1THE BOOKS OF 1 &2 KINGS

INTRODUCTION TO 1 AND 2 KINGS

1.The historical setting of these books

Timeline

Good and bad kings

o North

o South

Which kings get the most ink? (See charts below)

o South:

o North:

Kings of Judah (Southern Kingdom)

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Kings of Israel (northern kingdom)

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2. The chronological scope of 1 and 2 Kings

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A. The historical span of the book(s): from the of David to the of king Jehoiachin in Babylon (2 Kings 25:27-30)

3. Genre

a. 1 and 2 Kings is not just History but or “ History.”

b. Political and economic success of the kings are irrelevant if their commitment to YHWH was lacking

i. Regal formula (15:1-6, 25-26)—

ii. Some kings were politically successful but passed over.

1. Omria. Mentioned very briefly in 1 Kings 16:23-28.

2. Ahaba. Gets a lot of ink, but one very significant event is left out:

3. Jeroboam IIa. Huge kingdom; size of Solomon’s (2 Kings 14:25), but he did evil in the

sight of the LORD (14:24).

c. Like the rest of the Bible, events in history are explicitly not credited to simply human action.

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i.1 Kings 12:15

ii. 2 Kings 14:26-27

d. Sum: 1-2 Kings is clearly “theological history” (or “preached history”), not merely a collection of historical annuals.

4. Purpose of 1 and 2 Kings

To prove to the __________________ generation of Israelites that their exile was God’s

righteous _________________________for their covenant ______________________

5. Overarching Theological Themes of 1 and 2 Kings

a. The _____________________of the Monarchy

i. Kings is very different from other “royal annuls” in that it highlights the of the kings, not their successes.

ii. “Unlike many Assyrian and Egyptian historical accounts, which were written at the commands of individual kings to commemorate their deeds…Kings does not glorify the kings of Israel and Judah” (Exploring the Old Testament, 176).

iii. AGAIN, Kings ultimately is about the one true King—YHWH, and His mighty deeds.

b. ________________and the ______________________Covenant

i. Even though David is dead, he remains a central figure in Kings

1 Kgs 15:3; 2 Kgs 8:19; 14:3; 16:2; 8:3; 19:32-34; 22:2

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ii.Many times kings are spared punishment or their punishment is reduced for the sake of David

(1 Kings 11:34; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19).

iii. Davidic Covenant is unconditional

1 Kings 11:34; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19

The kings may enjoy blessings for obedience and punishment for disobedience (conditional aspect of the covenant), and yet God’s commitment to David’s line is unconditional.

2 Sam 7:14-15.

Emphasized in the release of Jehoiachin: 2 Kings 25:27-30

c. _________________________and the Sovereignty of God

i. Yahweh vs. other gods (cf. Exod 7-12)

ii. Even other foreign kings acknowledge this!

example: Naaman in 2 Kings 5:15-19

d. ____________________and the Prophetic Word

i. Much prophetic activity

Previously?

Nothing compared to Kings!

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Could be called 1 and 2 Prophets

Kings are subject to the prophets (i.e. kings are not autonomous)

The dynasties of Jeroboam I, Baasha, Ahab and Jehu are all destroyed according to prophecy (see 1 Kings 14:7-14; 16:1-4; 21:20-24; 2 Kings 10:30).

The whole divided kingdom is “framed” by a prophecy about Josiah (1 Kings 13:2 and 2 Kings 23:15-20)

“In this way we are shown how decisive the word of God is in events in history” (McConville, Dictionary of the OT Historical Books, 625)

6. An outline of 1 and 2 Kings

I. Solomon (1 Kings 1-11)II. Divided Kingdom: The Early Years (1 Kings 12-16)III. The Ministries of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17—2 Kings 10)IV. The Last Years of Israel (2 Kings 11-17)V. The Last Years of Judah (2 Kings 18-25)

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OVERVIEW OF 1 AND 2 KINGS

I. Solomon (1 Kings 1-11)

A. Solomon: His Early Years

a. Solomon’s Ascension to the Throne

i. 1 Kings 1-2

ii. David’s decline

b. Solomon’s syncretism?

i. 1 Kings 3:1-4

ii. Early on, Solomon seems to “love the LORD,” but this love is mixed with a love of other things, including other gods, material wealth, and power.

