WWUTT 409 Introduction to 1 and 2 Kings?

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The books of 1st and 2nd Kings cover the monarchical period of the kings that reigned over Israel and Judah.

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And though there are kings that rise and fall, there is one king who remains on his throne forever and that is

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God, when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to sound teaching of the

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Word of God. For questions and comments, email WhenWeUnderstandTheText at gmail .com.

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And don't forget our website, www .tt .com. Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky, and greetings, everybody. It is Thursday when we do our Old Testament study, and today we're beginning a new study in the books of 1st and 2nd

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Kings. Now just like 1st and 2nd Samuel, there was a time when there was no difference between 1st and 2nd

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Kings, it was all just one book called Kings. But there are specific events that separate 1st and 2nd

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Samuel, and likewise, that is the case between 1st and 2nd Kings as well. In 1st

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Samuel, we were looking at mostly the reign of King Saul, and then 2nd Samuel recounts the reign of King David.

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In 1st Kings, for the first half of that book, we have the reign of Solomon over Israel, and then in the second half, it's the influence of Elijah, the prophetic influence of Elijah.

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The event that starts 2nd Kings is Elijah handing over that ministry to Elisha, and so that's kind of the event where we find a separation between 1st and 2nd

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Kings. We do not know who the author of 1st and 2nd Kings is, or probably who the authors are.

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There may have been more than one author. Jewish antiquity holds that it was Jeremiah.

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It's possible that he probably had some influence and may have written portions of it, but there are indications that there were at least some edits that were made during the time of the

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Persians, which would have been from 539 to 330 BC. So for example, in 1st

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Kings 10 -15, there's a reference to the kings of the west and the governors of the land, and that would have had some

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Persian influence to word it that particular way. So either 1st and 2nd

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Kings were chronicled the way that we have them during that time of the

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Persian period, or it could have been that there was some kind of a writing of 1st and 2nd

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Kings that took place during the Babylonian exile, but then there were some edits that happened during the reign of the

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Persians. That could be a possible explanation, but otherwise we do not know exactly who the writers of 1st and 2nd

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Kings are. We do know this, they were heavily influenced by the book of Deuteronomy, because that comes up over and over and over again, and one of the places we see it most heavily is the way that David speaks with Solomon, and that'll be coming up here in the reading that we do today in 1st

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Kings 2, the way that David addresses Solomon is pulling words directly from Deuteronomy.

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Now of course David very likely did say those things to Solomon, but because of the

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Deuteronomic references, and yes that is a word, that we have throughout 1st and 2nd

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Kings, it's clear that that book of the law was the most influential on the writers of this particular book.

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And I can give you another example of this too, when Josiah was king and he found the book of the law and had it read to him.

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He was so convicted in his heart in realizing that Israel was not following the things that were written about in that book, and so he commanded that the idols to false gods be torn down and those priests be put to death, but because Israel was so far gone and the hearts of Israel was so far from God, God said to Josiah that when he died,

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Israel was still going to be punished for their sins, but Josiah himself would be blessed, and it was from the line of Josiah would eventually come the

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Messiah, Jesus Christ. So, but there in that story, the book specifically that Josiah found was

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Deuteronomy. That's what was being read to him. Whenever you have the book of the law described as a singular book, it's

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Deuteronomy because Deuteronomy is the book that takes everything that was written in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers and puts it all together in one book, and that's

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Deuteronomy. Moses retelling the law to the Israelites before they are about to go into the promised land.

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So Deuteronomy has some heavy influence over the writing that we find here in first and second

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Kings, and it's for that reason that the authors of of these two books or one book, if you just consider it as kings, are referred to as Deuteronomists because of their scholarship regarding the book of Deuteronomy.

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It was it was very expert. And again, the date in which these things were written, we don't know exactly when that was.

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But but again, there's some revisions that likely would have taken place during the rule of the Persians.

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There are seven key themes that we are looking at here in our study of first and second first and second kings.

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When we were doing first and second Samuel, there are three main themes. I didn't come back to this a whole lot, but but maybe if you remember what those themes were, it's first that God is king.

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That's that's the first theme that we see in first and second Samuel. God sets up Saul as king, who is a king after Israel's heart.

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And then God replaces Saul with David, who is a man after his own heart.

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But both of these kings meant to point back to God who reigns on his throne in heaven.

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And Saul and David were just earthly examples or representations of the God who is on his throne.

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So that's the first theme that we have in first and second Samuel. The second king is God's providence, the way that he would arrange and move things around to achieve his ultimate will and purpose.

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And then the third theme that we had in first and second Samuel was God's sovereignty. There was nothing that happened that was outside of God's control and sovereign decree.

