The Book of 1 Kings, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of 1 Kings chapter by chapter. If you have not read our study on 2 Samuel we suggest you start there. Because 1 Kings picks up right where 2 Samuel leaves off. 2 Samuel ended with David old and an altar on the threshingfloor of Araunah. 1 Kings starts with David on his deathbed and a fight over who will take his throne. We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

1 Kings covers about 120 years. It starts with the kingdom at its greatest under Solomon. He builds the temple. The glory of the LORD fills it. Kings come from all over the world to hear his wisdom. Then Solomon turns to other gods. And after he dies the kingdom splits in two. Israel in the north. Judah in the south. The rest of the book goes back and forth between the two. And it ends with Ahab and Jezebel leading Israel into Baal worship. And Elijah standing against them.

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. 1 Kings is about faithfulness to the one God. Every king is judged by one question. Did he do what was right in the sight of the LORD. 1 Kings is about the house of God. Solomon built a temple for the name of the LORD. But God said the heaven of heavens cannot contain him (8:27). And 1 Kings points to Jesus Christ. A greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42). And Elijah points us to the one who would prepare his way. We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

1 Kings and 2 Kings were one book in the Hebrew Bible. Just like 1 and 2 Samuel. The Greek Old Testament split them and called them 3 and 4 Kingdoms. We are not told who wrote the book. The Jews believed it was Jeremiah.¹ The writer tells us he used other records. “The book of the acts of Solomon” (11:41). “The book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel” (14:19). And “the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah” (14:29). These books are lost. But the writer used them to tell us what God wanted us to know.

1 Kings has two halves.² The united kingdom under Solomon (1–11). And the divided kingdom (12–22). We will break it down a little further than that. Solomon becomes king (1–2). Solomon’s wisdom (3–4). The temple (5–8). Solomon’s glory and fall (9–11). The kingdom divided (12–14). Kings of Judah and Israel (15–16). Elijah (17–19). And Ahab (20–22). We will follow this outline as we go through each chapter.

Once the kingdom splits the writer uses a pattern for every king. When he started to reign. How long he reigned. Who his mother was if he was a king of Judah. And whether he “did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD” or “did evil in the sight of the LORD.” Every king of Israel in the north did evil. Some kings of Judah did right. The writer measures them all against David. Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. And we will let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference.

1 Kings 1: Adonijah and Solomon

David was old. He could not get warm. While David lay in bed his son Adonijah “exalted himself, saying, I will be king” (v.5). He got chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. Just like Absalom did. And “his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so?” (v.6). David never told his sons no. Joab and Abiathar the priest went with Adonijah. But Nathan the prophet and Zadok the priest and Benaiah did not.

Nathan went to Bathsheba. He told her to remind David that he swore Solomon would be king. She went in. Then Nathan came in. David said “Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me” (v.30). He told them to put Solomon on his own mule and take him down to Gihon and anoint him (v.33). Zadok anointed him “And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon” (v.39). The people were so loud “the earth rent with the sound of them” (v.40). The son of David riding the king’s mule into Jerusalem as king. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt and the people cried “Hosanna to the son of David” (Matthew 21:9).³ Adonijah heard the noise. His guests ran. He ran to the altar and held on to the horns of it (v.50). Solomon let him live for now.

1 Kings 2: David’s Charge

Before David died he gave Solomon a charge. “Be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes” (vv.2–3). If Solomon’s sons walked before God in truth with all their heart “there shall not fail thee … a man on the throne of Israel” (v.4). Then David died. He reigned 40 years. 7 in Hebron and 33 in Jerusalem (v.11). “Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly” (v.12).

Solomon dealt with the men who were a threat. Adonijah asked for Abishag. David’s last companion. That was a claim to the throne. Solomon had him killed (v.25). He removed Abiathar from being priest “that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh” (v.27). We saw that word in 1 Samuel 2. Joab ran to the altar like Adonijah did. But Benaiah killed him there (v.34). Joab killed Abner and Amasa in peace time. Now he paid for it. And Shimei broke his promise to stay in Jerusalem and was killed (v.46). “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon” (v.46).

1 Kings 3: An Understanding Heart

The chapter starts with a warning sign. Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter (v.1). And “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places” (v.3). Notice the word only. Solomon loved God. But there was already something not right.

At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream. “Ask what I shall give thee” (v.5). Solomon said he was like a little child who did not know how to go out or come in (v.7). “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad” (v.9). God was pleased. Solomon did not ask for long life or riches or the life of his enemies. So God gave him wisdom. “And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour” (v.13). James tells us “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (James 1:5).

Then two harlots came to Solomon. They lived in the same house and both had babies. One baby died in the night. Both women said the living baby was hers. Solomon called for a sword. “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other” (v.25). The real mother cried out to give the baby to the other woman. She would rather lose him than see him die. Solomon said “Give her the living child … she is the mother thereof” (v.27). All Israel heard “and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (v.28).

1 Kings 4: Solomon’s Kingdom

The chapter lists Solomon’s officials and the 12 governors who provided food for his household one month each (v.7). “Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry” (v.20). This is the promise to Abraham coming true (Genesis 22:17). Solomon ruled from the river to the land of the Philistines (v.21). “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (v.25). Peace on every side.

Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses (v.26).⁴ Moses said the king should not multiply horses (Deuteronomy 17:16). We will come back to that. Then we are told how wise Solomon was. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much” (v.29). He spoke 3000 proverbs and his songs were 1005 (v.32). He knew about trees and animals and birds and fish. And people came from all the kings of the earth to hear him (v.34).

1 Kings 5: Preparing to Build

Hiram king of Tyre was a friend of David. Solomon sent to him and said “I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God” (v.5). Just like God told David in 2 Samuel 7:13. Hiram sent cedar and fir trees from Lebanon. Solomon sent wheat and oil. Solomon raised a levy of 30,000 men from Israel (v.13). And 70,000 carriers and 80,000 stonecutters (v.15). The stones were cut and made ready before they were brought to the building site (v.17).

1 Kings 6: Building the House

“And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt … that he began to build the house of the LORD” (v.1).⁵ The temple was 60 cubits long and 20 wide and 30 high (v.2). Twice as big as the tabernacle. “And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house” (v.7). A quiet building.

In the middle of the building God spoke to Solomon. “If thou wilt walk in my statutes … then will I perform my word with thee … And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel” (vv.12–13). The building did not guarantee God’s presence. Obedience did. Inside everything was covered with gold. The most holy place was a cube. 20 cubits each way (v.20). Two cherubim of olive wood 10 cubits high stretched their wings across the room (vv.23–27). It took 7 years to build (v.38).

1 Kings 7: Solomon’s House and the Furnishings

“But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years” (v.1). 13 years for his house. 7 for God’s. The writer does not say anything more. But he wants us to notice. Then Hiram the bronze worker from Tyre made the furnishings. Two pillars of brass on the porch. He named them Jachin and Boaz (v.21). Jachin means he shall establish. Boaz means in him is strength. A molten sea 10 cubits across standing on 12 oxen (vv.23–25). And 10 lavers and the golden altar and the golden table and the candlesticks (vv.38–49).

1 Kings 8: The Glory Fills the House

Solomon brought the ark into the most holy place. “There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb” (v.9). Then the cloud came.

This is what happened at the tabernacle in Exodus 40:34–35. The same God. The same glory. Then Solomon stood before the altar and prayed. “LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath” (v.23). Those are almost the same words as Deuteronomy 4:39 and Rahab in Joshua 2:11. One God in heaven and earth.

Solomon knew a building could not hold God. God is everywhere. But then he prayed that God’s eyes would be open toward this house “even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there” (v.29). God cannot be contained. But he put his name in a place so his people could meet him.⁶ That is what happened in Jesus Christ. The God that heaven cannot contain came and dwelt among us. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Jesus said “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). “But he spake of the temple of his body” (John 2:21).

Solomon asked God to hear when his people prayed toward that place. When they sinned and lost a battle. When there was no rain. When there was famine. And even when a stranger from far away prayed toward that house “that all people of the earth may know thy name” (v.43). He knew they would sin. “For there is no man that sinneth not” (v.46). He asked God to forgive them when they repented even in a foreign land (vv.47–50). Then he blessed the people. “That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else” (v.60). The temple was not just for Israel. It was so the whole world would know there is only one God.

