The Books of Kings
What We Need To Learn
As David moves off the scene and Solomon, David’s son, sets up his kingdom, we enter our study of the books of 1&2 Kings. God will bless Solomon and the nation beyond measure. This blessing will be meant to be a witness to the nations that surround Israel and beyond, of the goodness of God. God’s desire is that the nations would become envious of Israel and make Him their God as well, and in so doing, Israel is bringing the Law of God to the world. This mission statement is found in Deuteronomy 4:1-8. Deuteronomy 4:9-31 also warns Israel that if they don’t follow the Law of God that He will remove His blessing and bring His judgment upon the nation as a witness to the other nations that there is a judgment coming for all nations .
In Deuteronomy 4:32-40 God makes it clear that when they made their covenant with God back in the book of Exodus that God chose them for this task. He chose them not because they were a great nation or a powerful people, but because they were stiff necked and up for the task with God’s help. God sent them to the Promised Land which was a place of blessing but it did have one problem. The Promised Land was, and remains today, surrounded by the enemy. It is to these nations that they were to be a witness of God’s wisdom, love, grace, and mercy. It was a tough task for Israel but God promised to be with them. The only catch is that they must follow Him.
When a person becomes a Christian they make a covenant with God as well. God also has a plan for Christians. We are to bring the Word of God to the world in our witness as we proclaim it and as we live it. Becoming a Christian is not a one-time event nor are we to take our commitment casually. Christians have been given the Holy Spirit who is with us, in us, and empowers us to accomplish the work God has for us. Make no mistake; God loves the world and that includes your worst enemy and those difficult people in your life, but God is with you and will empower you to endure as you accomplish His purpose for you.
As we study the books of Kings we will see the power of God working through His people but we will also see what happens when God’s people take their commitment with Him casually or try to reject their calling altogether. There are important lessons in this study that we will read and observe. We need to learn these lessons and apply them to our lives in order to accomplish our calling.
God will never give up on His people even when ten of the tribes rebel and divide the nation of Israel. The ten tribes will be called Israel. The remaining nation will be called Judah. It is important that we understand there are two separate nations in our study. The nation of Judah, which also includes the tribe of Benjamin, will have the temple which represents God with them. The other ten tribes, called Israel, will never have a godly king and will set up golden calves for the people to worship. One thing they do have, though, is a God who loves them and sends them prophet after prophet and also attempts to raise up kings who will follow him. God will also send Judah prophets when they wander from trusting in God. In our study of Kings we will study these Prophets and their message to the nation and king at the appropriate time. This will give us a better understanding of what the nation was going through giving us a picture of the culture at the time. Most importantly, we will see the love of God as He keeps His commitment to the covenant He made with the people of Israel and Judah.
Christians live under the New Covenant and Jesus is the Mediator of this covenant. In the New Covenant the Word of God is written on the hearts and minds of believers. As we make our commitment to make God our God and give ourselves to be His children, our sins are forgiven and we are grafted into the family of God. The source of our life is now the Holy Spirit who flows to us and through us. As members of God’s family we are to represent Him as His ambassadors to the world around us.
My hope and my prayer is that as we study the books of Kings and of the Prophets associated with each king, we will grow in our understanding of our calling as Christians. May God grant us a greater understanding of God’s, love, mercy, and grace, for us, and the world, and that we will be challenged to walk faithfully with our God.
Here are some verses for further study. Deuteronomy 4; Hebrews 8; Romans 10: and John 14-16
May God bless your study today!
Pastor Dave