The Bible - Book of 1 Kings

1. The Bible - Book of 1 Kings– 15th
December2016
"I will surelycarry out todaywhat I swore to youby the LORD, the GodofIsrael: Solomonyourson
shall be king after me, andhe will siton my throne in my place." (1 Kings1:30).
The Book of 1 Kingsdoesnotspecificallyname itsauthor.The traditionisthatit waswrittenbythe
ProphetJeremiah. The Bookof 1 Kingswaslikelywrittenbetween560 and 540 B.C. Thisbookis the
sequel to1 and 2 Samuel andbeginsbytracingSolomon'srise tokingshipafterthe deathof David. The
storybeginswitha unitedkingdom,butendsina nationdividedinto2kingdoms,knownasJudahand
Israel. 1 and 2 Kingsare combinedintoone bookinthe Hebrew Bible.
The book of 1 KingsstartswithSolomonandendswithElijah.The difference betweenthe twogivesyou
an ideaas to whatliesbetween.Solomonwasbornaftera palace scandal betweenDavidand
Bathsheba. Like hisfather,he hada weaknessforwomenthatwouldbringhimdown.Solomondidwell
at first,prayingforwisdomandbuildingatemple toGodthat took sevenyearstoconstruct.But thenhe
spentthirteenyearsbuildingapalace for himself.Hisaccumulationof manywivesledhimtoworship
theiridolsandawayfrom God.
After Solomon’s death, Israel was ruled by a series of kings,most of whom were evil and idolatrous.The nation fell
further away from God, and even the preachingof Elijah could not bringthem back. Among the most evil kings
were Ahab and his queen, Jezebel, who brought the worship of Baal to new heights in Israel.Elijah tried to turn the
Israelites back to the worship of Yahweh, challengingtheidolatrous priestsof Baal to a showdown with God on
Mount Carmel. We can read this from 1 Kings 19: 22-24, “Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the
LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets
choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will
prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I
will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God. Then all the people said, “What you
say is good.” Of course,God won. This made Queen Jezebel angry (to say the least).She ordered Elijah’s death,so
he ran away and hid in the wilderness.Depressed and exhausted, he sai d,“Let me die.” But God sent food and
encouragement to the prophet and whispered to him in a “quiet gentle sound” and in the process saved his lifefor
further work.
The Temple in Jerusalem, where God’s Spiritwould dwell in the Holy of Holies,foreshadows believers in Christin
whom the Holy Spiritresides fromthe moment of our salvation.Justas the Israelites were to forsakeidolatry,so
are we to put away anything that separates us from God. Idolatry is theworship of a physical objector a
immoderate attachment or devotion to something believed as being God. As Christians we are His people, the
very temple of the livingGod. We can learn from 2 Corinthians 6:16, “What agreement is there between the
temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk
among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’"
Elijah theprophet was for forerunner of Christand the Apostles of the New Testament. God enabled Elijah to do
miraculous things in order to prove that he was truly a man of God. He raised fromthe dead the son of the widow
of Zarephath, causingher to exclaim, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD
from your mouth is the truth." In the same way, men of God who spoke His words through His power areevident
in the New Testament. Not only did Jesus raiseLazarus fromthe dead, but He also raised the son of the widow of
Nain (Luke 7:14-15) and Jairus’daughter (Luke 8:52-56).The Apostle Peter raised Dorcas (Acts9:40) and Paul
raised Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12).
The Book of 1 Kings has many lessons for believers.We see a warningabout the company we keep, and especially
in regard to closeassociations and marriage.The kings of Israel who,likeSolomon, married foreign women

2. exposed themselves and the people they ruled to evil.As believers in Christ,we must be very careful aboutwhom
we choose as friends,business associates,and spouses. “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good
character" (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Elijah’s experiencein the wilderness also teaches a valuablelesson.After his incrediblevictory over the 450
prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel as stated in 1 Kings 19,his joy turned to sorrowwhen he was pursued by
Jezebel and fled for his life.Such “mountaintop” experiences are often followed by a letdown and the depression
and discouragement that can follow.We have to be on guard for this type of experience in the Christian life.But
our God is faithful and will never leave or forsakeus. The quiet, gentle sound that encouraged Elijah will encourage
us. Therefore as Christiansweneed to: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what
you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”(Hebrews 13:5).
Key Verses:
1 Kings1:30, "I will surely carry out today whatI swore to you by the LORD, the Godof Israel: Solomon
your sonshall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne inmy place."
1 Kings9:3, "The LORD saidto him: 'Ihave heard the prayer andplea you havemade before me; I
have consecrated thistemple, whichyou have built,by puttingmy Name there forever. My eyes and
my heart will alwaysbe there.'"
1 Kings12:16, "Whenall Israel sawthat the kingrefused to listento them, they answered the king:
'Whatshare dowe have inDavid, what part inJesse's son?To your tents, O Israel! Look after your
own house,O David!'"
1 Kings12:28, "After seekingadvice, the kingmade two goldencalves. He saidto the people, 'Itis too
much foryou to go up to Jerusalem.Here are your gods,O Israel, whobrought youup out of Egypt.'"
1 Kings17:1, "NowElijahthe Tishbite,from Tishbein Gilead,saidto Ahab,'Asthe LORD, the Godof
Israel, lives,whomI serve, there will be neither dew nor rain inthe next few years except at my
word.'"