Week 23, May 31–June 6: 2 Kings 13–25; Romans 1–6; Psalms 77–83

• Sun      May 31            2 Kings 13–15 Ps. 77
• Mon     Jun 1   2 Kings 16–18 Ps. 78
• Tue      Jun 2   2 Kings 19–21 Ps. 79
• Wed     Jun 3   2 Kings 22–25 Ps. 80
• Thu      Jun 4   Rom. 1–2        Ps. 81
• Fri        Jun 5   Rom. 3–4        Ps. 82
• Sat       Jun 6   Rom. 5–6        Ps. 83

As 2 Kings ends, so does the story of Israel and Judah’s history in the Promised Land, at least for a time. We have seen battles and changing dynasties, and kings have come and gone. Elijah, Elisha and the other prophets of the Lord have confronted them in their sin and called them back to covenant faithfulness to the Lord. Last week we mentioned that most of Judah’s kings were sinful and all the kings of Israel were wicked. Their sin and the sin of the people has led to the tragic consequences we come to in this week’s reading at the end of 2 Kings. Chapter 17 recounts the final defeat and fall of the northern kingdom, Israel, at the hands of the Assyrians, and then we read of Judah’s exile into Babylon.

The account of Israel’s exile itself is quite brief (2 Kgs. 17:6), but the author offers an explanation of the reasons for the exile that is lengthy by comparison (vv. 7–23). He says these tragic events all happened “because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God” (v. 7). Ever since they first entered the land, from the time of Joshua all the way until the last king, Hoshea, is captured and carried away into Assyria, the Israelites have gone after other gods and acted like the wicked nations God had promised to drive out of the Land before them. God sent prophets to call his people back to himself and his ways, and there were short times of repentance. Nevertheless, as a whole the kings and the people rejected the prophets and continued stubbornly in their ways. They did not trust in the Lord and they despised his good laws and the covenant he made with their fathers.

Not long after Israel’s exile into Assyria, a similar thing happens in Judah. Before recounting the events of Judah’s exile in more detail, the author gives a summary statement near the end of chapter 24: “For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence” (2 Kgs. 24:20). The Babylonian army besieges Jerusalem then breaks in and destroys the city David established. Most tragically, the temple is burned to the ground. This is the place God chose as his dwelling place. Judah’s king at the time, Zedekiah, is blinded and taken captive to Babylon, along with everyone else except for a few who would stay and tend the land.

With the Pentateuch in mind, we probably saw this coming as we worked our way through these books of Israel and Judah’s history. Even still it is sad to read. It seems so obvious that they should have just walked in the ways of the Lord and followed after the God who delivered them from Egypt, blessed them and made them a nation, gave them the Land he had promised to Abraham, and always remained faithful. But they just kept sinning and rebelling against the Lord. They broke their end of the covenant with him. This highlights the need for a new covenant. God’s people need a covenant that includes a new heart. They also need a new king.

At the very end of 2 Kings we do see a glimmer of hope. The book ends with a somewhat mysterious little paragraph about Jehoiachin, one of Judah’s last kings, who was taken into exile in Babylon. Sometime after the exile, when a new Babylonian king arises, Jehoiachin is treated graciously. He is freed from prison and given a seat of honor and a place at the king’s table (2 Kgs 25:27–30). This is the descendant of David, the heir of his royal line. God has preserved David’s seed, his offspring, and the author wants to leave the readers with the reminder that God has not forgotten his promises to David about a son who will come and reign on an eternal throne.

After finishing 1–2 Kings, we move back into the NT and pick up where we left off there, with the book of Romans. Romans begins the section of the NT that is made up of epistles, or letters, from the Apostles to the churches and groups of churches in the first century world. These were the local gatherings that began the earliest stage of the Church era after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. Many of the epistles to these churches were written by the Apostle Paul.

Romans rightly occupies a prominent place at the beginning of this collection. It is the most comprehensive explanation and explication of the gospel of Christ in all of Scripture. Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Rome sometime towards the end of his life and ministry, after he had been evangelizing and preaching and planting and ministering to churches for around 25 years. He hoped to go to Rome on his way to Spain, where he hoped to begin a new missionary endeavor (15:24, 28). Part of his reason for writing Romans was to garner support from the Roman church for his missionary effort to Spain. He wanted their financial support, but more importantly, he wanted them to understand and support the gospel message he was preaching.

The letter is addressed to Christians in Rome, “all those who are loved by God and called to be saints.” (Rom. 1:6) This includes both Jewish and Gentile believers, and this point is important to understand the letter’s message and the gospel itself. We do not know a lot about the church in Rome, but one thing we do know is that Paul did not plant it. While we do not have a lot of information as to when Christianity first came to Rome, in Acts 2 it does tell us there were Jewish people from Italy present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Some of these Italian Jews likely responded to the coming of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s gospel message. These new Christians were probably the ones who brought the message of Jesus the Messiah back to Italy, and thus the Christian church in Rome began.

Those from Rome who had come first to saving faith in Christ were Jewish Christians. If the spread of the gospel in Rome was similar to what we see throughout Acts, Gentiles would have been added to their community too. Then in AD 49 there was a significant event that changed the situation. The Roman Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome. We read of this in Acts 18:1–2, where it mentions that Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, Jews who had recently come to Corinth from Italy, because “Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.”

This left the Gentile Christians alone in Rome to continue the church there. Later, when Nero was emperor, the edict of Claudius expired, and the Jews were allowed to return to Rome. In Romans 16 Paul sends his greeting to Priscilla and Aquila, who have moved back to Rome by this time. What this means then is that, for some time the church in Rome would have consisted of Gentiles only. When the Jewish Christians came back to Rome, there may have been tension between the two groups related to their understanding and practice of the Mosaic law. This would explain why Jew-Gentile issues are prominent in Romans, particularly in chapters 9–11.

The book’s opening greeting from Paul functions as an introduction to the whole book. We can see this by comparing it with the end of Romans, the doxology that concludes the letter.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 1:1–7)

 

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Rom. 16:25–27)

Notice the repeated words and ideas in these opening and closing sections: gospel, Jesus Christ, Scriptures/prophetic writings, obedience of faith, nations, for his name/glory.

As you read through Romans this week and next, be looking for those themes and how they contribute to the gospel message Paul is unpacking. Also keep in mind that Romans was written to Christians, to those in Rome who have put their faith in Christ and for us today too. This is a book of rich theology as well as immensely practical encouragement for us to live in light of the grace we have received through Jesus.