The Killer Kings (Part C)

When you say to someone, have a blessed day, ideally you would like that to mean, may you be the Lord's vessel. What more could you ask for in this life? I don't know of a higher blessing than to be used by God. We would interpret that, may I be safe from everything. May everything be wonderful for me.

We know that that is not a bad thing to want. It's just not the whole story. The Assyrians have a record on Shalom as the king in Israel, and it says that he was the son of nobody. Wasn't these people talking about your parents? I mean, first we have Jahu telling Jezebel, you know, Azariah about his mother Jezebel, now we've got the Assyrians talking about it.

He doesn't have any. Well, what they're saying is he's probably, he's not from royalty. He was a commoner, and they didn't respect him, and they wanted to point that out. Well, Amos the prophet actually prophesied that this would be the case with these kings, and they could stand Amos for doing it. It didn't matter that it all came true. They didn't go back to Amos and say, you know what, your prophecies are right. We need to clean up our act.

No, that wasn't the way they did it. Verse 11, Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, indeed, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. Let me pause here a minute to say that sin's got such a grip. You're preaching to Christ, to somebody, to lead them to the Lord. You better be praying for them, because this Satan has got moves that can only be neutralized through prayer. I believe that.

I believe God already sees what's happening and is making his move and inviting us to be part of it. And so, yeah, it's very difficult for a person to have this realization. Jesus says, Lord, I am a sinner.

I am not worthy, and I repent and change. It's very spiritual. It's invisible, but it is not the works.

The fruits of it are very visible. But what's going on in the inside? You can't x-ray it. You can't get an MRI and say, look at that, a spiritual deficiency. There it is right there.

It should be next to the frontal lobe, but it's not. Well, you can't do that, because it's spiritual. Well, verse 12, This was the word of Yahweh, which He spoke to Jehu, saying, Your son shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. And so it was.

Well, that prophecy is fulfilled. Verse 13, Shalom, the son of Jebesh became king in the 39th year of Uzziah, king of Judah, because he reigned 52 years. And he reigned a full month in Samaria. So, this one is the short.

He doesn't, he gets 30 days. Verse 14, For Menahem, the son of Gadai, he was a Gadai warrior, probably, anyway, went to Terzah, came to Samaria, and struck Shalom, from Terzah came to Samaria, struck Shalom, the son of Jebesh, in Samaria, and killed him, and he reigned in his place. The killer kings. Terzah is said, it comes up in Solomon's song, it's beautiful up there, quoting at the time, and it was the capital city in the north. But Amri realized, you know, it's just not fortified enough, and he moved it to Samaria, which is a natural fortification, and that's why he moved the capital to Samaria. Anyway, verse 15, Now the rest of the acts of Shalom, and the conspiracy which led indeed, which he led indeed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Well, we don't have that book, that's extinct.

We take his word for it. Verse 16, Then from Terzah, Menahem attacked Tipsha, all who were there in its territory, because they did not surrender, therefore he attacked it, all the women there who were with child he ripped open. Yeah, you didn't see that coming. We're reading along and just looking, the kings all of a sudden some gory terror pops out, and writers saying, this is the reality of the sin. These folks at Tipsha, they didn't like Menahem becoming king and killing Shalom, so they resisted.

And he was brutal and cruel, and so he attacked them, and he murdered, and that's how he dealt with it. There's nothing new about terrorism, that's what this was. Joseph Goebbels, you know, Hitler's minister of propaganda, if you read his quotes today, you would think that he is the chair in the Democrat party today.

I'm not kidding you, I'm not taking cheap shots. You read what he says about how to manipulate people, and you say, this is them. Never admit that you're wrong, no matter what evidence they put in front of things like that.

Well, this is what he says, one of the things he says. Terror could also be used to compel people to change their behavior. You don't like Hitler? Well, how about we terrorize you?

I think everything about you will change after that, and that's what he did. They terrorized their opponents. If you were stood up in a floor of debate in the government office, and you said, I disagree with that, and here's why, they would terrorize you, and that included killing you. Anyway, Satan at work through human beings, because Satan can't ball up his fists and punch you in the face. He has to get a human to do it for him, and he does. Whether, you know, in some way, whatever violence or sin against somebody, he's getting, he has to get a person to do it. Verse 17, Menahem reigned in Israel in the 39th year of Azariah, king of Judah. Menahem, the son of Gadai, became king over Israel and reigned ten years in Samaria.

So, his act of terrorism evidently served his purposes because he served for ten years as king. And it worked for one lifetime, and after that, you could say, hell doesn't break loose, but you won't break loose from hell. So we go to the book of Revelation, chapter 20. Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place for them. Now the earth and the heaven fleeing in this part of John's vision in the Revelation is because judgment's about to be exercised. This is the fierce wrath of God, and nothing stands in, and nothing can deal with that.

Creation bows to that, does everything about him, but this is, of course, emphasized. And then it goes on, talking about the wicked and their judgment, and I'll just get to the end. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That's how it ends. That is the final judgment for those who said, Jesus, you can't be my king and you can't be my savior, I'm fine without you. Made it this far without you, I'll make it the rest of the way. You will make it the rest of the way, but you'll be suffering the whole time without relief.

