In short
Kings of the Jews. Lots of kings. Starting with Solomon and ending with none at all.
Why it is important
Israel became a nation only 4 books ago, yet by the end of 2 Kings, there is no country anymore. Is this the end of God’s people?
Main characters
- Solomon
- 39 other kings
Is this one book or two?
Both answers are right. Originally one but two in our Bibles. The books of Samuel and Chronicles are also like this, but they are at least split in logical places. You may have noticed that 1 Kings ends practically in the middle of a sentence. It’s for a simple historical reason: they ran out of room on whatever scroll it was written on.
What is in this book
There are three big sections
- Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 1-11)
- Stories of kings in Judah and Israel (1 Kings 12 to 2 Kings 17)
- Stories of kings in Judah alone (2 Kings 18-25)
What splits up these sections are three epic events in Israel’s history:
- After Solomon dies, Israel splits into two lands: JUDAH and ISRAEL (1Ki 12:17)
- Israel is captured by Assyria (2Ki 17:6) after two centuries of pure wickedness
- Judah (all that’s left) is captured by Babylon (2Ki 25:21) after about 350 years of some good and many bad kings
Remember this when you read 1 & 2 Kings!
Judah is not just another name for Israel! Really!
- In Solomon’s time, Judah is part of Israel – Judah is one of 12 divisions of the country
- But after he dies, Israel breaks off from Judah and they are two countries for the rest of the book
- Wait! Isn’t that backwards? You mean Judah broke away from Israel, right?
- Nope. This is what is so maddening.
- Judah contains Jerusalem, the capital of unified Israel. But the rest of the land unites and secedes and yet somehow in the divorce they keep the name Israel.
- Point is, after Solomon, you’ll read about kings of Israel and kings of Judah and these are two different countries
Theology and doctrine
This book is LOADED with theology, and yet it’s not a book of laws. Instead, it’s the Torah IN PRACTICE. This is what it looks like when:
- You have a king instead of the LORD
- The leaders don’t lead the people right
- God is patient and merciful
- God’s patience with you finally runs out
- Good men fall away
- Bad men repent and are shown grace
- God uses evil people to accomplish his will anyway
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