Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Sunday, January 11 Three Pairs of Kings

Law, HISTORY, Poetry/Wisdom/Prophets

We've seen the 3-6-3 pattern in the HISTORY section of the Old Testament, with 3 "Pre-Kings" books (Joshua, Judges, Ruth), 3 "Pairs of Kings" (1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, and 1&2 Chronicles), and 3 "Post Kings" (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther). Yesterday we learned a little about the "Pre-Kings". Today we'll get a bit of understanding about the "Pairs of Kings".

In the Hebrew Bible the first four are together, but Christian translators split them up to make it easier to see. Here are some ways you can distinguish them:

First, you can distinguish them by the Kings themselves.

1 AND 2 SAMUEL are about the first two Kings, both anointed by the prophet and last judge: Samuel. The people chose Saul, and God chose David. First Samuel is primarily about Saul's disastrous reign, David's anointing and Saul's mad pursuit to kill David, ending with the loony king's death.

Second Samuel is all about David's reign.

1 AND 2 KINGS gives the history of the rest of the kings up to the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. 1 Kings is primarily about Solomon, the Kingdom split into Israel and Judah, up to the wicked king Ahab who married the infamous Jezebel.

Second Kings moves from there to all the rest of the kings and the doom of both kingdoms, first Israel by Assyria, and ends with the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by Babylon.

You can also remember these books by three main prophets: Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha. The books of Samuel contain, well, Samuel. 1 Kings centers on Elijah, and the 2 Kings on Elisha.

1 AND 2 CHRONICLES concentrate mostly upon the Kingdom of Judah, with a lot of repeats from the books of Kings and a more "priestly" take. First Chronicles, after a long genealogy begins with the death of Saul and goes through the reign of David.

Second Chronicles goes through the rest of the kings of Judah, and ends with the decree of Cyrus to release the Jews from captivity and send them back to the Land.

It may help you to know that many attribute the authorship of the Chronicle books to Ezra, whose book happens to be the first "Post Kings" book.

So, in a nutshell, 1 and 2 Samuel: Samuel, Saul and David. 1 and 2 Kings: Solomon, the rest of the kings, and Elijah; and 1 and 2 Chronicles: the kingdom of Judah, Elisha, and the end of captivity.

Again, it pays to make a cursory read of these books, and get a brief summary from each of them. This helps increase your grasp on the books. By the way, a simple mnemonic is that the pairs are titled in "descending alphabetical order: Samuel, Kings, Chronicles (SKC). That might help as well.

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps:

REVIEW:

Yesterday we learned the five books of the LAW: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (GELND).

TODAY:

We've learned the 3-6-3 pattern of the "HISTORY" books, 3 singles, 3 pairs, 3 singles.

We've learned the 3 Pre-Kings are Joshua, Judges, Ruth (Joshua Jr.)

Today we've seen the pairs in descending alphabetical order: Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles.

We know that the first pair consists of the first two kings, Saul, David, and the prophet Samuel.

The second pair is about the rest of the kings, with Elijah the prophet in 1 Kings, and Elisha in 2 Kings.

The third pair was most likely written by Ezra, and is primarily about Judah, ending with the proclamation of Cyrus to end the captivity and send the Jews back home.

So after church, make Sunday your day of rest, sit back in your easy chair and get this order firmly ensconced in the treasure chest of your mind.