B. Solomon’s Rule Over Israel

a. See 1 Kings 4

i. Huge kingdom

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ii. “Utopian” description

iii. Partial fulfillment?

b. Solomon’s wealth, wisdom, and the pursuit of happiness—Ecclesiastes 2

C. Solomon’s Building Projects

a. Many different building projects

i. ________________________ (1 Kings 7:1-8)

ii. __________________________: Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, etc. (1 Kings 9:15-18)

b. Main building project: _________________________

D. Solomon’s Apostasy

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a. 1 Kings 11

i. Solomon’s foreign wives turned his heart away from the LORD.

b. Throughout his reign, Solomon multiplied:

i. ________________(1 Kings 4:26)

ii. _______________ (2 Kings 10:14)

iii. _______________ (1 Kings 11:3)

iv. Everything Deut 17 said NOT to do!

c. Result: Divided Kingdom

d. Did Solomon return to the LORD?

II. Divided Kingdom: The Early Years (1 Kings 12-16)

A. The Kingdom Divides

a. __________________King of “Israel” (the north)

b. __________________King Of “Judah” (the south)

c. The division is both a result of sinful behavior and of God’s will (see 12:15).

i. Again, God works in and through sinful circumstances (cf. Gen 50:20; Judges 14:4).

B. Jeroboam’s “false worship”

a. Sets up two golden calves (in Dan and Bethel—the extreme north and south)

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i.Cf. Aaron and the golden calf in Exod 32! “Behold, your gods, O Israel, who brought

you up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:18; cf. Exod 32:4)

b. Sets up non-Levitical priest (12:31)

c. Sets up a feast on the wrong day (12:32; cf. Tabernacles on the 7th month, not the eighth, cf. Lev 23:33-36).

d. Wickedness in the north gets progressively worse.

i. Omri is more wicked than all who were before him (16:25), and yet his son Ahab is even worse (16:31)!

C. Rehoboam in the south

a. Southern kingdom doesn’t seem as corrupt as the north, though still corrupt.

b. Even though he is corrupt, and his son Abijam is corrupt (15:3), God will maintain the Davidic dynasty in the south (15:4-5).

c. Abijam’s son (Rehoboam’s grandson; Solomon’s great-grandson; etc.) Asa is the first good king of the divided kingdom.

d. Asa’s son Jehoshaphat is also good.

III. The Ministries of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17—2 Kings 10)

A. Elijah Battles against Ahab and Baal

a. Ahab marries Jezebel

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b. God immediately sends a famine and his prophet Elijah to challenge Ahab and Baal (17:1-7).

c. Elijah’s “Power Encounter” on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18)

d. The Battle against Baal and Ahab’s line in 1 and 2 Kingsi. 1 Kings 17-18: famine in Israel; Elijah’s contest at Mt. Carmel

ii. 1 Kings 20:42; 21:17-24: prophecies of judgment against Ahab and his lineiii. 1 Kings 22: death of Ahabiv. 2 Kings 1: death of Ahaziah, son of Ahabv. 2 Kings 9: deaths of Joram, son of Ahab, and Jezebel

vi. 2 Kings 10:1-11: destruction of all members of Ahab’s linevii. 2 Kigns 10:18-28: slaughter of the priests of Baal and destruction of the Baal temple

in Samaria (see v. 28: “Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel”)

B. The miracles of Elijah and Elisha

a. Many miracles performed

b. Some miracles seem trivial and quite odd

i.

ii.

c. Characteristics of the miracles

i. Often have to do with

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ii. Often benefit the

iii. Often highlight the _____________________ of the prophetic office

iv. All 3 are seen in the healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5)

