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Since the day that I brought 
my people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any 
tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be 
there. But I chose David to be over 
my people Israel. Now it was in the heart of my 
father David to build a temple for the name of the Lord God 
of Israel. But the Lord said to my father 
David, Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for my 
name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, 
you shall not build the temple, but your Son who will come from 
your body, He shall build the temple for my name. So the Lord 
has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the 
position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, 
as the Lord promised. And I have built a temple for 
the name of the Lord God of Israel. And there I have made a place 
for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He 
made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land 
of Egypt. Amen. Well, we come to the last book 
in what's called the former prophets. The former prophets are Joshua, 
Judges, 1st and 2nd Samuel, and 1st and 2nd Kings. And while 
1st and 2nd Chronicles are similar to 1st and 2nd Kings, The former 
prophets are strictly Joshua through Kings. Chronicles belong 
to the classification of the writings in the Hebrew canon, 
and so they are a little bit different in terms of genre and 
form, though there is significant overlap in terms of the material. One man says the book of Kings, 
1st and 2nd Kings together, is the last book of the former prophets, 
completing the narrative of God's people in the land of Canaan 
that began in the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. Now, they are historical, 
first and second Kings, but it's theological history. In other 
words, the author, the editors put together this particular 
book in order to set forth various concerns for the nation of Israel, 
instruction concerning the fall of Israel, and ultimately instruction 
concerning the doctrine of the God of Israel. So tonight we 
want to introduce 1st and 2nd Kings. They technically go together. The separation between 1st and 
2nd Kings was probably more practical rather than theological or thematic. It was a big book and so they 
split it in two. But I want to look at the title, 
the author, and the date. Secondly, look at the continuation 
of the monarchy. Thirdly, the structure of the 
book, and then fourthly, the major themes in the book. But 
with reference to title, author, and date, the title in the Hebrew 
Bible is 1st and 2nd Kings. As I said, the split between 
the two is probably not theological, just practical. In the Greek 
translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the Septuagint, it 
broke Samuel into two books together with 1st and 2nd Kings, and they 
were called Books of the Kingdoms. Thus, 1st and 2nd Samuel are 
1st and 2nd Kingdoms, and 1st and 2nd Kings are 3rd and 4th 
Kingdoms. So if you ever pick up the Septuagint 
and read, that's the difference there. In the Latin Vulgate, 
you simply have 1st through 4th Kings. Now, the author has not 
told us, just like when we studied the book of Samuel. We're not 
certain who composed Samuel. There is an absence of a reference. 
There is an ancient Jewish tradition that suggests that it was Jeremiah 
the prophet that wrote the books of 1 and 2 Kings. As I said, 
we don't know for certain, but we do know that they are indeed 
Scripture. Paul in the book of Romans speaks 
specifically of kings in Romans 11, 2. He says, God has not cast 
away his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the scripture 
says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel saying, 
Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars and 
I alone am left and they seek my life. So certainly we don't 
know the particular human author involved but we know ultimately 
the divine author is the Holy Spirit of God Most High. Now 
in terms of the dates, there's two sets of dates that we ought 
to understand. There's the dates that the book 
was composed, and then there's the dates that the book covers 
in terms of history. It covers about a 400-year span 
that begins with the death of David and the beginning of the 
reign of Solomon, and that's dated at 971 BC. So 971 BC is 
when the book officially begins. Now the death 
of David, I'm not the exact sure, probably 970, 71, or 7271, around 
that time. And then the book ends in 2 Kings chapter 25, with 
the fall of Jerusalem, and that took place in 586. But it doesn't stop there because 
Jehoiachin is how the book ends. And Jehoiachin began his reign 
in 561. And in 2 Kings 25-27, it says 
in the 37th year of his reign. So it takes us down to 561 BC. 
So 971 BC to 561 BC are the dates covered in terms of the material 
in 1st and 2nd Kings. Now, most suggest that the books 
were written after 560, probably between 560 and 538 BC. So again, it was after the fall 
of Jerusalem in the 6th century, and it was probably during the 
exile while the people of Israel, or Judah rather, were in Babylonian 
captivity. So that's title, author, and 
date. Secondly, the books essentially 
record for us, in terms of their history, the continuation of 
the monarchy in Israel. You can turn to the book of Deuteronomy 
for a moment just to rehearse what we have seen or learned 
thus far in our study of the Old Testament concerning the 
monarchy or the kingship in Israel. In Deuteronomy chapter 17, specifically 
beginning in verse 14, we learn that there are specific principles 
or laws or rules that were to govern the king in Israel. Notice 
in 17.14, when you come to the land which the Lord your God 
is giving you and possess it and dwell in it and say, I will 
set a king over me like all the nations that are around me, you 
shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. 
One from among your brethren you shall set as king over you. 
You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. 
