I gotta be honest with you.
History was never one of my favorite classes in school.
It was boring as all hell.
I could’ve cared less about having to memorize a bunch of boring facts and dates about events that happened in the past.
Why did I have to know the names of a bunch of dead people?
What did that have to do with my life?
I bring this up because I think that’s the attitude a lot of us take towards certain parts of the Bible.
Most folks roll their eyes when they encounter the genealogies in Scripture, or come across other parts that contain a huge list of names they can’t even pronounce.
If that’s you, I understand where you’re coming from.
I’ve been there myself.
Studying the ancient history of Israel can seem tedious.
The Book of Kings is gonna take us through a HUGE portion of Israel’s history.
I’m talking about 450 years from the time when David handed the throne over to his son Solomon until Nebuchadnezzar laid waste to Jerusalem and carried Judah away to Babylon.
Listen, I get the temptation to treat the historical parts of the Bible as a boring textbook you’re forced to read in high school.
But when you treat the Scriptures as merely dry history, you’re adopting the same perspective as the post-Enlightenment atheistic scholars.
To them, Biblical history is the same as secular history…just with superstitious or religious overtones baked into it.
Ya feel me?
So, I beg you, man, to avoid this attitude at all costs!
Why?
Because the history of Israel is your own salvation history!
Do you know what the Book of Kings basically boils down to?
It’s the fulfillment of Nathan’s prophetic oracle to David!
And how David’s royal house would be an everlasting dynasty…
IRRESPECTIVE OF THE MANY WICKED KINGS THAT WOULD COME AFTER AND WHO WOULD BE PUNISHED SEVERELY FOR THEIR DISOBEDIENCE!
What you’ve gotta understand is, regardless of the wickedness of the kings that came after David…
God will NEVER abandon David’s descendants as He did King Saul.
Despite their lawless theology, Christianity has done an amazing job at spreading the truth of God’s grace through his son to the four corners of the globe.
But when it comes to educating their congregations on this specific foundational part of their redemption history, I kinda feel they could do better.
I hope this humble little blog of mine will help remedy that.
Done.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN 1 KINGS CHAPTER ONE
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