A Study in I Kings Week 5

1 Kings 5 (by Associate Teacher, Jerry Blankenship)

Honor the Lord

Preparing to build the temple (1 Kings 5: 1-18)

Vs2: Solomon sent a message to Hiram

Vs3: God did not allow David to build the temple

Vs4: Peace with Israel’s neighbors

Vs5: Temple to honor the Lord

Vs6: Hey Hiram

Vs7: Hiram said “Praise the Lord”

Vs8- 18: Geter’done!

Questions:

Was Solomon truly the wisest man?

Why the Lord favored David over Solomon?

Where did the Money come from to build the temple?

What does the Lord want?

A BIT OF MONDAY INSPIRATION

THE LOVE OF GOD BY THE NUMBERS.

A Study in I Kings Week 4

I Kings 4:1-34

We are about to embark on a series of chapters that reveal a huge amount about the character of God.

At first blush, this first part of the chapter looks like a rather boring list of names…sort of like the genealogies.

It is anything but.

From the smallest hydrogen atom, made of a nucleus and one electron, to the massive universe itself, God has everything organized in such a way that it works as it is supposed to all of the time.

According to the very character of God, organization is essential. That goes for government and churches.

Organization is not ministry, but ministry without organization is less than nothing and is totally useless to the Kingdom.

We often use the phrase, “Just let the Holy Spirit lead.” That’s a good idea. Sadly, most of the time we just use it because we’ve been too lazy to plan and prepare something ourselves.

In I Corinthians 14:40, Paul tells us, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” This was referencing worship. He’s not saying we should have an order of worship, but he IS saying we should have orderly worship.

The Verses

1-19 Here we see Solomon’s governmental organization. Some of the names you will recognize. Most are obscure flashes in history.

Many of these people were officials when David was king. We are not sure if
‘Nathan’ was the prophet or Nathan the son of David. Unlike his son Rehoboam
(see chapter 12), Solomon took advice from men who had experience.

20-28 This was a time of prosperity, plenty and peace. Deuteronomy 17:16 tells us that a king was not to multiply horses or wives. “Wise” Solomon did both.

These verses show Solomon’s wealth and the size of the country that he ruled. Psalm 72 speaks about his rule, especially in verses 8-11. That Psalm is also a prophecy about Jesus’ rule.

Solomon ruled over the entire land that God promised to Abraham. He was the only
king to do this. A large number of people lived in his country. Each family had its
own home. Everyone had plenty to eat. It was a time of peace. Rulers of the
countries near him paid him taxes and they obeyed him. Some people say that the
rule of Solomon is a physical image of the spiritual rule of Jesus.

29-34 He was a proverb writer and a song writer. He was a botanist, he was a zoologist, a herpetologist, an ornithologist, an entomologist. We have here the beginning of the sciences. He was world renowned

A Study in I Kings Week 3

I Kings 3:1-28

We are reading a historical account of the happenings in Israel. But this is not about history. It is about God’s character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

The Verses

1-4 The political maneuvering does not stop. Solomon made an alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt.

What kingdom was it that had kept Israel in slavery until Moses led them across the Red Sea?

Solomon married the Pharaoh’s daughter, thinking that Egypt would therefore leave Israel alone.

How’s that working for the Israelis?

Notice Solomon’s plans to build first a palace for himself, THEN the temple for the Lord and a wall around Jerusalem.

The high places were altars erected on natural or artificial eminences, probably from the idea that men were brought nearer to the Deity. They had been used by the patriarchs, and had become so universal among the heathen that they were almost identified with idolatry. They were prohibited in the law (Le 17:3, 4; De 12:13, 14; Jer 7:31; Eze 6:3, 4; Ho 10:8). But, so long as the tabernacle was migratory and the means for the national worship were merely provisional, the worship on those high places was tolerated.

5-9 We must distinguish between the type of dream related here and the type of dream, for instance, that Daniel had, which was connected to a vision (Hebrew: chezev), and the dream Solomon has here (Hebrew: chalam), which is what we normally do at night.

This dream was not supernatural in its essence, although it featured God, but was authenticated by God after the fact.

Solomon asks for WISDOM. (James identifies 2 kinds of wisdom: earthly wisdom and Godly wisdom (James 3:13-18).

10-15 God is pleased with his request, because it squared with what He wanted for Solomon. (See John 16:24; James 4: 3-4)

16-28 This story is often misread or mischaracterized. Solomon never intended for the baby in this narrative to actually be cut in half. Rather he used this extreme suggestion to demonstrate the WISDOM God had given him in deciding who should be allowed to raise the child…the one who really loved the child.

The WISDOM of Solomon should serve as a reminder to us of the WISDOM of God in deciding to come to earth in the form of a man in order to show forth His love for His creation in giving Himself at the cross of Calvary for the atonement of our sins.

