《The People ’s Bible – 2 Kings》(Joseph Parker)

Commentator

Joseph Parker (9 April 1830 - 28 November 1902) was an English Congregational minister.

Parker's preaching differed widely from his contemporaries like Spurgeon and Alexander Maclaren. He did not follow outlines or list his points, but spoke extemporaneously, inspired by his view of the spirit and attitude behind his Scripture text. He expressed himself frankly, with conviction and passion. His transcriber commented that he was at his best when he strayed furthest from his loose outlines.

He did not often delve into detailed textual or critical debates. His preaching was neither systematic theology nor expository commentary, but sound more like his personal meditations. Writers of the time describe his delivery as energetic, theatrical and impressive, attracting at various times famous people and politicians such as William Gladstone.

Parker's chief legacy is not his theology but his gift for oratory. Alexander Whyte commented on Parker: "He is by far the ablest man now standing in the English-speaking pulpit. He stands in the pulpit of Thomas Goodwin, the Atlas of Independency. And Dr. Parker is a true and worthy successor to this great Apostolic Puritan." Among his biographers, Margaret Bywater called him "the most outstanding preacher of his time," and Angus Watson wrote that "no one had ever spoken like him."

Another writer and pastor, Ian Maclaren, offered the following tribute: "Dr. Parker occupies a lonely place among the preachers of our day. His position among preachers is the same as that of a poet among ordinary men of letters."

00 Introduction

Prayer

Almighty God, with thee is light and in thee is no darkness at all. Thou hast called upon us to be children of the light, and to walk in the day and not in the night, that we may show forth the glory of thy word and the meaning of thy kingdom. May we answer that great call in thine own strength; then shall men know that we are reflecting Christ"s glory, and are not shining in a light of our own creation. We bless thee for thy word, the entrance of which giveth light. It is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path; it shineth afar over our whole life, so that there is no dark place in all the days of Prayer of Manasseh , if so be he put his trust in the living God, and walk only according to the living word. Thou hast set around us circumstances designed to teach us. Thou dost call upon us to read the book of providence, to turn over its pages carefully, and to consult all its records patiently and with an understanding mind. Thou hast also written round about us the wonderful writing of nature—a marvellous Revelation , so grand, yet so simple; so infinite, yet in every detail of it intelligible and representative of such care and wisdom and love. Then thou hast written thy book which is addressed to our souls—the book of inspiration, the living Bible, the marvellous speech of God"s own wisdom. Surely we shall read some of these writings of thine—the great providence, the splendid nature, the vital book. May we be found diligent students of one of these at least; then we shall proceed unto the other: for they are all connected, and belong to one another, and lead up to one another, and complete one another: may we begin where we can only begin reverently, thoughtfully, and hopefully and thus in due time may we become men of God thoroughly instructed in all good works, armed at every point against the tempter, having the Holy One dwelling in our hearts and making us holy, turning our whole life into a sacrifice, and setting before us a luring and welcoming destiny. Meanwhile, we need so much guidance and comfort and sympathy, for the way is dark, and the day is as nothing. Oh how rough is the path sometimes, and how dangerous! We hear voices in the wind which we interpret into threatening or cruelty or some kind of alarm, and we shrink back and are dismayed because there is no more strength in us. Sometimes we go out to seek water, and there is none, and our tongue faileth for thirst. Now we say, To-day will be the beginning of liberty; and, lo, it does but lengthen our chain and add to the weight which we are carrying. We need to be comforted, upheld, sustained, directed. How many angels do we need to minister unto us would we be heirs of salvation!—one to answer the great argument; another to dispel the frowning, sullen doubt; another to sing to us in the nighttime of our heartlessness: but are not all thine angels ministering spirits, sent forth to minister, living to serve, and ordered by thee to nourish and cherish thy Church? We pray thee to be with us thyself—Father, Song of Solomon , and Holy Ghost; three in one, one in three. We feel our need of this tri-unity, for we ourselves are three in one—a great mystery of being: now full of pain and sorrow, and now almost angels for brightness and joy. Pardon our sin. Only God can forgive sin: but the blood of Jesus Christ thy Son was shed for sinners, and that blood availeth still. May we know the meaning of its application, may we feel its gracious virtue, and when the enemy would tell us that pardon is impossible, may we be told in our own consciousness to answer that he was a deceiver from the beginning. Help all men who need special favour. Sometimes they are all but in despair; sometimes the hand is half put out towards the poison or the steel: they say they cannot bear the pain and darkness any longer: they are mad with agony. O thou who didst make that marvellous instrument the human constitution, thou who knowest all its fashioning, all its limits, all its desires" and passions, its susceptibilities, do thou undertake thyself cases which are beyond our strength and help. The Lord hear us at all times; specially when we beg for light and wisdom and forgiveness. Amen.

