1 Kings 15
McGeeCHAPTERS 15 AND 16THEME: Kings of the divided kingdomIn chapter 15 two of Judah’s kings are mentioned: Abijam, a sinful king, and Asa, a good king. Also the reigns of two of Israel’s kings are given to us: Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, who walked in the sins of his father, and Baasha, who murdered him and reigned in his stead. Chapter 16 continues with the history of Baasha, then four other kings of Israeleach more wicked than his successor: Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab who compounded his wickedness by marrying the infamous Jezebel.
1 Kings 15:1
REHOBOAM IS SUCCEEDED BY ABIJAMI feel that we need a double portion of the Spirit of God as we go through this section. In the last part of chapter 14 we were told that Rehoboam, a son of Solomon, reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. Jeroboam reigned over Israel in the north. He is the one who led a rebellion of the ten northern tribes. Civil war continued between the two kingdoms. It was a bitter war with brother fighting brotherthere is nothing quite as bad as that. We have also noted that so far none of the kings have been good. In fact, there is never a good king in Israel, and only eight good kings in the southern kingdom of Judah in the line of David. We find that after the death of Rehoboam, his son Abijam (also called Abijah) comes to the throne: There is something quite interesting that you will find all through this section: every time a king is mentioned his mother is also mentioned. That is unusual. We are generally told who a man’s father was and whom he succeeded, but in this portion the mother’s name is given again and again. Why? It is because each mother had a great deal to do with influencing the life of her son. My position here is that the reason God recorded the name of the mother along with each king’s name (and these are bad kings) is because she is partially responsible for the way he turned out. Also when the king was a good king, the mother was partially responsible. She must accept responsibility for him. You and I are living in a time when a lot of condemnation and judgment are brought against young people who become vagrants and are dissolute. I recognize that trouble can arise out of a Christian home, but generally the background of a young person has something to do with the way he or she turns out. Ordinarily these troubled young people have a mother who is partially responsible for the way they act and liveyou cannot escape it, friend. Now I know that this cuts very deep and very hard, but we need to recognize that a mother has had a great opportunity to influence her little one, and if a little one has grown up to feel neglected, unwanted, and unloved, maybe the mother ought to stop and think. Instead of trying to be president of the missionary society, sing in the choir, and do everything else in the church, a mother would be doing more for the Lord if she would stay home some evening, take the little one up in her arms and love him and let him know how much she really appreciates him. This is something that is being neglected in our day.
The biggest problem that most young couples have today is finding a baby sitter. May I say to you that we need a few more “mother sitters” who take time to train little Willie and little Susie. My friend, it takes a lot of time and love to rear a childthis is something that is very important. I have taken some extra time on this subject because, candidly, it will occur again and again. Every time we have a bad king, his mamma’s name is givenI think God is trying to tell us something. If he was a good king, his mother’s name is also given; she will get credit for that. I just would not want to be the mother of some of the rascals we are going to find here in Scripture. It would disturb me a great deal to have a son like most of these kings.
1 Kings 15:3
Abijam walked in all the sins of his fatherhe followed his father’s pattern. Papa was to blame, also, for the way his son turned out; papa set the example. Abijam was not brought up in a very good home. He was a rotten, corrupt king, and his father and mother are responsible to a certain degree. We are told also that “his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.” David had become the standard for these kings. It is true that David was a human standard, but it was a standard that God accepted.
1 Kings 15:4
The line of David, friend, never ends until you come to the Lord Jesus Christ. It ended thereyou cannot follow the line of David after Christ. God says, “I won’t let the lamp go out until the fulfillment of the covenant I made with David.” There will come One to sit on his throne who will rule the worldthat One is the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Kings 15:5
Why did God accept David as the standard? Because of his sin? No! That was a black spot on David’s record. Although little man is in no position to sit in judgment upon God, we do it nonetheless. But if you are going to judge God about His relationship with David, understand what God really said about David.
