1 & 2 Kings

I Kings 2:3 David gives his parting advice to Solomon, “Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.” 

I Kings 3:9 “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” This is what Solomon asked of God. God not only gave him wisdom, but “riches and honor” (v 13). 

I Kings 7: Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem' 

I Kings 11:1-3 Solomon married foreign women, which was forbidden, who "led him astray." This was the beginning of the end for Solomon. 

1 Kings 11:11 God says, "I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates."

Solomon dies and is succeeded by Rehoboam. Jeroboam goes to Rehoboam, representing the people, asking for relief from the taxes that Solomon imposed on his people for his high living and building projects. Rehoboam denied this request which led to the division of Israel into the Northern Kingdom of Israel with Jeroboam as its first king and Judah in the south. All of the kings of the northern kingdom turned out to be evil. A few of the kings in the southern kingdom were good. The few good kings of the southern kingdom led revivals which allowed the southern kingdom to survive longer than the northern kingdom.

After this victory over Baal, Elijah had to flee for his life, exhausted, he got to the point that he wished he was dead (I Kings 19:4). What Elijah needed was food and rest. His discouragement was a product of his exhaustion, or battle fatigue. In the military they treat battle fatigue by getting the soldier off the front lines, give him some rest, hot meals and in a few days he is ready to resume his duty. We have to take care of ourselves physically in order to maintain emotional well-being.

I Kings 11; finds Solomon dying after a forty year reign and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king. This is when real trouble begins.

I Kings 12; tells of a tax revolt against Rehoboam which splits the nation of Israel into two, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Jeroboam leads a group of people to request lower taxes. If you recall Moses cautioned the Israelites about having a king. Kings can be expensive and Solomon was a very big spender. When Rehoboam would not lower their taxes, the kingdom split and Jeroboam was made the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel and Rehoboam remained the king of the much smaller country of Judah. Now, if you recall, Jerusalem was the only place appointed by God to have a temple and sacrifices. So Jeroboam decided that he had to prevent his people from going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices by appointing his own priests (non-Levites) and to set up his own worship sites (I Kings 12:6-28). So he set up worship centers and, believe it or not, GOLDEN CALVES for them to worship. One worship site was in Dan, in the north, the other in Bethel, in the south, about 12 miles north of Jerusalem. You might notice that in verse 31 Jeroboam not only built the golden calves and shrines, but appointed priests "from all sorts of people, even non-Levites." Later, in I Kings 13:33 it says that Jeroboam appointed "anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places." So, do you think these actions pleased God?

I Kings 14 we find Ahijah, a prophet, confronting Jeroboam. As you can imagine, the message was not good news for the king. In verse 9 Ahijah tells Jeroboam, "you have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal." How would you like for your supervisor to give you this type of an evaluation? He goes on to say that disaster will come upon his family and, in verse 15, "He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the river." Does this sound familiar? Isn't this what Moses told them in Deut 28:45-52?

As you continue through this book you will find one bad king after another. One especially evil king was Ahab. It is during his reign that we find the following story of Elijah. 

I Kings 18:21-46 Elijah went before the people and challenged them to choose who they were going to worship, either Baal or the God of Israel. Elijah then challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest. They were to call upon their god to consume the sacrifice on the altar; if they failed, then he would call upon God to accept the sacrifice.

After this victory over Baal, Elijah had to flee for his life, exhausted, he got to the point that he wished he was dead (I Kings 19v4). 

What Elijah needed was food and rest. His discouragement was a product of his exhaustion, or battle fatigue. 

Preaching point: Take care of yourself physically to maintain emotional well-being.