“Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.” Solomon is Israel’s third king following Saul and David. Soon in the Story, the kingdom will divide into two kingdoms, Israel (ten tribes) to the north and Judah (and Benjamin) to the south. But for now it is one kingdom under the rule of one wise man, Solomon, “He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. Also he spoke of trees,…of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.” Everyone came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
The Book of Psalms is divided into five separate “books”. Some say perhaps the five books are an imitation of the Pentateuch written by Moses, which consists of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Therefore, Solomon’s Psalm 72, which is all about the coming Messiah, ends with “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended”. This was the last Psalm in book two.
Ok. One more Bible structure comment. (I know it seems like we are reading everything twice and sometimes the info is slightly different.) The Books of Samuel and Kings were written at the beginning of Israel’s exile—before the Israelites are taken captive (which we will read about later in the Story). This was a time of deep brokenness. The Chronicles were written after the return of exile when the Israelites were trying to re-build and re-establish themselves in the land. So these books were written from different perspectives but were all inspired by God. The Chronicles account track the kingdom of Judah. Judah’s kings all come from the bloodline of King David, the Kingdom that the Messiah will come from as the Lord promised King David.
Tomorrow we read the first of eight days in the book of Proverbs. Solomon is going to teach us how to live wisely, so keep reading!
(1 Kings 4:1-34, Psalm 72, Psalm 127)
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Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 