But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people 
to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said 
to you, you shall not return that way again. Neither shall 
he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor 
shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. Also, it 
shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he 
shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the 
one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and 
he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn 
to fear the Lord as God and be careful to observe all the words 
of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted 
above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment 
to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days 
in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel." Now, 
as we move through these historical books, we see that the king certainly 
did not toe the line. They did not follow this clear 
injunction concerning the particulars with reference to their rule. 
Many of them multiply wives, many of them multiply horses, 
or military weaponry, and many of them multiply wealth. They 
depart from the law of God in this particular instance. Notice 
as well, what the first order of business was to be for the 
king. Verse 18, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, 
he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the 
one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and 
he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn 
to fear the Lord his God, and be careful to observe all the 
words of this law and these statutes. One wonders if the kings of Israel 
had actually fulfilled this particular mandate, things would have been 
much, much different in terms of the particular nation involved 
in the covenant, the nation that was called to be the covenant 
people of God. So, we note that during the time 
of the judges, there was no king in Israel and everyone did what 
was right in his own eyes. So, God raised up judges to serve 
as deliverers for the nation of Israel. The book of Judges 
simply is a series of cycles. The people of Israel sin against 
God. God raises up foreign oppressors. 
He sends them in order to punish or chastise the covenant people. The people then cry out for deliverance. They don't cry out in repentance, 
but rather they cry out in distress. And because of the God of mercy 
that He is, He would raise up these human deliverers, these 
saviors, these judges in Israel, and they would bring deliverance 
to the people of Israel. We get to the book of 1 Samuel, 
and there we see people crying out for a king. And it's not 
the monarchy, necessarily, that is a sinful request. It is what 
drives this request. They do want to be like the nations 
around them. Instead of trusting in the sovereignty 
of God and in the power of their covenant God, they would rather 
have an earthly king to rule over them. Remember that in 1 
Samuel chapter 8, God through Samuel says, the king that you 
get is going to exploit you. The king that you get is going 
to tax you. The king that you get is going 
to do all manner of nasty things to you. And nevertheless, the 
people cry out, so God calls Samuel to anoint Saul. Saul becomes the king and he 
is covenantally unfaithful. He is a wretch, and so the Lord 
God condemns him. The Lord God says that he is 
going to give the kingdom to a man after his own heart. And so it's David who serves 
as the king of Israel from about 1 Samuel 16, when he's anointed, 
all the way to the end of 2 Samuel. Now, David's reign was a good 
reign. It was positive overall, but 
it was not perfect. Certainly, we saw the misgivings 
or the shortcomings, rather, of David when we studied 1 and 
2 Samuel. Well, that brings us specifically 
to the book of Kings. And what we have here, as we've 
mentioned before, is that Solomon, the son of David, occupies the 
throne in Israel. Solomon has a good reign. There is peace, there is blessing, 
there is prosperity during Solomon's reign. The people of Israel do 
engage in and do enjoy a season of great blessing and comfort. 
But nevertheless, Solomon himself, as good and as positive as a 
presentation we have of Solomon's reign in chapters 1 to 11, we 
see that it's not perfect. If you keep in mind, What Deuteronomy 
17, 16, and 17 says, a king was not supposed to multiply wives. Solomon does that. A king was 
not to multiply wealth. Now that doesn't mean he had 
to be dirt poor, but the queen of Sheba comes to see the pomp 
and the glory and the majesty of Solomon's kingdom. And the 
king of Israel was not to multiply weapons. But Solomon does that 
very thing in terms of horses and in terms of chariots. So 
as good as Solomon was, he did typify for us the Lord Jesus 
Christ. He was nevertheless a sinful 
king. And so in 1 Kings chapter 12, 
as a result, or after Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam becomes 
king. And then Jeroboam, the son of 
Nebat, rebels against Rehoboam. And essentially what Jeroboam 
does is split the kingdom. And this is a judgment from God 
upon the nation. We'll see that when we get to 
1 Kings chapter 12. But what you have then is what's 
called the divided monarchy. You have two sections. The one 
kingdom of Israel becomes a divided kingdom. You have the North and 
you have the South. And in the South you have two 
tribes, Judah and Benjamin. All the rest are in the North. 
