Judah has made the mistake of trusting in the armies of men, rather than trusting in God. As such is the case, the Lord God of armies will be removing every kind of security from Judah, which includes some securities which would be considered blessings from God, and some securities which would have been sinful and earthly. The righteous will eat the fruit of their labor, but the wick will only harvest judgment. Even in this bleak forecast, the Lord proclaims that those who survive will see the beautiful and glorious Branch of the Lord. Later, Isaiah writes a song about a vineyard that yields worthless grapes as a parallel to Jerusalem and Judah.

So far in our chronological reading we’ve read two of the minor prophets, those being Obadiah and Jonah, and in today’s episode we’ll begin to read from our first major prophet, the prophet Isaiah. If you’re familiar with the overall arch of Israel, Judah, and the prophets, you know that there were prophets before, during, and after the exile to Babylon. Starting with this episode, the majority of our reading for the rest of the year will be from the major and minor prophets with sections from history books interspersed as history moves along. Today we’ll learn about King Uzziah of Judah from 2 Chronicles, where we are also briefly introduced to Isaiah before proceeding to the first two chapters of that book.

You might have missed it, but in our last episode, the writer of 2 Kings mentioned the fulfillment of prophecy through the prophet Jonah back in chapter 14. We have every reason to conclude that this prophet is the same Jonah sent to Ninevah in the minor prophet book by the same name. Instead of obeying the Lord, Jonah turns to go in the completely opposite direction. As you hear this account, keep in mind that in the end it is most likely that Jonah is the one recording what happened, revealing that he eventually became aware of his hard-hearted response. We’ll end the episode with a single chapter from 2 Kings and two short Psalms.

In our last episode, we considered the life of King Joash, the baby heir to the throne who was rescued from a maniacal monarch, raised in the temple, and brought to kingship by Jehoiada the priest. Joash began by rebuilding the Lord’s temple, then he abandons both the Lord’s temple and the Lord. The Lord therefore abandons him and he is later assassinated. Amaziah begins well, but surprisingly turns to worship the idols of those he has defeated, and soon thereafter becomes overconfident, challenging Israel to war. In our reading from 2 Kings we’ll encounter a few Israelite kings who ruled Israel during Amaziah’s reign, including Jehoash who plunders Jerusalem after being provoked by Amaziah.

Interestingly, we saw a few foreshadows of Jesus in our last episode, as a child who was meant to be king was swept away from a murderous monarch only to emerge victorious later. Today we’ll examine the rule and reign of Joash, that child who became king of Judah. It seems that early in his reign he sought to repair the temple, and no wonder! He grew up in the temple from infancy into early childhood. When the work stalls, the make a plan, but later, the wealth of Judah will be handed over to King Hazael, that same servant who murdered his king after Elisha prophesied would rule over Aram. Later, in 2 Kings, we’ll briefly cover two of Israel’s evil kings, Jehoahaz and Jehoahash.

In our last episode, the military commander, Jehu, was anointed as king. He and his men set out immediately to put an end to the house of Ahab, and in the process, he also killed the king of Judah, the evil king Ahaziah. Today, Jehu continues his conquest with a number of cunning strategies, killing Ahab’s wife Jezebel, overthrowing the house of Ahab, destroying the prophets of a Baal, and avenging the blood of Naboth the Gileadite on behalf of the Lord. Remember that the Lord predicted Ahab’s fall through Elijah, who has since been taken up into glory. Finally, we catch up to our last reading from 2 Chronicles by returning to the kings of Judah, where we’ll hear a parallel to that book’s account of Athaliah and Jehoiada.

When we last left our reading covering the kingdom of Israel, the Arameans had laid siege against Samaria, Israel’s capital city. This means that they were blocking people from going in or out so that the people might starve. The king of Israel, most likely Joram, son of Ahab, sends a messenger to Elisha, threatening him with violence. Today, Elisha predicts that they will soon be so flooded with food and grain that it will be hard to sell at even a fraction of its cost. Later, Jehu (a military commander) will be anointed as the next king of Israel by decree of Elisha and by a messenger sent by the prophet to anoint Jehu with oil. The newly anointed king then sets out to put an end to the house of Ahab.

Today’s episode contains some particularly gruesome imagery for children; parental discretion is advised. The kings and kingdoms of the land are growing increasingly chaotic and tumultuous, but in the midst of the chaos, the Lord continues to work and speak through his prophet, Elisha. An Aramean army commander comes to Elisha to be healed, but when Elisha doesn’t give him the respect he thinks he deserves, he almost rejects the offer out of hand. Later, the Arameans try to capture Elisha but he diffuses them with hospitality. Not long after, the Arameans lay siege to Israel, surrounding Samaria in order to cause a famine, and the people take evil & desperate measures to try and survive.

We’ve been going back and forth between the books of 1 & 2 Kings and the books of 1 & 2 Chronicles, because each of these books contains a history of kings in Judah and Israel. However, as some of you already know the books of 1 & 2 Chronicles are focused on the kings of Judah, while 1 & 2 Kings cover a broader history including those kings from Judah as well as those from Israel, with large portions devoted to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. We’re still playing a bit of catch-up in 2 Kings, as we’ll read about King Joram of Israel who reigned at the same time as Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. Later, we’ll read about a number of miraculous signs performed through Elisha.

When we read from 2 Chronicles in our last episode, we covered Edom’s rebellion against Judah during Jehoram’s reign, wherein they separated from Judah and established their own king. Obadiah rebukes this nation for their rebellion in our first reading. A return to the book of Kings, now in the second part, means a little backtracking: in short, Jehoshaphat is king and Jehoram has not yet taken the throne. Ahab’s son Ahaziah is now on the throne in Samaria of Israel, but he won’t outlive the Lord’s prophecy against Ahab which says that his family line would come to an end in the next generation. Last but not least, the prophet Elijah passes his mantle to Elisha who receives a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.