THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL OR THE NORTH: SAMARIA FROM AHAZIAH TO JEHOASH
Israel lost itself in time, becoming a beautiful and famous nation with its colossal constructions. Kings made it a splendid and thriving place, with a heated and profitable trade for its people. However, Israel solved its political problems while forgetting to seek the Lord. The people increasingly drank from broken cisterns, creating a true spiritual mess—so many gods, yet without the glorious presence of the true God. This situation persisted for a long time, and it seemed that nothing could fix the chaos. Eventually, the dynasty from Ahaziah to Joash arrived. Everything new? Unfortunately not—everything repeated itself. Idolatry was still deeply rooted among the people. In fact, “from beginning to end, the Northern Kingdom was unsuccessful because none of its 20 kings were loyal to the I AM” (WALTKE, 2015, p. 779.). All of them deviated from the right path and were considered responsible for Israel living far from the Lord, as “He holds these kings accountable for Israel’s failure to maintain the land” (WALTKE, 2015, p. 779).
THE FEAT OF AHAZIAH OF ISRAEL (1 Kings 22.51 – 2 Kings 1)
The throne passed from one to another, and now it was Ahaziah’s turn to take his father’s place—the proud Ahab. His reign was quite short, lasting only two years in Israel (1 Kings 22.52). Ahaziah accomplished the feat of being just as bad as his father: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.” (1 Kings 22.52). Nothing changed in the Northern Kingdom; things seemed to worsen daily. Ahaziah followed his father’s example: “He served and worshiped Baal and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.” (1 Kings 22.53). God does not tolerate idolatry. An idolater provokes God’s wrath, and it is worth remembering that idolatry is not just about images. Many worship their diplomas, others their professions, and some idolize football players and teams. Be careful not to fall into the deception of thinking idolatry is only about other gods and sculpted images.
At one point, Ahaziah fell from his house’s balcony and was injured. Instead of seeking God and asking for His help, he turned to Baal to inquire whether he would recover (2 Kings 1.2). A crucial question was posed: “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?” (2 Kings 1.3). This was the question God sent the prophet Elijah to ask the king, serving as an exhortation for us as well. We must not forget this truth. Ahaziah was not only confronted with this question but was also told he would not get up from his bed—he would die (2 Kings 1.4,6). He completely ignored Elijah’s warning and repeatedly attempted to capture him, all in vain. Eventually, Elijah himself appeared before Ahaziah and rebuked him, just as he had done with his father (2 Kings 1.1-16).
The power we think we have is nothing. We cannot rely on our armies or our strength. God never loses a battle, and we must never ignore His warnings or doubt His promises. We must always remain alert to the truths of His infallible Word.
FAREWELL AND NEW BEGINNINGS (2 Kings 2-5)
The prophet Elijah’s ministry was coming to an end; he would ascend to heaven, taken by the Lord in a whirlwind. Elisha was an inseparable friend of Elijah, he was his successor, he learned humbly to serve him, an example of a disciple. We learned a beautiful lesson from Elijah: we need to invest in new disciples. Age and time come for everyone. One day we will have to pass the baton to others, so how about preparing them now? We also learned an excellent lesson from Elisha: we need to have humility to learn, to be aware that others have already walked further than us and “we need to stand on the shoulders of giants and have the vision of the high lighthouse. We need to undertake and widen the stakes of our tent”[1]. We need to invest time in people’s lives. Today, there is a lot of talk in our churches about Small Groups and one of the characteristics of them is training new leaders and caring for people.
Elisha, knowing that he would walk alone and that his mentor would not be around to help him, could have felt free, independent and empowered, but that is not what we observe; he was humble and recognized his limitations. In the last moments of his life on earth, “[…]Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?’; ‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit’ Elisha replied.'” (2 Kings 2.9). Elisha wanted to follow his master’s example and he did, performing many miracles, such as giving the widow’s oil, giving the Shunammite’s son, multiplying the loaves, healing Naaman and much more (2 Kings 4.6, 1-7). We must be leaders like Elijah and disciples like Elisha. Elijah was an example of life and Elisha wanted to imitate him. How good it is to have a leader who inspires us!
