Lesson 15 – The Rest of the Kings of Israel
1Like many of the other kings of Israel, Jehoahaz is compared to Jeroboam the first king of the northern ten tribes. As the first king, he set the tone and set the standard. In this case, the pattern was to rebel against God and worship idols. Jeroboam also represents the king who was gifted a kingdom by God, but who never gave God any credit or worship for His role in the king-making. The writers of scripture reserve a special sort of judgment for him, and then use him as the benchmark against which the following kings of Israel would be compared.
The message of Jeroboam is clear. As a people the northern ten tribes rebelled against God. They disregarded their special position under the covenant God made with their ancestors. They took for granted and abused the special provision God provided in choosing them to be His people. They appropriated God’s sovereignty as their own personal accomplishment, and did not worship God in response.
By comparing each of the subsequent kings to Jeroboam, the writers are in effect saying that nothing changed. There was no slow progressive improvement. A later king did not surprisingly turn out different. The people did not experience a change of heart and suddenly turn back to God.
2Because of Jehoahaz’s continued wickedness, God brought punishment in the form of an aggressive neighbor to the north. Over the reign of two kings, Syria attacked and defeated Israel. Jehoahaz lost territory and cities. His army was also whittled down to a pitiful military force that could not hope to defend the kingdom.
3But despite his history of rebellion against God, Jehoahaz eventually turned back to God. He sought the favor of God instead of continuing to worship the idols the people worshipped. He must have realized that those idols were not able to save, him and sought a more historic source of salvation.
Even though Jehoahaz had been compared to Jeroboam for his wickedness, God heard his plea for help. And God answered. God did not respond out of respect for Jehoahaz’s request, but because He looked upon His people in a terrible situation, and had compassion on them. Even though as we will see in this lesson, He will ultimately punish the people for their rebellion and sin, in this moment, He was moved to remember His affection for them.
Scripture only says that God raised up a savior for Israel. We don’t know if that savior was Jehoahaz himself, or a military leader who was able to rally the troops. One thing we can be certain of, Israel did not start to defeat the Syrians because of any military might. God gave them the victory and allowed them to regain the territory they had lost.
4At this point in the chronology of the kings of Judah and Israel, the names can become confusing. After Jehoahaz died, his son Jehoash became king. In the same passage in 2 Kings 13, his name is spelled both as “Jehoash” and “Joash”. That’s not entirely unique since we’ve seen multiple spellings before. However, Joash of Israel came to the throne during the 37th year of the reign of Joash of Judah. Perhaps this is the reason for the alternate spelling in verse 10 where both monarchs are referenced. You can usually tell who is being referenced because in these passages, because they are usually named in terms of the kingdom they ruled.
Very little is said of Jehoash’s reign. The most interesting tidbit we get is a summary of an interaction he had with the prophet Elisha. The prophet was terminally sick and Jehoash went to pay his respects. Even though Jehoash didn’t follow God, he recognized that Elisha was a true man of God and that God was with him. When he arrived, he exclaimed “the chariots of Israel and it’s horsemen!” This is often taken to mean that Elisha was as essential to the defense of Israel as chariots and armed cavalry.
In keeping with this military theme, Elisha asked Jehoash to shoot an arrow out of the window of his house, and then beat the ground with the remaining quiver. Elisha called the bowshot “the Lord’s arrow of victory” over the Syrians, indicating that this ritual was around victory and defeating the enemies of Israel. However, Jehoash only struck the ground three times, an inadequate amount to achieve total victory. Elisha, even though he was on his deathbed, rebuked Jehoash saying that three was such a restrained number that he would not totally vanquish the Syrians. Had he been more aggressive and struck five or six times, Israel would have totally defeated their enemy.
6Like his father, very little is said of Jeroboam the son of Joash. We only know two things. First, he followed in the wickedness of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. This means he followed the wicked ways of his father Jehoash and did not pick up the clue of worshipping God. Secondly, we know that he had victory over the enemies of Israel. The text tells us that he defeated the Syrians to the point where he was able to reclaim the territory that had been previously lost.
It’s possible that Jeroboam II was the “savior” that was referenced during the time of his father Jehoash. 2 Kings 14:27 seems to run parallel to 2 Kings 13:5. We don’t have details but we do know that Jeroboam was able to expand the borders of the kingdom of Israel.
8Very little is said about the reign of Zechariah of Israel. We only know that he reigned only six months, and during that time, he was a wicked king. He is compared unfavorably to Jeroboam the first king of the northern ten tribes. He reigned such a short time and did nothing of significance. So this is all we know about him. Zechariah reigned for only 6 months because he was assassinated by Shallum the son of Jabesh. But it was important that he did reign.
