1 and 2 Kings - Lesson 12

Dr. John Oswalt
1 & 2 Kings
th630-12
Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah and Elisha’s Call
Lesson Transcript

In the previous account of the end of Ahab's life, we met Jehoshaphat, but he has not been formally introduced to us before. And this is very typical. In this formulaic way that the author is working, we want to deal completely with one king, and if that includes information about king from the other kingdom, we'll put it in there. But then, the other king will be formally and completely introduced later, and that's what's going on here. We have seen Jehoshaphat, we've met him, but we haven't been formally introduced to him. And that occurs in chapter 22, beginning at verse 41.

Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel. He was 35 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 25 years. So Jehoshaphat and Ahab overlapped to a significant degree. Jehoshaphat beginning his reign after Ahab had begun his and Jehoshaphat continuing shortly after Ahab's death.

His description here in verses 41-50 is rather miscellaneous. It's this and that and the other thing. Chronicles, as you probably remember, is very favorable toward Jehoshaphat. Again, because of his attitude toward the Levites, his attitude toward the temple, so forth. Kings is not so favorable because his commitment to the covenant is not quite so well-stated. In particular, the problem of the covenant with Ahab. He shouldn't have done that, shouldn't have done that. In particular, he married his son, Joram, to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. And we're going to see Athaliah has a very painful effect upon the life of Judah in the days ahead.

So the description of his reign is a little miscellaneous. In verse 43, "In everything, he followed the ways of his father, Asa." Not the ways of David. That is said of Asa and of Hezekiah and Josiah. Here, it's he followed the ways of his father. He did not stray from them, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Okay? Not bad, not bad at all. Once again, as will be said of every king, until we get to Josiah, the high places were not removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Again, as I've suggested to you before, I think this is primarily ignorance of the covenant. They shouldn't have been ignorant of it, but I think they were. And so, they're worshiping Yahweh at these various shrines throughout the country. And then that interesting statement, Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the King of Israel. Good or bad?

As for the other events, you can look them up in the book of the events of the days of the King. "He rid the land," this is verse 46, "of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father, Asa." You go back. Rehoboam had allowed this activity. There is writing today arguing, these are not homosexual, but I think that reflects our culture and our cultural wishes. I think there's every reason to think that they were homosexual prostitutes in the temple. Rehoboam had allowed it. Asa put a stop to it, but evidently didn't exterminate it. Jehoshaphat has exterminated it. Again, good.

He tried to build a fleet like Solomon had done operating out of the Port of Eilat, down on the Red Sea, but it failed. And there's an implication that it's the result of working with Ahaziah, the king in the north. Don't know for sure. At any rate, this description of Jehoshaphat is rather ambiguous, rather ambivalent. Nevertheless, here is a further 25 years of stability in Judah, a further 25 years of commitment to the covenant, if not as fully carried out as we might wish, with the question of the treaty with the Northern Kingdom. But nevertheless, there it is, a total of some 65 years of stability and faithfulness in Judah.

Then we come to the beginning of the record of Ahaziah. Ahaziah is the son of Ahab. But we just begin it. Verses 51-53 and that's it. And it is carried on straight into 2 Kings. What that shows us is that the division of the book into two parts, 1 Kings and 2 Kings is really pretty mechanical, okay? This scroll is 60 feet long, cut it in two at 30 feet and cutting it in two is between 1 Kings 22:53 and 1 Kings 1:1, excuse me, 2 Kings 1:1. It's entirely mechanical and not divided on a thought basis.

Ahaziah verse 52 served again, here's two years, and again, it looks as though it was not a full two calendar years. It's parts of two years, maybe as long as a year, but not much more than that. And then he succeeded by his brother. Now, notice how Judah and Israel, the Kings are trading names. We, in English, to try to keep them separate in our minds, Jehoram and Joram or Jehoash and Joash, it's the same name. Ahaziah, Ahaz, it's the same name. So this is perhaps the strongest indication of the community between Judah and Israel in these days that you can find is the royal names being traded off between kingdoms. Ahaziah, son of Ahab. There's also going to be Ahaziah, who is son of Joram, of Judah.

