SERMON: Old Testament Overview Part 8 - The Poetic Books




Old Testament Overview
Part 8 - The Poetic Books

  • This Session:
    • Review/Introductions
    • 1st & 2nd Samuel
    • 1st & 2nd Kings
    • 1st & 2nd Chronicles
  • I. Review/Introduction
    • Timeline
  • II. 1 & 2 Samuel
    • “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
    • Originally, there was only the Book of Samuel.  
    • It slows down to bridge the judges to the monarchy.   (Judges deals w/ roughly 300 years of history, and so do 1 & 2 Kings.)
    • NAME: First/Second Samuel (LXX: First/Second “Kingdoms”)
    • THEME: 
      • 1 Samuel — Transition (Judges to Kings)
      • 2 Samuel —David’s reign
    • OUTLINE for 1 Samuel:
      • Samuel – The Last of the Judges   1 -  7
      • Saul – The First of the Kings   8 –15
      • David – The Greatest of the Kings      15 – 31
    • Who is Samuel?
      • Life parallels Moses (faithful mother, raised outside of home, etc.)
      • Samuel is the last and greatest of the judges, bringing in the king. (Like John the Baptist was the greatest of the prophets heralding Christ.)
      • Founds the school of the prophets.
      • Anoints Saul as king, and later, David.
      • He deals with the threat of the Philistines
        • Oppressed Israel for 40 years (Samson had tactical successes)
        • Ark was lost to them briefly (1 Sam. 4)
      • Would be major nemesis for Saul, and ultimately subdued by David.
      • The demand for a king:
        • God had promised kings to Abraham from the beginning (Gen 17:6, 16; 35:11).
        • Why did they now want one (1 Sam. 8:20)?
          • To be like everyone else!
          • To have someone “fight our battles.”
        • God predicted this, but called them to faithfulness to Him in the midst of it (Deut. 17:14–20).
        • Samuel wasn’t happy (v. 6), but the Lord tells him to listen to the people (v. 7).  Samuel warns them that this will invite a harvest of regrets.
    • Saul:
      • Early promise
      • Striking physical superiority
      • Modest, direct, generous
      • Later decline
      • Irreverent presumption; willful impatience (won’t wait for Samuel, sacrifices; cf. 1 Sam. 15:20–23)
        • Disobedient; doesn’t destroy the Amalekites (Haman in Esther is a descendant!)
        • Jealous of a young man’s successes
        • The Witch at Endor
    • David:
      • Young shepherd boy, displayed faith in the Lord and defeated the giant Goliath
      • Continues to have success in army, befriends Jonathan, marries the king’s daughter
      • Learns more dependance upon God and leadership on the run
      • Upon Saul’s death in battle, returns and becomes king.
    • OUTLINE of 2 Samuel:
      • David’s Triumphs 1 – 10
      • David’s Transgressions 11 – 12
      • David’s Troubles 13 – 24
    • Sin can lead even a heart after God astray!
    • Key Passage: The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8–16)
      • Promise to build David a house
      • Divine Confirmation of throne in Israel
      • Perpetuity of the Davidic Dynasty and Kingdom
      • Messianic Implications
        • “Son of David, Son of Abraham”    Matt 1:1
        • “Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Root of David” Rev 5:5
        • Davidic Covenant is unconditional
      • V. 16 — Forever!
    • David’s decline:
      • Bathsheba
        • Commited adultery
        • Murdered husband to cover his sin
        • Married her 
        • Accumulating wives forbidden (Deut. 17:17)
        • Repented (Psalm 51), but…
      • Judgment of the Lord
        • Consequences (Incest, Fratricide, Intrigues, Rebellion, Civil War)
        • Bathsheba the granddaughter of Ahithophel, who later counsels Absalom against David…
  • II. 1 & 2 Kings
    • “Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people did not answer him a word” (1 Kgs 18:21).
    • NAME: First/Second Kings (LXX: Third/Fourth “Kingdoms”) — It continues the story of the monarchy!
    • Date of Events: From the Death of David (970 BC) to the Release of Jehoiachin (561 BC)
    • THEME: United and Divided Kingdom
    • Solomon:
      • Acceded when 15 years old (Josephus)
      • David, on his deathbed, instructs Solomon to “clean house” of overdue punishments: 
        • Joab (for Abner), 
        • Shimei, et al.
      • Seeks wisdom from the Lord and gains it.
      • Builds temple.
      • Makes greatest land and wealth gains; unrivaled power and peace!
      • Self-indulgent in success; gathers many wives and concubines (700+300!).  Many to consolidate power.
      • Because of these foreign wives, he built them high places for idolatry.
      • In the end, turning away sad and sick of it all.  Ecclesiastes: “All is Vanity…”
      • His divided heart leads to a divided nation
    • Rehoboam expanded his father’s excessive taxation.
    • Division:
      • Idolators moved north, the godly moved south.
      • At the northernmost point, Jeroboam (1st king of Israel) built a competing sanctuary for those who didn’t want to travel all the way south to Jerusalem.  He the built another. 
      • Reoboam was the first king of the southern kingdom of Judah.  (Like when denominations go astray…)
      • This starts a line of competing kings for the rest of the monarchy.
        • Godly kings in south comparted to David.
        • Ungodly in the north compared to Jeroboam.
    • God raised up prophets to preach to both sets of kings/kingdoms
      • Elijah to the north, remembered as one of the premier prophets, 
        • Faced the wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel
        • Faced the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel
      • Elisha to the north; 
        • Literally assumes Elijah’s mantle
        • “double portion” (twice the miracles)
    • OUTLINE for 1 Kings:
      • Kingdom United/ Solomon    (1 - 11) 
      • Kingdom Divided/ Many Kings  (12 - 22) 
    • OUTLINE for 2 Kings:
      • Israel Falls    (1 - 17) 
      • Judah Falls  (18 - 25)
  • II. 1 & 2 Chronicles
    • “When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom” (1 Chr. 17:11).
    • NAME: “The Words of the Days” (LXX: First/Second “Things Omitted”)
    • A “mini-Old Testament”
    • Considered part of “the writings”
    • The chief feature that distinguishes Kings from Chronicles: 
      • Kings gives a political history of Israel and Judah, written from a prophetic and moral viewpoint; 
      • Chronicles gives a religious history of the Davidic dynasty of Judah only, written from a priestly and spiritual perspective.
    • Date of Events:  From Adam to the grandsons of Zerubbabel (c. 500 BC)
    • THEME: 
      • I: God's view of David; 
      • II: God's view of the Kings of Judah
  • Next Time:
    • The Poetic Books
      • Job, 
      • Psalms, 
      • Proverbs, 
      • Ecclesiastes, and 
      • The Song Of Songs

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