9 After Jehu wiped out the descendants of Ahab, God promised him that his dynasty would extend to four generations (2 Kings 10:30).
- Jehu
- Jehoahaz
- Jeroboam II
- Zechariah
God was faithful to His word. Zechariah was the fourth generation form Jehu. However, it was only necessary for him to sit on the throne to fulfill the prophecy. Zechariah didn’t need to reign for a long period of time. He only needed to ascend to the throne.
The wickedness of the northern kingdom of Israel demanded judgment, and God was in the process of bringing that about. But He would not do so at the expense of His word and commitment to Jehu.
10Zechariah was assassinated by Shallum the son of Jabesh. As we have seen before, anyone who had enough power to assassinate the king was then able to become the king in his place. However, Shallum’s power was not sufficient to defend his position, and he only reigned for one month before he was eliminated.
11Menahem killed Shallum and became king in his place. Menahem was more successful in that he reigned for ten years. However during that time he behaved wickedly, turning his back on God in favor of the idols of the people around him.
During his reign, a new power emerged on the scene. Syria (Aram) was defeated by a new superpower – Assyria. Located to the east in the fertile crescent, Assyria, with a capital in Nineveh, became the dominant power in the region of Mesopotamia and the costal Mediterranean. Pul, the king of Assyria (also known to history as Tiglath Pileasar) ruled over a new empire, which included significant influence in the region of Israel.
Eventually Pul came knocking on Menahem’s door. He responded by sending enough tribute to send the foreign king away. In order to raise enough cash to do this, he had to tax all of his nobles and prominent citizens. In response, Pul, the king of Assyria, confirmed Menahem as the king of the 10 northern tribes of Israel.
Based on Pul’s support, Menahem ruled for 10 years over the kingdom of Israel.
12Menahem died of natural causes, and his son Pekahiah inherited the rule over Israel. The only thing we know about Pekahiah is that he was wicked according to the wickedness of Jeroboam the first king of Israel. Pekahiah only lasted 2 years on the throne. He was killed by his own man, Pekah (very similar name, but a different person).
13Pekah ruled in place of Pekahiah. He had a much longer reign, 20 years. But he still is assessed as wicked and evil according to the behavior of Jeroboam.
During Pekah’s reign, Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked him and captured a number of the cities of Israel. He was not kind to the conquered territories, and deported all the people of Israel in those areas to far-away lands and brought in other conquered people to live in the towns of Israel. This approach reflected the Assyrian doctrine for conquered territories – removing people from their ancestral lands to a far-away place where they would not feel so connected or as strong.
14Hoshea the son of Elah rebelled against Pekah, and his failed policy of appeasing Assyria. Hoshea murdered Pekah and took his place as king of what remained of the kingdom of Israel.
15Hoshea lacked the political autonomy of being his own ruler. He pandered to Assyria for affirmation in his right to rule. With the approval of Assyria, and promises of fealty to the new world-power, Hoshea was blessed by Assyria as the newest king over the northern ten tribes of Israel. To retain his position as the king of Israel, Hoshea had to pay Assyria an annual fee as a client state. This is what it means when scripture says that Hoshea “became a servant”.
16Unsatisfied with the vassal terms of Assyria, Hoshea looked around for other alternatives. He reached an agreement with Egypt to oppose Assyria. This resulted in a default against his commitment to pay tribute to Assyria. That triggered military retribution, and Assyria mobilized against him. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah possessed strategic locations between the two superpowers of Assyria (to the North-east) and Egypt (to the South-west). So Israel cast it’s lot with Egypt instead of Assyria.
17In the ninth and final year of Hoshea’s rule, Shalmaneser, the ruler of Assyria attacked and utterly defeated what remained of the kingdom of Israel. This led to the majority of the population of the kingdom being deported to regions of the Assyrian empire, and other conquered peoples being relocated to the territory of the kingdom of Israel.
In this manner, God executed judgment against the northern ten tribe for their wickedness and rebellion against Him. While it took nearly 300 years, God’s judgment was sure and brought utter devastation against the kingdom of people who rebelled against His rule through the dynasty of David. While they had a time of independence, their consistent rebellion against God and His requirement for obedience with His law ultimately caught up with them.
God’s judgment against His people of the ten northern tribes of Israel stands as testimony against us today who do not share the covenants He struck with the people of Israel. His favor was conditional against their obedience. Since they disobeyed through-and-through, and followed kings who led them astray, God brought His wrath and punishment against them. This ultimately led to their eradication as a people group and a nation.