Calvinism Everywhere, Part 31

Rounding off the book of Kings, I want to begin with an assertion about the book from Richard Hess: "Foremost in the book of Kings is the reign of the single God of Israel" (Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament, ed. Kevin Vanhoozer, 119). Hess then adds, "The final grand statement of God's sovereignty is that of 2 Kings 17, where the author reflects on the fall of the northern kingdom, attributing it to the worship of other dieties and the abandonment of the one true God of Israel" (120). God reigns, as noted many a time in earlier posts, not only in salvation but also in judgment. And so for her treachery, Israel goes into exile under Assyrian domination (2 Kgs. 15:29; 17:6).

The God who can touch a king and make him a leper (2 Kgs. 15:5) is the God who can call for the reigning superpower to be "the rod of his anger" (Isa. 10:5; 2 Kgs. 17:7-8, 20; 18:11). And then, after Assyria serves the Lord's purposes, she would be punished—repaid for her pride—and become a heap of ruins (Isa. 10:12ff; 2 Kgs. 19:21ff). And this comes both according to God's foreordination (2 Kgs. 19:25) and in response to Hezekiah's prayer (2 Kgs. 19:14-19). Well sure, for YHWH is the sovereign, he alone, over all the kingdoms of the earth; he has made heaven and earth. And he hears prayers "that all kingdoms of the earth may know that [YHWH is] God alone" (2 Kgs. 19:19). We then get a glimpse of his might, as YHWH responds to Hezekiah's plea and strikes "down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians" (2 Kgs. 19:35), effectively protecting Judah. For a time.

But Assyria is not the only instrument wielded by the Lord.
Babylon, too, wicked as she was, would serve the  purposes of the King of kings (2 Kgs. 20:16). For since Judah also was idolatrous, "the LORD sent against [Jehoiakim] bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets" (2 Kgs. 24:2). The description of Judah's capture is given in 2 Kgs. 24:10-17.

Now before leaving off this post, it is salutary for us to recall the hope with which the book of Kings ends, despite all the sin and misery. The king of Babylon, Evil-merodach, releases Jehoiachin, king of Judah, from prison, even seating him above the kings who were with him in Babylon (2 Kgs. 25:27-30). For the God who reigns supreme in fulfilling his prophetic judgment due to sin is the God who also reigns supreme (superabundantly so!) in fullfilling his prophetic promise. The promised seed will crush the serpent's head.