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2 Kings 14 · a question people ask

Why would the LORD save Israel by the hand of a king who did evil?

In the text

The chapter says both things and doesn't soften either. Jeroboam "did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight" (14:24). And "he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash" (14:27). The reason it gives is in the LORD, not in the king: "For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter for all, slave and free; and there was no helper for Israel" (14:26), and "The LORD didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky" (14:27). The chapter before says the same of Jehoahaz's days: "the LORD listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel" (13:4), and "The LORD gave Israel a savior" (13:5); and "the LORD was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and favored them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them and he didn’t cast them from his presence as yet" (13:23). Nothing in 14:26-27 praises Jeroboam, and 13:23 ends with "as yet": at 17:18 "the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight" (17:18). The chapter says no more than that.

The verses

“He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.”
2 Kings 14:24 · World English Bible
“For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter for all, slave and free; and there was no helper for Israel. The LORD didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.”
2 Kings 14:26-27 · World English Bible
“Jehoahaz begged the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. (The LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel lived in their tents as before.”
2 Kings 13:4-5 · World English Bible
“But the LORD was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and favored them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them and he didn’t cast them from his presence as yet.”
2 Kings 13:23 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Kings 14

2 Kings 14: No helper for Israel

Jeroboam restored Israel's border "according to the LORD, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai" (14:25), the Jonah Jesus called "Jonah the prophet" (Matthew 12:39). And the chapter says why the LORD saved Israel under a king who did evil: "the LORD saw the affliction of Israel", and "there was no helper for Israel" (14:26).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions