The Books of Kings
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I’ve heard it said that you will go in the direction of your gaze. This is especially true of motorcycles and bicycles. As your head turns, so do your shoulders. One glance to the side can lead you into a mess.
When I was younger, I had a problem about watching where I was going. When I was in elementary school, we were visiting my Uncle and Aunt in Minnesota. Now, if you know anything about Minnesota, you may know that they talk a bit funny. You may also know that they get a fair amount of snow in the winter. So, one winter when we were visiting them, we were looking forward to playing in the snow - on snowmobiles. My cousin let me try his out. Now if you’ve never been on one, it’s quite fun and exiting. It rides a bit like a motor cycle or a four wheeler. You have the accelerator on your thumb on one had and the brake in front of your fingers on the other. It didn’t seem too difficult, until you get going and you have to learn that when you turn one way that you have to make sure your not pushing on the accelerator extra hard. So by brother and I were riding around a field and I was getting comfortable, a little too comfortable. On one turn, I ended up accelerating more than I should have. As I was trying to adjust things to get back on the track, I noticed this tree. I kept looking at it. I kept staring and trying to steer - but I steered right into the tree. I didn’t barely hit it. I hit it squarely. It wasn’t a big tree, but it did the job and tossed me over the front into the snow.
Several years later, it was the day of our senior prom. My brother had a little 250cc dirt bike. I had not driven it at all, and he gave me a crash course in how to operate it. I wasn’t going to go far or fast - just around the house. And so I did. All was fine until I rounded toward the far end of the house, going a little faster than I intended. My body tensed up as I forgot all of the things that my brother taught me. And then there was the tree. It was a beautiful tree. It was so big and strong. And it was approaching quickly. In my mind I’m saying “don’t hit that tree,” but my eyes are saying - “there is a tree.” Yep - you guessed it - I hit the tree - sliding on the side of the bike. The gravel speckled skin on my legs reminded me that I was wearing shorts. Dancing at prom was going to be painful.
I tell you those stories - not so you won’t trust me with your motorized toys (though you probably shouldn’t), but to bring up the fact that we tend to go toward what we look at.
Last week, we looked at the books of first and second Samuel and learned that the people of Israel were looking at the nations around them and longed for a King, just like them. As we move past the first coupe of kings, (Saul and David) - we get to see just how far their gaze has drifted from the standard that God had placed before them.
Today, as we consider these two books, we’re going to briefly consider an overview of the books. We’ll also spend a greater amount of time considering some lessons that we can glean from these Kings.
Overview
Overview
The books of 1 and 2 Kings chronicle a partial history of Israel from the end of the reign of David/ascension of Solomon to the time when the nations are conquered and exiled.
David appoints Solomon as King
Solomon consolidates his power and then ushers in a great building campaign - to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and then his palace.
Though blessed with great wisdom, Solomon marries multiple women (hundreds) in order to form alliances with neighboring kings. While there was a great deal of peace during his reign, his heart was turned away from the Lord by the idol worshipping ways of his wives.
His son Rehoboam ascends to the throne and then institute a great deal of taxation. This causes the 10 tribes of the north - now called Israel - separate away under King Jeroboam.
With the Northern Tribes now making up a separate kingdom, Jeroboam sets up two centers of worship with golden calf idols in order to keep the Israelites from needing to go to the southern Kingdom of Judah.
All of the Northern Kingdoms continue in the ways of Jeroboam. Rather than being a succession of kings along family lines - many of the kings ascended the throne though assassination. Eventually, in 722BC - the northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. Many were carried off to exile. Some remained but were intermingled with the Assyrians. Their religious practices continued to be a mixture of Jewish and pagan rituals. When the northern kingdom is conquered, the tribes of the north cease to be distinct. There is no clear record of what happened to them as they intermarried with the Assyrians (forming the Samaritans) and ceased to be known as Israelites.
