1 Kings - Introduction

Thus the writer gives more attention to the reigns of those kings who either were especially faithful to God’s COVENANT or were especially unfaithful to it. The writer’s basic theme is that God rewards people when they obey Him and He punishes people when they disobey Him. Because most of the Israelites and their kings had disobeyed God most of the time, it shouldn’t have surprised them that God would eventually lose patience and send them into exile. They had no one but themselves to blame.

And yet God’s dealings with Israel were more complex than that. Yes, as a general rule God rewards obedience and punishes disobedience; but He also shows unexpected mercy to people according to His own purposes. Even the exiled Israelites could place their hope in God’s mercy and in His promise to DAVID that his kingdom would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16). The story of Kings (and of the whole Bible) is really the story of God working out His purposes in the world through the nation of Israel. Yes, the monarchy in Israel turned out to be no more successful than the rule of the judges; but still the Israelites could have hope—a hope that would finally be realized in the coming of the MESSIAH, Jesus Christ.¹