1 Kings 9: God Appears Again

The LORD appeared to Solomon a second time. He said he heard his prayer and put his name in the house “for ever” (v.3). If Solomon walked before him like David did the throne would last (vv.4–5). “But if ye shall at all turn from following me … Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight” (vv.6–7). People would pass by and ask why. And they would say “Because they forsook the LORD their God” (v.9). This is exactly what happened when Babylon came. The rest of the chapter tells us about Solomon’s building projects and his forced labor and his ships that went to Ophir for gold (vv.26–28).

1 Kings 10: The Queen of Sheba

The queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon “concerning the name of the LORD” (v.1). She came with spices and gold and precious stones to test him with hard questions. Solomon answered all of them. When she saw his wisdom and his house and his servants “there was no more spirit in her” (v.5). She said “the half was not told me” (v.7). And she blessed the LORD God of Israel (v.9).

Jesus talked about her. “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). She came from far away to hear wisdom. The people standing in front of Jesus would not even listen to him. He is “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Then the chapter shows us how rich Solomon was. 666 talents of gold came to him in one year (v.14). He made a great throne of ivory. All his drinking cups were gold. “It was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon” (v.21). Silver was as common as stones in Jerusalem (v.27). And “Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt” (v.28). Moses told the king three things in Deuteronomy 17:16–17. Do not multiply horses. Do not multiply wives. Do not multiply silver and gold. Solomon broke the first and the third in this chapter. The next chapter tells us about the second.

1 Kings 11: His Wives Turned Away His Heart

“But king Solomon loved many strange women” (v.1). From Moab and Ammon and Edom and Zidon. God told Israel not to marry them “for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods” (v.2). That is exactly what happened. Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites (v.5). He built a high place for Chemosh and for Molech on the hill in front of Jerusalem (v.7). The man who built the temple for the name of the LORD built altars for other gods right across from it. The wisest man who ever lived did the most foolish thing a man can do.

“And the LORD was angry with Solomon” (v.9). God told him he would tear the kingdom from him. But not in his lifetime “for David thy father’s sake” (v.12). And not all of it. One tribe would stay with his son “for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen” (v.13). God raised up enemies against Solomon. Hadad of Edom. Rezon of Damascus. And Jeroboam one of his own officials (vv.14–26).

The prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam outside Jerusalem. He took his new garment and tore it into 12 pieces. He gave Jeroboam 10 (vv.30–31). God would give him 10 tribes. Then God made Jeroboam a promise. If he walked in God’s ways like David did “I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David” (v.38). But the tribe of Judah would stay with David’s line “that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem” (v.36). Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. He ran to Egypt. Solomon reigned 40 years and died (v.42).

1 Kings 12: Rehoboam and Jeroboam

Solomon’s son Rehoboam went to Shechem to be made king. Jeroboam came back from Egypt. The people said “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father … lighter, and we will serve thee” (v.4). Rehoboam asked the old men who served Solomon. They told him to serve the people and they would serve him forever (v.7). Then he asked the young men he grew up with. They told him to say “My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins … my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions” (vv.10–11). Rehoboam listened to the young men.

The people answered “What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel” (v.16). These are almost the same words Sheba said in 2 Samuel 20:1. 10 tribes made Jeroboam king. Only Judah and Benjamin stayed with Rehoboam. Rehoboam gathered 180,000 men to fight. But God sent a prophet. “Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren … for this thing is from me” (v.24). They listened and went home.

Now Jeroboam had a problem. If the people kept going to Jerusalem to worship they would go back to Rehoboam (vv.26–27). So he made two calves of gold. He put one at Bethel and one at Dan. And he said this.

These are almost the exact words Israel said at the golden calf in Exodus 32:4.⁷ “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” We talked about this verse in our Exodus study. The plural gods. The plural verb. Jeroboam did not think he was leaving the LORD. He made it easy. Closer to home. More convenient. He made priests from anyone who wanted the job instead of the Levites (v.31). And he made his own feast in the 8th month instead of the 7th (v.32). He kept the shape of true worship and changed everything that mattered.

