22 September 2013
Kings: Review & Kings of Israel
1. LESSON: Review & Kings of Israel (1
Kings 15: 25-16:28)
- In the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the kings of
Judah
who ruled over the Southern Kingdom (2 tribes): (use actions to reinforce and review)
- Rehoboam: Not a servant king
(actions: an “X” sign with hands then open palms for “serving”)
Proud and refused to serve the people. As a
result, his father’s kingdom was split into 2 — Judah (2 tribes) and Israel (10
tribes).
Jesus is our servant King who came to give
us rest.
- Abijah: Relied on God for victory
(actions: do V for victory sign
with fingers)
God gave him victory
over Jeroboam (who tried to ambush Abijah with double the
number of troops) because of His covenant with David.
Because of His New Covenant with
Jesus, God fights our battles for us and gives us victory!
- Asa: Trust in God or trust in
self?
(actions: stand on 1 foot and
lean to one side; ie who are you leaning on?)
When Asa trusted in
God, God gave him victory over the Egyptian king and his mighty army. But when
threatened by King Baasha, Asa decided to rely on himself and formed
his own alliances, instead of trusting God.
Trust
in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
- Today, we will look at 5 more kings of
Israel (Northern Kingdom; 10 tribes) and see how they fared.
- Generally, all the kings of Israel didn’t follow God. They did evil
and led the people to worship idols. It was a vicious cycle with each new
king. And there were always wars and unrest as a result.
- Jeroboam (22 years)
(actions: 2
fingers on sides of head like cows’ horns)
- We’ve learnt about King Jeroboam. Who
remembers what he did? He made 2 golden
calves for the people to worship, so they didn’t have to go to the Temple in
Jerusalem.
- Jeroboam
tried to let unholy people worship a holy God everywhere.
Jesus’ death made us holy and opened the way for us to worship
the Father in Spirit and in truth.
- Nadab (2 years)
(actions: show
thumb; he is 1st of 5 new kings we’re learning today)
- Son of Jeroboam; followed his father’s ways.
- One day, when Nadab
was busy attacking a town in Philistine (Gibbethon), one of his own people,
Baasha, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against him and killed him!
- Baasha (24 years)
(actions:
show 2 fingers — thumb and forefinger)
- As soon as Baasha
killed Nadab, he made himself king.
- He killed Jeroboam’s
entire family, as was prophesied to Jeroboam before as a result of his
idolatry. (1 Kings 14:14-16)
- Last week we learnt
of how Baasha tried to attack King Asa of Judah, but Asa made a treaty with
King Ben-Hadad to stop him.
- Baasha also did many
evil things and worshipped idols. God sent His prophet to tell Baasha: “I
lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but
you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to
arouse my anger by their sins.”
- As a result, God told
Baasha that he and his family will suffer the same end as Jeroboam and his
family.
- Elah (2 years)
(actions:
show 3 fingers — thumb, forefinger and 3rd finger)
- Son of Baasha.
- His official, Zimri, who commanded half his
chariots, plotted against him. One day when Elah was drunk, Zimri came in and
struck him down.
- Zimri (7 days)
(actions: show 4
fingers — thumb, forefinger, 3rd finger and ring finger)
- Zimri succeeded Elah as king of Israel and
ruled in Tirzah.
- Just as Baasha killed the entire family of
Jeroboam, Zimri killed all of Baasha’s family, as was prophesied.
- However
Zimri was the shortest-reigning king in Israel. Guess how long he reigned? 7 days!
- When the Israelites in the army camp heard
that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri,
the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp.
- Omri and the Israelites then attacked Tirzah
(where Zimri was ruling).
- When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he
went into the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died.
- Omri (12 years)
(actions: show 5
fingers)
- Some Israelites supported another person to
be king —Tibni, but Omri’s followers were stronger, so Omri became king.
- Omri bought a hill from a man called Shemer
for 2 talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called it Samaria,
after Shemer (the former owner).
- Sadly, like the other kings before him, Omri
also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In fact, the Bible says he sinned more than all those before him.
- Conclusion:
- What can we
learn from the kings of Israel? (revise
with actions)
- Jeroboam
- Nadab
- Baasha
- Elah
- Zimri
- Omri
- Because they didn’t follow God, because they did evil and led the
people to worship idols, there were always wars and unrest
- (note: If you
recall, in the beginning, God was the King over the nation of Israel when He
brought them into the Promised Land. He had judges to rule over Israel. But
Israel grumbled and complained — all the other nations had kings, so they
wanted a human king too! That was how Saul was appointed as Israel’s 1st
king.)
- Through
history, we see how human kings always
fail. Because they are human. They are not perfect. They make bad
decisions. They try to do things their own way, not God’s way. And as a result,
the people will suffer.
- Today, we have a good King. He never fails. He is perfect. He makes wise decisions. He does
things His way because He is God. And as a result, all of us are blessed in
Him! His name is Jesus!
- Out of the 5
kings, 3 became king by killing the previous king — Baasha, Zimri and Omri.
They were greedy for power and seized it
for themselves by destroying others.
- Jesus was King of all who came to give His life
for us. When the people wanted to make Him
king by force, Jesus withdrew because He knew that was not God’s time (John
6:15). When He finally entered Jerusalem as a king on a donkey (John 12:15),
his purpose was to die on the cross and give His life for us.
- Because Jesus died for us, you and I can be prince
and princesses of the Most High God! Thank you Jesus!
2. Suggested Activities
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