"He did evil in the eyes of the Lord because he followed the ways of his father and mother," interesting, "Ahab and Jezebel and of Jeroboam." As we've said so many times, virtually every king of the northern kingdom, he followed in the ways of Jeroboam. He did not. What a responsibility Jeroboam brought upon himself when he built those golden bulls. He served and worshiped Baal and aroused the anger of Yahweh, the God of Israel, just as his father had done. So there's the opening formula. Ahaz, 17th year of Jehoshaphat, and he reigned two years, and he did evil. That brings us then to 2 Kings and to the continuation of the story of Ahaziah.

It is sometimes said that chapter one of 2 Kings is the end of Elijah's ministry, and chapter two is the beginning of Elisha's ministry. Well, that's not wrong. But I want to argue that those two chapters ought not to be separated from each other. It is the transition from Elijah to Elisha that is being dealt with in these chapters. And that will be especially important I think when we come to the end of chapter two that we will talk about.

The picture of Elijah here is so familiar to us. He's out somewhere in the wilderness. Ahaziah falls through latticework. So we're thinking about he's only been on the throne a few months and he falls through latticework and he's injured. So what does he do? Well, remember Jeroboam when he had a sick son sent to a prophet of Yahweh, Ahijah, the prophet who had anointed Jeroboam. What does a Ahaziah do? He sends his messengers to Ekron, that's a Philistine City, to inquire of Baal-zebub.

Now the question is, we know what Baal means. That's Baal, but Baal what? Well literally, zebub is flies. And you perhaps remember a novel that was written some years ago called the Lord of the Flies. Well, that's literally what Baal-zebub means. Well if that is correct as it stands, perhaps it is the idea that this god who is a god of flies and of maggots is a god who has power over death. That's why the Egyptians worship flies because flies clearly had the ability to turn dead stuff into life, a white crawly, slimy kind of life, but it's life. So, if that's correct.

But it's also possible that this is a mocking term. I've mentioned before that the Old Testament, often when it is speaking of idols, idol gods, will use mocking terms. So it's possible that this god had some other name perhaps beginning with Z. And if so, we don't know for sure what it would've been. But it's possible. At any rate, he does not go to a prophet of Yahweh. How far have we drifted? How far have we gone? And on the way, the guys meet this fella who comes out and says, "Isn't there a God in Israel you can inquire of? Go back home. Tell your king he's going to die." So they do. And Ahaziah says, "Whoa, you got back awfully quick." And they say, "Well, a man came to meet us, and he said go back and tell you you're going to die."

"What did that man look like?" And they told him, "Well, he was a hairy man and he had a leather belt around his waist." He said, "Oh, good grief, it's Elijah. Go get him." And it's pretty obvious that his purpose was not to find out what Elijah would further say to him, his purpose is to kill him. So he sends 50 men under a captain to go get him. And he says, "Man of God, the king says, 'Come down.'" And Elijah says, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down." And they're wiped out. You don't mess with the prophet of Yahweh.

So Ahaziah is dumb enough to do it again. And the second group, "The king says, 'Come down at once!'" "If I'm a man of God, may fire come down." And again. And Ahaziah does it a third time. This captain is a little smarter. And he says, "Please have respect for my life and the lives of these 50 men. Fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. Now please have respect for my life." Yeah, yeah. You don't tell the prophet what to do.

And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, "Go down with him. Don't be afraid of him." Elijah got up and went down with him to go to the king. The king does not have the power of death. You do, Elijah. So he went and he made his announcement, verse 17. So he died according to the Word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Who's in charge in this nation? Baals above the god of death, the god of the flies, or Yahweh, the God of life.

Now Ahaziah had no son. He's still a very young man. So Joram, his brother, succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. These two guys have the same name. So this is the conclusion of Elijah's life, demonstrating that Yahweh is the God of life and death and there is no other.

That transitions us into chapter two. When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here. The Lord has sent me to Bethel." Now, one of the, I think in some ways, unanswerable questions is what about this journey? The Gilgal that we know in the Bible is located about here. It was the camp of the Israelite tribes. While they were subduing the land of Canaan. They would go out, they'd win a battle, come back to Gilgal. Go out another direction, win a battle, come back to Gilgal. So it has a great deal of sacred history for the Hebrew people.

