23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. . . .
25 Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.
1 Kings 16:23, 25-26
By now you’ve probably realized we’re entering one of the most challenging sections of the Old Testament. As 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles begin telling the same story from different perspectives, it’s easy to lose track of who’s ruling where and when. Here are a few things I’ve learned that make these chapters much easier to follow.
1. Overlapping reigns
In 1 Kings, the king of one kingdom is introduced by when he began to reign relative to the king’s reign in the other kingdom. So if its a king of Judah, it will be “In the ______ year of so-and-so king of Israel,” and vice versa. So if a king in one kingdom had an especially long reign, you might get two or three kings in a row for the other kingdom.
2. More Love for Judah in Chronicles
Notice the different focus of the books. On days like today, 1 Kings gives a running account of both kingdoms, moving back and forth between Israel and Judah. 2 Chronicles, however, largely ignores the Northern Kingdom and focuses on the kings of Judah. That’s because Chronicles is telling the story of David’s royal line, the Temple, and God’s covenant with Judah.
3. The Grading Scale
There’s typically a summary statement that grades the king: “So and so did what was evil/right in the eyes of the Lord.”
Usually, there’s a reason given for the grade. Why was the king given the evaluation he was given? I use the acronym WORK, WORK stands for Walk, Obey, Restore, Keep, because these areas are usually covered:
- WALK: Whose ways did he walk in? If he walked in the ways of his father David, he was good. If he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, he was bad.
- OBEY: Did he obey God?
- RESTORE/REMOVE: Did he restore the temple, renew the covenant, and/or remove the high places? If so, good. If not, bad.
- KEEP: Did the king keep the covenant? Did he lead the people to keep the covenant?
4. Watch for Coups
There are several times in the northern kingdom (Israel) when a king gets assassinated, a dynasty ends, and a new family takes over. We saw this yesterday when Baasha killed Nadab, ending the line of Jeroboam.
We see it again today when Zimri assassinated Elah, only to lose the throne himself seven days later as Omri emerged victorious. The Northern Kingdom is full of stories like that.
But here’s where you see God’s character on display:
5.Unlike Israel, Judah never experiences a change of dynasty.
God preserves the line of David for nearly four hundred years, just as He promised.There are no coups in Judah.
In Judah, there is a straight line of succession from father to son for FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. Not because the kings of Judah were that much better. Out of 20 kings, there were only 8 good ones. But it’s because of God’s promise. God promised there would always be a son of David on the throne of Judah.
6. Faithfulness = Longevity (mostly)
Generally, but not always, kings who were faithful to God had longer reigns. There are exceptions. But consider that the Northern kingdom (Israel) had 19 kings in a little over 200 years. They were all bad. The Southern kingdom (Judah) had 20 kings in almost 350 years. Eight of them were good.
Finding Your Bearings
I won’t lie— Kings and Chronicles is tough. This stretch has derailed many a committed Bible reader. But there’s a North Star— a fixed compass point that will always help us find our way back to the big picture:
God is faithful. Human dynasties rise and fall, but God’s promises do not. Even when Judah’s kings fail, God remains faithful to His covenant with David.
2 Timothy 2:13 promises that even when we are faithless, “he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”
God doesn’t become unfaithful because we are. He cannot act contrary to who He is. So even when David’s descendants failed repeatedly, God remained faithful to His covenant with David. The dynasty endured not because the kings deserved it, but because God keeps His word.
The ultimate fulfillment, of God’s promise is in Christ—the final Son of David, whose throne lasts forever.
There are lots of charts online that show the lineup of rulers. I posted a really simple one yesterday (here it is again if you missed it) but there are others that give a lot more detail. I really like this one from Providence Academy because it has hyperlinks to give you even more detail.
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