Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Today we begin reading the Book of I Kings ...
This is such an exciting book, as is II Kings ...
By reading these chapters, we see justice of God and we see that God has a plan and executes that plan. When it suits God, HE will raise up someone to cause HIS plan to come to pass.
And we see that what we do on this present earth matters.
When they did right in the sight of God, they were blessed by God. (blessed: divinely favored and protected)
When they did wrong in the sight of God, justice came, though it might not come to them immediately. But it did come. By this we can see the truth of the following which was spoken by the apostle Paul.
Romans 12 ... 17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath:for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink:for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Recently I was reading a secular book and the character was about to strike out in revenge and I thought: "Oh, NO ... don't do that ... God will do that for you better than you can do." (I know the concept from the OT of God dealing with the evil doer is taking root in my heart as I read these OT examples.)
We see so many examples in these OT passages of God dealing with the wrong that was done and how God dealt with the wrong.
God will deal with the wrong done. These passages clearly show us this.
I Cor. 10 ... 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
==========
Here is a brief outline which is helpful in understanding the kings of the Old Testament and the nation of the children of Israel.
First, we consider the nation of the children of Israel ...
Jacob (renamed Israel by God):
Leah: Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Zilpha: (Leah's maid)
Gad
Asher
Rachel: Joseph
Benjamin
Bilhahi: (Rachel's maid)
Dan
Naphtali
Rachel was the great love of Jacob's life. Jacob was deceived into marrying her older sister Leah so Jacob had two wives, both Leah and then Rachel ... (this was common practice in OT.) Men had multiple wives and concubines but women never had multiple husbands (while the husband was living) unless they were harlots. So long as their husband lived they had one husband and sex with one man unless forced against their will into sex with another.
Rachel was barren. So she gave her maid to Jacob so she could have child by her maid. The maid had two children. (see above chart)
Leah had 4 sons, then she gave her maid to Jacob. The maid had 2 sons by Jacob. Then Leah had 2 more sons.
After many children were born by the other women, God opened Rachel's womb and she had her first son Joseph. Then as they traveled, Rachel had her second son, Benjamin. And Rachel died in childbirth.
Thus we have the 12 tribes of Israel ... sons of Jacob who was renamed Israel by God.
Leah: 6 sons
Zilpha: 2 sons
Rachel: 2 sons
Bilhahi: 2 sons
If you have ever seen a family where there are 1/2 brothers, you will know there is often a difference made between the brothers according to their mother.
Joseph was sold into slavery by the sons of Leah, Zilpha, and Bilhahi.
When Joseph ruled in Egypt and his 10 brothers came for food, who did Joseph want to see? He wanted to see his full brother Benjamin. And when Joseph gave raiment to the brothers, he gave 5 times more to Benjamin, not because of the worthiness of Benjamin but because Benjamin was Joseph mother's son, his full brother.
Later when Jacob (renamed Israel by God) blessed the 12 sons, the 12 tribes of Israel, we see there was a penalty on Simeon and Levi for "they killed a man". (Gen. 49)
Simeon and Levi took it upon themselves to execute vengeance against wrong doing done to their sister Dinah. And as a result, there was a penalty cited against them in the blessing when Israel blessed his 12 sons.
Genesis 34
1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. 3 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. 4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. 5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter:now his sons were with his cattle in the field:and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. 7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it:and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done. 8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter:I pray you give her him to wife. 9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. 10 And ye shall dwell with us:and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. 11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. 12 Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me:but give me the damsel to wife. 13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:15 But in this will we consent unto you:If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; 16 Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. 18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son. 19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter:and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, 21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. 24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites:and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. 31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
Genesis 49: Jacob (renamed Israel by God) blesses his sons
5 Simeon and Levi are brethren;
instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret;
unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united:
for in their anger they slew a man,
and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
and their wrath, for it was cruel:
I will divide them in Jacob,
and scatter them in Israel.
Also you notice in Genesis 49, in the blessing of Jacob (renamed Israel by God), Joseph had a long blessing from Jacob (Israel)
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,
even a fruitful bough by a well;
whose branches run over the wall:
23 The archers have sorely grieved him,
and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength,
and the arms of his hands were made strong
by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob;
(from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee;
and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lieth under,
blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors
unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills:
they shall be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
And the tribe that really stands out in the blessings of Jacob (renamed Israel by God) is the tribe of Judah. (Jesus Christ was from the tribe of Judah)
Genesis 49
8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise:
thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies;
thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp:
from the prey, my son, thou art gone up:
he stooped down, he couched as a lion,
and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh come;
and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine,
and his ass's colt unto the choice vine;
he washed his garments in wine,
and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes shall be red with wine,
and his teeth white with milk.
==========
You might consider going back now and re-reading all these blessings given to the 12 tribes of Israel by their father Jacob (renamed Israel by God). Genesis 49
As you read these chapters of the OT, take time to absorb what you are reading. Let the words and examples sink into you. Do not hurry through these verses. When God mentions a previous happening such in the blessing of Simeon & Levi where the blessing refers to such & such because they killed a man, go back and read where they killed a man. Don't read these verses in haste. If you don't have time to read, then don't read until you can do it properly.
You bring a curse on yourself if you mishandle the word of God, which is the Lord's supper:
I Cor. 11 ... 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (die). 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
This verse is speaking of eating and drinking the Word of God which is the Lord's supper. (The Lord's supper is not crackers and grape juice. The Word of God is power. Crackers/grape juice is not power but has been set up in the churches by fleshly men who misinterpreted the scripture in I Corinthians 11 which speak of the Lord's supper.)
