Lesson for September 23, 2020
Knowing the Bible
Lesson 18
The Books of I and II Samuel, I Kings and II Chronicles
The Books of I and II Samuel
Samuel was one of the great prophets of the Old Testament. His mother Hannah fervently prayed for her son to become a man of God. His name means “heard of God.” Hannah’s faithfulness in pray yielded a great result for the nation of Israel. Hannah literally gave up her son Samuel to the service of the Lord in serve in the Tabernacle. Samuel was the prophet that continually warned the nation of Israel to remain a theocracy with God as their only ruler. However, God in His permissive will allowed the nation to have a king. It was Samuel, the prophet of God that presented Saul as God’s choice as the king of Israel and he was approved by the assembly of elders.
Saul was at best an inept king constantly only partially obeying the commands of God and operating on his own human wisdom. Each decision he made apart from the counsel of God’s prophet Samuel ended in disaster for the nation. Finally, God had had enough and removed Saul as king of Israel. Saul came to hate David who had become the best friend of Saul’s son Johnathan. Jealousy and bitterness caused Saul to try to kill David, but with the help of his friend Johnathan was able to escape death by the hand of Saul.
There are important lessons for all believers in the story of the appointment of Saul as king. The first is be careful what you ask God for because you just might get it. God’s permissive will came at a cost to the nation of Israel as they followed the disobedient lead of their king. God was of course teaching the nation a lesson and administering divine discipline for rejecting the rule of God over the nation. If a believer wants the best outcome for their life, then they should always ask God for His directive will for them if it is not already clearly stated in Scripture.
After the death of Saul, David assumed the throne of Israel. The nation, however, was divided and it was up to David to unite the nation. At first, David was made king of only Judah, but eventually the entire nation recognized his divine appointment as king over all of Israel. (II Samuel 5)
We know from Scripture that David was a “man after God’s own heart,” but he was also a human being with a sin nature. David made many mistakes throughout his lifetime, including polygamy, adultery and murder. Among the many punishments that David suffered for his sins were the rebellion of his children, evil among his children and murder among his children.
In spite of all of these events, David always returned to the Lord and confessed his sins. Because of his attitude, David was used by God to lead the nation of Israel and defeat her enemies on numerous occasions. The royal bloodline of Jesus was David’s.
Some of the more famous stories about David are his defeat of Goliath when he was but a young man, his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, the establishment of his kingship over all of Israel, the planning for the building of the Temple in Jerusalem (carried out by his son Solomon) and the establishment of a covenant by God with him.
Davidic Covenant
(II Samuel 7:4-16; Psalm 89)
This unconditional covenant was given to David and promised a royal linage, a throne and a kingdom. It is this covenant that established forever the line of David through which the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would come. The promises of this covenant guaranteed five things:
1) David would have a son to succeed him as king
- David’s son would build the Temple
- His kingdom would be established forever, which was a prophecy regarding the Millennium
- His throne would be established forever, which was a reference to the Messianic rulership of Christ during the Millennium
- Disobedience would not negate God’s promise to David, even though the nation would be disciplined
As a soldier, David was a great warrior and a great general. His defeat of Goliath proved his fearlessness in the face of greater odds. As always, David gave God all the glory for his victories in battle. As the general of the armies, David always had well-trained troops and used them wisely to defeat the enemy.
As a musician, David was a skillful player of the harp. His many songs are recorded in the book of Psalms. David was a prolific writer of poetry, verse and literature. He has been quoted more than any other writer of Scripture by other authors of the books of the Bible and by many secular poets throughout the ages.
As a prophet, David related much about the coming Messiah. His writings are quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament writer. Jesus quoted David as He hung on the Cross. (Psalm 31:5)
As a king, David was the greatest in the history of Israel. He ruled the nation as God’s representative on earth. Under his leadership as king, the nation of Israel expanded its territories, repelled attacks from pagan nations and established itself as the dominant nation in the world.
As a man, David was a believer and had an undying desire to know God. He, of course, failed on many occasions and suffered greatly as a result. But throughout his life, David never forgot God, and the general trend of his life was spiritual in nature. As with most of us, David had to be disciplined by God, suffered the consequences of his bad decisions, watched his family be torn apart and be rebuked by God’s prophets from time to time. However, David also experienced wonderful times of victory, intimate times of mediation on God’s Word and prosperity both personally and nationally.
