8 years later in 1997 when I was 42 years old, and the last one from 2011, 14 years later, when I was 56 years old. In 1989, I was reading 1 and 2 Kings at a pretty rapid pace, so on this day, I read 2 Kings chapters 1 through 16 on the same day. My summary of those chapters was this. Obedience equals blessing. Disobedience, worship of other gods, causes death, pain, evil in the sight of the Lord. Eight years later, in 1997, I finished 1 Kings chapters 21 and 22 on the same day I read 2 Kings chapter 1, and my notes do not refer to 2 Kings chapter 1. Fourteen years later, in 2011, I was reading the whole Bible that year. So I read Old Testament and New Testament passages on the same day. And on this day, I read 2 Kings chapters 1 through 3 and portions of the Gospel of John. Concerning 2 Kings, I wrote, Elijah taken up in a chariot of fire. Elisha gets a double portion of his spirit. I too want a double portion of your spirit, Lord. 2 Kings opens up with the great story of Elijah and Elisha. The prophet Elijah is about to die. The young man Elisha seems to know that and will not depart from his side. Chapter 2 verse 9 says, When they crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me. What a great desire from a young man. Today, do young men look to old men and say, I want a double portion of what you have? For us older men, are we mentoring young men so they want the relationship with God that we have experienced in our lives? Are we living a life in such a way that anyone would want a double portion of what they’ve seen in our lives? Elijah is taken up in a chariot of fire. He is one of very few who do not have a recorded death in the scriptures. Chapter 2, verse 11. And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elijah sees this amazing event. He takes up the cloak of Elijah, the cloak that had fallen when he ascended into heaven. He takes that cloak and he strikes the water just like Elijah had done before, and the water parts. Chapter 2 verse 15 says, Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. Yes, Elisha got what he wanted, a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. What do you want? What do you want from spiritual people around you? What do you want from the Lord himself? Is your heart’s desire to be spiritual? Is your heart’s desire to have a double portion of the Spirit of God? I wrote in one of my journals, that was my hope. That was my prayer. Is it yours? Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for this great opening of 2 Kings, the story of Elijah and Elisha. We pray like Elisha that you give us a double portion of your spirit. Why? So we may serve you with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our spirit. May your favor rest upon us. May we receive a double portion of your spirit. In Jesus’ name we humbly ask it. Amen. I know you’re going to enjoy it. And want to share it with others.
In this episode of Add Bible, we embark on a journey through the Book of Second Kings, exploring the rich history and theological perspectives that shaped Israel’s monarchy. As we delve into chapters 1 and 2, discover how the narratives of kings like Ahaziah reveal profound lessons on faith and consequences. Join us as we reflect on the legacy of Elijah and the emergence of Elisha, a prophet destined for a double portion of spirit and power.
