The
king? Solomon, son of David, who became the wisest man who ever lived. It was
he who wrote the timeless, priceless, and practical Book of Proverbs, plus
Ecclesiastes. His story, and that of his successors, is told in the Bible book
of I Kings. Like the other historical books of the Bible, we can learn from the
successes and failures of the people of God and their leaders.
HEBREW NAME
I Kings
begins with the words ‘Now king David …’ (1:1). The Hebrew is vehamelech
David, from where we get the word melechim, or ‘kings.’
AUTHOR
Anonymous.
Talmudic sources suggest that Jeremiah may have been the author.
PORTRAIT OF
CHRIST
The queen of
the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn
it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here — (Mt
12:42)
Christ is
the greater than Solomon.
THEME OF I
KINGS
Double-minded
monarch leads to a divided kingdom.
KEY VERSES
And if thou wilt walk
before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in
uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep
my statutes and my judgments: 5Then I will establish the throne of
thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying,
There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. — I Kings 9:4-5 (KJV)
Wherefore the LORD said
unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my
covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the
kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 12Notwithstanding
in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it
out of the hand of thy son. 13Howbeit I will not rend away all the
kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and
for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen — I Kings 11:11-13 (KJV)
And he did evil in the
sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith
he made Israel to sin - I Kings 15:34 (KJV)
SUMMARY
I Kings
starts off very well with the rise of Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. It
was an apex of Israel’s history. His youthful request for wisdom paid
phenomenal benefits for all.
Yet Solomon’s
prosperity and success were his undoing. He loved many strange (foreign) women
and his heart was not perfect before the Lord like his father David. So God
chose to take 10 out of 12 tribes away from David’s dynasty and give it to
Jeroboam, son of Nebat. Thus the united monarchy was now divided between the
Southern Kingdom of Judah, under the House of David, and the Northern Kingdom
of Israel, under Jeroboam. This latter kingdom was very unstable, with around
19 kings, 5 dynasties and three capital cities.
The
spiritual decline became a free fall with Jeroboam, the very first king of the
North. He established rival man-made religion by building shrines in Bethel and
Dan and putting a golden calf to be worshipped in each. This is called ‘the sin
of Jeroboam, son of Nebat,’ who caused Israel to sin. None of his regal
successors had the moral and spiritual courage to break free from this sin,
which estranged them from the Lord God and spawned the prophetic ministries of
Elijah and Elisha.
Jeroboam’s
sin became the undoing of the Northern Kingdom. It was destroyed by the
Assyrians in 722 BC and its population taken into exile. Judah lasted an
additional 136 years, in part because of its relative stability. It had 1
dynasty, David’s, and 1 capital, Jerusalem, and housed the true temple of God.
Yet Judah succumbed to the Babylonians in 586 BC, then miraculously returned
from exile under the Persians.
DISTINCTIVES
Here are
some of the lessons we learn:
•
Leadership is not evaluated by economic,
political, or military success. The only criteria is whether the king did what
was ‘right’ or ‘evil’ in the sight of the Lord God. Failure to follow God
renders that leader’s legacy as ‘evil.’
•
When the king stays in ‘covenant-faithfulness,’
then God’s blessing and protection is on the king and kingdom.
•
If the king is unfaithful to God, he and the
nation will be punished.
•
Had Israel and Judah stayed faithful, there
would have been no conquest and no exile by hostile empires. The cause of both
was not the strength of the Assyrians or Babylonians, but the strength of their
sin.
•
A divided heart is what led to a divided
kingdom. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, is
mentioned 22 times in both I & II Kings.
OUTLINE OF I
KINGS
I.
UNITED MONARCHY (1:1-11:43)
A.
Solomon Ascends (1:1-2:46) Adonijah’s plot
fails, death of David, execution of Adonijah, Joab, Shimei, while Abiathar the
priest exiled.
B.
Rule of Solomon (King 3:1-8:66): Asks for
wisdom, judges the harlots, administers with 12 governors and 11 princes, builds
and dedicates the temple.
C.
Solomon Descends (9:1-11:43): Goes into
overdraft & sells Israel’s cities, Queen of Sheba’s visit, intermarriage,
chases idols, rebuked of God, and death.
II.
DIVIDED MONARCHY (12:1-22:53)
D.
Kingdom Divided (12:1-14:31): Rehoboam’s
foolish response divides the kingdom; Jeroboam starts Northern Kingdom; his
false shrines; prophetic warning, judgment on the king.
E.
Reigns of Abijam & Asa in Judah(15:1-24)
F.
Reigns of Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri
in Israel (15:25-16:28)
G.
Reign of Ahab in Israel (16:29-22:40): Ahab’s
sin, Elijah the prophet introduced, sojourns in Zarephthah, contest with
prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, flight from Jezebel, war with Syria, death of
Naboth and Ahab.
H.
Reign of Jehoshaphat in Judah(22:41-50)
I.
Reign of Ahaziah in Israel (22:51-53)
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