Kings & Chronicles: Jesus Is Our Reigning King
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KINGS AND CHRONICLES: JESUS IS OUR REIGNING KING
1 Kings 9:3-9 (ESV):
3 And the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made be fore me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
4 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my stat utes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’
9 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them.’”
Many Americans had been fascinated, some even obsessed, with the Royal family. Simply looking at the number of Television viewers in the U.S. whenever big events are happening with the Royals could easily prove this reality:
• 17 million people watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana in 1981.
• 33.2 million people watched the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.
• About 23 million people watched the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011.
• 29.2 million people watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle in 2018
If you notice, viewership is consistently high whenever something is happening within the Royal family. Perhaps, some of you have also followed the Netflix series, The Crown, which depicts the lives of the Royal family starting from Queen Elizabeth. According to a Nielsen survey, the series had averaged about 3 million viewers even on their fourth season.
Are you one of those who are fascinated with the Royal family? If you are one of them, you need to read through 1st & 2nd Kings and 1st & 2nd Chronicles, where you would find the glamour and grim of the royals who reigned over the nation of Israel for over 420 years. But what makes the stories of the Bible unique in talking about these royalties, the emphasis is not so much on how famous or powerful they were or how much they have accomplished; it was more on how they related and responded to God. Those who neglected and disobeyed Him lived and died as miserable kings, while those kings who honored and obeyed Him lived more victoriously and died more honorably.
Last Sunday, Bro. Art did a great job showing us how God chose David to be the King who will begin the royal family where the Lord Jesus will come from. Although King Saul was the first King, God rejected him because he chose to disobey Him. In contrast, David became a man after God's own heart, and God entered into a covenant with him. This covenant was a direct promise from the Lord that He will establish the kingdom of David forever and that He will appoint the coming kings over the nation of Israel after his family line (2 Samuel 7:11-16). Out of this promise to David, we drew the portrayal of Jesus Christ, which emphasizes Him as the Seed of David.
This morning, as we move to 1,2 Kings and 1,2 Chronicles, we will consider the portrayal of Jesus Christ as the reigning King. If you begin reading 1 Kings, you will find the transition of Israel's kingdom from King David's reign into his successor, King Solomon. This might come as a surprise for you because with all the sons of David, Solomon, who was his son from Bathsheba, would be God's anointed replacement to the throne. There's an important truth here that we should not miss. We all know how this relationship with Bathsheba started, but what is truly amazing to see is when true repentance had taken place, not only is God willing to forgive, but He is gracious enough to bring some thing good out a sinful past.
Now, added to the honor of being King David's successor, King Solomon will also be given the privilege to build the very first temple in Jerusalem. This leads us to our main text, which took place after the temple in Jerusalem was built. Solomon just dedicated it in 1 Kings 8 and offered a prayer that God would live there and hear the people's prayers whenever they prayed in that place. As we come to chapter 9, God responds to Solomon's prayer and establishes a covenant with him. I would like us to carefully examine the promises that God would give to Solomon in this covenant and use them as a backdrop to trace the history of the kings who reigned over the nation of Israel. I want to highlight three specific sections within our text:
I THE SEPARATED KINGDOM
Whenever God entered into a covenant in the Old Testament, there were always promises and responsibilities on both parties. If you consider verses 4-5, God would clearly reiterate to Solomon the basic promise He made to David – "if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'"
Here, the specific promise is that God will establish his family as the family that will rule over Israel forever, that God will choose among his offspring the one who will sit on the throne. However, God would also be very explicit regarding Solomon's responsibility to follow the example of obedience that David set before him. And then, God would give a very serious warning in verses 6-9 of what will happen to the nation if the King abandons his commitment to obey God – "But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins . . ."
One thing you would appreciate with God's words is that they are always black and white, that they are not complicated and hard to understand. Plainly, what God was saying is that the blessedness of Israel as a nation will be determined by the commitment of the king towards God. I would like us to remember that principle because we would undoubtedly see it being reflected through the books of Kings and Chronicles.
Going back to Solomon, fast forward, I would like us to see whether or not he would heed God's words. Let's read 1 Kings 11:6-13 (ESV):
6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded.
11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my serv ant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen."
Unfortunately, King Solomon would fail to carry out his responsibility in the covenant. He would do exactly what God has warned him not to do – to serve other gods. As a result of his disobedience, Israel will be divided into two kingdoms.
