Rehoboam didn’t get his wisdom from God, he went to his peers to get help to lead God’s people – that’s scary!Īgain, check out this agonising moment in 1 Kings 12:28-33. Now, because the kings are not listening to God for advice, they end up getting their advice from the worst places and, no surprise, the advice is not good! Check out 1 Kings 12:8, ‘Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him’. We go to church, pray and read our Bibles only in times of crisis, not as a consistent ongoing relationship with God. Ring any bells? How many times has God rescued us, saved us, turned our lives around? Yet when everything is going right, we stop seeking the voice of God, His guidance and His protection. He established them in Jerusalem, placed them in their own Kingdom, was once their King! But, now that they are comfortable, wealthy and established, they reject God, trusting instead in their own human strength, and worship other gods. It is a frustrating ride.Īs you read 1 & 2 Kings you have to keep reminding yourself that these are not the enemies of God trying to kill His prophets, this is the people of God the same people that God saved from Egypt, walked through the wilderness, gave victory over Jericho, sent Judges to save every time they got in trouble. The kings often reject the word of God through His prophets, seek advice from other sources, some declare out and out war on their prophets, like Ahab and Jezebel did, and some kings obey. Unfortunately, as we journey through these books, you’ll find that is not the case. God speaks through His prophets to guide and instruct His people, and the kings are to rule God’s kingdom, heeding His words and instructions and doing what is right. One thing I want you to remember when you study the relationship between the prophets and kings is that both represent God. The kings try and kill the prophets, put them in prison, send other false prophets to contradict them, all to stop the word of God! Check out all the crazy interactions as you venture through 1 & 2 Kings. The relationship between prophet and King is a wild and incredibly frustrating ride, and is one of the central themes of the Old Testament. As you study, you can take note of the prophets’ message, warnings, and where they all fit into the historical timeline. This is a great way of seeing which prophets prophesied at the time of the different kings, including Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah.

Bible timeline kings and prophets