1 Kings 1: Solomon the Merciful

Thanks to Guy McKenzie for preaching this week. Please accept our apologies for the missing audio.

Introduction:

The book of kings is categorized as a history book, but this does not mean that it is not full of theology. So while this book is a thrilling tale of intrigue, mystery, and murder, it is so much more than this. The golden chain of salvation runs through this exciting story and while we would rightly shy away from too much allegory, that is searching for the hidden meanings in the text, we can easily discern that many of the of the themes show us theology and many of the people are typical, or types.

For example as we look into this volume we should understand that Solomon is a type of Christ. And by this expression typical, or type, we should understand that Solomon has certain characteristics of Christ, not that Solomon is typical, or like him, in every detail. So that being said, I have decided to approach the preaching of this book, as it is written, as a thrilling piece of redemptive history. So before we begin we need to understand where in redemptive history the book of kings sits.

The redemptive story so far tells us that Adam and Eve have been deceived by the serpent, sinned and been cast out of the Garden of Eden. God has promised the first humans that one day a saviour will rescue them and their descendant’s. The flood has decimated the first world, and Abraham has been promised that the saviour will be born from his seed, out of a people as numerous as the sand on the beach, or stars in the sky. This great race of people have come into existence and they are the Israelites. So as we open the book of kings we find the Israelites living in the promised land ruled by a the great king David.

But in the background the serpent, Satan, is still attempting to destroy the race of men and the shadow of death and treachery stalk the halls of King David’s palace.