Yahweh and the Kings

In reading through 1^st and 2^nd Samuel, God’s planning of the history is clearly seen.  Completely those two books, I came across some notes introducing some key themes of the books of the Kings that struck me, and are worth sharing. 

Most of this is not my words, but the authors.

The first theme is that Yahweh is the only true God.  There is only one living God, and he is the Lord (1 Kings 18:15, 2 Kings 5:15).  This Lord is not to be confused with the various so-called gods worshiped in Israel and other nations, for these are simply human creations (1 Kings 12:25-30; 2 Kings 17:16, 19:14-19).  They are part of the created order, like the people who worship them; and they are powerless, futile entities (1 Kings 16:13; 18:22-40; 2 Kings 17:15, 18:33-35).  The Lord, by contrast is the incomparable Creator of heaven and earth (1 Kings 8:23, 2 Kings 19:15).  He is utterly distinct from the world that he has created (1 Kings 8:9, 14-21, 27-30).  At the same time, the Lord is powerfully active within his world.  It is he, and no one else, who controls nature (1 Kings 17-19, 2 Kings 1:2-17, 4:8-37, 5:1-18; 6:1-7, 27).

If we don’t have this view of Yahweh, we give ourselves a foothold of pride, and will have the wrong view of ourselves in every event and situation.  The conclusions you make will be wrong if your view of God is wrong.