1 Kings

Themes and Insights from 1 Kings

Theme 1 : God is faithful to keep his promises and rewards obedience to his commands and the upholding of justice. Solomon is made King after David’s death in accordance with the promise God made with David ( 2 Samuel 7:12-14/ 1 Kings 1). Solomon is blessed with wisdom, wealth and power as he desired to honour the Lord. ( 1 Kings 3). Solomon is blessed with more wealth as people from all over the world visited him and gave him gifts. ( 1 Kings 4). The supplies given for the temple by the King of Tyre demonstrated that God was in control and blessed the work of those who honoured him. ( 1 Kings 5). The temple was a blessing as it honoured God ( 1 Kings 6) , however Solomon spent more time building his own palace. ( 1 Kings 7). The faithfulnesss of God is evident in Solomon’s prayer. ( 1 Kings 8). Solomon causes future problems when he does not drive out the enemies of Israel from his territory but instead enslaved them. ( 1 Kings 9). The blessing of God is also seen in the visit by the Queen of Sheba who is amazed at the wisdom Solomon was given by God. ( 1 Kings 10). Solomon eventually abandons the Lord when he married several wives for political alliances and worships their deities , forsaking the Lord and plotting his own course for power. (1 Kings 11).

Theme 2: People are sinful and rebellious as they refuse to acknowledge what God has done and seek their own path. Jereboam after being given the kingdom of Israel sets up idol worship in order to solidify his power. (1 Kings 12). Even after being rebuked by a prophet from the Lord and seeing God’s judgement against him when he disobeyed him Jereboam made more altars to pagan gods. ( 1 Kings 13). Reheboam did not obey the Lord and so his wealth was plundered by the King of Egypt. ( 1 Kings 14). King Asa obeyed the Lord and so was blessed. ( 1 Kings 15). King Omri due to his disobedience suffered the death of his eldest and youngest sons when he rebuilt the city of Jericho. ( 1 Kings 16).

Theme 3: God is able to provide for our needs and will respond in mercy when we follow him and repent of our wicked ways. The Lord provided for the widow , her son and Elijah when she obeyed and trusted the Lord giving Elijah all the food she had . ( 1 Kings 17). The Lord responded to the people and Elijah prayers by consuming the offering and showing the people that he was the true God. (1 Kings 18). Even in his darkest moment in the cave Elijah is reminded of God’s presence in the storm and encouraged that he is not the only follower of the Lord.( 1 Kings 19). God is faithful to his covenant and blesses Israel despite her sins and gave Ahab victory over her Syrian enemy. ( 1 Kings 20). Ahab repented of his sin after having killed Naboth and taken his vineyard. As a result the Lord did not bring calamity in his day. ( 1 Kings 21).