Study the Bible with the Books of 1 & 2 Kings Printable

The books of 1 & 2 Kings in the Bible can be hard to follow, but here I break it down in a way you can understand and relate to the rest of the books of the Old Testament.

One King to Rule Them All

Let’s do a recap of the Old Testament:

Genesis: Creation of the world, first generations of God’s people through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph
Exodus-Deuteronomy: Israelite slaves in Egypt are freed by Moses, only to anger God and wander the desert for 40 years
Joshua: Led by Joshua, they enter the Promised Land and go to war to claim Canaan
Judges: Years of Israelite leaders, called judges, such as Deborah, Gideon, and Samson
Ruth: Story of redemption of a Moabite woman during the time of Judges who later becomes King David’s great-grandmother
1 & 2 Samuel: First 3 kings of Israel–Saul, David, and his son Solomon

So far, so good–right? King Solomon is heir to the throne after his father David dies. When God tells him to ask for whatever he wants, he tells God he wants “a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong“. Pleased with his answer, God gives him riches, honor, and (if he follows God) long life.

Solomon quickly becomes famous and other leaders seek his advice. He marries Pharaoh’s daughter and enjoys a 40-year reign of peace. He even builds the Temple over seven years (to replace the traveling tabernacle Moses and the Israelites used) and covers it with the best materials money can buy.

The book of 1 Kings 6:29 says, “On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cheribum, palm trees, and open flowers. He also covered the floors of both the inter and outer rooms of the temple with gold.” Then he goes on to build a grand palace for himself and the Bible lists all the wealth he’s acquired. One verse said he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses!

Two Kings to Rule Them All

God had warned the Israelites back in Numbers not to intermarry with the foreign women because they would turn away from God and worship false pagan gods. But Solomon, seduced by his wealth and power, leaves his life of monogamy and marries 700 wives (in addition to his 300 concubines!). To please his wives, he sets up idols and “high places” to worship their gods: Astoreth, Chemosh and Molech (known for child sacrifice). God tells Solomon that his son’s kingdom will be divided because he turned away from God.

So…stay with me…here’s where it gets tricky: In 930 BC, rebels rise up and the KINGDOM SPLITS forming two separate kingdoms!

The Israelite kingdom (you know the one big area that’s made up of 12 tribes from Genesis), becomes:

ISRAEL (larger, northern kingdom, ruled by rebels and murderers)
JUDAH (smaller, southern kingdom, ruled by the line of David)

In 722 BC, the Kingdom of Israel is overthrown by the brutal Assyrians and sent into exile. Later, in 586, the Kingdom of Judah is also taken captive by the Babylonian empire. This is where we leave at the end of 2 Kings. Confused? Let me help break everything down for you…

The Books of 1 and 2 Kings in the Bible

Open up your Bible, read through the books of Kings and print out these visual notes to learn about the kingdom split. You can order it in my shop:

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So a few years ago, I made this Old and New Testament Summary Printable, and now I’m working my way through each book of the Bible! To get the rest of the printables, check out my Timeline Bundles for the best deal:

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