1 Kings 13: The Man of God From Judah

A man of God came from Judah to Bethel while Jeroboam stood at the altar. He cried against the altar. “Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places” (v.2). This came true about 300 years later (2 Kings 23:15–16). God named Josiah before he was born. The altar split. Jeroboam reached out to grab the man and his hand dried up. The man prayed and God healed it (vv.4–6).

God told the man of God not to eat or drink in Bethel and to go home a different way (v.9). But an old prophet in Bethel lied to him. He said an angel told him to bring him home and feed him (v.18). The man of God believed him. On the way home a lion killed him (v.24). This is a hard story. But the lesson is clear. When God has spoken we do not change it because someone else says God told them something different. Paul said “though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you … let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). Even after all this “Jeroboam returned not from his evil way” (v.33).

1 Kings 14: Jeroboam’s Son and Rehoboam’s Sin

Jeroboam’s son got sick. He sent his wife in disguise to Ahijah the prophet. Ahijah was blind. But God told him she was coming. Before she said anything he said “Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another?” (v.6). He told her that God made Jeroboam king and he “hast not been as my servant David” (v.8). The child would die. And God would “take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung” (v.10). And God would give Israel up “because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin” (v.16). We will see that phrase over and over through the rest of Kings.

In Judah things were not much better. “And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD” (v.22). They built high places and images and groves. There were sodomites in the land. “They did according to all the abominations of the nations” (v.24). In the 5th year of Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came and took the treasures of the temple. And all the shields of gold Solomon made (vv.25–26). Rehoboam made shields of brass to replace them (v.27). Gold to brass in one generation. It still looked like a kingdom. But the glory was gone.

1 Kings 15: Abijam, Asa and Nadab

From here the book goes back and forth between the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel.⁸ Abijam reigned in Judah 3 years. He walked in the sins of his father. “Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem” (v.4). God kept his promise to David even when David’s sons did not deserve it. Then Asa reigned 41 years. “And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father” (v.11). He took the sodomites out of the land. He removed Maachah from being queen because she made an idol (v.13). Even though she was family. “Nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days” (v.14).

In Israel Jeroboam’s son Nadab reigned 2 years. Baasha killed him and became king. Then he killed everyone in the house of Jeroboam “according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah” (v.29). But Baasha walked in the way of Jeroboam too (v.34).

1 Kings 16: From Baasha to Ahab

The prophet Jehu told Baasha the same thing would happen to his house (vv.1–4). It did. His son Elah was drinking himself drunk when his servant Zimri killed him (vv.9–10). Zimri wiped out the house of Baasha. But he only reigned 7 days. The army made Omri king. When Zimri saw the city was taken he went into the king’s house and burned it down on himself (v.18). Omri bought the hill of Samaria and built a city there (v.24). It became the capital of Israel. “But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him” (v.25).

Then his son Ahab became king. “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him” (v.30). He married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians. “And went and served Baal, and worshipped him” (v.31). He built a temple for Baal in Samaria. “And Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (v.33). Then one more verse. In Ahab’s days Hiel rebuilt Jericho. And he lost his firstborn when he laid the foundation and his youngest son when he set up the gates (v.34). Just like Joshua said in Joshua 6:26. Hundreds of years later the word of God still stood. Israel had forgotten God. God had not forgotten his word.

1 Kings 17: The Widow of Zarephath

Out of nowhere a man shows up. “And Elijah the Tishbite … said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” (v.1). His name says everything. Elijah in Hebrew is Eliyahu. Which means my God is the LORD.⁹ Baal was supposed to be the god of storms and rain. Elijah was telling Ahab the LORD is the one who controls the rain. Not Baal.

God sent Elijah to hide by the brook Cherith. Ravens brought him bread and meat morning and evening (v.6). When the brook dried up God sent him to Zarephath. A town in Zidon. Jezebel’s home country. A widow was gathering sticks to make one last meal for her and her son. Then they would die (v.12). Elijah told her to make him a cake first. “For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth” (v.14). She did. And it did not run out (v.16). Jesus said there were many widows in Israel in those days. “But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow” (Luke 4:26).