In the south, they had some good Kings who reinforced biblical worship in the temple. Some Kings even did great things to bring about reform - but in the end, it was too little, too late. In 586, the southern Kingdom, known as Judah (though it’s made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin), were conquered by the Babylonians and carried off into exile.
1 and 2 Kings is difficult to read - not because of the language - but because of the content. As these people fell into calamity through idolatry and immorality - led by their kings - the hope of a nation consecrated for God becomes a shadow of its former self and nearly non-existent.
There are some odd stories - such as the exploits of Elijah and Elisha as they proclaim the word of the Lord to the nation.
If you’ve not had a chance to read the books, let me encourage you to at least take a few minutes to check out the video from the Bible Project. They do an excellent job summarizing the message and narrative of books - visually illustrating the structure and stories.
For today, rather than summarizing much more of the book, let’s consider some...
Lessons from the books of Kings
Lessons from the books of Kings
I’ve pulled out five lessons that we can learn as God’s people today in order to keep us from repeating the same mistakes that the people of Israel and Judah committed.
To begin with we can learn that...
Corporate worship matters
Corporate worship matters
There are a couple of ways that we see this. In the opening chapters of 1 Kings, the narrators go into great detail about the construction of the temple - the dimension, worship elements, etc. The mobile sanctuary of the tabernacle that travelled in the wilderness as was established at Shiloh - moved to Jerusalem and was replaced with a beautiful edifice designed to foster worship of the one true God.
Over the many years that are outlined in these books, the Temple broke into disrepair. Some Kings made concerted efforts to refurbish and restore the rightful place of worship.
In some ways - it seemed like (at least in the south), many of the kings and the people were more concerned with the temple than they were with the God of the temple. They were doing things because they had always been done that way.
One great exception is King Josiah - near the end of 2 Kings. The book of the law was rediscovered as they were repairing the temple. When it was read aloud to Josiah (2 Kings 22-23) - he tore his clothes and lead the people into a great time of reformation - as he reinstated corporate worship in the manner described in law.
One of the reasons that we take some much time each week to publically read and consider scripture in our worship service is because our knowledge and practice is formed by what we can read in the Bible. Our corporate worship is in many ways shaped by scripture - as we hear the word read and consider its implications for us.
Trends of our culture will continue to shift. Styles of worship will evolve - but the object of our worship - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - does not.
We learn that in the northern kingdom of Israel, as they established their idolatry and syncretized biblical worship with pagan worship - the nation fell into a great deal of decline.
Which brings us to our next point...
Complacency leads to decline
Complacency leads to decline
A few weeks ago, as we considered the book of Judges, we got to see entropy in action - the natural tendency in things to move toward disorder.
One of the things that we see loud and clear in the books of Kings is that the nation had moved away from worshipping God in the way that he had outlined in the law.
For example, the Israelites were supposed to celebrate a passover each year on the 15th day of the first month. When King Josiah begins to make reforms - he reinstates the Passover - which apparently had not been observed for many years.
And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.
After holding this passover, he went on the get rid of so many things that became a distraction to the people.
I a recent podcast, Al Mohler discussed an article about the liberalization of America. The article pointed out that typically when it comes to issues of morality, people tend to not change their minds. But when one generation dies off, the morals of the next generation become the standard of the day - and so decline begins.
It’s unclear about exactly why this happens, but it seems that the first generation fails to pass along values to the next generation - they simply assume that what is lived out will be adopted.
In considering this lesson, the people of Israel, for many generations, failed to keep the scheduled feasts that the Lord had instituted and so it got forgotten.
Now in talking about this lesson about complacency, please don’t get me wrong - this is not about religious acts for the sake of religion. This is about remaining consistent with the things that God desires from us.
So we’ve seen that corporate worship matters and that complacency leads to decline, I think one of the next lessons that we can learn from the books of 1 & 2 Kings is that...
Children reflect their parents
Children reflect their parents
Parents, have you ever had those moments when you see your kids do something and then you realize that you’ve been doing that for years? Or you suddenly catch yourself doing the very thing that your father or your mother did?
