The Child King Josiah is a child when he becomes king, a mere eight years old. He rules for thirty-one years and does right in God’s eyes, just as his ancestor King David had done. Eight years into his reign, which makes him sixteen, he seeks God, just like David. Four years later, he purges […]
Evil King of Israel We find many men throughout Scripture named Zechariah. The Bible may have more Zechariahs in it than any other name. With many obscure mentions throughout the Bible—fifty-nine times in nine books—it’s impossible to determine accurately how many there are, but there are perhaps as many as twenty-two men named Zechariah in […]
A Greedy Servant Gets Leprosy Gehazi is the servant of Elisha. The first time we encounter Gehazi is in the story about the Shunammite woman. When her only son dies, she seeks Elisha. Elisha gives his staff to Gehazi and dispatches him. He instructs his servant to rush to the boy and lay the staff […]
A Devout Believer Obadiah (4) is a devout believer of God. (He is not the prophet by the same name, who lives much later.) The Bible contains only one story about this Obadiah, who serves as palace administrator for the evil King Ahab. During the time of Ahab, king of Israel, there’s a three-year drought, […]
A Good King Asa is the king of Judah. He’s the son of Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the son of David. This means Asa is King David’s great-great-grandson. He reigns for forty-one years. Scripture says he does what is right in God’s eyes. And he remains fully committed to the […]
King Solomon’s Son Follows Foolish Advice After King Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam succeeds him as king. Jeroboam opposes him. Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s officials, had received a prophetic word that he would become king over ten of the tribes of Israel, with Solomon’s descendants ruling over the tribe of Judah. Jeroboam, along with all […]
A King Shares His Mother’s Advice Immediately after the proverbs of Agur, we have the proverbs of Lemuel. The Bible refers to him as King Lemuel. Yet his name doesn’t appear elsewhere in Scripture, so we don’t know what he’s the king of. Nor do we know anything else about him, aside from his wise […]
Wise Advice from an Obscure Source We commonly think of King Solomon as the author of the book of Proverbs. While this is mostly true, it’s not completely correct. Proverbs also contains wisdom from Agur (as well as Lemuel, whom we’ll cover later). Agur is the son of Jakeh. Neither man, however, appears anywhere else […]
Seeing to Believe The queen of Sheba hears about the stunning reputation of King Solomon. She’s skeptical and travels to meet him. The queen wants to see if there is any truth to the reports she’s heard. Presenting him with gifts, she talks with Solomon at length. The king answers her every question, able to […]
A Loyal Priest Zadok (1) and Abiathar serve David as priests. The two work together in support of him. During Absalom’s coup attempt, they both side with David. The pair covertly work to send information about Absalom’s short-lived reign back to David’s camp through their sons. This is not the case, however, when Adonijah tries […]