And there is some friendship among the kingdoms throughout 
the books of 1st and 2nd Kings, but there is some unfriendly 
activity that goes on between them as well. So a bulk of, or 
much of, first and second kings deals with that monarchy, or 
that divided monarchy. And what the author does, he 
doesn't just treat the kings of Israel and then jumps to the 
kings of Judah, but he does them sort of parallel, and there is 
something of an overlap, or rather the absence or the lack of an 
overlap, because you might have a king of Israel here, and then 
a king of Judah here. Basically, the timing is a bit 
difficult to trace, and we'll try and note that as we move 
through these particular books. But it is intriguing that in 
the kingdom of Judah, you had, counting Solomon, 21 kings in 
about 343 years. In the kings of Israel, you had 
20 kings in 200 years. They didn't have dynasty. There 
were several, or there were a couple where there were four perhaps 
in a dynasty, but the common thread running through Judah 
is that they were descendants from David. And we'll see that 
as we move into the major themes of the book. In terms, thirdly, 
of the structure of the book, I think you could take a large 
swath and break 1st and 2nd Kings down into three primary sections. You have the reign of Solomon 
in 1st Kings 1.1 to 1st Kings 11.43. You then have the divided monarchy 
in 1 Kings 12, 1 to 2 Kings 17, 41. And then you have the kingdom 
of Judah alone in 2 Kings 18, 1 to 25, 30. And the reason you 
have the kingdom of Judah alone is because the Northern kingdom 
falls in 2 Samuel, I'm sorry, 2 Kings 17. They fall to Assyria. So essentially what you have 
in 1st and 2nd Kings is not only God's sovereignty, His preservation 
of the people, His goodness and His kindness to them, but you 
also have the sinfulness and the rebellion of both kingdoms. And as a result, they provoke 
the Lord God Most High and He brings the covenant curses to 
bear upon Him. What we are seeing in the destruction 
of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was not a new thing. The very same thing is recorded 
for us in 2 Kings 17 and then again in 2 Kings 24 and 25 with 
the fall of the northern kingdom and the fall of the southern 
kingdom. This was God's punishment and this was God's judgment upon 
the nation of Israel because they had violated or broken the 
covenant they had made or had sworn to keep with the God of 
Israel. So we see the title, the author, 
and the date. We note the continuation of the 
monarchy, the structure of the book. Now, what are some of the 
major themes in the book? And there are several that we 
ought to consider. The first place, on a human level, 
it is the history of Israel. I mean, it's about a 400-year 
period. If you understand 1st and 2nd 
Kings, it will help you understand a whole lot of your Old Testament. And without this understanding, 
without a knowledge of what 1st and 2nd Kings is all about, it's 
going to be tough to make heads or tails out of certain of the 
prophets. Because remember, the prophets 
are writing, and the prophets are preaching, and the prophets 
are ministering to Israel during this 400-year period. Now, not 
all of the prophets, there were some that came after the exile 
in Babylon, but a bulk of the prophets were speaking and preaching 
and teaching and calling Israel to repentance and faith during 
this 400-year period. I really can't understand how 
persons could read the prophets profitably without having a knowledge 
of first and second kings, to have that historical background. When you read Isaiah, for instance, 
it is most crucial to understand the years that he prophesied, 
to know something in terms of the kings who were in Israel 
and in Judah. It's also very helpful to understand 
what the world powers were outside of the the kingdom of Israel. 
To know that is to be helped as you read the prophet Isaiah. 
We're not supposed to just mine out little timeless truths from 
the prophets and put them on our refrigerators. We're supposed 
to understand what their function was and how they operated and 
in order to do that these books of 1st and 2nd Kings are crucial 
to an understanding of the prophets. I mean, when you read about Jeremiah 
having to leave and going into Egypt, you need to understand 
what the backdrop is in that regard. When you learn these 
historical books, it helps you to fill in some of the places 
so that you can indeed understand the prophets. And conversely, 
when you read the prophets, you go to the historical books and 
you can understand what's happening and what's facing them at that 
particular time. So the history of Israel, and 
I think really practically it ought to instruct us and help 
us to consider what life in the kingdom ought to look like. In 
other words, we are in the church. The church is the visible expression 
of the kingdom of God on earth. We ought to learn from the mistakes 
or from the sins that have been perpetrated before us. We ought 
to realize that we ought to give heed to the prophetic word. We 
ought not to do the sorts of things that the people of Israel 
fell into so many times in this 400-year period, and we ought, 
by the grace of God, strive to be faithful to the law that the 
Lord has given to us. It doesn't do us any good to 
have the entirety of the Bible and then sin with an impudent 
mindset when we see the examples that have gone on before us. 
As the apostle says in Romans 15, All of Scripture is written 
for our encouragement and for our admonition. Now, we ought 
not to moralize and say we ought to dare to be an Elisha and this 
is the reasons how or the reasons why, but we ought to learn from 
these particular accounts that we shouldn't duplicate the same 
sorts of sins that the children of Israel fell into. 1 Kings 
17 and 18 with reference to Elijah and the contest at Carmel. Well, we ought to learn or we 
ought to see there's an equivalence between what the prophet Elijah 
says in terms of, choose you this day whom you will serve. 
If Yahweh is God, serve Him. If Baal is God, then serve Him. 