He said, "I'm going to Bethel." Bethel is basically here. And then, he goes to Jericho. Why would you go to Bethel and then to Jericho if Jericho is where you're headed? Why wouldn't you go directly from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho? Well, some scholars have suggested, "Well, there is another village, which in modern Arabic has a name that could be translated Gilgal, and it's up in this area. So maybe they were there and went to Bethel and then down." Possibly, possibly. However, I tend to think that the issue is not how quickly can we get to Jericho. I think there's more of a theological basis for this journey. Later on, Hosea will say to his people, "Go to Gilgal and sin." Go to Beth-Aven, not Beth L, house of God, but house of Iniquity, house of wickedness and transgress. I suspect that these ancient sites had become places of religious pilgrimage, that people went to these places because they were holy, so they could become holy.

So I suggest that in fact, Elijah is taking a journey that touches on these three important places in Israel's history. And as he's doing it, he's doing it as a way of saying, number one, these places are not holy in and of themselves. And number two, something of a prophetic nature is going to have to happen in these places if they are to be what they're supposed to be. And I'll come back and talk a bit more about that in a few minutes.

Elisha responded, when Elijah said, stay here because I've got to go to Bethel, "I'm not staying here. I'm I'm going with you." When they get to Bethel, Elijah says, "Stay here, Elisha. The Lord has sent me to Jericho." And Elisha says, "I'm not staying here. I'm going with you." When they get to Jericho, Elijah says the same thing, and Elisha says the same thing.

Now, what's going on there? Why these three attempts to get Elisha to stay behind? Well, I think one possibility is that Elijah is testing Elisha, are you really going to be my successor? Do you really have prophetic insight to know what's going to happen today? Now another possibility is simply like an animal that is dying, wants to be alone. I think it's the former, and I think that is indicated by the fact that in each place, prophets show up and say to Elisha, "Do you know what's going to happen to your master today?" And Elisha says, "I do. Now hush." So yes, in each case, Elijah is saying, "Are you my successor?" And Elisha is saying, "I am. I am. Our ministry is indeed one."

I said earlier that I think that chapters one and two are meant to be read together. One of the reasons I think so is precisely this three thing. How many groups of soldiers were there? Three. Also, a little bit later we're going to find that 50 prophets went to look for Elijah. How many soldiers? 50. So the end of Elijah's ministry and the beginning of Elisha's ministry are woven together in this way. So then we see this journey, from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho, places that are going to be very significant in Elisha's ministry as they had been in Elijah's. In each case, this issue of prophets appearing and asking Elisha, "Do you know?" "Yes, I know."

Now why cross the Jordan? Well, one of the things that we have seen in Elijah's ministry is this similarity to Moses. He is a man who stands apart from others. We remember that he went to Horab. We remember that in this setting, the nation stood for its beginning with Moses. We remember that Moses died on the other side of the Jordan. So that in a real sense, what's happening is then what we see confirmed in the New Testament. Moses is the Torah. Elijah is the prophets. Here, these two great figures standing out rather starkly alone and standing to represent for what is to be found in Israel in the days to come.

Another thing that ties Elijah and Elisha together is the mantle. The mantle that Elijah throws down to cross the Jordan dryshod as Joshua and the people of Israel did. And then the mantle that is given to Elisha, and the mantle that Elisha uses to cross the river back. Yes, yes. Elisha is not merely the successor to Elijah, he's the continuation of Elijah.

So chapter one is the final prophetic act of Elijah. The first part of chapter 2:1-18 is the transition, and then verses 19-25, the opening phase of Elisha's ministry. So I say, these two chapters, chapter one and chapter two of 2 Kings go together and indicate that the ministries of Elijah and Elisha are to be understood together there.

Now, what about this? Let me have a double portion of the spirit that rests upon you. I think that is doubly important. Not let me inherit a double portion of your power, not let me have a double portion of your effectiveness, but let me have a double portion of your spirit. Running through the Old Testament is this issue of the Spirit. As you perhaps know, this is another of those words that has multiple meanings. The word ruach can mean wind, it can mean breath. It can mean spirit with a small S, and it can mean Spirit with a capital S, the Holy Spirit. How you use it, how you understand it depends on the context in which it appears. Let me have another, a double portion of the wind that blows through your life. Let me have a double portion of that breath that characterizes everything you do. Let me have a double portion of the spirit that you manifest. Let me have a double portion of the Spirit who lives in you.