God listed David’s assets and liabilities in this verse: David did not turn aside from anything that He commanded except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. That was the black spot on David’s record. In every other matter he obeyed God. David did not live in sin. The king of Babylon did. What David did one time, the king of Babylon did every day.
It was the weekend practice of the king of Egypt to do the thing David did one time. The whole thought is expressed by our Lord in the parable of the prodigal son. Friend, the son can get in the pigpenwe need to recognize that. God’s child can get in the pigpen, but by the same token the child of God will not stay in the pigpen. Why won’t he? The reason is obvious: he is a son of the father; he is not a pig.
Pigs live in pigpens. Sons want to live in the father’s house. My friend, if you want to live in a pigpen, that is where you belong! And that tells who you are. However, if you are in the pigpen but you have a desire in your heart to cry out to God for forgiveness, He will hear you. When you turn back to Him, He will receive you.
David did a wrong thing, but David confessed his sin. However, obedience to God was the norm for David. I think it behooves us to be very careful about criticizing Davidhe was a great man. We are not worthy (at least I am not) to tie the strings of his shoes. He was a great man of God and became the earthly standard for the kings.
1 Kings 15:6
This was a time of civil strife. It was a time of brother fighting against brother, and it seriously weakened the kingdom.
1 Kings 15:7
ABIJAM IS SUCCEEDED BY ASAAbijam did nothing outstanding during his reignall was evil. He was a bad king. So he died and was buried with his fathers. Abijam was succeeded by his son Asa. Now we come to the first good king, and we feel like saying, “Hallelujah, we’ve found a good king!”
1 Kings 15:9
You can see that there is an overlapping here of two years. Asa reigned during the last two years of Jeroboam’s reign. Asa reigned for forty-one years. He had one of the longest reigns of any king. In fact, the only two kings who reigned longer than Asa were Azariah (or Uzziah) and Manasseh. Asa’s mother’s name was Maachah. Isn’t that interesting? Asa was a good king, and she gets credit here for the way Asa turned out. Again David is the standard of right and wrong for a kingAsa measured up to David. Now what did he do?
1 Kings 15:12
Asa did not go for the idea that we should be soft on homosexuals. He was opposed to homosexuality. It is not a mark of being civilized when any nation drops to the low level that we have today. God gives up any people who have a permissive society, openly allowing homosexuality. It is a mark of gross degradationwe are going down as a nation. Someone needs to speak out against this today. We need to recognize it as a sinit is as corrupt, depraved, and degraded as any sin a person can commit. Man cannot sink any lower than this. When a person sinks this low, God gives him up. Our society is moving in that direction. Asa dealt with the problem, and he is called a good king. God has not changed His mind on this issue at all.
1 Kings 15:16
WAR WITH BAASHAAsa made war against Baasha, king of Israel. It was continual civil war. We are told that Asa did other things also. He had to appease a kingdom that was arising in the north and becoming dominantthat kingdom was Syria.
1 Kings 15:17
These were dark days for the kingdom, and there are darker days yet to come.
1 Kings 15:18
Asa sent Ben-hadad presents of gold and silver in order to appease him. To keep him from invading his kingdom, Asa made a league with him. This is probably the one thing he did that was wrong.
1 Kings 15:22
Asa did all of this for protection, of course.
1 Kings 15:23
ASA IS SUCCEEDED BY JEHOSHAPHATAs we shall see, Jehoshaphat was another good king.
1 Kings 15:25
NADAB IS SLAIN AND SUCCEEDED BY BAASHANow we come back to Nadab, the son of Jeroboam: Nadab began to reign in the second year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah. Nadab ruled for two years over Israel. We will find in this succession of bad kings that there was a great deal of sin and political intrigue in the northern kingdom.
1 Kings 15:27
You would think that somewhere along the line there would be peace, but there was not. There was war between Asa and Baasha all their days. The continual civil war depleted the energy and resources of both the kingdoms. It also made both kingdoms subject to the powers round about them. They were invaded again and again by Egypt in the south, by Syria, and finally by Assyria in the north. These people simply would not change their ways.