We ought to see something paralleled in that with reference to Jesus' 
words in Matthew 12, 30. He who is not with me is against 
me. They're saying and preaching 
essentially the same message. So there is a whole host of things 
that we ought to learn from the history of Israel. We ought to 
imitate when they did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, 
and we ought to guard against doing those things that were 
displeasing in the eyes of the Lord. A second major theme in 
the book is the Law of Moses. Now, we know it's the Law of 
God, but for convenience sake, we'll call it the Law of Moses. 
That refers to the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 
and Deuteronomy. Primarily, Deuteronomy is behind 
the scenes in the books of King. If I just say book, that means 
1st and 2nd Kings. It really is considered as one 
book. But how are the Kings measured 
with reference to their performance? They're measured according to 
the law of Moses. They're measured according to 
the law of God. In fact, as the author is indicating 
to us that, say for instance, Solomon makes a treaty with Pharaoh, 
king of Daughter, and marries Pharaoh's daughter, then he brought 
her to the city of David until he had finished building his 
own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall all around 
Jerusalem. Perhaps the author is recalling 
to our minds the whole mandate of holy war. Holy War and Deuteronomy 
17 specifically discouraged making political alliances, social alliances, 
and certainly religious alliances with the Canaanites in the land. 
And here in 1 Kings chapter 3, Solomon is marrying an Egyptian 
woman in order to make a political treaty. Now, some might look 
at that and say, well, that's good. You ought to make political 
treaties. Not if you're the people of Yahweh. 
Not when he has said that you are to go into the land and utterly 
destroy everything that they own, tear down their idols, dispossess 
the land of the Canaanites. No reader of 1 Kings 3.1 should 
say, well, Solomon's really acting wisely in this particular point. 
When we move on and we see that Solomon multiplies wealth, and 
he multiplies wives in addition to this one, and when he multiplies 
horses, the author is alluding to or having us to remember what 
the Deuteronomic law says and what it stipulates. And we just 
read it there in Deuteronomy 17, 16 and 17. If we read through 
1 Kings 1 to 11, and we conclude that Solomon was a great guy 
until the very end, We ought not to, you know, or we ought 
to sort of reevaluate and realize that, no, there were foreshadowings 
or there were symbolic or statements rather 
that show us that Solomon is on the wrong path. So it is the 
law of Moses by which the kings are measured according specifically 
to the book of Deuteronomy. Thirdly, we see the reign of 
Solomon. And again, I don't want to, you 
know, diss Solomon. It's always tough when you're, 
you know, on this side of things to call into question. But the 
Spirit gave us these things concerning not only Solomon, but David. 
And we would be remiss to not point out their shortcomings 
and their failures. Remember, one of the purposes 
in the entirety of the Old Testament is to point us to the one true 
hero. David was a heroic man. Solomon was a great man. There 
were kings that were most excellent. Josiah, Hezekiah are two that 
stand out among the Judahites. But all of these men were men 
at best, and they point us forward to the one that will be without 
sin, the one that is holy, harmless, and undefiled, the one that is 
the perfect king. Remember Jesus in Matthew's gospel 
says there is a greater than Solomon here. He is a greater 
than Solomon. Solomon was typical. He did point 
forward, but Solomon's reign fell short of what Jesus Christ 
will accomplish or does accomplish. So the encouraging aspects in 
terms of Solomon's reign, his request for wisdom. I mean, that's 
a most excellent thing. When God the Lord comes to Solomon 
and asks him, what do you want? And what does Solomon say? He 
wants wisdom. That is a blessed lesson we ought 
to learn from Solomon. If God comes to you and says, 
what one thing can I give you? What would you say? I don't want 
a show of hands or I don't want you to say, you know, I want 
a hundred more wishes, God. You know, we would treat him 
as if he's the genie. You get three wishes. What's your first 
wish? Well, I want a hundred wishes. Well, that's not what 
we're dealing with here. But God comes to Solomon and 
says, what do you want? And he says, I want wisdom. And 
then we see the use of that wisdom right away. Solomon demonstrates 
wisdom in terms of his political rule and his political leadership. It is most excellent. So he not 
only requests wisdom, but he also uses wisdom. And then he 
is the builder of the temple. This is Solomon's primary claim 
to fame. Remember in 2 Samuel 7, David 
is sitting in his nice house, and he wants to build a house 
for the Lord. And the Lord God sends the prophet 
to tell him, you're not going to build a house for me, I'm 
going to build a house for you. And what God the Lord means to 
David is not your own personal dwelling place, not your own 
personal palace, but I'm going to make a dynasty out of you, 
David. From your line kings will come. One king will ultimately come 
who will rule and reign forever and ever. But the son of David 
was to build a house for the Lord. And Solomon realizes this. Again, I think it's still typical 
and it points forward to what we see in Matthew 16. After Peter 
confesses, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. He 
is the son of God according to the Davidic covenant. And then 
Jesus says, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. You have a Davidic son who builds 
a house for God. Yes, in Solomon, but it's realized 
fully and brought to consummation through our Lord Jesus. So Solomon 
had some encouraging aspects. The discouraging I've already 
mentioned, the multiplication of wives, chapter three, verse 
one, and then chapter 11, versus one and following. I mean, he 
had a lot of wives, and they led his heart away from the living 
and the true God. That was the specific requirement 
in Deuteronomy chapter 7. Do not marry with them, because 
if you marry with them, you're going to be worshiping with them 
before long. That's the reason why. What does 
Deuteronomy 13 say? If the wife of your own bosom 
entices you away from Yahweh your God, then you shall have 
her put to death. Seduction to apostasy or idolatry 
was a capital offense in Old Covenant Israel. And here we 
see the king of Israel multiplying wives in a nauseating manner. So there 
is encouragement, but there is discouragement in terms of the 
reign of Solomon. A fourth theme that we ought 
to appreciate in the book is the Davidic Covenant. The Davidic 
Covenant, in fact, turned to 2 Samuel 7. It's good to have 
that before our eyes so that we understand why the book ends 
the way that it does, 2 Kings. Notice in 2 Samuel 7 verse 11, 
the very end, also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house. Again, this is a dynasty. Verse 
12, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, 
I will set up your seat after you who will come from your body, 
and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for My 
name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. 
