Big problems call for big solutions.

God’s people have had a big fall since the heights of David and Solomon, and now they need a big solution.

In 1 Kings chapter 17, we meet that solution… a man called ‘Elijah’.

His name means, ‘My God is Yahweh’, and that’s also his message to the messy world of God’s kingdom.

In verse one, Elijah speaks to bad king Ahab and tells him that, “there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

A punishing drought has begun from the hand of the true and living God.

Do you long for justice?

If you’ve been wronged or seen others wronged, you’ll pray that justice will come.

This is why it’s good that God is a fair and righteous judge, and that the day is coming when he will judge the living and the dead.

Yet as we await his return, we see times when God uses the evil of humans to carry out justice.

As we look at the end of 1 Kings 15 and the rest of chapter 16, we’ll see a long line of dreadful kings in the northern tribes of Israel.

When things go wrong, we can be tempted to doubt God’s promises.

As we grieve the deaths from Covid-19, we might ask where God is and what he’s doing.

This question also springs to mind as we look at God’s rulers in 1 Kings chapter 15.

We begin, verse 1, reading that, “Abijam began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel.”

As we see throughout this and the next chapter, the dating of the southern king of Judah is related to the date of the northern king of Israel, because the two, really, are supposed to be together, not separated.

It’s sad to see stubborn hearts that refuse to submit to God’s good rule.

In 1 Kings 14 we see the hard-hearted stubbornness of the king of God’s northern tribes, Jeroboam, as well as some stubbornness from his southern counterpart, as well.

It all starts with a crisis where we read in verse one that king Jeroboam’s son became very sick.

It reminds us of when the son born from King David’s adultery became very sick.

The toughest job in the Old Testament is a prophet.

Usually the message that the Lord gives them to speak is rejected by the hearers, and they also get a really hard time for saying it.

Today in chapter 13 of 1 Kings we meet a mysterious prophet who was sent to confront the godless king of Israel, Jeroboam.

The chapter begins with the king worshipping at a false altar when a “man of God from Judah” travels to Bethel to meet him there, verse 1.

And this prophet starts shouting, verse 2a: “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says…”

What should a leader of God’s people be like?

As we’ve been reading 1 Kings each day, we’ve seen the successes and failures of God’s kings, and it’s helped us recognise what is most needed in his messiah.

This whole experience helps us understand why Jesus is the perfect king of Israel.

In chapter 12, Solomon has died and now his son, Rehoboam, gathers with “all Israel”, who wish to make him king, verse 1.

Strangely, they do this “in Shechem”, not in Jerusalem, which shows us that this group has already started to break away to begin to form the northern kingdom.

It’s tragic when a person falls away from following Jesus.

It’s even worse when that person was once a Christian pastor.

His or her apostasy doesn’t just affect them, but it can also bring others down, too.

In the first ten chapters of 1 Kings we’ve seen the spectacular rise of King Solomon.

Today, in chapter 11, we see his tragic demise.

So what went wrong?

What’s your favourite rags-to-riches story?

Ever since Cinderella there have been remarkable stories of nobodies becoming world-famous somebodies.

Before King David, Jerusalem was an unknown little town in the middle of nowhere, but under King Solomon, it became a global hub of wealth and wisdom.

Nowhere more is this seen than the fascination in Solomon and Jerusalem by the Queen of Sheba, in chapter 10 of 1 Kings.

In the first verse we read that, “When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honour to the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.”

Have you ever experienced something that seemed perfect?

You’re with the perfect companion, enjoying the perfect meal, with a perfect view… until someone knocks over the food and you get bitten by insects.

Up till now in 1 Kings it seemed that life with God’s king in God’s place was as perfect as it could be.

But in chapter 9, things start to unravel.

Twenty years after he first told Solomon he would give him his wish for wisdom, the Lord again addresses the king, saying verse 3,“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honoured forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.”

What church services have had a special place in your memory?

Maybe it was your confirmation, or a wedding or funeral, or maybe a special moment when you felt like you’d been lifted up to the very throne room of God.

In 1 Kings chapter 8 we witness the high-point of the Old Testament, something greater than any Olympics ceremony!

King Solomon has built the greatest religious building in history, and it’s time to welcome the special guest, the Lord God himself.