Then her son got sick and died. Elijah carried him up to his room. He stretched himself on the child 3 times and cried to the LORD. “And the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived” (v.22). This is the first time in the Bible someone is raised from the dead. The woman said “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth” (v.24).

1 Kings 18: The LORD, He Is the God

In the 3rd year God told Elijah to go show himself to Ahab. Ahab’s servant Obadiah feared the LORD. When Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD he hid 100 of them in caves and fed them (v.4). When Ahab saw Elijah he said “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” (v.17). Elijah said “I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim” (v.18). He told Ahab to bring all Israel and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the groves to mount Carmel.

Notice Elijah’s choice. It is one or the other. There is no room for both. Israel was trying to keep the LORD and Baal at the same time. Elijah said you cannot. The God who answers by fire is God (v.24). The prophets of Baal went first. They called on Baal from morning until noon. Nothing. At noon Elijah mocked them. “Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked” (v.27). They cut themselves with knives until the blood gushed out (v.28). “But there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded” (v.29).

Then Elijah repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. He used 12 stones for the 12 tribes (v.31). He dug a trench and had them pour water over the sacrifice 3 times until the trench was full (vv.33–35). Then he prayed a short prayer. “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant … Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God” (vv.36–37). “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (v.38).¹⁰

This is the confession of the whole book. The LORD, he is the God. Not a god. Not one of many. The God. It is the same thing Moses said. “The LORD he is God; there is none else beside him” (Deuteronomy 4:35). And it is the meaning of Elijah’s name. My God is the LORD. The prophets of Baal were killed at the brook Kishon (v.40). Then Elijah prayed for rain. 7 times he sent his servant to look. The 7th time there was “a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand” (v.44). Then the sky turned black and there was a great rain. James tells us “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain” and then “he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain” (James 5:17–18). The hand of the LORD was on Elijah and he ran in front of Ahab’s chariot all the way to Jezreel (v.46).

1 Kings 19: The Still Small Voice

Jezebel heard what happened. She sent a message. By this time tomorrow you will be dead like the prophets of Baal (v.2). And Elijah ran. He went to Beersheba and then a day into the wilderness. He sat under a juniper tree and asked to die. “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers” (v.4). The man who called down fire from heaven was afraid of one woman. He was worn out. And God did not rebuke him. He let him sleep. And an angel touched him and gave him food and water. Twice (vv.5–7). “And he went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God” (v.8).

At Horeb he went into a cave. The word of the LORD came to him. “What doest thou here, Elijah?” (v.9). Elijah said he was jealous for the LORD. “And I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life” (v.10). God told him to stand on the mountain. A great wind tore the rocks. “But the LORD was not in the wind” (v.11). Then an earthquake. The LORD was not in it. Then a fire. The LORD was not in it. “And after the fire a still small voice” (v.12). Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle and went out.

God speaks in power. We saw that at Carmel. But God also speaks quietly. Elijah thought he was the only one left. But God said “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal” (v.18). Paul quotes this in Romans 11:4. God always has a remnant. God gave Elijah more work to do. Anoint Hazael king of Syria. Anoint Jehu king of Israel. And anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place (vv.15–16). Elijah found Elisha plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. He threw his mantle on him (v.19). Elisha killed his oxen and burned the plow and followed Elijah (v.21). He did not look back.

1 Kings 20: God of the Hills and the Valleys

Benhadad king of Syria came against Samaria with 32 kings (v.1). He demanded Ahab’s silver and gold and wives and children. A prophet came to Ahab. “Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD” (v.13). Israel won. Even with a wicked king God was still showing Israel who he was.

The Syrians said “Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain” (v.23). They thought the LORD was a local god like theirs. A man of God told Ahab “Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (v.28). The LORD is God everywhere. Israel won again. But Ahab let Benhadad go. He called him “my brother” (v.32). A prophet told Ahab “Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life” (v.42).

