First Kings is a history
of the kings
of Israel and Judah beginning
with the transition for David to his son Solomon. The book also recounts some of the notable prophets of the
time, particularly Elijah
and Elisha.
Solomon was David’s contested successor. David had many sons older than Solomon,
though some were dead, notably Absalom who had
tried to usurp the throne. David’s son Adonijah was
preparing to succeed his father, and even organized an elaborate celebration to
court the favor of important aristocrats.
The prophet Nathan
discovered the plot. He, Solomon, David,
and Bathsheba,
Solomon’s mother, arranged to elevate Solomon to the throne while his father
still lived.
Solomon was notable for his wisdom. God offered to the
young king what he wanted. He asked for
wisdom to govern
the people rightly. God was pleased with
the answer and gave Solomon wealth
and power in addition to wisdom.
Wisdom didn’t keep Solomon out of trouble. He had many wives (no doubt trouble by
itself), and he permitted his foreign wives to continue practicing their religions,
so the worship of false gods was allowed in the kingdom. Idol-worship would be common amongst
Solomon’s successors.
After Solomon, the kingdom was divided.
The ten northern tribes formed a kingdom generally referred to as
Israel. Two southern tribes made Judah. Throughout this period, idol-worship
prevailed in Israel. Some kings of Judah
served God, but many did not, and the godly kings did not succeed in
eradicating idolatry.
Following Solomon, most of the kings of both the north and the south
are summed up briefly. Some just get a
paragraph. We see the kingdom rise and
fall based on the faithfulness of the people.
When they sought God, even imperfectly, He blessed them and they thrived. When they sought to gratify themselves and
follow false gods, they quickly ran into trouble. This is a pattern in the history of ancient
Israel that started before the kings and continued after them.
First Kings ends with the reign of Ahab, famously
married to Jezebel. These monarchs promoted the worship of Baal and suppressed
the worship of God. They were opposed by
the prophet Elijah. Elijah is associated
with some spectacular miracles. God withheld rain from the land until Elijah
called an end to the drought. Elijah
called out the prophets of Baal in a contest to call down fire from heaven Baal did not answer his worshippers, but God
sent fire for Elijah, who that day executed hundreds of Baal’s priests. This put him in serious conflict with Ahab
and Jezebel.
Elijah is also well known in that he did not die, at least not in a
conventional sense. He was taken up to
heaven in a chariot of fire. He appeared
to Christ and
a few disciples on during the Transfiguration.
It is clear that First Kings is intended to be a summary. It frequently refers to records of the
actions of the kings as if these might be available to a reader who wanted to
confirm the recounting of find more information.
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