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits 
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with 
the blows of the sons of men. But my mercy shall not depart 
from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 
And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever 
before you. Your throne shall be established 
forever." That's why when you get to say the prophet Ezekiel, 
God through the prophet says, I will send David my king. What's 
he talking about? He's talking about the Lord Jesus. 
He's talking about the New Covenant. He's talking about the reality 
that Christ fulfills what 2 Samuel 7 tells us, that God will, from 
David's line, raise up one to sit upon the throne whose rule 
and reign shall have no end. Now, when we look at the Davidic 
Covenant, or we consider that particular theme, we understand 
the utter apostasy and the utter failure of the Northern Kingdom. 
But when we look at the line of Judah, there is this small 
glimmer of hope that 2 Kings ends on. You can turn to 2 Kings 
chapter 25. Now, when I say a small glimmer 
of hope, It is a small glimmer of hope, but sometimes a small 
glimmer of hope is all that one needs to keep going in the daily 
grind. Notice in 2 Kings, forgive me, 
I'm going to say Samuel probably for the next several weeks since 
we've been in Samuel for so long, but notice in 2 Kings 25-27. Now it came to pass in the 37th 
year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the 12th month, 
on the 27th day of the month, that evil Meredok, king of Babylon, 
in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin, king 
of Judah, from prison. He spoke kindly to him and gave 
him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with 
him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed from his 
prison garments and he ate bread regularly before the king all 
the days of his life. And as for his provisions, there 
was a regular ration given him by the king, a portion for each 
day all the days of his life. The Davidic line is not extinguished. It is not utterly snuffed out. Again, that's a small glimmer, 
but it's a glimmer nevertheless. Ian Proven says, the future of 
the Davidic line apparently hangs by the slender thread of a displaced 
ruler sitting at the table of the king of Babylon. And Ralph 
Davis says, it seems to me then that biblical theology would 
lead us to see a ray of hope in this kindness done to the 
exiled Davidic king. Again, it's very small, but nevertheless, 
that Davidic covenant runs through this particular era. It will 
indeed secure the arrival of the coming king, even our Lord 
Jesus Christ. As well, another major theme 
in the book are the prophets of God. I mean, if you have read 
through 1st and 2nd Kings, we've got exciting stuff ahead of us, 
don't we? I mean, you've got Elijah and 
Elisha. I mean, these were men of God, 
men that were faithful, men that stood up to the wickedness and 
to the lawlessness of their age. One only need remember Elijah 
on Mount Carmel fighting those prophets of Baal. Remember those 
prophets at that time were state subsidized. They ate at the king's 
table. They were on the government payroll 
in Israel. So these were dark days in Israel's 
history, and yet Elijah the Tishbite just shows up. In fact, look 
at 1 Kings 17 for a moment. Truly an amazing way that he's 
introduced to us. After an array of bad kings, 
notice in 1701, and Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of 
Gilead said to Ahab, that's it, he's there. There's no, and Elijah 
was raised to, you know, Betty and Johnny and he was brought 
up on the catechism and he went to this school. He's just there. One man says, whenever evil flourishes, 
it is always a superficial flourish. For at the height of the triumph 
of evil, God will be there, ready with his man and his movement 
and his plans to ensure that his own cause will never fail. 
