1 Kings: Looking Down (Part 2)
Ok. We’re here for the journey. We’ve reminded ourselves of the joy that awaits us as we dig with eager anticipation into this part of Scripture. What next?
We need to look down. With a bird’s eye view on the whole scroll (because 1&2 kings is actually one scroll), what do we see?
Here are just a few things that have helped us along the way, as we’ve begun to look down:
1 and 2 Kings covers over 400 years of history in around 50,000 words. That is an astonishingly small amount of words for such a large chunk of time. Why is this important to note? Because it means our (unknown) author, carried along by the Holy Spirit, has been very selective in what he’s included, and that everything that he has chosen to record, is of vital importance - not only to its original readers, but to us now.
Speaking of the original audience, 1 and 2 Kings was written to help those in exile come to terms with everything that had happened. There they were, cast from the promised land into exile, wondering whether God really was faithful to his promises. Has God given up on us? Why are things as they are now? We need to read this sitting in the exiles’ shoes - how does the story unfold? What are they told? How does it feel for them? Where’s the hope for a scattered people in exile?
We’ve gone back and forth on how to best structure our time in 1 and 2 Kings. We’ve decided to zoom in on the first eleven chapters in this season, with the hope that part (ii) and part (iii) will follow over the next couple of years. Why are we zooming in on just eleven chapters though, when there’s so much more to cover? Quite simply, because the narrative of Solomon is integral to understanding the rest of the book.
These chapters focus on the rise and fall of Solomon, how his kingdom was established and how he ruled. From a bird’s eye view, it’s looking pretty good for the first ten chapters. There’s glorious wisdom and justice. There’s the glorious temple and a glorious prayer to follow. The king and his kingdom seem to radiate God’s glory to the nations around them. It seems like we really have hit the high point of God’s covenant promise to his people in so many ways.
And yet, there’s a BUT. As we begin to look closer, feet now on the ground in these chapters, we’re going to see shards of ambiguity that start to pierce this glorious kingdom.
There’s much more to be said as we take time to look down with a bird’s eye view on 1 and 2 Kings. Crucially we need to see this part of Scripture as part of the bigger story, and so looking back, and looking forward are equally important as we start to build a picture of what’s going on.
