Please read my I and II Kings study questions, and then as much as you can of I Kings for Thursday, March 6. Please read especially closely the chapters on Elijah, Josiah, and Hezekiah. Does it seems to you that any of the stories in II Kings have the makings of good tragedy? Or is the II Kings account better viewed as history, biography, or prophecy rather than as tragedy. Cite below any passages/verses you think particularly support your view.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
II Kings
Please read my I and II Kings study questions, and then as much as you can of I Kings for Thursday, March 6. Please read especially closely the chapters on Elijah, Josiah, and Hezekiah. Does it seems to you that any of the stories in II Kings have the makings of good tragedy? Or is the II Kings account better viewed as history, biography, or prophecy rather than as tragedy. Cite below any passages/verses you think particularly support your view.
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And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven (II Kings, 23:5).
I believe this passage show II Kings as a history. During his reign, Josiah institutes repairs of the temple, during which Hilkiah discovers a book of the law. This newly discovered book is verified as genuine by the prophetess Huldah, and Josiah vows to enact all the newly discovered laws within it.
II Kings account of Elijah, Josiah, and Hezekiah are better viewed as History.
In II Kings 1:12, we read about how he (Elijah) called fire down from God just like I Kings 18:38 when Elijah called fire from God. These two signs of fire from God are miracles and are etched in History to let generations know that God uses signs or people to show His power.
II Kings 18:1, we read: and he (Hezekiah) did right in the sight of the Lord, according to David, his father. II Kings 18:6, we read...but kept his commandments the Lord commanded Moses. These two passages illustrate how through time people like Hezekiah try their best to do what was right by David and Moses.
II Kings 22:2, we read: And he (Josiah) did right in the sight of the Lord, in all the way of David, his father. II Kings 23:25 ... according to all the law of Moses.
Again Josiah confirms that he is doing what is right by David and Moses. Hmm, maybe all three men were looking too closely at David and Moses instead of God..
Elijah, Josiah, and Hezekiah are fine examples how God can use different kinds of people to build up his Kingdom again and again...
I focused on the chapters in II Kings focusing on the lives of Elijah and Josiah. As far as I can see, nothing here looks tragic. Maybe I'm missing something, but the short section on Elijah's exit from the earth and the couple chapters on Josiah later on in II Kings don't seem tragic to me. If anything, Elijah's exit is an example of the amazing power of God and the ways he rewards those who follow his decrees. And as for Josiah, the entire two chapters seemed to be a great story of one of the few kings of Israel or Judah who did what the Lord wanted by destroying not only the temples of foreign gods but also the 'high places' that Jeroboam created and which led the Israelites astray. So maybe a lot of II Kings does make a better history than story full of tragedy, for there are some very good things happening in this book. But, I'm sure we'll be able to point out a few tragic things about the book in class, too.
To add, here's a verse that stuck out to me when I was thinking of how Josiah's story really didn't seem very tragic but instead inspiring. It's II Kings 22:25
"Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like himwho turned to the Lord as he did--with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses."
- From a historical standpoint I would day that these books should probably not be separated into the history of Israel and Judah, because they are so intertwined. One has to no what is going on in one kingdom to understand what they are doing in the other kingdom. In my opinion, however, I think it might be beneficial to get a break down of the books to get a better understanding of the more basic things happening within Judah and Israel.
- This book definitely lends itself to a great tragedy because we have such a great cast of characters that start out so good, but eventually fall, “They are doing evil in the sight of the Lord”. The setting of Israel, Judah, and the surrounding area adds conflict to this tragedy. Personally, I found II Kings rather tough to read. I wonder if it is because of the names or the jumping around from kingdom to kingdom, city to city, king to king, prophet to prophet. Happy Blogging!!!
I agree with Rachelle in that the lives of Elijah and Josiah (and Hezekiah) do not seem very tragic at all. Instead, they are stories of great accomplishment in line with God’s plan for His people. It may be better to view their lives as history to be passed down in hopes that others would follow in their footsteps. The high places for other gods were torn down, sacred poles were cut down, and the hearts of God’s people were returned to worshipping Him solely. II Kings 18:1-12 describes Hezekiah’s zeal for the LORD and is very inspiring.
What does seem tragic, however, is what comes before and after these men. How quickly they can fall back into worshipping strange gods is disappointing. Finally, when I would find renewed hope for these people, they would fall back into their old ways.
Elijah is an inspiring man. His life was filled with victories and agonies both. It was not easy and God had to teach Elijah many lessons. One of these lessons was the idea of being in isolation. God reminded Elijah of the rest of the Isrealites living in Isreal and that he should not be working alone. After all the church is a community of God.
I really like the verse in 1 Kings 18:36, which basically acknowledges that God is God and Elijah is God's servant. It was like an enlighting experiance almost.
I looked particularly at Hezekiah, and like some of the other figures he does not appear to be too tragic of a figure. II Kings therefore is more of a historical book.
In Hezekiah's account, we learn of the Assyrians coming to Israel and the steps taken. We also get reinforcement of the old laws of Moses by Hezekiah, as stated in the first eight verses of Chapter 18. Josiah and the others tended to do this as well.
This can be viewed as history because we see how the Hebrews are struggling to continue forward, and then they overcome their obstacles to keep going forward--hence there is no real tragedy.
Of the stories in second kings I find the events in Chapter 20 to be odd and some areas of tragedy with Hezekiah. Isaiah tells Hezekiah that he is to prepare for his death, this disturbs Hezekiah greatly and he prays to God that he will not die and reminds God that he had a perfect heart and walked in truth. God hears his prayer and Hezekiah is given 15 more years to live also the city will be defended from the Assyrians. Everything is very understandable up to here, then the verses of 7 to 11 in Chapter 20 get hard to understand. In verse 7 a lump of figs is used to heal the boil of Hezekiah. But it appears that even after the Lord has healed Hezekiah that Hezekiah still calls for a sign from God. He asks what shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me? That seems like a weird question to ask, in the verse prior his boil was healed, why would he need a sign from God, after he is healed? Is he concerned with the externals of religion? Hezekiah gets a sign anyway which is in verse 9-11. According to these verses the shadow will go forward and back 10 degrees. Does anyone know what is going on here, his shadow will move 10 degrees, what does that mean. Furthermore, the tragedy of Hezekiah comes later in that chapter, Hezekiah shows these people from Babylon or other distant places all the riches of his house, in verse 13. Isaiah wants to know, why these men are around, and what are they doing? It appears Hezekiah is showing some over abundance of pride here. These people come from far lands and all Hezekiah does is show them his riches, it appears he is glorifying himself. God will punish him for this when he says that, everything Hezekiah has will be carried off to Babylon, verse 17. And after Hezekiah hears that his riches will be shipped off to Babylon, he says in verse 19, Good is the word of the Lord. The actions of Hezekiah in this chapter seem odd, he is healed and then shows off his riches to foreigners, finds out his riches will be looted and carried to Babylon. Then is pleased with the word of God. Art do you have any clarification on this chapter.
It really seemed hard to find tradgedy in some of these stories. I thought the story of Elijah read more like a biography than a tradgedy. He really seemed to have his ups and downs, but I guess nothing that seemed too out of this world. He might not always have been the most faithful of guys, but moreso than some of the other people we've read about. Even when it was nearing his final momemnts he seemed to be close to God.
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