I’m not a regular diamond buyer, but I am told that if
you are buying diamonds the seller will place them on a black velvet cloth when
you are viewing them. The purpose of
this cloth is to highlight their beauty.
Against this dark background their brightness is seen in its fullness.
In some ways the kings of the Old Testament are like
that black velvet cloth to Jesus. So
many of these kings are simply awful and you are left thinking, ‘
Solomon’s reign was a time of peace and
prosperity. In line with God’s promise
to Abraham, God’s people were in God’s place enjoying God’s blessing. These were the golden days for
The consequences are disastrous. For David’s sake, God delays his judgement
until Solomon dies (see 1 Kings
The rest of 1 and 2 Kings traces the decline of the
once great kingdom.
After Solomon’s death his son, Rehoboam,[2] comes to
the throne. However, the ten northern
and eastern tribes rebel against him and set up their own kingdom under
Jeroboam.[3] The
kingdom is divided.
The northern kingdom, confusingly, is called
The Northern Troubles:
Jeroboam—Ahab—Jehu
In the Full of Promise study
book that we looked at in the home groups, we were given a list of verses
referring to some of the kings of
Jeroboam is
The most notorious of
Of all the kings of the northern
kingdom only one, Jehu, is commended; he alone rids Israel of Baal worship (2
Kings
In the year 722 BC—two hundred years
after the kingdoms divided, the Assyrians attack
The people of the northern kingdom
were largely deported, and their country was colonized with Syrians and
Babylonians. The resulting mixed
population was the origin of the Samaritans—who were so despised by the Jews at
the time of Christ.
The Southern Problem:
Rehoboam—Hezekiah—Josiah
So the northern kingdom ended in
disaster. What about the southern
kingdom—
Despite having kings from the line of
David, and the temple in their capital
King Hezekiah and King Josiah try to
turn the people’s hearts back to God, but ultimately they are
unsuccessful. Josiah promotes religious
reform when a copy of the law—which appears to have been some edition or part
of the Book of Deuteronomy,[8] is found
during repairs in the temple. But the
change does not go far enough or deep enough to deflect God’s anger. They have broken the covenant and are going
to be punished (see 2 Kings
In 597 BC the Babylonians defeat
Do you remember Bony M’s ‘By the
Rivers of Babylon’? Words from Psalms
137, which was written by exiled Jews.
No wonder they wept, so much had been lost. The golden age under Solomon surely seemed a
very distant memory.
Conclusion
The Bible would be a very depressing
story if it ended with 2 Kings. It seems
that everything that we have been working towards—God’s people, in God’s place,
enjoying God’s blessing has crumbled before us.
But there is hope because this is not the end of the Bible’s story.
God’s work among his Old Testament
people was never meant to be the final fulfilment of the gospel promises. The history of
One last thing before we finish.[10] In the northern kingdom we see the rise and
fall of several dynasties (that is a succession of kings from the one
family). However, in southern kingdom
God sticks with one dynasty—that of David.
Why? Because God had promised
David that his dynasty would last forever.[11]
So in the north Ahab’s evil leads to
the passing of the throne to a new dynasty.
However the behaviour of Jehoram in the south (who is described as
walking in the ways of the house of Ahab[12]) does
not result in a change dynasty. The
narrator explains that it was, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD
was not willing to destroy
2 Kings closes offering hope that the
Davidic monarchy will be restored.
Ishmael, ‘who was of royal blood’ (2 Kings 25:25), flees to
The king who will eventually bring
the fulfilment to God’s promises will still come from David’s line!
[1] Full of Promise, p. 57.
[2] “. . . Rehoboam is portrayed as arrogant and foolish for refusing
the advice of ‘the elders who had served his father Solomon during his
lifetime’ (1 Kings 12:6). This is why
the majority of Israelites rejected him as king, preferring Jeroboam.” Alexander, p. 91.
[3] See 1 Kings
[4] ‘The story of the divided monarchy is not easy to follow, as we try
to understand the relations between the two kingdoms, their involvement with
the mighty empires to their north and south, and the intervention of the
prophets who spoke boldly in the name of Yahweh to kings and commoners
alike. The biblical story is further
complicated by the fact that much of it is told twice, once in the Books of
Kings and once in the Books of Chronicles, the chronicler (possibly Ezra)
writing later with the clear object of emphasising the importance of the
southern kingdom, the Davidic dynasty and the temple cultus.’ Stott, Understanding the Bible, p.60.
[5] For example, 1 Kings
[6] ‘Aaron had said exactly the same after he and the people had made
another golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law from God
(Exodus 32:4). This idolatrous worship
is the besetting sin of
[7] For example 2 Kings
[8] Stott, p. 67.
[9] Roberts, p. 87.
[10] This point is taken from Alexander.
[11] Way back in 1 King 11 when God tells Jeroboam that he is going to
be king, he says this, I will humble David’s descendants because of this,
but not forever. God has a
future plan for the Davidic dynasty.
[12] 2 Kings 8:18, 27.
[13] Even when confronted by an evil king, God was firmly committed to
keep his covenant with David.
Another illustration of God’s concern
for the house of David comes in 2 Kings 11.
There the queen mother attempts to annihilate the remaining members of
the Davidic line. One baby boy is
rescued and hidden in the temple, where he remains for six years until he is
publicly enthroned.
[14] Alexander, p. 95.
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