Chapter Five - Kings & Kingdoms

CHAPTER FIVE

Kings & Kingdoms

THE ERA OF judges ends in chaos.

The people want a king.
Not just God, not just tribal leaders, a real, crown-wearing monarch.

God tells the prophet Samuel this is a bad idea.

“They haven’t rejected you. They’ve rejected me.”

But He lets it happen anyway.

And that’s when the kingdom begins.

Saul looks the part: tall, strong, serious.

He starts well. He wins battles and rallies Israel, but quickly unravels.

He offers unauthorized sacrifices.
Disobeys orders.
Spares an enemy king he was told to kill.

God regrets making him king.

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”
- Samuel

God rejects Saul, but lets him keep ruling a while.

Samuel secretly anoints a new king: David

Shepherd. Musician. Giant-killer.

Yes, Goliath is real in the text.Aa nine-foot Philistine warrior.
David kills him with a sling and a stone, then beheads him.

Saul grows jealous.
David flees.
Eventually, Saul dies in battle and David becomes king.

David is charismatic, beloved, and deeply flawed.

He unites the kingdom.
He brings the ark to Jerusalem.
He dances in worship with zero shame.
He writes half the Psalms…
And then sees a married woman bathing, sleeps with her, gets her pregnant, and kills her husband to cover it up.

God sends the prophet Nathan, who calls him out:

“You are the man.”

David repents.
God forgives him, but the child dies.
And his family?
Implodes.

His son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar.
Her brother Absalom kills Amnon, then rebels against David.

Absalom is killed hanging from a tree, hair tangled, speared through the heart.

David weeps for him anyway:

“O Absalom, my son… would I had died instead of you!”

David eventually dies and hands the crown to Solomon.

David’s son by Bathsheba.

God offers him anything.
He asks for wisdom.

God gives it. Plus riches, fame, peace, and political dominance.

Solomon builds the Temple in Jerusalem. A massive, gold-covered structure where God’s presence physically dwells.

But Solomon loves foreign women and collects them like Pokémon.

700 wives. 300 concubines.

They bring foreign gods.
Solomon builds altars to Molech, Chemosh, and Ashtoreth, all idols God explicitly hates.

God gets furious.
The kingdom will be torn apart.

After Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam becomes king.

He immediately raises taxes.
The northern tribes say, “Screw this,” and secede.

Now we have Israel (north, 10 tribes) with their capital at Samaria, and Judah (south, 2 tribes) with their capital at Jerusalem.

Both claim to be the real kingdom.

And over the next few centuries, both spiral.

Israel never recovers.
Every single king is “evil in the sight of the Lord.”
They worship golden calves.
They burn children alive to false gods.
They kill prophets.

Judah has a few good kings… but mostly bad ones.

And here’s the pattern:

Prophet shows up.
Says “Repent or die.”
King says “Nah.”
Death happens.

Sometimes to individuals.
Sometimes to whole cities.

During this era, prophets flood the scene.

Elijah calls down fire from heaven.
Elisha raises the dead and makes bears maul kids who mocked him.
Isaiah warns of judgment and promises a future king born of a virgin.
Jeremiah weeps while condemning Judah’s leaders.
Ezekiel sees wheels in the sky and eats a scroll.

Most are ignored.
Some are hunted.
All speak on God’s behalf.

And eventually, the warnings come true.

The Assyrians invade.
They erase the northern kingdom.
The ten tribes disappear from history.

Gone.

Babylon invades.
Jerusalem is destroyed.
The Temple is burned.
The people are exiled.

Only the poor are left behind.
The Ark disappears.
The monarchy ends.

And the divine presence?
Gone.

That’s the end of the kings.
It started with hope, glory, and wisdom.

It ended with fire, famine, and chains.

But it’s not over.