Biblical Theology X: Kings

The Book of Kings makes up the second half of a work that was started in the Book of Samuel, and ends the larger work of the Deuteronomistic History. In the LXX, the books are called 1, 2, 3, 4 Kingdoms; but they really make up a two-part work (like Luke-Acts or Ezra-Nehemiah).

Theology: The theology of God’s sovereignty continues in the Book of Kings. God decides the kingship, but it is through the deception of Nathan and Bathsheba that He brings it about. Kings, however, emphasizes the Sinai Theology, where God must be worshiped through His Word. This is displayed by sacrificing only wherever the ark is located, which is now in Jerusalem. To sacrifice anywhere else is to say that one can worship God through another means than through His Word. Hence, the two alternate places of worship via a golden calf at Dan and Bethel are condemned, as are the high places. The temple is built and becomes the place at which Israel is to sacrifice. The ark, which is characterized as having nothing in it but the two stone tablets containing the law, is moved into the temple. Again, the book is temple-centric because it is Word-centric, as is deuteronomic theology in general. One can only worship the true God through it and apart from it, God cannot be worshiped. All other forms of worship are forms of idolatry and in service of pagan deities that are really demons and not gods. This is true even when the name YHWH is being used to describe pagan worship. YHWH is not like any other of the gods of men. He does not really live in temples, nor is he limited by geographic boundaries. Solomon declares after building the temple: “God does not really live on the earth!  Behold, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built!” (8:27).  

Other gods are crafted by human hands as idols, and if backed at all are backed by demons, who have no ability to act unless YHWH allows it for His own purposes. Other religions are not treated as though they are manifestations of the one true God, but rather as demonic and man-made. They are referred to as empty things, foul things, refuse, and the gods are given twists on their names that disrespect them (e.g., Baal Zebul “Exalted Lord/Baal” is turned into Baal Zebub “Lord of the flies,” i.e., a dung heap).

The prophets play a big role in the book as those who call the kings back to the law, and even challenge the kings when they have sinned against God. The DH makes the argument that the prophets who call people back to God’s law and are confirmed by miracles are the true prophets, and all other prophets are false. Hence, the center of the Book of Kings consists of the stories of the prophets, featuring Elijah and Elisha.

Ethics: Communal justice plays a big role in the book. David charges Solomon to enact justice upon those who did evil toward him during his life, and upon those who brought about guilt upon his household. Solomon executes Joab for the murders of Abner and Amasa in order to remove the bloodshed from his own dynasty. However, Joab and his descendents remain guilty forever for the crimes of Joab. This is important, since God will “execute” Israel because of its unjust deeds via the northern deportation and the southern exile, thus showing that God washes His hands and His house of their deeds, even though He uses all things, even their evil deeds, for His purposes. Kings thus makes a distinction between the ultimate cause of all actions, i.e., God, who does them for the just and good purposes and the secondary agents acting out their evil desires, who are responsible and judged for the evil they do. For instance, Abiathar the High Priest is judged for aligning himself with Adonijah, but this happens to bring about the judgment decreed by God upon Eli and his descendents years before. Like God, it was beneficial to David when wicked men killed his enemies, but David still enacted justice over the wicked men, thus removing from himself the guilt of their sins. The idea is that if one is connected to an evil deed via a federal relationship then the only way to rid himself and his descendents of this deed is to enact justice instead. This plays an important role in the book as the kings who do evil like their predecessors are building judgment up against themselves and their descendents, but those kings who do what is just stay that judgment for a time. Justice/righteousness is therefore the remedy of judgment, and the kings who obey God’s law hold judgment at bay from God’s people. The kings who do evil bring judgment upon all the people. In this regard, both God’s sovereignty over evil and the human responsibility to do what is just are harmonious concepts.

Since justice plays a huge role in the book, the wisest king, Solomon asks for wisdom in making just decisions, and through this he becomes the example of what a king over God’s people should look like. The promise is given many times in the book that if the king obeys God’s laws, he will establish the throne forever and the people will not be abandoned. Unfortunately, however, as the author also made the point with David, none of these kings are the one Israel needs, as they too fail to become all that the Messianic King should be. Hence, he too is only a type. Each of the kings will either be completely wicked or they will simply be lacking in some way, thus arguing that the seed of David is still to come.

    There is also the ethical principle of the older trumps the newer. The older revelation/religion must take precedent over the supposedly newer revelation/religion in the story of the man of God and his interaction with Jeroboam. The old law is found under Josiah and it must be put in place over newer ways of thinking and practice. This is connected to the larger theology of the book that affirms the supremacy of what God has revealed over the opinions of cultural ethics. God will judge those who disregard His law because a new situation arises where it is easier to follow cultural custom. This is the distinction in the DH between what is right in “their own eyes” versus what is right “in the eyes of YHWH.”

Throughout the book, as seen earlier in the DH, specifically in Judges, marrying a woman of another faith is seen as the equivalent of apostasy, and is tied to Israel’s downfall. This begins with Solomon marrying foreign wives for whom he sets up altars and place of worship and is reiterated with Ahab marrying Jezebel, which results in one of the worst apostasies in Israelite history. What is communicated, therefore, is that marrying an unbeliever is an act of rejecting the covenant with YHWH. Connected to the creational principle that runs throughout the Scripture, it is to reject the covenant of the imago Dei, which sees marriage as the means to create and cultivate, i.e., fill up the earth with, covenant children.