First Kings Intro

We have just finished II Samuel and the life of David up until his death which will be covered in chapter one of 1st Kings. !st Kings is sometimes called the 3rd Book of the Kings. The two books of Samuel being the first two. We will call it First Kings.

Elijah comes on the scene in this book. Solomon becomes king and the temple is built. The kingdom is divided. It covers a period of 118 according to Ussher.

Israel seems destined to be divided between Judah and the rest of the country. It may get a little confusing when we refer to Israel when it has sometimes included Judah and sometimes not. Later the name Samaria comes up and we will try to explore that change.

The old feelings will come back in this book if they ever left as shown in this verse:

I Kings 12:16 "So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse, to your tents, O Israel, now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents."

Elijah means my God is Jehovah. He was from the highlands of Gilead east of Jordan. He prophesied of things which mostly happened right away for all to see. He was similar to John the Baptist if he was not Elijah himself. Elijah was present at the mount when Christ was transfigured.

I Kings 17:1 "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead 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."

So we will see the death of David, rise of Solomon and Elijah and the division of the kingdom. It sounds like an exciting book.

Psalm 119:9 "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word."

It is not enough to know the word. One must take heed.

Keywords: Old Old Story,blog,Bible Study, Kings, Solomon, David, Samaria, Israel David dies and Solomon reigns.