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Even when Saul tried to have David killed and instead, when he approached David, he falls down on the ground and prophesize just shows the power that God had over Saul, even to the point of humiliating him because he thought that he was he had the will to do what he wanted, but he was not able to do anything outside of the will of God.

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So those were the themes in first and second Samuel in first and second kings. We're covering a broader period of time.

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There's a lot more going on here. So we have more thematic elements, seven main themes that we have in the books of first and second kings.

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The number one theme is that God is God. Again, the influence of Deuteronomy, you see that that word of the

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Lord in Deuteronomy six come up time and time again. The Lord, our God, the Lord is one. You will have no other gods before me.

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There is a constant reminder in first and second kings that there is only one true

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God. The second theme that we have that goes along with that is that God demands exclusive worship.

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You will not worship other gods. You will not worship God in other places, but you will worship

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God only and in the place that he designates to be worship. So then the third theme that we have in first and second kings is that because God is

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God and God demands exclusive worship, the third theme is God gets to decide how he wants to be worshipped and where he is going to be worshipped.

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So the event that kind of opens us up in first kings is

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Solomon building the temple of God. And there's only supposed to be one temple. There is only one place of worship because there is only one

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God. And when Israel forgets that they build other temples to other false gods at multiple temples for multiple gods, rather than remembering that God has said there is only one place he is to be worshipped.

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And that is the temple that is in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. The fourth theme that we have in first and second kings is the consequences of false worship.

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So if they do not worship God alone, if they do not worship God where he says that he is to be worshipped and the way in which he is to be worshipped, then there is consequence for that disobedience.

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And we see those consequences come up over and over again. Things like drought and famine and pestilence and even raising up wicked kings as a judgment over wicked

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Israel. The fifth theme that we have in first and second kings is that God is a just and gracious law giver.

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So he gives the law. And when Israel disobeys that law, there are consequences for breaking that law.

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But it's not because God is a tyrant and it's not because God is imposing something on Israel that is not good for them.

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On the contrary, God is good and he is just and he is gracious and he gives them the law as a blessing.

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So likewise, he executes that law because to break that law has serious consequences.

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Sixth theme in first and second kings is that God is a wonderful promise giver.

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He does give his promises and his assurances to those who are faithful to him, even though Israel and Judah will stray from God over and over again.

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And the final theme that we have in first and second kings is that God controls history.

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We're still building up to some ultimate event here. There's there's a tension that is building that is not resolved in first and second kings, and it doesn't get resolved until the coming

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Messiah in the book of Matthew. But even first and second kings points us to Christ.

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And God is the one who is in control of history and he will accomplish what he means to accomplish, even when there are wicked and evil kings reigning over his people or when wicked and evil kings come in from foreign lands.

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God is still going to accomplish what he means to accomplish. And so whenever God sends a prophet to speak to a king and they tell that king what is about to happen, it's not that God looked into the future and saw what was going to happen and so then told his prophet what

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God saw. God knows what is going to happen in the future because he has established it.

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He has ordained it. Nothing happens outside of God's sovereign decree and control.

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So God tells the prophet what is about to happen because God has already designated what it is that is about to happen.

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It's a pagan idea to think that we look into the future and and learn something about the future.

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That's necromancy. OK, that's fortune telling. God's not a fortune teller. God is the sovereign

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God who has ordained all things from the foundation of the world. And so we have that reminder come up over and over again.

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Every time a prophet tells a king what is going to happen, we are reminded.

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That God is the God who controls all of time. So even that is a prevailing theme that comes up in first and second kings.

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So with those things in mind, let's get to our study. I think we'll only get about halfway through chapter two here or maybe only get through chapter one.

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We'll see, because I'm already over halfway the 20 minutes that I try to designate to our daily

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Bible studies. This is First Kings chapter one, verse one. Now, all of this is written in a narrative sort of a style.

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So there's there's nothing really deeply poetic or anything like that going on in First Kings. It's all mostly straight narrative.

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So in chapter one, verse one, now King David was old and advanced in years, and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.

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Therefore, his servants said to him, let a young woman be sought for my lord the king and let her wait on the king and be in his service.

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Let her lie in your arms that my lord the king may be warm. So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout the whole territory of Israel and found

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Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The young woman was very beautiful and she was of service to the king and attended to him.

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But the king knew her not. So this was not a sexual relationship.

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This was just her sitting very close to the king to provide him warmth. Verse five.

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Now, Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying, I will be king. So this is one of David's sons from his wife,

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Haggith. And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him.

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His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, why have you done thus and so? He was also a very handsome man, just like Absalom was.