Now note, Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead 
said to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom 
I stand. I mean, that's an amazing statement 
from this Tishbite. Before whom I stand. God sends his man to deal with 
the situation facing Israel. And then just that one snippet 
concerning Elisha, when those young, those lads mocked him 
and called him baldy bean or bald head and he cursed them 
and the she bears come out and kill that. Now when we get to 
that, you're probably gonna have a bit of prejudice or some of 
us have this prejudice that we have two and three year old little 
boys that mock this prophet and he sent these she bears out to 
devastate them. There's more going on than just 
that. But these men were paradigmatic 
or somewhat typical of men to come, Elijah, John the Baptist 
is the Elijah in the New Covenant, and there are some very striking 
parallels between Christ and Elisha, the prophet that we will 
note when we get to the Elisha narrative. So the prophets of 
God are another theme, and certainly it's the word of God that is 
to hold sway in the hearts of God's kings and in the hearts 
of God's people. And then finally, well not finally, 
we got two more, the doctrine of God. The doctrine of God is 
conspicuous throughout the book of Kings. In the first place, 
His being. He is God alone and thus the 
gods of the heathen are idols. That was a problem facing Israel 
at this particular time. You had behind the scenes, or 
rather around Israel, you had Egypt, you had Aram, or what 
we call today Syria, you had Assyria and Babylon. These were 
the competing powers against Israel at the time. Well, each 
of them had their own collection of gods. And so Israelites would 
go a whoring from the true and the living God. But God is God 
alone, and thus the gods of the heathen are idols. Notice in 
8.23, we didn't read that part, but he says, Lord God of Israel, 
there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like you, who 
keep your covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk 
before you with all their hearts. He is God alone, and thus the 
gods of the heathen are idols. He is the creator of heaven and 
earth, 2 Kings chapter 19. 2 Kings chapter 19, specifically 
verse 15. Then Hezekiah prayed before the 
Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, the one who dwells between 
the cherubim, you are God, you alone of all the kingdoms of 
the earth, you have made heaven and earth. You have made heaven 
and earth. As well, God is the one who controls 
nature. Now this is important to realize 
or understand because the pagans thought Baal controlled nature. The pagans thought that Baal 
brought rain. The pagans thought that Baal 
was the cause for fruitfulness and for bounty with reference 
to crops. In fact, one man, his last name 
is Fully Love. I've never seen a name like that. 
Fully Love is his name. I'm guessing he's full of love, 
but he makes this observation. This is from a recent release. It's an introduction, a biblical 
theological introduction to the Old Testament, and several authors 
that take up different books, and this fellow takes up 1 and 
2 Kings, but he makes this observation concerning the miracles that 
are reported in the books of 1st and 2nd Kings. And Elijah 
and Elisha do a lot of miracles. And he says, the miracles recounted 
in Elijah and Elisha's stories are not as haphazard as they 
may seem upon a casual reading. Instead, these miracles form 
a polemic against Baal worship. Baal was the storm god, more 
specifically with lightning as his weapon and rain as his blessing. Therefore, it is no accident 
that fire from heaven is a key component of the miracles and 
kings. Nor is it likely an accident that control of rain and provision 
of water feature prominently in the miracles of kings. As 
the supposed giver of rain, Baal would have been considered the 
ultimate source of food. And not surprisingly, many of 
the miracles and kings relate to the provision of food. Ugaritic 
literature, Ugarit was an ancient city in Syria. Ugaritic literature 
even discusses Baal's conquering of Judge River, his rival, while 
both Elijah and Elisha can strike the Jordan and command it to 
part. The Ugaritic Baal myth includes Baal rising from the 
dead in an annual cycle, yet both Elijah and Elisha even raise 
the dead. In the Elijah and Elisha narratives 
then, God and his prophets are victorious, not just over wayward 
kings, but even over other gods those kings follow. Anything 
Baal is said to do is actually instead done by Yahweh's prophets. I thought that was a very interesting 
observation and very fitting for our consideration of these 
books tonight. And as well, he is the one who 
controls history. As we saw, I think, repeatedly 
in our studies in 1 and 2 Samuel, God is sovereign in providence. 
God overrules history. God is the one who is in the 
heavens, and He does whatever He pleases. And time and time 
and time again, you will see that the Lord God is the controller 
of the events that occur in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. As well, with reference, so in 
terms of the doctrine of God, we see something concerning His 
being, but as well His worship. his worship. We see and understand 
something of the second commandment in the books of 1st and 2nd Kings. 
God is a jealous God. He'll brook no rivals. You can't 
have God and Baal. You can't have God and, you know, 
Asherah. You cannot mix or mingle the 
two. If you try and do that, you have 
neglected, rejected, and resisted the living and the true God. 
That'll come out over and over in the books of 1st and 2nd Kings. 
