The Books of Kings

Week 3, Class 2

1 Kings 15:25-16:29

1. The next king of Israel was Nadab, who was the son of Jeroboam. He was only king for 2 years, when he
was killed by Baasha. Baasha killed Nadab and everyone that belonged to the house of Jeroboam. God
prophesied about this to Jeroboam through the prophet, Ahijah. God fulfilled the prophesy exactly.

2. Baasha became the next king. He reigned for 24 years. He did the same evil sins that Jeroboam did. He
had wars with King Asa of Judah all his life. God sent Jehu, the prophet to prophesy about the death of
Baasha.
- 1 kings 16:7 - we can see that God stated that he was angry with King Baasha and all the work that
he did with his hands. He did the same thing that Jeroboam did: cause the people of Israel to depart
from God and to commit the same sins that Jeroboam did.

3. Then Elah, the son of Baasha, began to be king. He was king for 2 years when he was killed by Zimri, the
captain of half of his chariots. Only two years and hew as killed.

4. Zimri killed King Elah and became king of Israel. As soon as he became the king, he killed all of Baasha’s
family, leavening no one behind.
- He was king for only 7 days, when the news hit the army encamped against the Philistines in
Gibbethon. Then all Israel made Omri king. Omri then came and seized the city, Tirzah, where
Zimri was living. When he heard the news, he burned the palace with himself in it. He burned
himself to death.

5. After Zimri died, there was a power struggle between Omri and Tibni. So half the people of Israel followed
Omri, while the other half served Tibni. Then Omri and Tibni went to war, and Omri prevailed. He reigned
over Israel for 12 years. During that time, Omri was the one who founded and built Samaria. However, he
was just as evil as Jeroboam, so God was very angry. When Omri died, then his famous son took the
throne: King Ahab.

6. This was the results of Jeroboam’s actions. Jeroboam had disconnected the people of Israel from the
Temple of God. The Temple of God had the Ark of the Covenant, where God was present. What Jeroboam
did by creating his own high places was that Satan did the work of disconnecting Israel (including the
kings) from knowing and connecting to the heart of God. As a result, the kings who came after Jeroboam
did not have any connection to the heart and Temple of God. There was actually no connection to God
whatsoever.
- These are kings who tried to rule the best way that they knew how. They tried hard and they
followed after their standard of what was good and evil. However, none of those things led the
people back to God. They continued the same method of exalting the altars that Jeroboam did.
They did the same work of exalting people’s own ideas and standards of God.

7. In today’s churches, there are different churches that have different services, but the most important thing
is to re-establish the true Temple of God. The true offerings that God would accept.

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 The Books of Kings

8. Isaiah 1:11 - “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Saith the Lord: I am full of the
burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not int he blood of bullocks, or of lambs,
or of he goats.”

9. Hebrews 10:1-6 - The blood of the offerings were not what washed people’s sins away. They represented
the true offering for the sin of the world: Jesus Christ. By keeping the high places of Jeroboam, they were
denying the people from ever receiving the faith of the Eternal offering for sin. The pastors and churches
that deny the people from the true offering, which is actually Jesus Christ, that offering is eternal. For
those who say that Jesus’s offering was not eternal, they are the ones who are denying the offering and the
Temple and they are establishing their own high places. They are the ones who are leading the people in
the opposite directions of God. Who are the enemies of God? The ones who say that Jesus did not wash
our sins on the cross eternally. They are the ones who truly defy God.

10. A true servant of God, who does the work of God are the servants of God who unite the hearts of the
people with the true salvation. The eternal salvation. The salvation that can only be seen by faith. The
offerings of the Old Testament were only a shadow of the good things to come and not actually the good
things. This is something that people must understand. Today, there are many pastors and churches who
live like Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri. They lead the people according to the goodness
of man and not the eternal righteousness that God has prepared. They are afraid that it is not enough. They
are the ones who deny God and Jesus.

11. Jeroboam did not believe God was enough to hold his kingdom, so he didn’t let the people of Israel go to
Jerusalem to the Temple. People who are held by the same fear and doubts and thoughts of Satan are the
ones who keep their congregation from believing in the truth and salvation that God prepared through
Jesus Christ.

12. The book of the kings was a very unique book in that it blended kings with prophets. God appointed many
prophets that God spoke through to the kings and the people of Israel and Judah. God delivered the words
of God, prophesied about the Gospel, chastised the kings, healed people, and even provided strategies for
war through the prophets during the time of the kings. The kings all had to be guided by prophets. Even
David had Nathan. The kings who did not harken to the prophets all died and became corrupt. God would
send the prophets to the kings in order to deliver the heart and words and wisdom of God to the kings.
Then that blessing would permeate through the king to the people. This is very important for the servant
of God. We are not the blessings, but we are supposed to be the connection or tunnel through which the
blessings and heart and works of God are able to be transferred and communicated to the people. We are
not the ones who are impose our will or desires or standards, we are to be the vessels of the heart of God.
Only then are we able to truly be used by God in the right way.