1-2 Kings

On Thursday night I'm presenting my 1-2 Kings Sunday School curriculum to our teachers and the teachers of two other churches who are also using it this term. I thought I'd include some background on the books in case anyone is unaware (I naturally assume that everyone knows this stuff, but I shouldn't). Perhaps more interesting, is my take on application - which others may not agree with. Anyway, I'll be saying something like this. Any thoughts?

What is 1-2 Kings all about?

The books of Kings continue the story of the books of Samuel. (The break between Samuel and Kings is artificial.) They begin with the rise of Solomon, treating his reign as the as the golden age of Israel. The Abrahamic promises are fulfilled – Israel is a great nation, at rest in the land of Canaan, blessed extravagantly with wealth and wisdom and the nations are coming to her for blessing. Moreover, the promises to David are also fulfilled – his son is on the throne and the temple is built, and the Exodus image of God being present in the cloud comes along for the ride as well. Abraham, Moses, David all wrapped up together and given to Solomon. Bully for him!

But we don't get to enjoy this idealised picture of the kingdom for long. Solomon's foreign wives (accumulated in order to form political alliances) inevitably lead him into apostasy. In judgement, God rips the northern ten tribes out of the hands of Solomon's inept son Rehoboam and gives them to Jeroboam to rule. Only two tribes remain faithful to Davidic rule – Judah and Benjamin.

In order to keep his people away from Jerusalem and thus consolidate his rule, Jeroboam sets up two alternate shrine in his new Kingdom (called Israel) - Dan in the far north, and Bethel in the South. The writer of Kings is not impressed with Jeroboam's rejection of Jerusalem which is symptomatic of his general disregard for Yahweh's rule. All of the kings of Israel follow in Jeroboam's apostate steps, despite much prophetic activity and many clear warnings of coming doom. Successive northern dynasties are brought down before Israel is finally defeated by Assyria. We are encouraged to see the inevitability of this. Israel has chosen the path of death, rejecting the covenant, and faces the judgements outlined in Deuteronomy 30.

The faithfulness of the southern kingdom (Judah) is marginally better than that of their northern cousins. In the centuries following Solomon, there are 2 good kings (Hezekiah and Josiah) who attempt to keep the covenant, 6 not entirely bad kings (including Jehoash who we'll look at) and then there's the rest – who, like their northern counterparts, flagrantly reject God's rule. The question throughout 1-2 Kings is 'how long will God put up with this?' Each king is measured against a Deuteronomy checklist which none come close to fulfilling. The collapse of Judah seems inevitable. A better king is needed.

What should the kids get out of it?

I want the kids to become immersed in the Kings narrative. I want them to feel with the inspired writer the failures (and successes) of the kings. I want them groaning over Israel's hopelessness and feeling the inevitability and rightness of God's judgement. If the kids can learn to see and assess Israel's history from God's perspective, this will help them see their own lives and situations as God does.

I don't think we need to push too hard at application. If the children are drawn into the narrative and shown how Jesus is end point of the story, we will achieve a great deal. With the weekly story and repetition of the checklist and song, the children will learn:

• That we should worship God alone
• That we should love God with all our hearts
• That accumulating wealth and marrying people outside the faith are dangerous things
• That our most natural drift is into disobedience. Our obedience to God can be half hearted and short lived.
• God is ready to forgive us as soon as we turn to him
• The Israelites followed the lead of their king. If their king scored badly, so did they.
• Jesus is the only one who scored 10/10. The only perfect king.
• If Jesus is our king, we follow him and get his 10/10 score.