In many ways, that is what is happening here in the lives of the Kings. We get to see both good and bad attributes passed along from one generation to the next.
Let’s consider David and Solomon. David was a man after God’s own heart who had a deep desire to build a temple for the Lord. Solomon started out with a sincere faith and got to fulfill his father’s desire. David was also attracted to multiple women and had several wives and concubines. Solomon followed in his father’s footsteps - and then some.
He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
This one area of imitating his father became his downfall.
The writer of 1 and 2 Kings, who is unknown, often comments that this king or that king walked in the ways of his father (sometimes referring to a father way up the line of succession). The Kings of Judah are compared with David and the Kings of Israel are compared with their first king Jeroboam - the one who set up the idols and went on to institute his own feasts.
As you read through the books, one thing you’ll notice is that the Kings of Judah follow a biological succession plan - each King is succeeded by a son. One of the other interesting notes is that because the father’s are known, the narrator depicts that names of the mothers. As I read through it, I was struck by how one parent can have such an impact in the life of the next generation.
For example, Hezekiah - is generally known to be a good king - he removed the high places and sought to lead faithfully even in the midst of a challenging time. While he made some mistakes in is waning years, but he is generally regarded as a good king.
Now I know that a child can be rebellious - any child can choose to depart from the ways of their parents. Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, goes way beyond rebellion. He becomes known as the worst king in Judah’s history - because of all of the abominations that he did.
So parents - what attributes are you passing on to your children? Do they model your temper or patience? Do they emulate your speech?
(illustration: - Zack - and me - personality - easy going, yet anger expression, etc; Melody - affinity for technology and love for worship)
Another lesson that we need to see is that...
Confession is serious business
Confession is serious business
1 John 1:9 says
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In the books of 1&2 Kings - we get to see this in several ways, even surprising ways.
One of the most notorious kings of the norther Kingdom is Ahab. So many of the stories that involve the prophet Elijah happen during his reign - the famine, competition with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, etc. Generally, Ahab had very little regard for the things of God. In fact he even referred to Elijah as the “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17). Wicked King Ahab did have a moment of confession - and it paid off.
Turn in your Bible’s to 1 Kings 21 - let’s consider it together.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.” ’ ”
Ahab wanted a field that was owned by a man named Naboth. When Naboth wouldn’t sell it to him, Ahab had a pity party - in fact he was dejected. His wife, Jezebel, came along and scolded Ahab for his actions. She then arranged to have Naboth killed and gave the land to Ahab.
Let’s continue reading:
Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.”
The narrator inserts a parenthetical commentary in verses 25-26...
(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)
Then we finally get to Ahab’s response to Elijah’s rebuke and God’s response:
And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
This time it was more than a pity party - his humility was marked - and God noticed.
In another place, we get to see Josiah’s response to the Word of the Lord as it’s read to him. Turn to 2 Kings 22:
Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
Tearing garments was a physical sign of grief and despair. One thing we see later in Josiah’s life is that he not only grieved for the condition of his nation, but he worked vigorously to change the course of his nation. In commenting on the life of Josiah, the writer of the Kings says...
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 the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
Josiah’s confession was not simply with words, but he backed it up with deeds.
When you and I are convicted of our sins, how do we respond? Do we say “I’m sorry” to keep the peace or is our confession backed up with real repentance?
Beloved, when we sin, we don’t simply blunder or make a mistake. Our sinful acts are an affront to God. Our sin is an act of rebellion, even treason, against a holy, just and loving God. Sure, he is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Ex. 34:6). We should not take his patience as liberty to sin.
But we have great hope! God, in his justice, sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be the one perfect sacrifice. Listen to what it says in 1 John 2:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
Friend, if you’ve not yet taken your sin seriously, let me encourage you to respond to the call of God. Jesus, lived a perfect life so that he could be a perfect sacrifice on the cross for you and for me. He took the punishment that you and I deserve. The choice before us is to confess our sins, placing the consequences on Jesus and gain access to the Father and Eternal life, or we can remain in our sin, trusting in our own righteousness and imperfection - only to find that we will pay the consequences for eternity.