As well, He is to be worshipped legitimately in terms of content. You're not supposed to worship 
God with idols or images. Again, Deuteronomy is behind 
the scenes in 1st and 2nd Kings. You're not supposed to, you know, 
make calves or golden calves and set them up in order to divert 
the attention of the northern kingdom. It's precisely what 
Jeroboam did. And I think in terms of a worldly 
or a carnal ploy, it made sense. Jeroboam realized that if the 
northerners travel all the way to Jerusalem, they may be convinced 
that what we're doing here is wrong. So that's why he puts 
these calves up and ascribes to them that they are Yahweh 
that brought them out of the land of Egypt. It was an attempt 
to bring to the north Yahweh, but by doing so, it's an act 
of idolatry. And as well, he is to be worshiped 
legitimately in terms of place. Jerusalem, not in the high places. Remember, a primary concern in 
the book of Deuteronomy, specifically chapter 12, was that Israel was 
to have a central sanctuary. There was to be one place. God 
didn't want Israel to worship wherever they hankered after 
him. No, because he knew that if they worshiped wherever they 
hankered after him, It might be Baal or it might be Asherah, 
it might be Moloch, it might be some other form or some other 
situation. There was a central sanctuary 
designed to protect the integrity of Israel's worship. You are 
not supposed to just entertain God on any high place. Then as 
well, his judgment. That's something else that we 
see that this book illustrates adequately. Note first, the fall 
of the Northern Kingdom in 2 Kings 17. 2 Kings 17. The fall of the northern 
kingdom was not due to the superiority of the Assyrian army. Note 2 
Kings 17 at verse 13. Yet the Lord testified against 
Israel and against Judah by all of his prophets, every seer saying, 
turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes 
according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and 
which I sent to you by my servants, the prophets. Nevertheless, they 
would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of 
their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. And they 
rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with 
their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against 
them. They followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the 
nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had 
charged them that they should not do like them. So they left 
all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves 
a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshipped 
all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused 
their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft 
and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the 
Lord, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry 
with Israel and removed them from His sight. There was none 
left but the tribe of Judah alone. Also, Judah did not keep the 
commandments of the Lord their God, but they walked in the statutes 
of Israel which they had made. And the Lord rejected all the 
descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into 
the hand of plunderers until He had cast them from His sight. 
For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam 
the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from 
following the Lord and made them commit a great sin. where the 
children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which 
he did, they did not depart from them until the Lord removed Israel 
out of his sight as he had said by all his servants the prophets. 
So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria as 
it is to this day. You see, it was God. It wasn't 
the Assyrians and their military savvy or superiority. It was 
the judgment of God because the nation of Israel, specifically 
the Northern Kingdom, had apostatized, they had defected, they had broken 
the covenant of God Most High, and according to the covenant 
curses, He sent them into exile. Notice in 2 Kings chapter 24. 
2 Kings chapter 24. The fall of the southern kingdom 
takes up 24 and 25, but just the first four verses in 2 Kings 
24. In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, 
king of Babylon, came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for 
three years. Then he turned and rebelled against 
him, and the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans. 
Remember I said he is the sovereign over history? Look who sends 
the raiders. He sent, the Lord sent, against 
him, raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, 
and bands of the people of Ammon. He sent them against Judah to 
destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which He had 
spoken by His servants, the prophets. Surely at the commandment of 
the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight 
because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that He had 
done. and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed, 
for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord 
would not pardon." Remember, Jesus says this to the first-century 
generation that he is speaking to. They had filled up the measure 
of their father's guilt. All the blood of righteous Abel 
of Zechariah will be required from that particular generation. 
They had a long history and a long pedigree of violating the law 
of God and breaking His commandments and breaking His covenant. So 
the Northern Kingdom falls in 722, the Southern Kingdom falls 
in 586, And then as the nation comes out of exile, Judah is 
back in existence, the Christ comes from the line of David, 
he comes to his own, his own receive him not, they ultimately 
deliver him up to crucify him. And so that is when AD 70 occurs 
to bring the judgment of God to bear upon them one last time 
as a body politic, as a theocracy, as the special covenant people 
of God. After AD 70, they enter into 
the rank and file of every other nation. They are no better than 
others. They are no worse than others. 
They stand in need of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, 
this is fully love concerning the fall of the kingdoms. He 
says, the author or compiler of the book than is giving, under 
inspiration of God, an accurate theological take on events in 
the history of God's people. I mean, if you were a bystander 
and you saw Israel, the northern tribes, fall to Assyria, you'd 
probably conclude that Assyria was the superior army. If you 
saw that Judah fell to Babylon, you might conclude that Babylon 
had a better army and Nebuchadnezzar was a better military commander. 
This man says that Kings gives the theological rationale specifically 
for the judgment that fell upon both North and South. He says, 
that theological take is that God was justly judging His people 
for their sin. Such a viewpoint would have competed 
with other potential inferable explanations for the fall of 
Israel and Judah, that they had made poor alliances or simply 
had not won the geopolitical contest, or even possibly that 
the people had failed to be sufficiently devoted to Baal. Instead, the 
author is arguing that God's people were in exile because 
God had willed it as a judgment for their disobedience to the 
law, especially as presented in Deuteronomy. So it gives the 
rationale behind the fall of the kingdoms. We know why. It's 
not because God just woke up in a bad mood and thought He'd 
dispatch the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. It's because 
God sent prophet after prophet after prophet to prosecute His 
holy law to these people. He called them to repentance. 
