Please go back to I Kings and read carefully the sections on Elisha and Ahab. We will start Thursday's class with a discussion of that material.In addition to finishing/reviewing the above material, please read my I and II Kings study questions, and then as much as you can of II Kings 1-17 for Thursday's class. Read especially closely the chapters on Elisha.
Does it seems to you that any of the stories in the latter part of I kings or the first part of II Kings have the makings of good tragedy? Or is the material here better viewed as history, biography, or prophecy rather than as tragedy? Cite below any passages/verses you think particularly support your view.
ebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
ReplyDelete2: And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
3: But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?
4: Now therefore thus saith 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 are ye now turned back?
-Of course it seems that kings2 starts off as a tragedy. I believe that the bible all together is more a historical document than a tragedy. Here we see the death of an important figure. This is recording an important event that took place. Arguably, the entire story of Israel as a nation is a tragedy. So it is hard to say any one story isn't simply part of the same tragedy because it shares the same tragic end.
Elisha was a man of importance. Did did not seem to wander like Elijah, and the kings sought out his counsel. He was influential enough for people to miss him when he died. He was not someone who was afraid of people, and was not against helping the poor.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a way to live your life, and with that could be many different things. Prophesy maybe? After all if one could live their life like Elisha, then even thier enemies/ or people who wouldn't be expected will admire them. Even Joash came to morn him in chapter 13.
At the same time his life is historical. It mentions his family, but also his death. It makes stops with all the important events in his life. As one reads King 2 it is definitely more of a historical document; however it has tragedy in it. But that makes a history memorable and usable for future generations.
It seems like both the end of Kings I and the beginning of Kings II have elements of tragedy within them, but are ultimately history. Ahab seemed to have a tragic end as his prophets were killed, he was condemned, and he ended up dying in the end of Kings I. We then see his son Ahaziah take over the reign of Israel at the end of Kings I. In the beginning of Kings II, we see him die. The deaths of both important figures were a little tragic, but the stories of their lives were ultimately historical. It showed the beginning of their life, how they came to power, their interactions with others such as Elijah or Elisha, and their death. This is why I see it as more of a history with a little tragedy.
ReplyDeleteR. Casey Oberle
I think the story of Ahab is a tragedy because he never really walked in the ways of the Lord even though he knew God's power and he never really did turn to God even though he had been prophecied to. I also think that much of the end of I Kings is filled with prophecy. Over and over again we see men of God coming to kings with the word of God. One example is when the prophet condemns Ahab in I Kings 20:41-42.
ReplyDeleteTyler Munson
ReplyDeleteElisha was a prohpet who did many wonderful things and the book goes into some of the things he did. So it can be looked at as a biography. But there is a tragic aspect to this story because he still served false gods so he was going against his people tradition.
Agreeing with casey that that both th end of Kings 1 and the beginning of Kings II have tragedy but are ultimately historical. There are stories of that of the widow an her son, and how the son gets sick and elijah brings him back to life that i find are good uplifters in books that are more or less stories with a lot of sadness or not particulary good things going on.
ReplyDeleteTom quigg
In the second book of Kings there are elements of true tragedy, but one part stands out to me as a very good tragic element with the book. It begins with the rise of Jusiah, who was Manasseh's grandson. He becomes the king of Judah, and rules very well, and even repaired God's temple. But, as soon as he passed away, kings were instantly evil again, and Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of babylon was able to attack Jerusalem. A story of a nation doing extremely well in a large area to it all crashing down into complete chaos and warfare again has the makings of a good tragedy indeed.
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely some tragic events that unfold in the second half of 1 Kings. When Solomon turns his heart away from God, he essentially breaks his covenant, and the kingdom of Israel was forever changed after Solomon. Due to some bad advice, Rehoboam ended up splitting his father's kingdom up, and not quite in half. Only the tribe of Judah remained with the house of David. From then on, both the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah (until Asa) were turned away from God and did evil in His eyes by worshiping other gods like Baal and Asherah. Worse yet, the king of Israel, Ahab, took for his wife Jezebel, who was killing God's prophets. It's tragic to see a great nation torn apart and turn away from the one thing that made them great: God.
ReplyDeleteI think that most of the latter part of 1 Kings can be, without a doubt, labeled as history. In the book, we see rulership for both Israel and Judah constantly shifting between kings. As we've read, it is also constantly ending each king's rule with the words "are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of [Israel/Judah]?" It also shows how long each king ruled, how they came into rule, and that wasn't just family succesion, as shown by the plot of Baasha against Nadab. This also leads to the portion of 1 Kings that is prophecy.
In chapter 13, the mistreatment of the man of God from Judah kickstarted a series of prophecies against the line of Jeroboam and additionally the other kings of Israel. There were constant reminders of the words of God given through various prophets coming to frution. Just one example is in 1 Kings 15:29.
--And it came to pass, when he reigned, [that] he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite--
Some other examples of prophecy come in chapter 18, when Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and in 22 with Micaiah warning Ahab not to go to war (which was also the same chapter that we first see Israel and Judah coming together again briefly)
This book has elements of prophecy, tragedy, and strong elements of history, as aforementioned. You could single out single components of each, but the fact that it has all these elements is what makes it a good read.
Elijah had such a huge political impact on everytthing he did. In the begining when he is up on the hill and the king wants to speak to him and sent 3 different companies of men to get him and the 2 of the three companies burn, i think is the best way of showing just how much of a potential political impact elijah has
ReplyDeletejason schumacher
I think the story of Jehu in II Kings could be considered a tragedy. Israel had just finished dealing with an evil king in Ahab and the Lord had told Elisha to anoint a new king who would be better than him. So Elisha goes and anoints Jehu. Jehu then goes on a rampage killing all of Ahab's family, destroying the Baal altars and all the Asherah poles. So it seems, at first, like Jehu would be the faithful king that Israel needed. But then, at the end of his story we get these words: "Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord the God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he caused Israel to commit." So, after being specially chosen by God to clean up after Ahab, Jehu still wasn't faithful to him and continued to lead Israel down the wrong path.
ReplyDeleteJohn Rawerts
The end of I Kings was seen as a tragedy to me, because in the early book of I Kings things where looking prosperous in a way in following the Lord, but into to end of I Kings things began to change and doing more evil things in the eyes of God like Ahaziah in I Kings 22:52-53 as his father Ahab did. The beginning of the II Kings was seen as a tragedy in becoming a history because it is tell the story of Israel and the places surrounding it and as things happened doing the changes of these many kings that were going on at this time, but a tragedy as well because as Elisha was telling the kings and the to follow the Lord but they still continue to disobey Gods words, and did whatever they wanted to do and did many killings at this time to gain power and to keep power.
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