Journey Through 1 Kings

Do you thank God for your family? I praise the Lord today for the family that God chose for me and the family he put me in. I love them more with every passing day. But I’m learning something; my decisions affect my entire family. You see, “none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself” (Romans 14:7). And the decisions you make affect more than just you. We discover this great message as we journey through 1 Kings.

Listen to an Overview of 1 Kings:

Overview of 1 Kings

1 Kings follows the first double book in the Old Testament: 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Now we journey into the next one, 1 Kings and 2 Kings. 1 and 2 Samuel give us the beginning of the monarchy in Israel, where we have the record of the first two kings – David and Saul.

We’ve studied the lives of King Saul and King David. When you journey to 1 Kings, you move into the reign of the third king of Israel, David’s famous son: Solomon. You know him as the wisest man who ever lived. Yet, he was also perhaps the most foolish man who ever lived.

You see, wisdom very easily turns to folly. Wisdom may be held, but if it’s not obeyed, it brings devastating results. And that is the record that you find in the Book of 1 Kings.

Key Verse

1 Kings 2:12: “Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established greatly.”

I am thinking now of the contrast between this verse with the key verse of 2 Samuel. Do you remember? It was 2 Samuel 5:12: “And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people, Israel’s sake.” But when we read about Solomon’s reign, there’s no word of that for such a wise man. It seems that Solomon was content to sit on the throne and to have his kingdom established greatly.

Is it possible that Solomon forgot who put him on that throne? Though Solomon had great wisdom, he made some very foolish decisions. Accordingly, when you approach the Book of 1 Kings, you really have the story of two nations. It’s the same kingdom, but it becomes divided. As a matter of fact, in chapters one through eleven, you have a united kingdom, but in chapters twelve through twenty-two, you have a divided kingdom.

United and Divided Kingdoms

1 Kings 1-11 – A United Kingdom

When Solomon comes to the throne, there is true worship, and there are good things happening. The Temple is completed, and there is great wealth. You remember the Queen of Sheba coming and saying, “the half was not told me.” (1 Kings 10:7). Then, suddenly, in the midst of all the blessings comes Solomon’s great failure, his immorality, and then his idolatry. It seems that he failed to learn the lesson from his own father many times.

Defeat follows victory. This truth reminds us to constantly be on guard. It’s a strange deterioration. In 1 Kings 3, the Bible says that “Solomon loved the LORD” (verse 3). Oh, I wish we could say the story ended there. But when you come to 1 Kings, the Bible says, Solomon “loved many strange women” (verse 1). May I ask you, who do you love today? Understand this: you live for those you love. What do you love the most? Solomon moved from being wholly consecrated to God to being given over to many false gods.

1 Kings 12-22 – A Divided Kingdom

As a result of Solomon’s divided loyalties, when you come to the second half of this book, it is no longer a united kingdom; it is a very divided kingdom. As a matter of fact, 1 Kings 12-22 details for us this divided kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was known as Israel, and the Southern Kingdom was known as Judah. Different leaders, different capitals.

It’s really a tragedy. How does that happen? Friend, could I remind you that sin always brings division? When we disobey God, it disrupts our fellowship with God, and it not only disrupts our fellowship with God, it disrupts our families. It disrupts our fellowship. It changes everything.

Look at these two very different pictures. In the opening chapters of the book, tranquility rests over the land. However, in the closing chapters, turmoil ravages the land. In the opening chapters, the kingdom is united, the family united. But in the closing chapters, the family is divided. What happened?

Division – The Cause and the Cure

The Cause of Division: Disobedience

Some people will tell you that the cause of the division is the fall of a man named Rehoboam. That was Solomon’s son. And truly, Rehoboam was not a wise man. He threatened even more severe taxation. He caused a revolt of ten tribes against his kingdom. He did some very foolish things. He listened to a young man instead of an older man. It’s a sad story, but I don’t believe the fault is with Rehoboam. Others would say that it was Jeroboam, the man who actually led the revolt.

I believe God pins the blame on Solomon. He didn’t force the division, but his sin caused it. It was a direct consequence of his own idolatry. One man’s disobedience brought about the disruption of an entire nation. And by the way, that’s not just the story of Solomon. It’s the story of so many people. I hope it’s not your story, and I hope it’s not my story.

I’m thinking now of Achan (Joshua 7). Do you recall that Achan’s whole family died? The entire nation suffered because of one man’s sin. You remember Nathan came to David after his sin and charged, “Thou art the man.” It’s as if while you read 1 Kings, the Holy Spirit points to Solomon and says, “You were wise and you were wealthy. You had it all, but you blew it. Thou art the man.”

The Cure for Division: Obedience

It’s not royalty that brings God’s blessing. It’s a relationship. You can be a king, but if you’re not right with the King of Heaven, friend, nothing’s going to be right. When you obey God. God blesses you. When you disobey, God curses you. Do you want the blessing today, or do you want judgment? How do you get the blessing?

You get the blessing by living and walking in constant obedience to the Lord. Jewish tradition holds the author of 1 Kings to be the weeping prophet Jeremiah. I don’t know all the answers to that. And one thing I’ve learned in Bible study is not to be adamant about something that God is not clear on. But certainly, the weeping prophet had much to weep over if he indeed recorded this history of God’s people from the height of their splendor to the depth of their sin; surely there was much brokenness and many tears as he recorded this united kingdom becoming divided. There’s nothing more tragic than to see a heart divided by sin, and there’s nothing more tragic than to see a home divided by sin.

A Message for God’s People

What is the spiritual message? What’s the lasting message for all of us as we end our journey through 1 Kings? It is easy to read a book like 1 Kings and merely learn the facts. God never gives facts only to give facts. “Knowledge puffeth up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Imparting wisdom gives us truth.

What is the great truth of 1 Kings? We must choose either wisdom or folly. We must choose it for our own hearts and for our own home. Choose very carefully, because it’s not just you, it’s your children, and your grandchildren. Further, it’s not even just your family. It’s God’s family. It’s a much bigger picture. It’s not only where you live. It’s your whole nation. (Learn more about your responsibility to your nation HERE.)

I’m standing now in my mind on the side of my grandfather’s pond, there on the farm in West Virginia, tossing a rock into the middle of it and watching the ripples, counting the ripples that would go out before they hit the bank and the shoreline. There is a ripple effect to sin, and so many times when we disobey God and fail to honor him, we set things in motion that we never intended and never desired.

Friend, you can choose your sin, but you can’t choose all the consequences. And so today, when you’re choosing, choose carefully. Choose wisdom over folly in both your heart and in your own home.