The Word of God was more important to David than life itself. The central theme of David’s writings is the Word of God. David understood that his personal sins separated him from fellowship with God and continually wrote about acknowledging his sins to God. David was full of thanksgiving and praise for all God had done for him. (Psalm 32:1-11; 119:81-120)
We believe that the Bible is inerrant and infallible in its original form. We believe that God so directed the writers of Scripture that His complete and coherent word was transferred to the pages of Scriptures in its original form without altering the literary style or personality of the author. (Psalm 138:2)
I Kings and II Chronicles
These two books are parallel historical accounts of the reign of Solomon, the building of the Temple, the death of Solomon, the division of the kingdom into Judah and Israel and some of the history of the two kingdoms under several kings. They also include the ministry of the prophet Elijah.
During the reign of Solomon, peace and prosperity characterized the nation of Israel. Other than the 700 wives and 300 concubines that Solomon had, the building of the Temple is what Solomon is most remembered for in theological and secular writings. This does mean, however, that Solomon did not accomplish much more for the nation of Israel. Trade and commerce flourished under his reign. There were also other building projects that took place during his reign as king. Solomon’s accession to the throne of David was challenged by his brother Adonijah. Ultimately Solomon won and was recognized as king by the nation. Adonijah was eventually executed for treason.
Solomon had a simple, but well-organized form of governing the nation. Solomon himself was the final word in any matter brought before the courts. I Kings 4:1-4 describes the offices under Solomon’s reign. There was a high priest and two additional priests, two secretaries, one recorder, one supervisor of officials, one personal priest to Solomon, one palace supervisor, one officer in charge of forced labor (taxation) and one commander of the army. The nation was divided into twelve districts, each responsible for providing the central government with supplies for one month. During the other eleven months the districts were to store provisions in warehouse facilities in their district. Solomon also maintained a very large army, which included 1400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen. All of this required a great deal of wisdom and organization to administer.
The main focal point of Solomon’s reign, as mentioned in the Bible, was the building of the Temple. God had already given David specific instructions for building the Temple and Solomon was to carry out these instructions. Everything about the Temple, as with the Tabernacle, pointed to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. According to II Chronicles 2:17-18, 150,000 non-Israelite workers were used to build the Temple.
There were 70,000 burden-bearers, 80,000 stonecutters and 3,600 foremen. The Temple, though patterned after the Tabernacle was twice as large. It was, of course, a permanent structure and much more elaborate and spacious than the Tabernacle. It had a double door inlaid with gold and decorated with flowers, palm trees and cherubim, which opened into the Holy Place.
The completion of the Temple by Solomon confirmed the validity of the Davidic Covenant, which was made with Solomon’s father David. The dedication of the Temple was the most significant event in the spiritual life of the nation of Israel since the exodus from Egypt. The nation of Israel now had a permanent dwelling place for the Shekinah Glory of God as a constant reminder of His power and grace on behalf of Israel as a nation. They also had a permanent place to worship.
Under the fifth cycle of divine discipline, the Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. and again after it was rebuilt by the Roman Titus in 70 A.D. Because of Israel’s continued rebellion against God, the fifth cycle of discipline had to be administered to prevent the nation from completely destroying itself. The periods of captivity by other nations never seemed to wake up the nation to its need for God.
The Fifth Cycle is found in Leviticus 26:27-39, “If in spite of this (the first four cycles of discipline) you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the Sabbaths you lived in it. As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So, you will not be able to stand before your enemies. You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their fathers’ sins they will waste away.”
This cycle multiplies the effects of the fourth cycle by a factor of 7. This cycle describes the total destruction of the nation by foreign enemies. There will be cannibalism because of food shortages, even cannibalism within the family. There will be widespread death directly attributed to involvement in the addiction cycle. People will be killed by the foreign enemies while participating in their idolatry. The industries of the nation, and most of the buildings, public and private, will be destroyed. The people will be taken to the foreign countries as slaves. Fear will be the norm for those who are left. It will be too late for them to change their minds and turn back to God.
When any client nation continually turns its back of God, there will come a time when God’s gentle warning has escalated into more severe warnings until He finally has to administer the fifth cycle of discipline and that nation ceases to be a client nation. (II Chronicles 7:12-14)