C. Elijah, Elisha, and the New Testament

a. Elijah is mentioned many times in the NT, but Elisha is only mentioned once

i. Elijah: Matt 11:14; 17:1-8, 10-13; Mark 6:14-15; 8:28; 9:9-13; Luke 1:17; 4:25-26; John 1:19-21; James 5:17; Rom 11:2-4.

ii. Elisha: ___________________

b. Elisha’s ministry corresponds closely with Jesus’ (his ministry is more like Jesus’ than Moses or Joshua’s).

i. Miracles similar to Jesus

1.

2.

3.

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4.

5.

c. What is the reason: both reached out to the weak and outcasts

i. While Elijah’s ministry was focused on restoring true worship on a national level, Elisha’s ministry was focused on restoring life (miracles of food, healing, and even resuscitation).

D. Jehu’s Coup d’etat (2 Kings 9-10)

a. Omride dynasty in the north

b. God uses Jehu to fulfill his word and judgment

c. Evaluation of Jehu?

i. pros

ii. cons

IV. The Last Years of Israel (2 Kings 11-17)

A. The remaining kings in the north

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a. All bad, none reign for very long.

b. Jeroboam II stands out.

i. Reigned for a long time

ii. Historically, he was one of the most successful military, political, and economic leaders in Israel.

B. The exile of Israel (northern kingdom)

a. Note the narrator’s very clear explanation for the exile in 17:7-23

i. Reason for exile =

ii. Judah is foreshadowed in the indictment.

b. Assyria resettles Samaria

V. The Last Years of Judah (2 Kings 18-25)

B. Hezekiah and Sennacherib

a. Hezekiah is the first to received praise from our narrator (18:1-8).

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b. He capitulates, tries to buy off Assyria by stripping the temple of its gold (18:13-16; cf. Joash and Ahaz before him)

c. Assyria’s invasion of Judah (701 B.C.)

d. The account points to a greater reality: Yahweh can be trusted to deliver, even from the most impossible situation!

“[T]he account of Hezekiah and Sennacherib is a massive set-piece, showing YHWH’s ability to defend his people. If YHWH can defeat the Assyrians, he can defeat any nation. Assyria…does exactly what YHWH had always determined, no more, no less: destroying Israel, but being cast back from the gates of Jerusalem” (Exploring the OT, 171).

C. Josiah’s Reforms

a. Josiah

Significantly, the story of Josiah frames the entire account of Kings, after Solomon (1 Kings 13 and 2 Kings 22-23).

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“Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all of the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him” (2 Kings 23:25).

a. Josiah’s Reforms

i. Described very thoroughly.

ii. Celebrates the Passover, such as has never been seen before (23:21-23).

b. Did they last?

i. _______________

ii. See also Jeremiah!

“The long description of the idolatrous practices purges by Josiah suggested how deeply rooted they had become, and the speed with which his sons revert to evil-doing may suggest that Josiah’s reform, however well intentioned, produced only a superficial change in some hearts” (Exploring the OT, 174).

D. The Exile of Judah

a. Described in 2 Kings 24-25

b. 3 stages

i. ______________

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ii. ________________

iii. __________________

Excurses: Lamentations

A. Author

B. Date/Setting

C. Purpose

a. written as a very passionate response to the destruction of Jerusalem

b. as a response to the destruction, the book is filled with some very graphic details about the event.

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

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D. Theological Themes

a. __________________________

i. Lam 1:5, 18

b. __________________________

i. Lam 2:17, 21; 4:11

c. ___________________________

i. “At one level the divine anger is acknowledge to be right. But at another it remains simply unendurable…” The book… “more than any other Old Testament book, shows us God’s wrath as a directly experienced reality” (Webb, 78-79).

ii. Cf. Psalm 88! All grief; no hope.

iii. Lam 5:22!

d. God’s faithfulness and goodness

i. Lam 3:19-32

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