WHO CAN DEFEND US NOW? (2 Kings 6.8 – 8.15)
A period of war is about to break out against Israel. A Syrian king decides to attack the Israelite nation. There is an invisible field that we cannot see, but it exists. Elisha had spiritual discernment and a vision from God about the whole scenario. How did he know if he was not with the king? His God knows and sees everything. Our God knows everything, nothing can be hidden from Him. There is no way to escape His presence.
Elisha was calm about this, but despair was knocking at the people’s door, because, “the capital Samaria was surrounded, the merciless army of the Syrians did not allow anything or anyone to leave or enter”[2]. Everything seemed lost, there was no solution, the ambush was very well done. Was this the end of Israel?
The city was in true chaos, famine and food prices were very expensive. But the prophet of God was there to help the people and announce a word of deliverance for the population; he predicted abundance for the people. What no one expected happened: four fearful lepers went to surrender themselves to the Syrians, hoping for a solution to a very serious problem. However, when they arrived at the Syrian camp, there was no one there; they had fled. The lepers were filled with so many riches that they found and, in the end, they returned to announce the good news of God (2 Kings 7.3-20).
We must trust completely in God’s deliverance and provision. Our great mission is to announce the good news of the gospel, as our noble friend Pastor Raphael Abdalla said: “This is our role: not to selfishly guard the divine provision, but to proclaim to the whole world that the Bread of Life is among us.”5 Our God restores our fortunes, he takes care of and provides everything we need, the Shunammite experienced this in her life, who had her possessions duly restored.
After observing the reigns of the kings of the North, let’s take a moment to talk about the kingdoms of Judah that we can read not only in the book of Kings, but also in Chronicles.
JEHORAM AND JOASH OF JUDAH (2 Kings 8.16-29, 13)
Jehoram married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, and followed his father-in-law’s wicked ways: “[…] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” (2 Kings 8:18b). Nothing changed in his reign compared to the Northern Kingdom. The Lord showed mercy only because of His love for David. The Lord’s mercies are the reason we are not consumed. A general was raised to destroy the lineage of Omri and Ahab, but traces of idolatry remained, leading to his failure as well. Joash became king as a child and received great support from Jehoiada, who encouraged and guided him throughout his reign. During Joash’s rule, Baal worship was eradicated, and the people turned to true worship. However, after Jehoiada’s death, history repeated itself. Joash initially did great things as king, but in the end, he also fell into apostasy. Despite a good reign, he embraced idolatry.
CONCLUSION
Idolatry was a problem that took hold in the kingdoms of the North and South, because they distanced themselves from God. Idolatry reigns when the throne of our lives is empty. In the Bible, idolatry can be recognized as a very serious sin, and it was the cause of the great evils of the nation of Israel and Judah. There is a great challenge, which is to remain faithful to the Lord. There is a principle that must always echo in our minds and hearts, so that we do not fall into the same error as these kings: that the Lord is our only God and there is no other (Deuteronomy 6.4).
[1] 3LOPES, Hernandes Dias. Uma visão do crescimento da igreja. Disponível em: https.//www,hernandesdiaslopes.com.br/uma-visao-do-crescimento-da-igreja. Acesso em 09 de julho de 2024.
[2] ABDALLA, Raphael. Dias de boas-novas. Disponível em: https.//seminarioequatorial.com.br/dia-de-boas-novas/. Acesso em 09 de julho de 2024.
OBS: Este texto é uma tradução e adaptação para o inglês da lição 7 da Revista Compromisso da Editora
Convicção Ano CXIX, no. 473, para fins de uso didático em sala de Escola Bíblica Dominical.
Tradução de Ester Rangel Peregrina e Paula Adriana Azevedo Baião Cordeiro.