I love all of my kids. They each have their unique strengths and weaknesses. It has been so fun to see them grow up and grow into the personality and gifting that God has blessed them with. From a very early age, our daughter Melody expressed her own strong will. One time, while I was changing her diaper, I told her not to do something. I moved her hand away from what I asked her not to touch. She looked at me with a gleam in her eye and a smile on her face and went right back to messing with the thing that I told her not to. Now I know, she was small and young, but she was not innocent. She was rebellious. A few years later, she got to watch Zack go through the process of getting baptized. Being the most extroverted one in our house, she wanted that too. She wanted to be the center of attention. She wanted everyone to look at her - and baptism seemed like the way to go! So we basically said - sure, you can get baptized, but you have to confess your sinfulness to God - admit your a sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross for you, and commit to live for him. When we said that, her face dropped - because saying “I’m sorry” was not in her personality. As she would see other kids getting baptized, she came back time and again - only to have the same response, and the same outcome. Finally, about a year later, she was convicted of her sins and trusted Jesus christ as her savior. By the time she finally came to trust in the saving work of Jesus on the cross, she knew that baptism was not a means for glory, but a means of humility - dying to self.
Have you confessed your sin to the Lord? Have you turned to trust in Him? Maybe today is the day of salvation.
There is one final lesson that I’d like us to think about in light of the books of 1&2 Kings, that is to...
Consider the Word of the Lord
Consider the Word of the Lord
There are approximately 47 times that the phrase “word of the Lord” shows up in these two books. Sometimes, the phrase is used to point back to things that God had previously said - either by the prophets or in Israel’s history. Other times, the word of the Lord is used to refer to a specific commandment, warning, or instruction that the Lord gave through the prophets.
God isn’t saying or revealing things in His word for His own health. He is saying things so that His people will know him and will choose to follow in His ways.
Our society is all about words. We like to Tweet, comment, blog, text, email, and even snail male our words. There used to be a time when it would have been possibly for people to consume every word that was written - there were not many books published each year anywhere in the world. Today, there are more words produced in a single day than were written in all of the previous centuries combined. Words, words, and more words.
As we have been going through the process of moving, I was struck by how many books we have. In addition to what you can see in my office here, we probably have close to 20 boxes of books - not to mention the boxes that we gave away.
All that to say - there are so many words, so many books, but some words, some books - matter more - those are the Words of the Lord - his revealed word, the Bible.
What God has chosen to include in the pages of Scripture has meaning and value. They are more important than any others.
I don’t understand them all. I’m still growing in my ability comprehend why God said things the way that he did. But I love what the word of the Lord reveals about God. I love what His word reveals about how he cares for the lost, how he is near to the broken hearted, how he so loved the world that he gave his only son to bear our punishment. I love how his word reveals his character, his holiness, his sovereignty.
Do you love his word? Do you read it? Do you consider it? Do you proclaim it to your family and friends?
Consider the Word of the Lord. Hebrews 4:12 says...
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
In the books of Kings, God proclaimed his word through prophets. He reminded people of His word that had already been revealed.
We have His word in our hands, on our book shelves, on our phones. Is it in our hearts?
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Is it in our minds?
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
Consider the Word of the Lord.
Closing thoughts.
Closing thoughts.
As we’ve taken a few minutes today to think through the lessons that we can learn from the books of 1&2 Kings, we’ve learned that...
Corporate worship matters
Complacency leads to decline
Children reflect their parents
Confession is serious business, and we’ve been challenged to...
Consider the Word of the Lord
My hope is that we will not look at these books as being a tragedy of trajectory as the nation gradually and then fully pulled away from the Lord. I hope that we will learn from their mistakes. That we will take time to reflect on our own lives and walk in submission to the Lord, His Word, and His way.
Let’s pray...
Benediction:
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.