In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus Christ -Yeshua]
was in the beginning with God.
SECOND KINGS
The Second Book of Kings (852-586 BC) is the seventh
of the twelve books of history. It begins during the reign of King Ahaziah in the northern nation of
Israel and ends with the fall of the
southern nation of Judah to the Babylonians and the destruction of
Jerusalem. The united kingdom of Israel lasted 40 years under the reign
of King Solomon from 971-931 BC, at which time the kingdom
became divided. The northern nation of Israel existed for 209 years from
931-722 BC before falling to the Assyrians. The southern
nation of Judah existed for an additional 136 years from 931-586 BC before falling to the Babylonians. During their captivity,
God's prophets ministered to His people and foretold of their return
from captivity and their eternal destiny.
The history of these two nations shows a persistent rejection of God.
Both nations fell into apostasy, immorality and idolatry. All of
Israel’s twenty kings were unrighteous while eight of the twenty kings
of Judah walked in righteousness. This is the reason God spared Judah
for another 136 years after the fall of Israel. While Israel had nine
dynasties, Judah had only one dynasty through King David. God kept His
Davidic Covenant with Judah by preserving King David’s lineage. From
this lineage came David’s descendant, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who
would die on the cross at Calvary for our sins.
At the end of this age after the seven-year
tribulation, Christ
will return a second time to judge the nations for their
rejection of God and for their attempt to destroy
Israel. Israel will
suffer great loss but Christ will preserve a remnant of Israel as
foretold by the prophets. The priesthood will number 12,000 from each of the
twelve tribes of Jacob. Gentiles who survive the
tribulation period will be those who have
not received the mark of the Antichrist or worshiped the beast, and who
have not persecuted Israel.
Second Kings 1-17: The reign of kings during the divided kingdom;
fall of the nation of Israel
Second Kings 18-25: The remaining kings of Judah; fall of Judah to
the Babylonians