Week 17 II Kings
If someone asked you what I & II Kings were about you couldn’t go wrong by saying: it’s about kings. There’s not much to debate since there’s got to be about a dozen and a half kings in the northern kingdom and probably the same in the south. So if about forty kings are named in forty-seven chapters then, for sure, the books are about kings.
That said, you can’t escape the prophets. I Kings 17 begins the story of Elijah, and then his story runs right on into the story of Elisha. So that’s about fifteen chapters right there devoted to those two. And they’re not the only ones. I figure at least 32% of the two books is about prophets.
For a bible reader the prophets have the best stories (I checked The Action Bible and it devotes a dozen chapters to Elijah & Elisha.)
Prophets are outsiders, minority voices, aberrants, eccentrics.
They criticize powerful men and women.
They make unpopular judgment calls, don’t conform, and end up standing alone inside the danger zone.
Reading about most of the kings is like going to a portrait gallery of tiny monochromes. I glance and hurry on.
When I read about the prophets I pace myself, trying to catch the vivid graphics of their unorthodox lives.
The books of the Kings might be about kings.
It’s the prophets who are the heroes.
Note: The Action Bible; editor Doug Mauss, illustrator Sergio Cariello (Colorado Springs: David Cook, 2010)