How does 2 Kings 15:25 connect with God's warnings in Deuteronomy 28? Our Verse in Focus 2 Kings 15:25: “Then Pekah son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against him, and with fifty Gileadite men struck him down, along with Argob and Arieh, in Samaria in the citadel of the king’s palace. And Pekah killed him and reigned in his place in the twenty-seventh year of Azariah king of Judah.” Backdrop: What Deuteronomy 28 Warned • Deuteronomy 28:15 – disobedience invites sweeping curses. • Deuteronomy 28:20 – “The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you undertake, until you are destroyed.” • Deuteronomy 28:25 – “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies.” • Deuteronomy 28:36 – “The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation unknown to you or your fathers.” • Deuteronomy 28:49-50 foretells a ruthless foreign power sweeping in (fulfilled a decade later when Assyria overruns Israel, 2 Kings 17). Point-by-Point Connections • Assassination of a king = covenant curse in action – The violent overthrow of Pekahiah mirrors the “confusion” and “rebuke” promised in Deuteronomy 28:20. • National instability = loss of divine protection – A palace coup signals that God has withdrawn His safeguarding hand as warned in Deuteronomy 28:25. • Removal of the king = step toward exile – Deuteronomy 28:36 specifically says both people and king will be taken away; Pekahiah’s death and Pekah’s brief, turbulent reign open the door to that eventual deportation. • Prelude to foreign domination – Within about ten years, Assyria fulfills Deuteronomy 28:49-50. The coup in 15:25 is part of the spiral that makes Israel easy prey. • Moral cause, political effect – The northern kingdom had embraced idolatry since Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:28-33). Persistent sin triggered exactly the chain reaction Deuteronomy predicted: inner turmoil first, foreign conquest next. Takeaway for Today God’s covenant warnings are literal, precise, and historically verified. The fall of Pekahiah is not an isolated palace drama; it is a living illustration that every word spoken at Sinai stands firm. |
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