Remember, this is a 400-year period. Never let anyone say 
that this God in the Old Testament is just, you know, quick at the 
trigger. No, He's long-suffering. He's 
bearing. I sent my servants, the prophets, 
to you. He bore long with them, but the 
measure of their guilt had been filled up, so he sends these 
raiders to bring the covenant curses to bear upon them, just 
as Christ sends the Roman armies in 80-70 to bring the covenant 
curses to bear upon them. It's the same sort of thing that 
happens. God comes in judgment in the 
Old Testament via Assyria and via Babylon. That's how we're 
supposed to understand this coming that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 
chapter 24. He comes in judgment. He's enthroned 
at the right hand, but through historical means and through 
providence, he brings judgment to bear upon Israel. And then 
the final thing we ought to appreciate is Christ in the Kings, Christ 
in the Book of Kings. Certainly every good king is 
a type of our Lord Jesus. Solomon is a type of our Lord 
Jesus. Remember, the type doesn't correspond 
exactly to the anti-type, because then it wouldn't be a type-anti-type 
relationship. Not everything that is true of 
the antitype is necessarily true of the type. The type has certain 
elements that point us to the antitype. And then Hezekiah, 
Josiah, these other godly kings certainly typify what we find 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. But also the temple. You know, 
we have sought in the exposition in Matthew's Gospel to show that 
Christ is the reason that the temple stood. The temple pointed 
to the Lord Jesus. In fact, you can turn to Zechariah 
chapter 6. Zechariah chapter 6. This is 
post-exilic. This is after the Babylonian 
captivity. And this is a prophecy concerning 
our Lord Jesus in Zechariah chapter 6 at verse 12. And speak to him, 
saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man 
whose name is the branch. From his place he shall branch 
out, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Yes, he shall build 
the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall 
sit and rule on his throne. So he shall be a priest on his 
throne and the council of peace shall be between them both. John 
chapter two. John chapter two. You can look 
there. Christ is the reason the temple 
stood when Solomon built that earthly temple. It was to point 
Israel to the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in John two specifically 
at verse So, the Jews answered and said to him, what sign do 
you show to us since you do these things? Jesus answered and said 
to them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
it up. Then the Jews said, it has taken 46 years to build this 
temple, and will you raise it up in three days? But he was 
speaking of the temple of his body. Therefore, when he had 
risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this 
to them, and they believed the scripture and the word which 
Jesus had said. Now if you didn't catch it the 
other time or one of the times on Sunday, this theology of the 
temple, Adam was a son of God charged with expanding the temple 
of God. Adam failed. Israel comes and 
they're a son of God, the firstborn son, and they're supposed to 
build the temple and expand the knowledge of God and the glory 
of God throughout the earth. You'll see that in Solomon's 
prayer of dedication in 1 Kings 8. The temple wasn't simply to 
be for Jerusalem, it was so that all the nations would see the 
glory and the majesty of God. Well certainly, Adam was a sinless 
son of God who fails in extending the temple of God. Israel is 
a son of God who fails in extending the temple and the glory of God. 
Christ is the son of God who builds the temple of God and 
extends the glory of God throughout the cosmos. All of Scripture 
is pointing us from the beginning to the end. It points us to Christ 
as that temple, that one in whom God and sinners find this meeting 
place. That's the glory of temple in 
the Old Testament. It preaches to the people of 
Israel and hopefully preaches to us the glory of Jesus Christ 
as the one in whom God and sinners meet together. So that is Christ 
in the Kings. I'm sure we'll see him many, 
many more times as we move our way through these two wonderful 
books of the Bible. We'll all close in a word of 
prayer. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank 
You for not only history, but theological history, and the 
things that You see are necessary for us in this new covenant setting. 
Help us to appreciate these studies in the Old Testament. I pray 
that all of us would be reading our Old Testaments. We know that 
Jesus said these testify of Him. and give us grace and ears and 
eyes and hearts to receive the truth as it is in Christ. And 
may we be encouraged in our most holy faith, may we be strengthened 
in it, and may we, as Michael prayed earlier, be bold witnesses 
for the glory of Christ. Certainly we are to be living 
lights in this crooked and perverse generation, and we are to hold 
forth the word of truth. And if the task of Adam, realized 
by Christ, is to expand or to extend the knowledge of God and 
the glory of God, then use us as living stones in this temple 
to do that very thing and to bring glory and praise to your 
Most High Name. Go with us now, we pray, in Jesus' 
name. Amen.