This passage records the reigns of five kings of Israel and one king of Judah (in addition to the reign of Azariah of Judah in the first seven verses of the chapter). It is mostly a story of conspiracies and short reigns.
Amaziah gave to the Lord a mixed level of devotion. In turn, he received a mixed level of blessing. God wants our whole heart. He is not willing to share the throne with other gods.
An indepth outline of introductory notes on the Book of Genesis.
This chapter records the vengeance of the Lord against the house of Ahab. Ahab has already died according to the word of the Lord, but God has business to finish with the house of Ahab and with Jezebel. All His prophecies are carried out to the letter. This lesson reminds us that vengeance belongs to the Lord and that He will fulfill His part (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; see also Ecclesiastes 8:11).
Jehoram continues the wickedness of Ahab. Jehoshaphat wrongly joins in with Jehoram. The kings and their armies are in serious trouble in the wilderness of Edom. Yet, they win the battle completely. Why? Because Jehoshaphat had enough spiritual sense to seek the Lord in the time of trouble. Do you have that much sense?
This passage tells of the translation of Elijah to heaven, but the real story is about Elisha. He is determined to follow his master to the end and he desires a double portion of Elijah’s blessing. We see that he gets the blessing and begins to perform some of the miracles for which he is known. O, that we might follow hard after God (Psalm 63:8) as Elisha followed hard after the spirit of Elijah!
Ahaziah gives us a powerful type of the sinful condition of man’s wrong ways to seek deliverance from the sickness unto death. There is a good salvation message in this lesson.
In this chapter, God fulfills His judgment on Ahab. He does so partly by having Ahab’s prophets tell him what he wants to hear. But the word he speaks comes true and he is justified in the end.
