Introduction: The books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings originally comprised a single volume, which was entitled "Kings." The two books were divided by early scribes and translators in order to copy the lengthy text of the book on separate scrolls and codexes.
The book of 1 Kings is the divinely inspired record of the kings of Israel and Judah from King David to Israel’s King Ahab and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat.
1 Kings 1:1-4 — Abishag, the beautiful “bed warmer” for King David’s death bed, was also the bone of contention between David’s sons Solomon and Adonijah that brought about Solomon’s execution of Adonijah over his brother’s desire to make Abishag his bride. (1 Kings 2:13-25)
Abishag is also believed to be Solomon’s beloved in his divinely inspired love song, the Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs, which is best understood as an allegory of Christ’s love for His bride, the church, and of the church’s love for her Bridegroom, Christ.
1 Kings 1:5-6 — Undisciplined children always grow up to declare themselves king. Therefore, parents who are lax in the discipline of their children eventually end up under the lordship of their children.
Uncontrolled children always end up crowning themselves, as well as commanding all others to comply to their opinions, conform to their orders, and cater to all of their wants and wishes.
1 Kings 1:7-10 — While the egocentric and egotistic are normally encircled by their enablers, they also have no lack of nemeses, who refuse to participate in their coronation.
It always comes as a great shock to the self-exalted that all others don’t share their high opinion of themselves.
"At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don't care what they think of us. At age 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all." (Ann Landers)
1 Kings 1:11 — Unfortunately, the parents of undisciplined children are often oblivious to their offspring’s usurping of control over them, since they fail to see their continuous coddling of their children as the crowning of them. (1 Kings 1:18)
Any parent who is at the beck and call of their child has made their child into their sovereign and themselves into a serf of their child, regardless of whether or not they realize it.
1 Kings 1:11-14 — Nathan the prophet counseled Bathsheba to save her life, as well as the life of her son, Solomon, from Adonijah, the cutthroat usurper, by reminding King David that he had promised his throne to Bathsheba’s son, not to Haggith’s son.
All usurpers readily and rapidly rid themselves of all rivals, lest the continued longevity of their rivals call into question their legitimacy.
1 Kings 1:15-27 — Bathsheba’s accusation against Adonijah is confirmed by Nathan the prophet, as required by the Mosaic Law. (Deuteronomy 19:15)
Interestingly, Nathan, who once appeared before David, at the risk of his life, in order to rebuke David for not only committing adultery with Bathsheba, but also for murdering her husband, Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 12:1-10), now appears before David not only on Bathsheba and her son Solomon’s behalf, but also to save both of their lives.
That the Prophet Nathan became David’s trusted counselor rather than a causality of David’s wrath after pointing his long boney finger in the king’s face speaks volumes to us about the contrition and character of King David.
1 Kings 1:28-35 — David promised to thwart his usurper, his son Adonijah, by enthroning his promised successor, his son Solomon.
It is only the Zadoks, the Nathans, and the Benaiahs, those who refuse to crown some treasonous usurper of the throne, who can coronate and serve in the court of the true heir to the throne.
1 Kings 1:36 — All our plans and ambitions will come to nought unless assured by the “Amen” of the Almighty.
“If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” (Woody Allen)
1 Kings 1:37 — As Nathan prophesied (2 Samuel 7:12-17; 1 Chronicles 17:11-15) and Benaiah prayed, God was to be with David’s son Solomon as He had been with David, even to the point of making the throne of Solomon greater than the throne of David.
The glorious reign of Solomon was truly the golden age of Israel. It was a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity, when gold and silver were as common as stones (1 Kings 10:27). In addition to this, the wisdom of Solomon was world renowned, so much so that people came from distant lands, not only to hear Solomon’s wise sayings, but also to see the splendor of his court and the glorious temple he had constructed for his God.
1 Kings 1:38-49 — The enthroning of Solomon on his father’s throne was an earthshaking event that not only shook the earth beneath the feet of Adonijah, the usurper, but also beneath the feet of all the insurgents with him.
All who seek to usurp what can only be God-given will soon find the ground shaken beneath their feet and their pompous plans turned into precarious predicaments.
1 Kings 1:50-53 — Religious altars were considered sanctuaries in the ancient world, so Adonijah rushed to the tabernacle and seized the horns of its altar in hopes of safeguarding himself from being slain by King Solomon, whose throne he had attempted to steal.
