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•  The second part of a book that was originally written as one.

•  Presents the rise and fall of Solomon and the division that followed his reign.

•  Relates the reigns of the kings of Judah only through to the Exile.

    

Ch.1 The Gift of Wisdom

Ch.2-4 Building the Temple

Ch.5-7 Dedication of the Temple

Ch.8 Solomon's Other Activities

Ch.9 Solomon's Wisdom, Splendour and Death

Ch.10-12 Rehoboam

Ch.13 Abijah

Ch.14-16 Asa *

Ch.17-21 Jehoshaphat *

Ch.21,22 Jehoram and Ahaziah

Ch.22-24 Joash *

Ch.25 Amaziah

Ch.26 Uzziah

Ch.27 Jotham

Ch.28 Ahaz

Ch.29-32 Hezekiah *

Ch.33 Manasseh & Amon

Ch.34-36 Josiah *

Ch.36 Josiah's Successors & Exile and Restoration

1:1 Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

1:11,12 God said to Solomon, "Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have."

5:1,7,13,14 When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished….. The priests then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple…. Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God .

2:11,12 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon….."Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself”.

9:1-4,8 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. ….. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed…… “Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness."

9:22-24 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift--articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

9:30,31 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king

12:1,2 After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD. Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam.

12:5-8 Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, "This is what the LORD says, `You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.' " The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is just." When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: "Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands."

12:13,14,16 King Rehoboam ….. did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.…. Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king

13:4,5,8,10-12 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim , in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, "Jeroboam and all Israel , listen to me! Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?...... And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David's descendants…..As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. ….. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken him. God is with us; he is our leader. …. Men of Israel , do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed."

14:1-6 And Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah , and the kingdom was at peace under him. He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest.

16:1-3,7-10,12,13 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah. Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. "Let there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me." ……… At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people…… In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers .

17:1-6 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel . He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel . The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah .

18:1-3 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. Some years later he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?"

19:1-3 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you. There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God."

20:1-4,14-18 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat . …… Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah . The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him…... Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah….He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: `Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel . You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' " Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.

20:29-33 The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side. …… He was thirty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years…..He walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.

21:1-7 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and ….. Jehoram his son succeeded him as king….. When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father's kingdom, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel , as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.

21:12-17 Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said: "This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: (assessment of guilt) `You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. But you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your father's house, men who were better than you. (judgment) So now the LORD is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.' " (Fulfillment) The LORD aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king's palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest. After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain.

22:1-9 The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah , Jehoram's youngest son, king in his place….. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. He too walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father's death they became his advisers, to his undoing. ……Then Ahaziah …. went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded. …While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he …. then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria . He was brought to Jehu and put to death.

24:1,2 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years….. Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.

24:17-19 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God's anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen

24:23-25 At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash. When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed.

25:1,2 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. …. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly

25:27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.

26:1-5 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah , who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah…. and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.

26:16,21 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense…. King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died.

27:1,2,6,9 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother's name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices…… Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God….. Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David . And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.

The folly of Ahaz

28:1-5 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made cast idols for worshiping the Baals. He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree. Therefore the LORD his God handed him over to the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus .

28:19-27 The LORD had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel , for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD. Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help. Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace and from the princes and presented them to the king of Assyria , but that did not help him. In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus , who had defeated him; for he thought, "Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me." But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel. Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the LORD's temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers, to anger. Ahaz rested with his fathers and … Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king

The Achievements of Hezekiah

ejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly

Call to Recommitment

30:6-9 At the king's command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: "People of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel , that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria . Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; submit to the LORD. Come to the sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. If you return to the LORD, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him."

Good Response

30:25-27 The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, including the aliens who had come from Israel and those who lived in Judah. There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place

31:1 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah , smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh.

Faithfulness

31:20,21 This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah , doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered

Opposition

32:1,6-8 After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah …… He (Hezekiah) appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

Triumph from God

32:20-23 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword. So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah . From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.

32:33 Hezekiah rested with his fathers and was buried on the hill where the tombs of David's descendants are. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him when he died. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.

The Failures, Disciplining & Correction of Manasseh

33:1-17,20 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.

(Condemnation) He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever." In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom , practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. He took the carved image he had made and put it in God's temple, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and ordinances given through Moses." But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites. The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

(Discipline) So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God….. He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the LORD, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem ; and he threw them out of the city. Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel. The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the LORD their God….. Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

Amon's folly

31:23-25 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the LORD; Amon increased his guilt. Amon's officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace. Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place

Josiah's restoration

34:1-4 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images. Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images.

34:29-31 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem . He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem , the priests and the Levites--all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD--to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.

35:23,24 Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, "Take me away; I am badly wounded." So they took him out of his chariot, put him in the other chariot he had and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

Rapid changes of the final kings

36:1-14 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem…..The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim . But Neco took Eliakim's brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt .

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon ….. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. 1 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the LORD, and he made Jehoiachin's uncle, Zedekiah , king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God's name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the LORD, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem .

Exile & its Causes

36:15-20 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God , both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem ; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

Concluding Comments

•  May we consider a) Solomon and then b) the other kings until the exile

A) Solomon: The writer of Chronicles deals with Solomon similarly to David.

•  His accession to the throne is announced publicly by David and is greeted with the unanimous support of all Israel (1 Chron 28-29).

•  No mention is made of the bedridden David, who must overturn the attempted coup by Adonijah at the last moment to secure the throne for Solomon.

•  Nor is there mention that the military commander Joab and the high priest Abiathar supported Adonijah's attempt (1Kings 1).

•  Solomon's execution of those who had wronged David (1Kings 2) is also omitted.

•  The accession of Solomon is without competition or detracting incident.

•  The account of his reign is devoted almost wholly to the building of the temple (2Chron 2-8), and no reference to his failures is included.

•  No mention is made of his idolatry, his foreign wives or of the rebellions against his rule (1Kings 11).

•  Even the blame for the schism is removed from Solomon (1Kings 11:26-40; 12:1-4) and placed on the scheming of Jeroboam.

•  Solomon's image in Chronicles is such that he can be paired with David in the most favorable light (2Chron 11:17).

•  Nevertheless, as we noted in Kings, the failings of these kings ARE shown and there is hardly one of them who comes through with a clean sheet.

•  The lesson/warning that comes over a number of times is that you can have a good beginning but be careless when prosperity or old age comes. It provokes a call to faithfulness.

•  Where some of these kings did work for restoration, their challenges to their people are heart warming in the clarity of the call to faithfulness that comes through.

•  The fact that some kings – despite the examples they had of their fathers and of the Law and Testimony which was always there in the background – purposefully rejected God and went into superstitious worship of idols, shows the folly of Sin and the spiritual blindness it causes.

•  Each of these kings presents a challenge to us in different ways and deserves our attention.

•  Above all that, observe the grace of God that is constantly there in the background that seeks to call the nation back into a living and blessed relationship with Him. Especially in the last days of this period, observe the many, many times God speaks to His people to try to stave off the destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile. The stubbornness of sin, it seems, refuses that grace and takes the nation over the cliff of destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar – yet there is still hope in the future, the rest of the Bible reveals!

Additional Bible Studies found on this site:

"Solomon's Story" (2 Chron 1-13)   and  "The Kings of Judah" (2 Chron 14-36)