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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Kings 8:16–24, “And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children. In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents. Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.”
Every time we read through the historical sections of the Bible it is helpful for us to remember that this is a record of the Lord’s dealings with people showing what happens if they obey and what happens if they don’t. It also shows what happens when people ignore the Lord altogether. This information doesn’t allow us to say that the Lord approves of things that people do when they disobey Him, even if they pretend they are. We have just been through the historical record of a very important time in Israel’s history, after the kingdom was divided the northern kingdom followed a form of the original contract that they had made with the Lord. However, the initial truths that Jeroboam used were quickly transformed into Satan’s lies and they were not following the Lord and His Law at all. When Ahab became king, Israel moved away from the pretence of following the Lord to become exactly like the neighbouring nations and follow the gods of the other nations. At this critical stage, the Lord graciously sent two powerful and important prophets to call Israel back to their true God and save them from the ultimate penalty clause of the contract, that is, exile. Both Elijah and Elisha were faithful and fearless as they brought the Lord’s message to Israel and gave them every opportunity to repent and return to their God, the Lord God Who brought them into the Promised Land in the first place. All the elements needed for true repentance were there but they were ignored. Eventually the Lord let Israel, the northern nation, have the fruit of their choice and history moved on towards its inevitable conclusion. The two nations, Israel and Judah continued in their ways. Kings were died and replaced by other kings. The Lord allowed Judah to continue under the Davidic dynasty with custody of the Temple. When Judah became too close to Israel, through marriage alliances, Judah became more like Israel and sinned against the Lord their God. As they followed this course of actions they began to lose their prestige and influence among the nations that the Lord had given them. However, the Davidic dynasty continued with both good and evil kings.
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