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And he was born next after Absalom. He conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar, the priest, and they followed

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Adonijah and helped him. But Zadok the priest and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah.

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Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen and fattened cattle by the serpent stone, which is beside En -Rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons and all the royal officials of Judah.

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But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon, his brother.

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Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king and David, our

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Lord, does not know it. Now, therefore, come, let me give you advice that you may save your own life and the life of your son

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Solomon. Go in at once to King David and say to him, did you not, my Lord, the king, swear to your servant saying,

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Solomon, your son shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is

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Adonijah king? Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.

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And Nathan is not doing anything conniving here. This is all very wise of him to kind of orchestrate it this way so that it comes from Bathsheba first, the mother of Solomon, and then

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Nathan will come in and confirm the words that she says. So it's established by two witnesses.

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So then verse 15, Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber. Now the king was very old and Abishag, the

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Shunammite, was attending to the king, which, I mean, you got to wonder is Bathsheba David's wife going,

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Oh, okay. You got your woman warmth with you right there. She probably wasn't too thrilled with that.

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Uh, Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king and the king said, what do you desire?

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And she said to him, my Lord, you swore to your, to your servant by the Lord, your God saying

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Solomon, your son shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne. And now behold,

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Adonijah is king. Although you, my Lord, the king do not know of it. He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle and sheep in abundance and has invited all the sons of the king,

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Abiathar, the priest and Joab, the commander of the army. But Solomon, your servant, he's not invited.

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And now my Lord, the king, the eyes of all of Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my

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Lord, the king after him. Otherwise it will come to pass when my Lord, the king sleeps with his fathers that I and my son

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Solomon will be counted as offenders. While she was still speaking with the king,

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Nathan, the prophet came in and they told the king, here is Nathan, the prophet. And when he came in before David, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

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And Nathan said, my Lord, the king, have you said Adonijah shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne for he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle and sheep in abundance and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar, the priest and behold, they are eating and drinking before him and saying, long live

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King Adonijah, but me, your servant and Zadok, the priest and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada and your servant

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Solomon, he has not invited. Has this thing been brought about by my

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Lord, the king, and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my Lord, the king after him?

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Then David answered, call Bathsheba to me. So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king once again and the king swore saying, as the

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Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, as I swore to you by the

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Lord, the God of Israel saying, Solomon, your son shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne in my place.

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Even so will I do this day. Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, may my

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Lord King David live forever. King David said, call to me

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Zadok, the priest, Nathan, the prophet and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. So they came before the king and the king said to them, take with you the servants of your

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Lord and have Solomon, my son, ride on my own mule and bring him down to Gihon and let

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Zadok, the priest and Nathan, the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, long live

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King Solomon. You shall then come up after him and he shall come and sit on my throne for he shall be king in my place.

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And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king.

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Amen. May the Lord, the God of my Lord, the king say so as the Lord has been with my

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Lord, the king. Even so may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my

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Lord, King David. So Zadok, the priest, Nathan, the prophet and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada and the

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Cherithites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon.

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There Zadok, the priest, took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet and all the people said, long live

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King Solomon. And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy so that the earth was split by their noise.

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Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, what does this uproar in the city mean?

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While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came and Adonijah said, come in for you are a worthy man and bring good news.

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Jonathan answered Adonijah, no, for our Lord King David has made Solomon king and the king has sent with him

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Zadok, the priest, Nathan, the prophet and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada and the Cherithites and the

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Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king's mule and Zadok, the priest and Nathan, the prophet and have anointed him king at Gihon.

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And they have gone up from their rejoicing so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard.

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Solomon sits on the royal throne. Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our

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Lord King David saying, may your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours and make his throne greater than your throne.

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And the king bowed himself on the bed. And the king also said, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.

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Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose and each went his own way. And Adonijah feared

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Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Then it was told

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Solomon, behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar saying, let

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King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword. And Solomon said, if he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth.

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But if wickedness is found in him, he shall die. So King Solomon sent and they brought him down from the altar and he came and paid homage to King Solomon.

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And Solomon said to him, go to your house. And that is where we will conclude today and next week.

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Pick up in our study in first Kings chapter two. Oh, Lord, our God, we thank you for the wonderful word that we have been given, that we might study it and know more of you.

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And just as you were faithful to your promise to David, so we know you are faithful to your promises to us, that all who are in Christ Jesus will be saved.

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All who worship you as King of Kings and Lord of Lords will be delivered from this perishable earth into an imperishable kingdom.

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And we will become fellow heirs with Christ in heaven. We thank you for this promise and keep us walking in your statutes by the power of your spirit that is within us and the name of Christ in whom we pray.

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Amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt