The Kings and Queens in the Bible: An Outline Study

By HRH Elijah A Adeyemi Ph.D

The book, The Kings and Queens in the Bible, an outline study, gives, in an outline form, a comprehensive survey of activities of the kings of Judah, of Israel and those from outside Israel. The Bible, King James version, is the main source of information but sometimes sources from outside the Bible are used to give a clear picture of what the kings did or failed to do, and the repercussions of their actions and inactions. Those who obeyed God were greatly blessed but those who despised God and His laws suffered terrible consequences for their actions. Sometimes their generations shared in their woes. Any leaders who ignore the lessons of the kings and Queens in the Bible as contained in this book will certainly suffer the consequences of ungodly leadership.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665529723

HRH Elijah A Adeyemi Ph.D

He has occupied leadership positions in religious and social capacities: in the secondary school, he was the leader of the College Fellowship of Christian Students and the College Gospel Team. After college, he was a Church Elder in First ECWA Church, one of the biggest churches in Ilorin, for about fifteen years. He has also been the traditional ruler (a king) of his town for twenty-two years now and has written some other books on the history of local churches in Ilorin, Nigeria, and on the history of Oke-Aba, his hometown. Oba Adeyemi holds a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in History and is an experienced lecturer in schools and colleges.

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© 2021 HRH Elijah A Adeyemi, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/24/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-2973-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-2971-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-2972-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021912605

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

All scriptures were taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION ON THE STUDY OF KINGS AND QUEENS IN THE BIBLE

King Saul

King David

King Solomon

Chapter Two

KINGS OF JUDAH

Rehoboam

Abijam

Asa

Jehosaphat

Jehosaphat

Ahaziah II

Athaliah

Joash Or Jehoash II

Amaziah

Uzziah

Jotham

Ahaz

Hezekiah

Manasseh

Amon

Josiah

Jehoahaz

Jehoiakim

Jehioachin

Zedekiah

Chapter Three

KINGS OF ISRAEL

Jeroboam

Nadab

Baasha

Elah

Zimri

Omri

Ahab

Ahaziah

Joram or Jehoram I

Jehu

Jehoahaz

Joash (or Jehoash)

Jeroboam II

Zachariah

Shallum

Menahem

Pekahiah

Pekah

Hoshea

Chapter Four

KINGS FROM OUTSIDE ISRAEL

Nimrod

Pharaoh

Pharaoh Necho

Nebuchadnezzar

Ahasuerus

Darius

Cyrus

Herod The Great

Herod Antipas

Herod Agrippa I

Herod Agrippa II

Belshazzar

Sennacherib

Benhadad I

Benhadad II

Hazael

Benhadad III

Ishbosheth

Sihon

OG

Balak

Agag

Chapter Five

QUEENS IN THE BIBLE

Abigail

Jezebel

Queen Vashti

Queen Esther

The Queen Of Sheba

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

FOREWORD

Kabiyesi, Dr. E. A Adeyemi’s book ‘An Outline Study of Kings and Queens in The Bible’, came to me as a bolt from the blue. How could someone around me produce a book so important, so detailed and precise, thorough and so challenging and inspiring that I was not aware of its coming.

Come to think of it, the outline study of kings and queens in the bible, retold in a single piece, in a manner that gives you instant details, analysis and evaluation of the evils and sometimes the good deeds of these fellows, is, to me unique, awesome and highly commendable. As far as I know, never have many of us come across such a rare gem of workmanship on Biblical stories that grip one’s heart for self-examination and opportunity to learn afresh the goodness of living as a true Christian, as one sees all at once the repercussions of the innumerable evil deeds of these kings and queens in the Bible, and indeed of the results for the few ones among them that truly know God.

A masterpiece, the book is amply suitable for studies and teaching not only by the generality of people and all Christians but also for students and faculty members in Theological Colleges, Seminaries and Departments of Religion in Universities, around the world. Thus in this regard, I also recommend that the book should be translated into some other languages where it could benefit a whole lot more of people for their spiritual understanding, appreciation and upliftment.

A scholar, an historian extraordinary and an author of many other important books, Dr. Adeyemi has a good easy to read English style. His vocabulary or choice of words and writing are simple, straightforward and congenial. Yet, the message he delivers is deep, weighty and thought provoking when you are equally on the same page with him.

Stephen A. Afolayan

A former State Director of Education, and a foremost author of chemistry textbooks.

September 9, 2020

Other Comments

The book The Kings and Queens in the Bible is a most fascinating and intelligent piece that details the lives and times of different monarchs in the Scripture.

It is a great privilege for me to have come across such a rare and hidden gem of work through my mentor and the renowned Chemistry author, Chief Stephen A. Afolayan.

Folorunsho Obalugemo

Poet and Author

The book, THE KINGS AND QUEENS IN THE BIBLE is one of the rarest contributions to come out of Africa on traditional leadership in the Biblical account. As an experienced author, an academic historian and as a Christian and traditional leader of a rare combination; Dr. E.A. Adeyemi is well poised to pen this piece. In the book, Dr. E.A. Adeyemi painstakingly outlines the strengths, achievements, weaknesses and shortcomings of each of the Biblical kings and queens; and draws out nuggets on how leaders in our contemporary world can escalate their impacts in their various positions of responsibilities. This book is a helpful resource for preachers, Bible teachers and students, as well as leaders at all spheres of our society, especially those who are privileged to occupy the esteemed stools of traditional/community leadership in Africa and world over. The book is well written and accessible to readers of all ages. So I commend this unique effort to the reader. Happy reading!

