Israel #11 Jehoahaz. 2 Kings 13:1-9 Reigned 17 years. Hazael kills many in Israel just as Elisha had predicted.

Israel #12 Jehoash (Joash). 2 Kings 13:10-14:16 Reigned 16 years.

Elisha Miracle #14: A Moabite corpse comes to life after being thrown in the grave of Elisha. A fitting end to the life of the great prophet Elisha. Take time to review all the miracles that Elisha did in the chart above. As Elisha was dying of some sickness, he told King Joash of Israel to strike the ground with arrows as a sign of how many times Joash would defeat the Arameans who were continually raiding and killing Israelites, but he only struck the ground 3 times. Elisha told him that meant that he would only defeat the Arameans 3 times and that he could have had a more complete victory if he had struck the ground 5 or 6 times.

Judah #9 Amaziah. 2 Kings 14:1-20 Reigned 29 years. He killed all the men who killed his father King Joash of Judah. He defeated the Edomites and became proud, challenging King Jehoash of Israel to battle, and was defeated by Jehoash. Jehoash captured Amaziah and took gold from the temple. Amaziah was later released and murdered back in Jerusalem.

Israel #13 Jereboam II. 2 Kings 14:23-29 Reigned 41 years. He was evil but God used him to keep Israel from being “blotted” our completely at this tie (later God would allow Israel to be taken in to captivity in Assyria in 722 BC. The prophet Jonah of Amittai predicted his victories. Jonah prophesied for many years during that period of time. That is the same prophet Jonah as in the book of Jonah so that dates the book of Jonah during the reign of Jereboam II of Israel (793-753 BC).
Amos the prophet was a sheepherder and cultivator of sycamore trees, lived in Judah, but mainly spoke to Israel from Bethel during Jereboam II (Israel #13, 790-748 BC). He told them God hated their hypocritical worship and sacrifices at Bethel (4:4-5; 5:21-24). He predicted exile for Israel for their indulgence and lack of grief over sins of greed, dishonesty, trampling the poor.
Hosea the prophet had a long ministry from 760-725 BC to Israel during Jereboam II (Israel #13) and a contemporary of Amos a short time and several years with Isaiah and Micah. He condemned Israel’s apostasy, idolatry, murder, stealing, violence, and deception (ch 4). He predicted Israel would be taken into Assyrian exile b/c of their sins (ch 11).

Judah #10 Azariah (Uzziah). 2 Kings 15:1-7. Reigned 52 years.
1. He began reigning at 16, and did right in the days of Zechariah the prophet. God helped him become very powerful, defeating all his enemies, with an elite army of 307,500 men and engines of war (catapults).2. But when he became strong, he heart was so proud that entered the temple and burned incense which only the priests could do. Azariah the priest rebuked him and he was enraged. 3. God struck him with leprosy on the spot, he died a leper. Reigned 52 years. It is sad to see a good king like Uzziah end up his reign in pride and failure. He had served God faithfully most of his 52 year reign. It is a reminder to those of us who have served God most of our lives that we can be lifted up with pride in our latter years and fall away from God. Many of us older Christians (I am 76) have material strength and assets like Uzziah that tend to make us forget God and think that we have aattained wealth and health by our own doing.

This is a good place to show the pattern used in 1,2 Kings. Uzziah reigned over Judah 52 years, so after giving all the events in his 52 years the author will then go over to the northern kingdom and cover all the kings of Israel during that 52 years before going on to the next king of Judah, Jotham.

Israel #14 Zechariah. 2 Kings 15:8-12. Began his reign in the 38th year of Uzziah’s reign. Reigned 6 months and was killed by Shallum.

Israel #15 Shallum. 2 Kings 15:10-15. Began his reign in the 39th year of Uzziah’s reign. Reigned 1 month and was killed by Menahem.

Israel #15 Menahem. 2 Kings 15:14-22. Began his reign in the 39th year of Uzziah’s reign. Reigned 10 years. He bribed Pul the king of Assyria with silver to keep Pul from attacking Israel and it worked.