In Israel, unlike elsewhere in the ancient world, altars did not serve as sanctuaries for the safeguarding of the guilty, but only for the innocent, who had been wrongly accused. The guilty, according to Exodus 21:14, were to be taken from the altar and put to death. Therefore, Adonijah, who was no longer wrongfully attempting to usurp his brother’s throne, but now willingly bowing before it, was warned by Solomon that if he henceforth showed himself worthy rather than wicked he would have nothing to worry about.
1 Kings 2:1-2 — The way of all the earth is the great equalizer of all men, for both the famous and the obscure, the powerful and the powerless, the rich and the poor, and the learned and the ignorant all end up in the same place—the grave.
“The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave, Awaits alike the inevitable hour. The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” (Thomas Gray)
1 Kings 12:1-24 — Any nation is destined to division when its leaders opt for ultimatums over unity and for subjugating its people over serving them.
I suspect, thanks to our government no longer being led by public servants, but by self-serving tinpot dictators, and our country no longer being under the wise counsel of its elders, but under the foolish counsel of its youth, that God is saying the same thing over the division of modern-day America that He said over the division of ancient Israel; namely, "This thing is from me."
1 Kings 13:1-30 — For you to fall for the words of a liar, instead of faithfully following the Word of the Lord, will result in you falling prey to a lion and being buried by your beguiler. (1 Peter 5:8)
God’s spoken Word, spoken personally and directly to your heart by God’s Spirit, will never contradict God’s written Word, the Scriptures. In addition, anything contradictory to it, whether feigned to be angelic or prophetic, should never be believed nor obeyed, lest you fall prey to your adversary, the devil, who walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
1 Kings 17:1-3 — To have power with God the prophet of God must hide himself before showing himself, which may go far in explaining the powerlessness of present-day pulpits. (1 Kings 18:1-2)
We have too many preachers today, who’ve never hid themselves, but are constantly showing themselves.
1 Kings 17:10-16 — Here’s an Old Testament illustration of the tremendous New Testament truth that if we put God first, all our needs, not our greeds, will be taken care of by God. (Matthew 7:25-33)
It is at the end of our limited resources and in the face of imminent destitution, that we find God’s limitless resources and divine intervention.
1 Kings 18:1-2 — Prophets of God shouldn’t show themselves until they’ve hid themselves. (1 Kings 17:1-3)
Before showing himself in a public pulpit, the preacher needs to hide himself in private prayer.
1 Kings 18:3-4 — While an Obadiah is a good man, only an Elijah can call the fire down.
There are many Obadiahs, good people who do good deeds, in today’s church, but there are few Elijah’s, prophets of God who have power with God and can call down the fire of God.
1 Kings 18:5-6 — Many a time men seek grass rather than God, because they’re far more concerned with the salvation of their flocks and herds—their temporal earthly possessions—than with the salvation of their immortal souls.
When God judges a sinful nation, its people need to promptly repent of their sins, not pointlessly scurry about in a desperate attempt to rescue their stuff.
1 Kings 18:7-16 — Obadiah, like many churchgoers today, believed that by feeding preachers bread and water he had earned brownie points with God.
Past performances do no justify present actions.
1 Kings 18:17-18 — It is not those who preach God’s judgment upon their country, as troubling as they may be to their own countrymen, but those who prompt God’s judgment upon their own country, who are the true troublemakers.
It is not the truth-tellers who trouble a nation, but those who are troubled by the truth.
1 Kings 18:21 — If you’re caught between two opinions, you’re in spiritual oblivion!
Being unable to make up your mind, renders you speechless, when it comes to the eternal fate of your immortal soul.
1 Kings 18:22-24 — True prophets of the one and only true God are more than willing to fearlessly face off against the false prophets of false gods, knowing that the one and only true God alone can answer prayer and fling down the fire.
Spiritual showdowns are called for when it’s high noon in a nation.
1 Kings 18:25-29 — The popular notion that all religions must be respected is nowhere to be found in Scripture. How can a Christian respect any false faith that is being masterfully used by the god of this world to deceive people into the forfeiture of their immortal souls?
Make believers mock themselves by the implementation of their man-made means to move made-up gods.
1 Kings 18:30 — Before we can call down the fire, we must repair the altar. The breakdown of the family altar, as well as the breakdown of the church altar, accounts for the absence of God’s fire in both our homes and His house.
The powerlessness of the contemporary church is attributable to the prayerlessness of the contemporary church!
1 Kings 18:31-35 — Elijah’s drenching of the altar on Mount Carmel was meant to show that all human efforts to manipulate the Almighty into doing our bidding are counterproductive.