And Paul says: 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged
We cannot judge ourselves by crackers/grape juice which many churches call "The Lord's supper".
Crackers/grape juice has no power, consequently is not Lord's supper.
The Word of God is that whereby we judge ourselves, correcting our way.
The Lord's supper is the Word of God.
But we must partake of reading the Bible correctly when we read otherwise we bring upon ourselves damnation. (I Cor. 11:29)
Some might think wrongly that they just won't read the Bible for they might misinterpret it. (Some Catholics are taught not to read Bible. If they read Bible they would see how wrong the doctrine of the Catholic church is and they would come out of Catholic church. But they are trapped because they are taught not to read Bible)
The way to prosper in all you do has to do with the reading of the Bible correctly and taking your counsel from God through the Word of God. And choosing to do what the Word of God says.
Psalm 1
Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so:
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Joshua 1
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein:for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
To prosper in all your ways, you must read the scriptures correctly and apply them to your lives.
Never rush through when you read Bible. If you feel you don't have time to read, then don't read until you have time.
===========
Outline of the Kings of Judah and the Kings of Israel
Saul: First king of the 12 tribes of Israel
The people wanted a king so they could be like other nations. They wanted a king to rule over them rather than having God rule. Samuel was very angry over this.
1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected ME, that I should not reign over them.
God sent Samuel to anoint Saul as king.
Saul disobeyed God so God removed HIS Spirit from Saul and gave HIS Spirit to David and brought an evil spirit upon Saul.
==========
David is king over the 12 tribes of Israel.
David follows God with all his heart but David takes another man's wife (Bathsheba) and then has her husband (Uriah) killed so the people will not discover Bathsheba was pregnant by David.
God leaves the kingdom with David but puts penalties on David as follows:
II Samuel 12 ... 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly:but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
==========
Solomon, David's son by Bathsheba, is made king over the children of Israel and is given great wisdom from God to rule the people. But Solomon was told twice by God not to take the strange women (women from other nations) to be his wife for God said they would turn his heart away from God. Solomon wouldn't listen to God in this matter and in his old age Solomon lifted up various gods of the wives and God brought a penalty upon Solomon as follows:
I Kings 11 ... 9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, 10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods:but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. 11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake:but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. 13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
And God stirred up 3 adversaries against Solomon and from that point there was not peace again in Solomon's reign.
==========
Rehoboam, Solomon's son, is made king after Solomon's death ... And the kingdom is then divided as God said HE would divide it. The instrument God used to divide the kingdom is as follows:
I Kings 12 ... 3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4 Thy father made our yoke grievous:now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? 7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? 10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. 11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke:my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; 14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke:my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
Prophecy over Jeroboam:
28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour:and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. 29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces:for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:32 (But he (Rehoboam) shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) 33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand:but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes. 36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
This was a wonderful promise given to Jeroboam if he would do right in the sight of God and obey God.
But Jeroboam did evil in the sight of God. And it was such evil that for many generations when other kings after him sinned, it was referred to as "the sins of Jeroboam."
- Jeroboam made lowest men to be his priests and did not use those appointed by God from Levites as priests.
- Jeroboam feared that the people might go to Jerusalem to worship and that was the place where Rehoboam (son of Solomon) ruled over the tribe of Judah. Jeroboam made the following rule for the nation of Israel, the 10 tribes he ruled. Jeroboam made 2 golden calves and set up one calf at Bethel and the other calf at Dan and told the people to go to Bethel or to Dan and worship the golden calf for Jeroboam said it was too far for them to have to go to Jerusalem to worship. But Jeroboam was not really concerned about the distance to Jerusalem but he was concerned that the people he ruled would turn in Jerusalem to Rehoboam to be their king.
==========
As we read the Books of Kings, I & II, keep in mind the names Rehoboam and Jeroboam. For the beginning of the division of the kingdoms starts with these two kings.
The kingdom is now divided into:
Judah (1 tribe) and Israel (10 tribes)
Rehoboam ..........................Jeroboam
-did evil in sight of God - did evil in the sight of God
Abijam / evil........................Nadab / evil
Asa / right .......................... Baasha / evil
Jehoshphat .......................... Zimri / evil
........................................... Tibni
........................................... Omri/evil
...........................................Ahab/ evil (Jezebel)
There were many more kings both of Judah and Israel ... I think we are going to find far more kings doing evil than good.
That would certainly fit with what Jesus said as follows: Mt. 7 ... 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate:for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Even though we know in NT church, when we belong to Jesus our sins are forgiven through His Blood, there is still the fleshly penalty. The unbelieving husband and unbelieving child still exist so when there is adultery you still have the after effects in the flesh.
Therefore I do believe there is still penalty to deal with when there is sin. And these penalties are so strongly brought out in the following chapters of I Kings and II Kings. This gives us a chance to develop a rational fear of the Lord based on scripture. (And hopefully the fear of the Lord will be greater than the desire to do the sin.)
The fear of the Lord has been removed from so many of the protestant churches today. The fear of the Lord is important in following what God says. Inwardly we must know that if we do opposite from that which God has said, the consequences are very likely to be unfavorable on this present earth! (this is certainly what the examples in both the OT and NT show ... consider Acts 5 and I Cor. 5 as two NT examples)
(And you might also note the penalty for the specific sin when it is
cited in I Kings & II Kings as you read these examples.)