Babatomiwa M. Owojaiye, PhD

Author &Pastor of HRH Oba Dr.

E. A. Adeyemi at First ECWA, Ilorin, Nigeria.

PREFACE

The motivation for writing this book came when, in 2015, I was given the opportunity to be the regular preacher at the monthly prayer meetings organized by Oba’s and Olori (Kings and Queens) of Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State. At a time, I was requested to prepare series of messages on kings and queens in the Bible to show what lessons we can learn from both the good and bad ones. I did this for about two years. {2016 – 2017}

In doing this, I found out that not only my audience but I also were blessed. I cherish and covet the blessings on David and the covenant made with him by God himself. The curses on Jeroboam the son of Nabat, I reject in Jesus name. The vanity of over ambition for a position was made clear to me by the example of Zimri who wiped out the entire family of his master in order to get to the throne, only to be on that throne for seven days!

This led to my decision to write, if only in outline form, on all Kings and Queens in the Bible. This is with the hope that readers and users of the book will learn from both the sweet and bitter experiences of the good and bad kings of the Bible time.

In order not to make the work a mere academic exercise, the account of each king and queen ends with a direct or indirect invitation to accept Jesus and obey his teachings as this can make possible the avoidance of evils of the bad kings and adoption of the deeds of the good ones.

Obviously the target of the book is not only kings but all leaders of people at various levels. The king is the leader of his town or community just as leaders of various groups of the society are the heads of their groups. What is required of a king as head of his community is also required of those who head any other organization or group. Just as the king must govern his people with the fear of God, so must the head of the family, the Bank Manger, the Principal of a school, the Church Leader, the Chief executive of a company, the Speaker of a Legislative House, the President of Senate, the Vice Chancellor of a University, the Governor of a state or even the President of a nation must administer those under them with the fear of God. The good rewards to be received by godly kings are also for all those leaders. The terrible consequences of ungodly leadership await those who choose to do otherwise.

The book is also designed to be of use to preachers on topics relating to kings and leaders. Major facts about each king or queen together with their achievements, failures, good deeds or evil deeds are outlined with relevant references, to make preparations for sermons on them quite easy. It is the hope of this writer that readers and users of this book will be richly blessed by it.

HRH Oba Dr. E.A. Adeyemi

The Oniwo of Oke-Aba,

Kwara State, Nigeria

June 2020.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION ON THE

STUDY OF KINGS AND

QUEENS IN THE BIBLE

The Bible is full of facts and evidence of the importance of Kings to God. He himself is the king of all kings. He placed all kings in their positions. He ordained the position of the kings and leaders of people. (Rom. 13:1-2). Kings have been used by God as instruments to direct people’s hearts to himself like he did with David, Josiah and Hezekiah. Kings can turn the hearts of people against God like Jeroboam and Ahab did. God sometimes used kings to punish his own people until he sees repentance in them. He used Nebuchadnezzar and Hazael for that purpose. I Kings. 19.1517; Jer. 27:6-8. God sometimes used kings to fulfill his will and to bring prophecies to pass. An example of this was King Cyrus. Isa. 44:28.

The prominence given to kings in the Bible is another evidence of the importance of kings. Two books in the Bible are designated as First and Second kings. First and Second Chronicles are also mainly accounts of kings. The book of judges is on leaders who performed the functions of Kings over Israel. Four books in the Bible were written by Kings: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastics and Songs of Solomon. A judge, Samuel, wrote two other books in the Bible - First and Second Samuel. Judges were the equivalent of kings in functions and status until the time of Saul when they were called kings. There were fifteen judges before the kings and over seventy kings mentioned in the Bible. Sixty-four of them are under the study in this book. These are apart from Queens who played their own roles in the Bible.

Apart from the Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles, no other groups had more direct dealings with God than kings and judges. God fought wars for them, e.g. Jehoshaphat and Asa; he made some of them rich, e.g. Solomon and Hezekiah; he blessed and made everlasting covenant with David. Psa. 89:3437. He rebuked and punished many of them, e.g. Jeroboam, Ahab, Nebuchadnezzar and Baasha. He showed some of them his power and made them realize his greatness. Darius and Belshazzar were in that category. He blessed nations because of their actions and allowed hardships and even loss of lives because of the actions of some of them.

God’s expectations from kings are to acknowledge him as their own king and the king of the whole world. He expects kings to direct their people towards him and against all forms of idolatry. He expects them to rule with justice and the fear of God. He expects them to avoid oppression of the poor and the vulnerable. Righteousness exalts a nation and the throne is also established by righteousness. Prov. 16:12. A king who is a child of God is not bound by many cultural restraints like you must not see a corpse or the hair of a new baby, you must cover your head always, you must not eat in the public etc. What is an abomination to the Christian king is to commit sins (Prov. 16:12), to pass unjust judgment against the poor and to engage in idolatry.

If they obey the Lord and judge righteously, God is always behind Kings and their authority and dignity are always protected. God has warned in several places against going against the kings and all established authorities. Rom 13:1- 7, Eccl. 10:20; 8:4; 8:2-3; 1Pet 2:17.

Whatever is said about the responsibilities