It will not be good for you. That lake of fire is a spiritual lake of fire. It is a tormenting lake of fire.

It's the place no one wants to go. Well, this is where men like Meneum end up, ripping open the women and the babies and the pregnant, the evil that he did, the satanic things that he did to retain power. And you say, well, they all did it that way. So God's going to say, oh, okay. He's not. He's not going to say.

He's going to say, but what do I want you to do? Verse 18, and he did evil in the sight of Yahweh. He did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nabat, who made Israel sin.

We should start saying that together. We all just ring him, who made Israel sin? Because he is a, man, you know, God is warning people. He said, if I remember his sin, I'm going to remember your sin.

And the only thing that can wash it away is my son. That's why I sent him. Call God mean, call me all sorts of names.

You don't know what you're talking about. God is good because he doesn't have to save you. He doesn't have to make a place for you in heaven at his table to dine as his friend. He can just lump you into the sea of hell, and he does not because he's good. And when we get to heaven, we're going to find out. You're going to just, oh, man.

The Bible doesn't spend much time telling us about heaven. It's too much. It's just, you can't handle it. That's my conclusion. It's actually stated, Paul said, I saw things aren't even lawful. They're not lawful to say. Not because they were decadent, because they were glorious. Verse 18, and he did evil, and we read that, we don't want to read that again. Verse 19, Paul, king of Assyria.

That sounds like a command at a skeet range. Paul, king of Assyria, Assyria. Anyway, Paul, king of Assyria. Is the king of Assyria working a skeet machine?

Paul, king of Assyria. Okay, stop. All right. I blame Looney Tunes. I mean, they just put these things in your head.

There's an element of life that is cartoonish. Paul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Paul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. So, Assyria is now getting big.

Bigger than Syria and Israel, combined northern and south. They're going to be the world power until the Babylonians unseat them. And now they're coming to the land and he's going to pay them off. This is just the beginning. Isaiah writes about this woe to Assyria, the rod to my anger and the staff and whose hand is my indignation. So you get to Isaiah 10 and you're like, oh man, this is so boring.

And Ammon and Ammon. But when they were living, it was like saying, and this is what's going to happen to Canada, and this is what's going to happen to Mexico, and here's why. And this is what's going to happen to, you know, Germany. These places were real to them. And they're real historically to us. And here, Isaiah is saying, God is using Assyria to judge the northern kingdom, because they will sweep them away. Not because Assyria was good, because they were bad enough to be useful. And he used them and then he dealt with Assyria. And so just because you're an instrument of God doesn't mean you're safe.

You better have a right relationship with him or you are toast. Well, this is the first mention of Assyria's king in Kings. Jonah, of course, ministered there before these events. And then we continue, and it says here, and Menahem gave Paul a thousand talents of silver. Just suffice it to say it's a lot of money.

It's on a government level, not an individual level. And when it talks about that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control, well, he was supporting the Assyrians, and in return, the Assyrians would sort of protect him too. At least that was the nervous understanding of everyone. Verse 20, and Menahem exacted the money from Israel from all the very wealthy, from each man, 50 shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. So the Assyrians come and the king says, okay, I got to drop some cash here. And he goes to all the wealthy people and says, you've got to pay this so I can give it to him and he won't come and kill us all. And that they did. Verse 21, now the rest of the acts of Menahem, all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? Verse 22, so Menahem rested with his fathers and Pekahiah, his son reigned in his place. You know, if someone said, you know, you're pronouncing some of these names wrong, you know what I would say? I don't care. You should have named him John.

There's something everybody can pronounce. Verse 23, I mean I try and I think I get most of them right now. In the 50th year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekahiah, that's it, Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned two years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Surprise! He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Menahem. We missed a chance to say it together. Who made Israel sin? Verse 25, you know that's a good point to just, you know, get it into a child.

You know, listen, I don't want to lay a guilt trip on you kid, but I also don't want you to think that somehow sin is something God winks at. Because he does not. Especially when you're leading people away from him. Verse 25, then Pekah, the son of Malia, an officer of his, conspired against him and killed him in Samaria in the citadel of the king's house, along with Arghab and Aria. And with him were 50 men of Gilead. He killed him and reigned in his place. How come none of you moms are naming your boys Arghab?

I'm glad you're not. Imagine a child dedication for that. And here's little Arghab, sound like a greedy kid. Anyway, now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and all that he did, indeed are they not written in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. So Pekah kills Pekahiah and he's going to be king for 20 years. And he's the one that's a combat technician.

He's just strategic, wins a lot of wars until he gets assassinated. Now where it mentions the two men, Arghab and Aria, these are likely accomplices that helped him get to kill the king. And it says, and with him were 50 men. So it didn't take much to overthrow him. And we know by the antecedents that it's referring to the men that were with Pekah who killed Pekahiah. And we know this from the last clause, he killed him, singular pronoun, and reigned in his place. And that reinforces the interpretation that these guys were accomplices. He only needed 50 guys to do it because the king was sloppy.

