1 Kings 1:1-53, Acts 4:1-37, Psalm 124:1-8, Proverbs 16:24
Today is the sixth day of June, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is awesome to be here with you today. It is awesome for us to have a place to gather around the Global Campfire, as we move into some new territory.
Introduction to the Book of 1st Kings:
So, yesterday we concluded the two books of Samuel, first and second Samuel, which leads us today, in just a couple of minutes, into the book of first Kings, which implies that there is a second Kings and there is, these were the books of the Kings and we talked about all this, we began Samuel because they were all one text, at one time. And then, they were broken apart for the ease of finding things in the first Samuel, second Samuel, first Kings second Kings. But we finished the books of Samuel which largely dealt with who Samuel was and then who the first king of Israel was, King Saul, which brought us to a new era in the life of the children of Israel, called the monarchy. A time, when they actually had kings. And then in second Samuel, we followed along with the second king of Israel, King David’s life. And as we begin first Kings, it will seem like or just simply continuing on with the story because we are, but there are some differences. We are about to read first and the second Kings over the next weeks, and then we will read the books of Chronicles, 1st and 2nd Chronicles after that. First and second Kings and first and second Chronicles cover the same general part of history, it’s just that they’re coming from a couple of different perspectives. So, as we move into the books of the Kings, we’ll be given the perspective of royalty, of the kings and the ways in which they interacted with some of the prophetic voices that were in the land at the time. Then when we get to the book of, the books of Chronicles, we’ll look at the same period of history from the perspective of the priestly and Levitical offices. So, that is the general territory that we’re heading into for the next stretch here, a couple of viewpoints on the same time. And as we begin today with first Kings, we will be witnessing the end of David’s reign and then we will see his son, Solomon, in pretty dramatic fashion ascend to the throne of Israel and in very short order, we will reach the apex, the mountain top of the ancient children of Israel. Solomon, will lead the children of Israel into a time of prosperity and peace and respect, as they had never had before, he brings them to this the mountain top experience, this kind of experience that we’ve been working toward since we met Abraham. But then before Solomon’s reign ends, towards the latter part of his life, it’s like we’ve gone over the top of the peak and were starting our way on a long dissent downward. And so, we will see the children of Israel reach their peak and enjoy that for a brief moment and then we will start sliding downward until the children of Israel disappear into obscurity and exile. And of course, we’ll tell the story day-by-day, step-by-step as we do around here. And with that little bit of a flyover of where we’re going, let’s begin, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week, first Kings chapter 1.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for this brand-new territory that we are moving into, as we move into the books of Kings and as we travel along King Solomon’s side now and see his reign and find again, as with all of the Bible, a mirror into our own soul, as we look into the stories of people’s lives and the paths that they chose and where those roads lead. We ask that You guide us through this, we ask that Your Holy Spirit, come, and lead us, as we ask, so often, because we always needed that You would lead us into all truth, as was promised by Jesus, and we thank You for that and we rest in it, and trust in it, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Will be posted shortly.