You cannot ignite the fire of God with your religious incendiary devices, but only douse out any hope of it.
1 Kings 18:36-39 — Regardless of the place, whether a mountaintop or a meetinghouse, before people will fall on their face before God, the power of God must first fall in that place.
It is only the power of God, never the power of human persuasion, that convinces men to turn to God and trust in Him.
1 Kings 18:37 — We know we’ve rightfully prayed when answers to our prayers will turn hearts to God and make God known to others.
We pray amiss when we pray to turn God to our selfish hankering rather than to turn sinful hearts to God. (James 4:3)
1 Kings 18:40 — The false prophets of false religions are guilty of the capital offense spiritual homicide, since they are murderers of men’s immortal souls.
If taking part in the destruction of a man’s mortal body is a most serious crime, how much more serious of a crime is it to take part in the destruction of a man’s immortal soul?
1 Kings 18:41-46 — Praying up a storm requires perseverance in prayer.
The sparseness of showers of blessing in the contemporary church is attributable to the scarcity within it of prayer warriors who can pray up a storm.
1 Kings 19:1-3 — Like many a man, Elijah was reduced by a Jezebel from being a hero to being a zero, as well as from calling down the fire on a mountaintop to fleeing for his life into the middle of nowhere.
Elijah proved himself to be a regular guy by running from a gal.
1 Kings 19:4 — Elijah's prayer to die is the most conspicuous unanswered prayer in the Bible. You would have thought its answer was ultimately inevitable, but it turned out to be unexpectedly unanswerable.
Unfortunately, God’s prophets often end up under juniper trees, where they engage in that most popular pastime—self-pity.
1 Kings 19:5-8 — It takes a spiritual diet of angel food cake, not devil’s food cake, to give us enough strength to get us to the Mount of God.
As is often found in Scripture, angels are used by God to strengthen His servants, such as Elijah, Daniel, and even our Lord (1 Kings 19:5-8; Daniel 10:10-19; Luke 22:43). Therefore, is it not possible that you have been strengthened at times by “angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2)?
1 Kings 19:9 — With so much to do, God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here, doing nothing?” (1 Kings 19:15-17)
Many a saint has been found spelunking when they ought to have been serving.
1 Kings 19:10, 14, 18 — God always has a remnant! While His people are never the lion’s share of this fallen planet’s population, none of them are ever lone rangers either.
God’s people are always in the minority, never in the majority; therefore, “We the people” are never the true people of God.
1 Kings 19:11-13 — It is only when we hear the Spirit’s still small voice over the clamor of this world's blustery winds, rock-rending earthquakes, and crackling infernos that divine encounters are made personally possible.
All that glitters is not God. Therefore, don’t let the spectacular and extraordinary drown out the simple and ordinary, lest you miss the still small voice of God.
1 Kings 19:19-21 — When Elijah cast his mantle on Elisha as his successor, Elijah, knowing the weightier judgment and worse persecution of the prophet, bemoaned, “What have I done to thee?”
There is no heavier wrap to wear than a prophet’s mantle.
1 Kings 20:1-4 — Like the wicked King Ahab, many a man today is willing to hand over his family to the enemy, who sees the capture of our homes as his ultimate coup d’état.
The demise of our country is directly attributable to the destruction of the family. As the family goes, so goes society, And whenever the family collapses, the collapse of the country, as well as civilization will quickly ensue.
1 Kings 20:35-37 — To fail to follow the Word of God, no matter whether or not you can fully fathom it, is to fall prey to a lion; that is, to the devil, who walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
Obedience to God’s Word protects you from the devil, but disobedience makes you easy prey.
1 Kings 20:42 — To spare a ferocious foe bent on your destruction, who God has delivered into your hand, is a fatal mistake, which not only assures your destruction, but that of your country and countrymen as well.
Evil cannot be appeased, but must be annihilated. If the world fails to staunchly oppose evil, then evil will soon overcome the world!
1 Kings 22:1-14 — There are clear distinctions between "prophets beside" and popular, parroting false prophets. For instance, the "prophets beside" persistently and precisely preach what God says, which makes them conspicuously peculiar and commonly unpopular.
"We are not diplomats, but prophets, and our message is not a compromise, but an ultimatum." (A. W. Tozer)
Unlike popular ear-ticklers, the truth-telling “prophet besides”—the true prophet of God—is always hated in this truth-hating world. (2 Timothy 4:3)
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