Israel #16 Pekahiah. 2 Kings 15:22-26. Began his reign in the 50th year of Uzziah’s reign. Reigned 2 years and was killed by Pekah.

Israel #17 Pekah. 2 Kings 15:27-31. Began his reign in the 52nd year of Uzziah’s reign. Reigned 20 years. In the days of Pekah, Tiglath-Pilesar king of Assyria invades and captures cities in Israel.

Having caught up with all the kings of Israel during Uzziah’s 52 year reign, that author goes back to the next king of Judah, Jotham, who started his reign in the 2nd year of Pekah.

Isaiah prophesied to both Judah and Israel from 740-722 BC, and then to Judah only from 722-687 BC during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (all kings of Judah). He condemned the sins and hypocritical worship of Judah (1:10-23; ch 5).

Micah the prophet was a contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, but he preached to both Judah and Israel, usually referring to them by the names of their capital cities (Israel/Samaria and Judah/Jerusalem). He condemned their greed, idolatry, and oppressing the poor (ch 1).

Judah #11 Jotham. 2 Kings 15:32-38. Reigned 16 years.

Judah #12 Ahaz. 2 Kings 16:1-20. Reigned 16 years. He was very evil and made his sons to pass throug the fire to the god Molech. Rezin king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah king of Israel attached Ahaz and Ahaz bribed Tigleth-Pilesar king of Assyria to attack and kill Rezin, which he did. AI: “While visiting Damascus to meet the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III, Ahaz saw a pagan altar that caught his interest. He sent a sketch and detailed blueprints of the altar to Uriah (Urijah) the priest in Jerusalem, who built an exact replica before Ahaz returned. Upon his return, Ahaz offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings on the new altar, moving the original bronze altar of the Lord to the side. Worshipping the Gods of Damascus: 2 Chronicles 28:23 explicitly states that Ahaz sacrificed to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, reasoning that because the gods of Aram helped their kings, he should sacrifice to them as well.”

Israel #18 Hoshea. 2 Kings 17:1-6. Reigned 9 years and was carried captive to Assyria in 722 BC by Shalmaneser king of Assyria. Hoshea was the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel before the fall of Samaria (after a 3 year siege) and the Assyrian captivity of Israel in 722 BC. Hoshea refused to pay tribute to the Assyrians and relied on Egypt for help. The Assyrians carried tens of thousands from Israel into captivity. Assyria brought in foreign populations from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to repopulate the land. At first they did not fear the Lord and God sent lions to kill many of them. They brought in a priest from the captives to teach them how to obey Yahweh the God of Israel, but they also worshipped their false gods. Over time, these groups intermarried with the remaining Israelites to form the Samaritans. A significant number of northern Israelites fled south ahead of the Assyrian advance, integrating into the remaining Kingdom of Judah. Israel was sent into captivity b/c of their sins and idol worship. Several times it says that they refused to listen to the warning of God’s servants the prophets.

Because the northern tribes were scattered and never received an edict to return (unlike the later Babylonian exile of Judah), they became known in tradition as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Most mainstream historians and traditional consensus agree that the tribes were reabsorbed into history rather than surviving as distinct entities. Numerous global groups—including communities in Africa, Asia, and the Americas—have historically claimed descent from the lost tribes. British-Israelism: Popularized heavily from the 19th century onward (and explored in texts like Origin: Lost Ten Tribes in the West), this ideology proposed that the Anglo-Saxon and Western European peoples are literal physical descendants of the lost tribes. traditional British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) most commonly teaches that Great Britain is Ephraim and the United States is Manasseh although some reverse that due to the preiminence of the US.Mainstream historians and geneticists dismiss this as a pseudohistorical narrative used to justify imperial or nationalist identity. Mormons believe that the lost 10 tribes will be regathered in the last days.

Wow, that gets us to a great stopping point on the readings up to 2 Kings 17 and the captivity of Israel in 722 BC. The rest of 2 kings will focus on the last kings of Judah only.