It should also remind us that, no matter what we think, God’s wisdom supersedes ours 100% of the time

A Study in I Kings Week 2

I Kings 2:1-46

In this chapter, David prepares for what comes to all of us: death. He gets a chance to give advice and a charge to Solomon, and Solomon establishes his throne.

The Verses

1-7 The way of man is death. Romans 5:12 ‘…Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…” Solomon was encouraged to “be a man,” probably because he hadn’t demonstrated much in the way of manhood. David tells Solomon that staying close to the Lord will bring prosperity, although not necessarily riches.

Keep in mind that this all takes place in order to guarantee that Jesus would be born of the house and lineage of David.

8-12 David had made a treaty with Shimei not to harm him. Shimei turned out to be a traitor. David realized that Solomon had made no such treaty and warned him to keep his eye on Shimei, that if he step out of line, he was to be executed.

David “rested with his fathers…” He had been a good king, firm but always just.

13-27 In this section, three very interesting scenarios take place. First Adonijah (remember him from chapter one?) wants Abishag, David’s caretaker, for his wife, and tries to talk Bathsheba into convincing Solomon to let it be so. Instead, he winds up dead.

Secondly, Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah, feared for his life and sought refuge at the altar of the Lord (traditionally a place of safety). But Solomon was not deterred, and had Joab killed right there.

Thirdly, Shimei was placed under a sort of house arrest, but violated its terms. So, he, too, was put to death.

What Solomon had done was to kill off the competition. Moreover, he had made it so that there could be no doubt about the lineage that would bring us Messiah.

When you read Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, you see that the line was not broken, and it all started with David’s appointment of Solomon to the throne.

God’s plan for the salvation of the creation He loves was perfect from before time began, and there has never been anything that could have interfered with it, no matter how hard it tried.

God’s love for you was so great that He molded all of history so that you could receive His salvation in Christ. What a mighty God we serve!

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Light at the End of the Darkness-Chris Christian

A Study in I Kings Week 1

A Study in I Kings Week 1

I Kings 1:1-53

The books of I & II Samuel and I & Second Kings can be considered as one book. They chronicle the rise and fall of Israel. I Kings records the division of the kingdom while II Kings records the colapse of the kingdom. The two books open with King David and close with the King of Babylon. The are the books of man’s rule over God’s kingdom. Man’s plan cannot overthrow God’s purposes.

The ultimate theme of I & II Kings is man’s inability to properly rule himself and God’s world.

The Verses

1-10 David came to our attention as a shepherd boy, full of fervor for God. Here we see him as an senile old man. His son, Adonijah, took advantage of David’s condition and determines to become king. Adonijah is full of pride and self-worth. He is conceited…a clinical narcissist.

Adonijah formed a political coalition with Joab and Abiathar, but he could not get Zadok to go along with him. Joab had been faithful to David, but he wanted somebody to be prepared to replace him after his death, and Adonijah was the only one seeking the position.

11-14 Adonijah was obviously a Baptist, because in order to get what he wanted, he put on a banquet and invited everybody to come (except Nathan, Benaiah or the guard or his brother, Solomon).

David had promised Bathsheba that Solomon would succeed him. Nathan conspires with her to tell David about Adonijah and to remind David of his promise.

15-27 So, Nathan and Bathsheba go to King David and tell him what’s going on and pressure him to name Solomon as his successor.

28-48 David reiterates his desire to have Solomon become king and Zadok, Benaiah and Nathan see to it.

49-53 Adonijah learns that King David has made Solomon king, and fears for his life. He runs to the place of refuge: the horns of the altar and won’t come out.

Solomon learns of Adonijah’s fear and promises not to harm him if he will come out and show himself to be “worthy,” that is: a man of character.

It is interesting to compare this situation with our forgiveness in Christ. Solomon did not really forgive Adonijah. Jesus promises us complete forgiveness and mercy if we put our trust in him. Our trust in Him must be a “forever” trust…no turning back. Hebrews 3:14 says, ‘We are partners with Christ, if we trust him to the end. We must trust him to the end, as we did at first.’ If we don’t “trust Him to the end, we never trusted Him at all. But if we do, we have the promise of eternal life in Him.

Jesus In Every Book of the Bible

In Genesis, He's the breath of life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our High Priest
Numbers, The fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice
In Joshua, He is salvation's choice
Judges, law giver
In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer
First and second Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign
Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms, He is our morning song
In Proverbs, wisdom's cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream
He is, He is, HE IS!
In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He's the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire
In Hosea, He is forever faithful
In Joel, He's the Spirits power
In Amos, the arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He's the great missionary
In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zechariah, our fountain
In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings
He is, He is, HE IS!
In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven
In Romans, He's the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin
Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servants heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity
Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor
In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd
In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords
He is, He is, HE IS!
The prince of peace
The Son of man
The Lamb of God
The great I AM
He's the alpha and omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ the Lord
and when time is no more
He is, HE IS!