1 Kings 21: Naboth’s Vineyard

Naboth had a vineyard next to Ahab’s palace in Jezreel. Ahab wanted it for a garden. He offered to buy it or trade for it. Naboth said “The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee” (v.3). The law said the land belonged to God and stayed in the family (Leviticus 25:23). Ahab went home and lay on his bed and turned his face away and would not eat (v.4). Like a spoiled child.

Jezebel said “Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?” (v.7). She wrote letters in Ahab’s name. She told the elders to set two false witnesses against Naboth. Two witnesses. The law required two witnesses to protect the innocent (Deuteronomy 19:15). Jezebel used the law to murder an innocent man. They said he blasphemed God and the king. They stoned him (v.13). Ahab went down to take the vineyard.

God sent Elijah. “Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? … In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine” (v.19). Ahab said “Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” (v.20). Elijah said the dogs would eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel (v.23). “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up” (v.25). Then something surprising happened. Ahab tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted (v.27). And God said “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days” (v.29). Even for Ahab God showed mercy when he humbled himself.

1 Kings 22: The Death of Ahab

Jehoshaphat the good king of Judah made peace with Ahab. Ahab asked him to go to war with him against Syria at Ramothgilead. Jehoshaphat said “Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day” (v.5). Ahab brought 400 prophets. They all said go up. But Jehoshaphat asked if there was not another prophet of the LORD. Ahab said there was one. Micaiah. “But I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil” (v.8).

The messenger told Micaiah to agree with the others. Micaiah said “As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak” (v.14). He told Ahab he saw Israel scattered on the hills like sheep with no shepherd (v.17). Then he told Ahab what he saw in heaven. The LORD on his throne asking who would persuade Ahab to go up and fall at Ramothgilead. A spirit said he would be a lying spirit in the mouth of all Ahab’s prophets (vv.19–22).¹¹ We saw this in 2 Samuel 24. God is over everything. Ahab wanted to hear lies. So God let him hear them. Paul says “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” because “they received not the love of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:10–11). Ahab put Micaiah in prison.

Ahab disguised himself in the battle. He told Jehoshaphat to wear his royal robes. But “a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness” (v.34). A random arrow. But it was not random. Ahab bled out in his chariot and died at evening. They washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria “and the dogs licked up his blood … according unto the word of the LORD which he spake” (v.38). The book ends with Jehoshaphat reigning in Judah and doing right (v.43). And with Ahab’s son Ahaziah reigning in Israel and serving Baal like his father (vv.51–53).

We have gone through 1 Kings chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First 1 Kings is about faithfulness to the one God. Solomon started by asking God for wisdom. He ended with his heart turned away after other gods (11:4). Jeroboam was given 10 tribes and a promise. He made golden calves. Ahab married Jezebel and served Baal. Every king was judged by one thing. Did he follow the LORD with all his heart like David. Most of them did not. And the kingdom fell apart.

Second 1 Kings is about the house of God. Solomon built a beautiful temple. The glory of the LORD filled it (8:11). But Solomon knew “the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee” (8:27). God put his name there. But he told them that if they turned away he would cast that house out of his sight (9:7). A building cannot keep people faithful. Only the heart can. One day God would come and dwell among us in the flesh. And Jesus said the temple was his body (John 2:21).

Third 1 Kings is monotheistic. Solomon prayed “there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath” (8:23). He prayed “that all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else” (8:60). Elijah’s name means my God is the LORD. On mount Carmel he told Israel they could not halt between two opinions (18:21). And when the fire fell the people cried “The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God” (18:39). One God. The God who answered by fire is the God who came in the flesh.

And 1 Kings points to Jesus Christ. Solomon was the son of David who built a house for God’s name. Jesus is the Son of David who builds his church (Matthew 16:18). Solomon was wise. Jesus is “a greater than Solomon” (Matthew 12:42). And Elijah would come again. Malachi said God would send Elijah before the great day of the LORD (Malachi 4:5). Jesus said John the Baptist was that Elijah (Matthew 11:14). The prophet who stood alone against Baal prepared the way for the one God to come in the flesh. 1 Kings ends with Ahab dead and Elijah still on the scene. That is where 2 Kings begins.