And he seized a moment that we could take this guy out with just a little strike, a little commando team. Verse 27, and that would be force recon anyway, if you really want to get it. Okay, you just can't get the Marine brainwashing out.

It just always rears up its carnal head. You all can't appreciate it, some of you can. Anyhow, verse 27, in the 52nd year, Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Ramaliah, became king over Israel and Samaria and reigned 22 years, verse 28, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not depart, already, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat who made Israel sin.

Thank you. He, this Pekah, why I mentioned he was such a military guy, 2 Chronicles 28, 6, for Pekah the son of Ramaliah killed 120,000 of Judah in one day, all valiant men because he had forsaken Yahweh God of their fathers. So the kings in Judah, Ahaz at this time, was just evil. And God says, I'm not blessing them, and I'm going to in fact use the others who I'm not blessing to win this great victory, and that's what happened.

This is how God kept it all in check. He did not depart, we've covered this. For it to be there, I know we've got a few verses, we'll get right through them, because this is probably one of the main parts. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam. This says the Bible is not a history book, it has history in it. It makes it clear that it rebukes apostasy because it is spiritual, it is scripture, it is word of God.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord as found 23 times in the kings alone. This spiritual feature of the book exhorts the Lord and condemns sin. It's not a mere history book. Without addressing sin as sin, then it would be a history book.

We have history books like that, but it does address it, and therefore scriptural it is. Imagine an American history book inserting such comments about American presidents. Imagine him saying he did evil in the sight of the Lord.

That history book would now become spiritual, and it would have a biblical element in it. He did not take away the abortion clinics. He did not stand against homosexuality. He did not aid Israel against nations with demonic religions.

He did not uphold righteousness according to God's word in the New Testament and the Old. Imagine if a history book said that. Whoever put it in there would quickly be...

The Justice Department would show up, that's how serious it would be to them. Anyway, verse 29, in the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Aijan and those other places. And so it's beginning, the end of the north, verse 30. And Hoshea, the son of El-Ah, led a conspiracy against Pekah, son of Remaliah, and struck and killed him. So he reigned in his place the 20th year of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. And so he sneaks up on Pekah and he goes, boo. Okay, all right, verse 31.

You don't know how much ringing of the cloth it is goes into sorting this out so I can come here and make it sound very easy. Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel, verse 32. And in the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham. Did I read that?

No, John, thank you. Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. Now there are explanations for that. That's for the heavy commentaries and study Bibles just to make you say, okay, so somebody can sort all this out.

And they can, do a pretty good job of it at least. Because of the overlapping of reigns, a king co-regents, no one can get it 100%. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it happened as it is stated. Verse 33, he was 25 years old when he became king. He reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadai.

Not a clue who these people were. Verse 34, they knew who they were. When he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, he did according to all that his father, Uzziah, had done. So the kings in the south, their mothers get a mention and in-laws because there was more righteousness there than in the north, more decency, but it would fade. Verse 34, he did right in the sight of Yahweh according to all that his father, Uzziah, had done.

So again, the chronology is back, shifts back in time again, refocusing on the kings in the south. This is the son of Uzziah who we started off with. It says this of Jottham. So Jottham became mighty because he prepared his ways before Yahweh his God. Let me interpret that into New Testament language. God blessed you because you believed in Jesus Christ, but life was still under the curse. So once we realize that, we get stronger, I believe that.

We understand, okay, I get what's going on here. God, when you say to someone, have a blessed day, ideally you would like that to mean, may you be the Lord's vessel. What more could you ask for in this life? I don't know of a higher blessing than to be used by God. He would interpret that, may I be safe from everything.

May everything be wonderful for me. And we know that that is not a bad thing to want. It's just not the whole story. Well, verse 15, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built up the upper gate of the house of Yahweh. So they will get the king they deserve in Ahaz, who's next. Jotham could not get his son to believe in the Lord as Uzziah got him to believe. And no slight on Jotham.

It comes down to the child's choice when they become an adult. Verse 37, in those days Yahweh began to send Risen, king of Syria and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah. You say, well, wait a minute, didn't he just get killed by Hoshia? Yeah, but he's going back again.

Chronology is big stuff. He's back again to Judah. So this, Isaiah called it, said these two coming to bother the king in the south, Syria and Israel, they're not going to win. They're trying to force Judah to side against Assyria with them. And Ahaz is going to say, no, I'm not going to do that because Isaiah is right there to minister. Verse 38, so Jotham rested with his fathers and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Then Ahaz, his son, reigned in his place.

Ahaz, all trouble, and the prophet Isaiah had to endure this fool of a king. And we'll get to him next chapter and hopefully the lessons will be helpful for us as New Testament Christians. Thanks for joining us for today's edition on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We trust that what you've heard today in the book of 2 Kings has been something to remember. If you'd like to listen to more teachings from this series, go to Cross Reference Radio dot com. Once more, that's Cross Reference Radio dot com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. Our time is about up, but we hope you'll tune in again next time as we continue on in the book of 2 Kings. We look forward to that time with you. So make a note in your calendar to join Pastor Rick as he teaches from the Bible right here on Cross Reference Radio.