As you begin to read 1 Kings 12, you will see how this will happen. After King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam succeeded him. However, during the earlier part of his reign, he encountered a leadership crisis that came out of the heavy taxes placed upon the people. This crisis will lead the king to seek counsel from the elders who will tell him to help out the people by reducing their taxes. Instead of listening to the elders, he turned to his inexperienced friends, who told him that he should not give in to the people because it would only lead them to bigger demands. To make the long story short, Jeroboam, Rehoboam’s brother, will lead a revolution and take the 10 northern tribes of Israel. The only tribe, which is the tribe of Benjamin, will join the tribe of Rehoboam, the tribe of Judah. One practical lesson we can learn from this is that we should always be careful when listening to people's advice. I have learned that great counsels are always those that come from God's Word or those that would reflect the character of God. These words from God establishes this truth:
Psalm 32:7-8 (ESV):
7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Listen, God can preserve us even in times of our troubles when we are willing to heed His instructions.
II THE SHATTERED KINGDOM
Let me remind you again of the over-arching principle during the kings' time - The blessedness of Israel as a nation will be determined by the commitment of the king towards God. As I have said earlier, this reality is reflected throughout the kings that will rule over Israel's Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
To summarize the kings for both kingdoms, the northern kingdom starting from Jeroboam will have 19 kings from 931 BC – 722 BC. Out of the 19 kings, only King Jehu will be better than the others, but he won't really be considered a righteous king. For the southern kingdom, there will be a total of 20 kings from 931 BC – 586 BC. And out of 20 kings, only 6 would be considered righteous. The best ones among the 6 would be – Jehoshaphat, Hezeki ah, and Josiah.
Going back to our main text, specifically verses 7-8a, we read God's strong warning to them – "then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins." These words will ultimately be fulfilled. Because of the consistent departure of God's people from serving Jehovah God, God would allow foreign nations to destroy both the northern and southern kingdoms. The northern kingdom fell into the hands of the Assyrians in 722 BC, led by King Shalmaneser V. This event is described in 2 Kings 17:5- 8.
5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods
8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.
I would emphasize verses 7-8 because they explain to us why the Lord punished them. According to verse 8, their biggest problem was they kept following the practices of their idolatrous nations around them.
After the Assyrians shattered the northern kingdom, now, the southern kingdom would fall into the hands of the Babylonians led by King Nebuchadnezzar. This was narrated in 2 Kings 25: 8-11:
8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
9 And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.
10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile.
It is tragic to see how Israel, a blessed nation gifted with so many material and spiritual blessings, would end up being destroyed. However, we have to remember that God will always be faithful to His words, either blessings or curses: Here are the promises God gave them before entering the Promised land.
Deuteronomy 28: 1-2, 7-8, 15-17, 25-27:
1 "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
15 "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
16 Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
25 "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.
Evidently, God kept His words as declared from these verses.
III THE SAVIOR'S KINGDOM
Although the books of 1,2 Kings and 1,2 Chronicles do not end well. Praise God because the story of Israel's Kingdom will not end there. Remember, God's covenant with David and Solomon promised that they would always have a son who will sit on the throne forever.
So, from the time the Northern and Southern Kingdoms fell, there has never been a son of David who sat on the throne. After Israel returned from captivity, there have had kings appointed by their oppressors. But no legitimate ones came from the royal line. This is the reason why the Old Testament prophets spoke plainly of the Messiah coming from David's royal line.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV):
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Without a doubt, these words were fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. It is significant for us to understand that after he finished his work on the cross and is resurrected, His kingship was established. If you remember, Jesus Him self said in Matthew 28:18, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." So, He is already reigning as King today. However, only the true believers of Jesus Christ will acknowledge it. Many are still unwilling to accept it.
However, as the Bible has declared, this kingship of the Lord Jesus will be established here on earth. He promised to return and rule all over the world and sit once again on the throne of David.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 (ESV)
5 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'
Unlike other kings and rulers, the reign of Jesus Christ on earth will be very different. According to verse 5, He will govern wisely and execute justice and righteousness. Today, we all are longing to see this type of government ruling over us. The reality is that we will have to wait for Jesus to return and establish His Kingdom on earth before we see this type of government.
As I close this sermon, I am reminded once again that no human king or ruler would be able to correct all the problems of our society. I know that I cannot put my hope on human leaders. But I thank God that I have the prospect of a much better and glorious Kingdom because of Jesus Christ. I hope and pray that none of us will miss it. Why? It is because if we know Jesus as the king of our lives today, the Bible promises that we will be included in His Kingdom that will last forever.
-Dr. Jeremiah Lepasana