I think it is the latter. The Holy Spirit is the one who enables persons to live the life and do the works of God. That's what marks Elijah as a man of God. Not powerful capacities, but a very character and nature that can express itself in powerful capacities, but much deeper that which enables you, that which enlivens you, that which makes you who you are as a man of God. Let me have a double portion of that. Now what's he asking? Oh, I want to be twice as much what you are. No, no, that's not.

In the ancient world, when a man died, his property was divided up into portions. The eldest son, the heir, the one who's carrying on the name, gets two portions. The wife and all the other children get one portion. What's he saying? Let me be your true son. Let me be your eldest son. Let me be the one who carries on your life and your inheritance. That's what he's asking for. And it's quite clear that he got it.

A chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel." You are Israel's ultimate weapon. You are what would cause Israel to survive in the middle of this crisis in which we are. Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment, his own mantle and tore it in two. Grief, sorrow. Then he picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of Eden. Oh, Jordan. Excuse me. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. Where now is Yahweh, the God of Elijah? And when he struck the water, he divided to the right and left and he crossed over. Yeah. Elijah. Elijah, a single ministry.

So the prophets met him. They saw what had happened. They'd been watching at a distance. Clearly, they did not see the chariots and horses of fire. So, "We don't know where your master is. Let us go look for him." Elisha says, "No, no, no, no. You don't need to do that." They persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, "Send them." And they came back and said, "We couldn't find him." Elisha says, "Didn't I tell you?"

Now, there are two events that are reported here in the close of chapter two. Whether these two events occurred at this time or not, I think is something of an open question. Because in many ways, they are perfectly representative of Elisha's ministry. On the one hand, it is a ministry of blessing, a blessing that is given at Jericho, the place where the nation experienced its first great victory in service of God. The water is bitter. How life has become bitter in Israel through the preceding 70 or 80 years. "Bring me a new bull," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. He went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the Lord says, 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'"

Could Israel become a blessing to the world? Could Israel survive as the people of God until one day they would no longer bring death, but bring life? Yes, through the ministry of Elisha, that's going to become possible. And salt, yes. Jesus brought a close to that whole picture. You are the salt of the earth. How does salt function? If you eat salt by itself, it's distasteful, and eat enough of it and it's poisonous. But when salt loses itself in something else, some other form of food, that food becomes more tasty. So this salt, which in itself is death-dealing, can become life-giving. It can preserve things when it gives itself away. I don't think it's accidental that he uses salt here. However, his ministry will not merely be one of blessing. He goes up toward Bethel. Bethel, the place where one of those golden bulls stands, the place that they will try to run Amos out of a hundred years later because this is the chapel of the king.

And some lads come out. Now, are these boys, little boys? I don't think so. I think they're punks. I think they're thugs who are mockingly called boys. Come on, boys, let's go. And they mock Elijah. They call him old baldy. I suspect that is emphasizing the difference between him and Elijah. Elijah was a hairy man. He was a man of the wilderness. He was a man of the strange, far off places, the hidden places. Elisha is going to be a man of society. I think he's clean-shaven and he may well have had a bald head. But I suspect, again, can you prove that, Oswalt? No, I can't. But I think it's significant.

We know about Elijah. He was a pretty scary old guy. But who are you? What do you got to do? What do you got to say? Get out of Bethel. Don't you dare come here and condemn this holy place of our sacred worship. He turned around and looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of them. Do you remember what I said about covenant? Clear back at the beginning? If you keep the covenant, there is blessing. But if you persist in breaking the covenant, there is curse.

So here is Elisha's ministry. Take your choice. Hear the Word of God. Allow the Word of God to perform its healing purpose in your life, and it'll be a blessing. Mock the Word of God, deny it, refuse it, and the source, the result will be pain and loss and curse. So I say it may be that these two events did indeed happen in chronological sequence after Elijah came back across the Jordan, but I think it's also possible that they have been included here precisely to represent the nature of his ministry and the impact of his ministry. I think either is possible.