How Do We Find the Gospel in 2 Kings?

Originally, the book of 2 Kings was part of 1 Kings. It’s a story about God keeping His promises to provide kingship, but it also shows the failure of human kings. 1 Kings, especially the first half, is a bit more positive. 2 Kings, while filled with action, shows the failure of all human kings. It ends with the Israelites in exile, their kingdom seemingly destroyed. Can it be rebuilt? 

It's an intriguing story, but one which ultimately points to King Jesus. How do we find the gospel in 2 Kings? 

How Do You Find the Gospel in the Old Testament? 

I suppose before understanding how to find the gospel in the OT, it’d be helpful for us to define the gospel. The simplest definition is one given by JI Packer: God saves sinners. If you’d like to put a bit more meat on your gospel presentation, I use two different frameworks with four points each. The first is God—Man—Christ—Response. The second is more of a story: Creation—Fall—Redemption—Glory. 

The first presentation centers upon God’s character and how humanity fails to meet God’s holy standard, as such the judgment of God is upon us. But the good news is that Jesus Christ fixes this by fulfilling what is required through his life, death and resurrection. Our only fitting response, then, is to respond to Him in repentance and faith. When this happens, we are united to Christ and his record becomes our record. 

The second presentation centers upon the overarching story of the Bible. God lovingly created us to love Him and enjoy Him forever. We were made for rest, rule, and relationship. But we made shipwreck of this, and so rather than having the blessings of obedience we are under the curse of disobedience. Rather than having peace (rest), purpose (ruling), and healthy relationship we often experience the opposite. Ultimately, we are alienated from God. But thankfully God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear our curse and to fulfill what God intended for humanity. As such we now experience the blessings of Jesus’ obedience in our place. He restores the rest, rule, and relationship we were created to enjoy. Someday everything will be ultimately restored and we will live in a new heaven and a new earth. 

We could write entire books focusing on these various themes of the gospel. But every gospel story follows this basic skeleton. No matter where you find yourself in the Old Testament (or the New Testament) you can find one of these various threads. Every place in Scripture is either telling you something about God, something about our rebellion, something about His rescue, or something about our future restoration. If you can spot this, then you can fill out the rest of the story. 

How Do We Find the Gospel in 2 Kings? 

As mentioned earlier, 2 Kings is really one book that is part of a larger story. Originally, 1 Kings and 2 Kings was one unified book. These were set within a larger story known as The Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings). It is a story of God making big promises to his people and then fulfilling those promises. A key verse is 1 Kings 8:56 when Solomon declared: 

“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”

One of the major themes of the book, then, is that God keeps His promises. But there is another thread which runs through this story — that of human failure. 2 Kings ends with the people carried off into exile. Humanity cannot bring about God’s kingdom.  

You don’t have to journey long into 2 Kings to see the recurring themes surrounding human failure. But we also see some of the cycle of redemption. King Josiah was a good king. And through his leadership there was great reform as the people rediscovered the importance of God’s law. Yet, even Josiah ended with a foolish decision to take matters into his own hands. 

The people repeatedly turn away from God, embrace idolatry and wickedness, and become just like the nations around them – rather than being a light to the nations. As mentioned in 1 Kings, this story is really a retelling of the Garden of Eden story. It starts with God blessing humanity, giving them a home, and then it ends with them exiled. The story of Kings does the same thing.  

There is a repeating cycle throughout 1 and 2 Kings. God is gracious, the people rebel, they experience God’s judgment, they repent, God restores, the people return to rebellion and the cycle continues. Each time, though, it seems as if the level of wickedness deepens. And with increasing depravity comes sharper judgment. 

In this book, the kings are measured by whether or not they repented and sought after the Lord. When they did, their kingdom prospered. When they rebelled, the people suffered. But so many of the kings are not concerned with the people. Even their own “repentance” is often narrowed to how it will impact them personally. Judgment doesn’t get their attention until it hits their own doorstep. 

Yet woven through all of this rebellion is a story of hope. It’s a picture of God’s faithfulness even in the midst of unfaithfulness. Yes, the story “ends” in exile. But even here we find that the story ends with Jehoiachin released from Babylonian prison (2 Kings 25:27-30). Can they rebuild? Will a deliverer still come to them? Is there a King worthy to take up the throne? 

Where Is the Gospel in the Reign of King Ahaz?

2 Kings doesn’t have many places where one can draw an easy line from the narrative to the gospel of Christ. The prophet Elisha, as well as King Josiah and King Hezekiah (at least in part), are rare bright spots in a parade of wickedness. So, it might be difficult to see how many of these passages can point to Christ. One particular place which might prove difficult is the reign of Ahaz. Where is Jesus in that story? 

The story of Ahaz is found in 2 Kings 16. He took the throne at a young age and reigned for sixteen years. This should have provided stability. But we are told that he “did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God…but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel” (2 Kings 16:2-3). 

What is a king supposed to do? First and foremost, good kings are supposed to point people to the One true God. They are to give proper honor to YHWH. Furthermore, a good king will work for the flourishing of those in his charge. In this way, he is imaging God. 

To be under a good king is to thrive. But evil and wicked kings are consuming. They certainly do not point to the Lord. The reign of an evil king usually culminates in itself. His exaltation and thriving is the goal. We see this in the story of Ahaz. His son, the one most directly and obviously under his care, is burned in an offering to a pagan god. Rather than worshipping God, Ahaz was proficient in idolatry. He worshipped false gods “under every green tree.” 

Ahaz was so enamored with the Assyrians that he attempted to model their worship. He tried turning the temple dedicated to YHWH into a temple just like what he saw in Assyria. Why did he do all of this? Isaiah the prophet tells us a little more. In Isaiah 7, the prophet goes to Ahaz to tell him not to be afraid of the armies of Syria and Israel. God told him, 

“Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands…” (Isaiah 7:4). 

But Ahaz didn’t listen. He went to Assyria for help instead of trusting in the LORD. He tried to feign reverence (Isaiah 7:12) but ultimately it was clear that his trust was in the human power of Assyria instead of the LORD. So, what did God do as a result? He told Ahaz that he would give to him the sign of Immanuel. 

“Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” 

Does that sound familiar? 

It is what Matthew would later use to point to the virgin birth of Jesus. Yes, it was likely referring to a virgin in the king’s harem originally. The sign though, showed the sovereignty and power of God to accomplish his purposes. And as the story unfolds, we see that he does it through weakness and not through human power. He will finally and fully provide redemption for humanity through a baby, born to a virgin, wrapped in swaddling cloth in a manger. 

God accomplishes what human power cannot. Therefore, the message from King Ahaz is to show the foolishness of trusting in ourselves. Ahaz wanted protection for himself — and perhaps even protection for the people. But he sought it through his own efforts. He tried getting the promises of the Garden without having a relationship with the God of the Garden. And, as it always does, it came up empty. Assyria was only playing him. This would lead to their destruction.

But the story of Ahaz also shows God’s mercy and grace. It shows how He graciously communicates with humanity and calls them to repentance. And it also shows how He, even through weakness, will come in power. It would be through this “virgin birth” that the King of kings and the Lord of lords would come. He is the king we need.

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