HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 668
1 Kings
A R E Y O U A S U C C E S S F U L P E R S O N ? Do you want to be? Most
of us would say that we do want to be successful. Who wants to be
a failure? But our world constantly bombards us with contradictory
definitions of success, so identifying true success—and real failure—
can be challenging. The book of 1 Kings can help.
King David was a successful military leader,
What you will be
reading about
psalmist, king, and spiritual leader. He was
also a failure as a father. With several wives, he
1:1– 4:34
The wisdom of King Solomon
wasn’t exactly a role model for us in marriage
either. At the pinnacle of his success, he plunged
5:1–10:29
into the depths of failure—entering an adulterSolomon builds and dedicates
the Temple
ous relationship with Bathsheba and murdering
Bathsheba’s husband to cover his tracks. For a
11:1- 43
Solomon’s downfall and
man who had it all, how could David have made
death
two such incredibly disastrous decisions?
12:1–16:34
Upon David’s death, Solomon began his reign
The kingdom of Israel divides
humbly begging God for wisdom instead of
into north and south
riches. So God gave him both. He became not
17:1-24
only the wisest king ever but probably the richGod takes care of the prophet
est king ever. Success? Absolutely! Failure? See
Elijah
Solomon later with hundreds of wives and con18:1- 46
cubines, many bringing their evil, pagan gods
Elijah calls down fire from
heaven
into Israel and infecting the nation. Solomon was
at the same time the wisest man on earth and
19:1-21
God appears to Elijah;
the dumbest man on earth. Who could have so
Elisha called
much God-given wisdom and success and misuse it so badly?
20:1– 22:53
The disobedience and death
Solomon left his kingdom to his son Rehoboam.
of King Ahab
If ever a man inherited wealth, power, prestige,
might, honor—almost anything a person could want—it was Rehoboam. What
more could he desire? All he had to do was be faithful to God and serve his
people well. He could have reigned for a lifetime over all Israel and extended
its golden hour. His wise counselors told him this. But he listened instead to
the wrong crowd. He not only lost Solomon’s wealth and power but also split
the kingdom in two.
You may be financially successful but still make a marital or parental decision that is foolish beyond words. You may be a role model in athletics or
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