Overview

1-2 Kings while two books in our Bible were originally written as one continues story. They make up part of the Deuteronomistic books (Deuteronomy through to 2 Kings) that chart Israel’s history from outside Canaan through to the Israelites being exiled from their land. They’re called Deuteronomistic books because they are told through the lens of Deuteronomy 28 that obedience leads to blessing and disobedience leads to curses.

They pick up the story from 1-2 Samuel. David has united the tribes of Israel into one kingdom. In 2 Samuel 7, we read as God promised David that his descendants would reign forever. At the end of the 1-2 Samuel, we saw a thoroughly flawed David who was committed to God and making up for his mistakes once he’s realised what he’s done.

We then enter 1-2 Kings hopeful that the kings that come after David will be loyal and faithful to God and lead the people into what God had called them to back in Genesis 12. To be examples of God’s order and beauty to the rest of the world, leading all peoples back to God. s

1 Kings 1-11 - Solomon’s Reign

• 1 Kings 1-2 - David and Solomon

• 1 Kings 3-4 - Solomon asks for wisdom

• 1 Kings 5-8 - Solomon builds the temple

• 1 Kings 9-11 - Solomon’s downfall

1 Kings 12-13 - Israel splits in two

1 Kings 14-2 Kings 8 - Israel’s kings vs the prophets

• 1 Kings 14-16 - Ahijah and Jehu

• 1 Kings 17-2 Kings 2 - Elijah

• 2 Kings 3-8 - Elisha

2 Kings 9-17 - The road to exile of the northern kingdom by Assyria

2 Kings 18-25 - The road to exile of the southern kingdom by Babylon

• 2 Kings 18-20 - Hezekiah

• 2 Kings 21 - Manasseh

• 2 Kings 22-23 - Josiah

• 2 Kings 24-25 - Exile

There are two key themes in these books. The first is the assessment of each king. Each king is judged based on three criteria; 1) do they worship the God of Israel alone, 2) do they get rid of all idolatry in Israel, and 3) are they faithful to the covenant with God? At the end of each king’s reign, the author judges each king as being either good or bad.

The second key theme is the introduce the role of the prophets. While we’ve seen prophets in the past, it is in this period of Israel’s history they really come into the fore. They serve as wake-up calls for the people of Israel. They call out idolatry and injustice with the hope that the people change their ways.

1 Kings 1-3

At the end of 1-2 Samuel, we saw David's reign coming to an end. At this point, David is incredibly old and frail. One of his sons uses this to his advantage. Without his father knowing, Adonijah gets all the significant leaders within Israel, apart from the ones really close to David, and brings them to a feast celebrating his new reign as king. Included amongst these leaders is Joab. Once again, he’s at the centre of trouble for the kingdom.

Nathan, the prophet, finds out about this and, with Bathsheba, tells David. They point out that David originally said Bathsheba's son, Solomon, was to be king. So David gets those leaders who weren't invited to Adonijah's feast together and has them anoint Solomon as the new king. When the men at Adonijah's feast hear about this, they quickly leave, not wanting to associate with Adonijah. Adonijah fears for his life and flees, saying he won't come back until Solomon promises not to kill him, which Solomon does for now.

While we might be relieved that this didn't blow up into another big fight between members of David's family, it is still less than ideal. At least when there were judges, leaders naturally arose amongst the people. It was all fairly democratic in some way. But now there is power grabbing and political manoeuvring to try to win power for yourself. This is definitely not the kind of kingdom that God wants to build.

We see this reflected in David's last words to Solomon. He encourages him to be faithful to God, which is good. It's similar to the last words of Isaac to his sons. But then David tells Solomon to kill all the people he never got round to disciplining; Joab and Shimei.

Solomon does exactly that. First, he finds an excuse to have his brother Adonijah killed. After that Joab and Shimei follow. He also removes from power people he doesn't like, such as Abiathar. By the end of 1 Kings 2, Solomon has fully cemented his position as king, but he has spilt a lot of blood in the process.

At the start of 1 Kings 3, he marries an Egyptian woman for political gain. In Deuteronomy 7, God warned the people against intermarrying with the other nations, because these foreign partners will inevitably bring the worship of their gods into the house and contaminate the people of Israel. It's not looking good for Solomon.

But then things start to look up. God looks favourably on Solomon and chooses to bless him, asking what he wants. Solomon asks for wisdom and understanding to lead the people well. Because Solomon chose well, God decides to give Solomon not only the wisdom he asked for, the success and wealth that he didn't ask for.

We then see Solomon model this wisdom. Two women come to him with a baby they both claim to be theirs. It is only their word against the other, and so Solomon has to come up with a new way to work out who is the mother. It wasn't like they had DNA tests back then. He suggests that they cut the baby in half, knowing that the true mother of a baby would never willingly let her child be killed.

Lo-and-behold, one of the women begs him not to do that, saying she would rather the other woman have the baby than for it to do. At that point, Solomon gives the baby back to her and everyone is amazed at Solomon's wisdom. With this wisdom, Solomon might be a good king after all.

Psalm 94

The psalm isn’t attributed to anyone and falls into the category of lament. It also incorporates elements of wisdom psalms with lessons and encouragements.

It falls within a group of psalms focused on God as king (Psalm 93-99) but doesn’t mention it itself.

Psalm 94:1-7 - Communal lament

Psalm 94:8-11 - Lessons for fools

Psalm 94:12-15 - Blessings for those loyal to God

Psalm 94:16-23 - Personal lament

The psalmist starts off will a call to the God of vengeance. They ask that God judge the earth a punish the proud. How long will the wicked flourish? They’re crush God’s people, killing widows, foreigners, and orphans. These three are commonly used together to talk about vulnerable people groups. On top of that, the proud do not put their trust in God.

At that the psalmist turns, presumably to these proud people, and calls them foolish. They give these foolish people lessons on who God is so that they might be wise. The proud said that God cannot see what they do, but the psalmist points out God made the eye and ear. Surely that God can also see and hear. He guided nations and teaches men knowledge. Surely that God will rebuke wicked nations and knows the thoughts of men.

A blessed man, or woman, listens to God. They allow God to discipline them and teach them. In turn, God gives them rest and protection. In this, we get some declarations of trust after the opening communal lament psalm. While God’s people are currently surrounded by enemies, God will not forsake his people. Justice will return.

And then the psalmist moves to a more personal lament. God may look after his nation, but who is going to defend the psalmist personally? The psalmist immediately answers the question. God. If it wasn’t for God, the psalmist would be dead. Every time it felt like they were falling, God was the one that helped them with his faithful love. When it felt like the weight of the world was upon them, God was the one that gave them joy.

Looking at their enemies, the psalmist asks if the wicked could ever be on God’s side. They are full of injustice, oppressing the righteous and the innocent. But while these enemies seek the psalmist’s life, God is their protection. He will defeat the wicked.

The psalmist has worked through their lament and struggles. They started off at a communal level and strengthened themselves with the knowledge that wickedness is foolishness and God protects the righteous. They then moved to their own personal lives and worked through the same ideas. While life may be hard, the wise and good thing is to trust in God.