Back in May, a reader of my blog, who is a faithful
church member and good friend, submitted this question to my blog after I began
a “Question and Answer” category:
Mark, these words are mentioned
several times in the OT., "are they not written in the book of the annals
of the kings of Israel”
My question is : Is there a record of this book in existence or is this another symbol of something else. Just curious to know.
My question is : Is there a record of this book in existence or is this another symbol of something else. Just curious to know.
Sorry it has taken me so long to answer! On the surface
this may seem like a relatively trivial detail, but as soon as I read the
question back in May I realized there was a deep, important spiritual truth
closely related to the answer. So I will begin by offering a direct answer to
the question, and then I’ll share some thoughts about the deeper spiritual
truth which turns out to be immensely practical and important in your life and
mine.
What are the
“Annals of the Kings of Israel”?
The phrase “Annals of the Kings of Israel” appears 18
times in the books of 1 & 2 Kings, and once in 2 Chronicles. The related phrase “Annals of the Kings of
Judah” appears 15 times in 1 & 2 Kings. There are also ten references in 1
& 2 Chronicles to similar books (possibly the same books) by the name “Book
of the Kings of Judah and Israel” or something very similar. Here is one
example (other examples are very similar):
NIV 1
Kings 14:19 The other events of Jeroboam's reign, his wars and how
he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
The “Annals of the Kings of Israel” and the “Annals of
the Kings of Judah” were apparently records kept of the activities of these kings.
Like most ancient writings, these records have been lost. They are NOT lost books of the Bible because
they were never part of the Bible and were not inspired. If we were to find a copy (which is unlikely),
they would provide valuable historical information, but they would not be new
books of the Bible.
What can We Learn
from these Lost Records?
You might think, “How can we learn anything at all from
records we don’t have?” Actually, there
is one very important lesson we can learn.
The Holy Spirit inspired the authors of 1 & 2 Kings
and 1 & 2 Chronicles to be very selective in what information they included
about each king. For some kings their
entire rule in summed up in a few sentences.
Few kings get more than a couple of chapters. Imagine if you read a history of the
Presidents of the United States with a similar amount of information about each
president. Obviously, a lot is left out. The type of information which made it
into these short summaries tells us what was most important to God.
God consistently included the following:
1. An inspired
judgment describing to what degree each king obeyed and followed God.
2. A description
of what each king did with regard to idolatry.
Most of the kings worshipped some idols or at least tolerated the
worship of the idols by their people.
The worst kings added new idols and spread idol worship. The very best kings smashed and burned idols
throughout the land.
These two items are what God focused on in the
Bible. Wars? Politics?
Building cities? Trade deals? These get mentioned some, and they are not
completely unimportant, but they are not emphasized nearly as much as getting
rid of idols. In other words, much of
the stuff our news media focuses on today is the kind of stuff that was of
secondary importance to God and was recorded in books that are lost. The stuff that God really cared about and
included in the Bible is very rarely even mentioned in the news these days. If you spend a lot more time watching Fox or
CNN than you do reading your Bible, you may be unintentionally training your
brain to have priorities that are vastly different from God’s!
At this point you may feel like I’m being unfair, since
we don’t have Asherah poles or Baal idols around today. That’s true.
But tragically, idolatry is thriving
like never before, and the New Testament is quite clear that God cares
about getting rid of the idols in your hearts and lives just as much as He cared
about it in the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah.
Modern Days Idols
The New Testament is uncomfortably clear in identifying
modern day idols:
Ephesians 5:5 For of this you can be
sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust,
evil desires and greed, which is idolatry
Ouch! That hits
home right here in the 21st century.
We may not have Asherah poles and Baal temples, but we have lots of
immorality and greed. And God expects us
to ruthlessly smash and burn these idols just like the best kings of Judah
smashed and burned their idols.
It was hard for the kings of Israel and Judah to get rid
of their idols because these idols were popular and widespread. If you lived in Israel during the times of
the kings, many members of your own extended family, and many of your
neighbors, and a lot of your political leaders, and tragically even many
religious leaders, would have been tolerating, and often even celebrating and
promoting, all kinds of idols. The same
is true today with idols of materialism and sexual immorality.
Don’t expect getting rid of your idols to be easy. This
is why Jesus said:
NMatthew 5:29
If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is
better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be
thrown into hell.
The point is not to literally gouge out your eye. We are quick to say that. But what is the point? Knowing what Jesus did not mean is great, but
we need to also know what He did mean.
What He meant is this: be intentional,
and even ruthless, in getting rid of sin in your life and anything that causes
you to sin.
An idol is anything which we treat as more important than
God. Another way of saying this is that
an idol is anything which causes us to disobey God or live in a way contrary to
God’s will. Therefore, things which are
not bad in and of themselves (money, food, comfort, TV, sports, hobbies, etc.)
turn into idols if they lead us away from God.
The last verse of 1 John reminds us of the danger of
idols:
Dear
children, keep yourselves from idols. (1John 5:21 NIV)
If you would like to read more on the topic of modern day
idolatry, I recommend the book: Gods at War: Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your
Heart by Kyle Idleman.
Other Bible Questions
I’ve Tried to Address on My Blog:
If you have a question you would like for me to address
in my blog, feel free to submit it as a comment or else send me an email
at: MarkCorbett0@gmail.com
I can’t promise I’ll answer every question, but I’ll do
my best.
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
wow! God bless you brother. i was definitely led here by the spirit. Thank you so much for this, may God continue to use you powerfully. may the grace and peace of our lord Jesus Christ be with you.
ReplyDeleteTruly remarkable how God lead me to this site. Insightful respond providing exactly what I was seeking. And then to address idols in today's era, although brief, really honed in on another area I have been questioning recently. God is truly great. I will be looking into Kyle Idleman's boom. I can't help but to echo the previous post. God bless, and thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! I'm currently in 2 Kings in my daily devotional and I've read about the "Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah/Israel" several times in both 1&2 Kings, and I wanted to know more about it. I googled it and I've reached here! Thank you for your inputs. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's really amazing how the Spirit led the authors of the bible. <3
Thanks Mark. Your friend asked the exact question I had since I've been reading the Bibile "as it happens" and I'm currently almost through 1 & 2 Kings. I googled and found your blog. Peace be with you and thanks again. God Bless ~
ReplyDeleteRick
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ReplyDeleteI had the same question. Thank you for answering with illustration and verses from the bible.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info as I've been reading the O.T. for the first time I've found the book of annals mentioned a lot and thought it might be explained elsewhere. There's soo much information to digest
ReplyDeleteJust to say the idols of the heart are exactly the same now as they were in The Old Testament. A need for speed, a jewel a person to be intermit with, a nice garden with wine and food. a nice house and people to boast to.
ReplyDeleteI Googled: Where is the book that tells the history of the Kings of Judah and Israel. The search sent me to your site. Thank you for your insight. And, like you, I also recommend Kyle Idyleman's book, Gods at War.
ReplyDeleteExcellent insight, that answered my curiosity about the annals mentioned in Kings. When Gods word mentions something more than twice it tends to grab my attention.
ReplyDeleteThank you and God bless you for sharing. I was curious too about the annals. I have a lot more questions. What can you say about the book Samuel wrote about how kings should behave. Remember the time he presented Saul as king to the people who rejected him as king. But instead he, Samuel told the people to go back to their homes and then he wrote that book. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you I have been reading change 1 and 2 and it peaked my interest when I kept hearing the same statement over and over again. Thank you for the insight that helped very much.
ReplyDelete