2Kings 6:8-10 The prophet Elisha was no fan of Israel’s wicked king Jehoram (2 Kings 3:1-2), who was the son of the now-dead king Ahab, who was married to Jezebel. Ahab and Jezebel saw the prophet Elijah as an enemy and persecuted God’s people. While Joram is also wicked, he is not quite as bad as Ahab and Jezebel. Elisha …
2 Kings 4:1-7 – Elisha and the Widow’s Oil
2Kings 4:1 There were many “prophet disciples” in Israel at this time, including Gilgal (2 Kings 4:38), Bethel (2 Kings 2:3), and Jericho (2 Kings 2:5). The disciples of the prophets were trained in the prophetic profession probably much like a pastor or church leader today. Prophetic disciples learned to be prophets from, for example, Samuel (1 Sam 19:20), Elijah …
2 Kings 3:1-3 – Moab Rebels Against Israel
2Kings 3:1-3 Jehoram was king of Israel around the years 852-841 BC. Joram was the son of Ahab and Jezebel, some of the most wicked leaders in Israel’s history. When Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, Jeroboam was the first king of northern Israel. Jeroboam was worried that if the Israelites …
2 Kings 2:23-25 – The Boys of Bethel
2Kings 2:23-24 The “little boys” were probably teenage boys, judging from the Hebrew words. It is not clear from the basic text that these young people “died”, but rather that they were “torn”. The Canaanite peoples sometimes mourned their dead by cutting and tearing themselves with knives and shaving off their hair (Leviticus 21:5). This ceremonial tradition was forbidden by …
2 Kings 2:1-18 – Elijah Taken to Heaven
2Kings 2:1-3 In the Old Testament, it was very unusual to speak of “being taken up to heaven”. Only the deaths of Elijah and Hanoch are really described in this way. About Hanoch it says: “After Hanoch had thus walked with God, he was no more, for God took him away. ” (Genesis 5:24) The more normal thing was to …