Today we begin reading 1 Kings in our “Daily Nourishment” schedule. I hope that if you do not use this Bible-reading schedule, that you have one of your own. Do not neglect any portion of God’s meal. Don’t just feed on the parts you like. There is meat in all of it.
The theme of the Bible is the salvation of man through Jesus Christ to the glory of God. The focus of the Old Testament is – How is God going to bring Jesus into the world? He answered that question initially by separating Abraham’s family from the pagan unbelievers around them. He created that family into a people and then gave them a law – the Law of Moses. As a part of that law – the book of Leviticus specifically – God told Israel – Don’t be like the nations around you. The nation needed to stay holy in order to receive Jesus when He came into the world. Specifically, they needed to stay monotheistic.
At least as early as Genesis 17:6, 16, God had promised Abraham that kings would come through him and Sarah. Genesis 49:10-11 would be the first explicit prophecy that God’s people would be ruled by a king. This king would come through the family of Judah.
The Law of Moses clearly envisions Israel having a king – Deuteronomy 17:14-20; 28:36; Numbers 24:17. The time of the judges was chaotic morally speaking and extremely perverse. It sets the stage for the appointing of a king. God will appoint a king in His time; but man frequently has trouble waiting on God! The books of 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings are the story of God’s king and his kingdom and God’s efforts at keeping Israel monotheistic.
These books of 1 & 2 Kings were originally one book. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, they are called “Third” and “Fourth” Book of Kingdoms. The books of 1 & 2 Samuel were the first two “Books of Kingdoms.” The Latin Vulgate shortened it to the “Third” and “Fourth” Book of Kings.
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In short, “The Books of Kings tell the sad story of Israel’s tragic destruction because of her refusal to be faithful to God” (Bill T. Arnold & Bryan E. Beyer, Encountering the Old Testament, 222).
Read 1 & 2 Kings over the next two weeks with this thought in mind: Does my behavior imitate this king’s behavior?
–Paul Holland