01 Chapter 1

Verses 1-18

2 Kings 1

[Note.—The annotations in this and the following chapters give the results of the best available criticism.]

1. Then [And] Moab rebelled against Israel [reduced to vassalage by David] after the death of Ahab.

2. And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and [by Jezebel"s advice] he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baal-zebub [Lord of flies] the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.

3. But [Now] the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say [speak] unto them, Is it not [omit "not"] because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go [are going] to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?

4. Now therefore thus saith [hath said] the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

5. And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why [the "why" is emphatic] are ye now turned back?

6. And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest [art sending] to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

7. And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?

8. And they answered him, He was an hairy man [literally, a lord of hair, a term which probably referred to his mantle], and girt with a girdle of leather [the leather was a sign of poverty. Ordinarily the girdle was of linen or cotton] about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

9. Then the king [with hostile intentions] sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and behold, he sat [was sitting] on the top of an hill [above Samaria. Some think Carmel]. And he [the captain] spake unto him, Thou man of God [man of the true God], the king hath said, Come down.

10. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume [eat or devour] thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

11. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said [commanded], Come down quickly.

12. And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

13. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought [begged compassion of him] him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.

14. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.

15. And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, Go down [from the mountain to the city] with him: be not afraid of him [the captain]. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

16. And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off [from] that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

17. So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram [some versions add "his brother"] reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.

18. Now the rest of the [history] acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

False Religious Appeals

Ahaziah, the man of whom this chapter speaks, was the son of Ahab and of Jezebel. He was badly born. Some allowance must be made for this fact in estimating his character. Again and again we have had occasion, and shall indeed often have, to remark upon the disadvantages of children born of wicked parents. It is not for us to lay down any final doctrine of responsibility; we must leave that in the hands of a just and gracious God. A terrible spectacle, however, it is to see a man whose father sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, who bound himself as for a price to show rebellion on the very floor of heaven. Ahaziah was a prince of evil,—a man who said he would defile the sanctuary, and commit his supreme sin within the shadow of the altar, and whose mother planned and all but personally executed the murder of Naboth. What can we expect from such a child of darkness? Who can gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Was he responsible for his own actions? Society is often hard on such men, not unreasonably or unnaturally. Yet society is often very gracious to such men, saying, with an instinctive piety and sense of justice, After all, such men are not to be personally blamed for their antecedents: they may indeed be open to some measure of suspicion, but even they must have their opportunity in life. Let us consider the case of Ahaziah and see how matters stand for our own instruction.

To understand the matter thoroughly we must go to 1 Kings 22:49 :—"Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not." Jehoshaphat was right when he acted upon his instinct. By-and-by he came to act upon a basis of calculation, and then a compact was entered into. But who dare set aside the voice of instinct—the very first voice that rises in the soul to make judgment and to give direction? Jehoshaphat, on hearing the proposal of the son of Ahab, said: No; I have known thy father too well: I am too familiarly acquainted with thy family history: thou shalt not send thy servants with mine. It would be well for us if we could sometimes act more promptly upon our instincts. When we begin to reason and reckon and calculate, and especially when a little element of selfishness enters into all the consideration, we begin, though acting in the high name of reason, oftentimes to be foolish and to depart from the living and noble way. Is there not a spirit in man? Is there not a voice that instantly responds to circumstances and appeals? How is it that we cannot associate with some men? They darken the day; they make everything crooked which they touch; when they are not frivolous they are censorious; when they are not boisterous they are vulgar; they have no noble ideas, no holy passions, no sublime enthusiasms; their speech makes us little, impairs our own fortitude and whole quality. We shrink from them; we would not take a whole day"s journey with them upon any consideration: they would spoil the summer: they would make noise when we wanted peace. They always take a low view of every case; they suspect every Prayer of Manasseh , and they know exactly what he is going to be about; and they show their penetration by reading, often falsely, the man"s motives. We shrink from such people by a marvellous gift which God has implanted in the enlightened consciousness of man. We decline all compact and partnership and association and sharing: for we would not share a bag with a thief, because surely he would leave us nothing but the bag. Blessed be God for this inward voice, this quick, flashing, lightning-like feeling, which tells us when there is an enemy in the air and when there is one approaching whose aim is only evil. It would have been well for Jehoshaphat if he had acted upon his instinct.