Kings and Chronicles, Part 1: The Demise of Kingship
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Lesson OneRise and Reign of Solomon (1 Kings 1-8)20 Activities|1 Assessment
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Getting Started
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Lesson Text: 1 Kings 1-8
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In | Workbook: 1 Kings 1-2
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In | Introduction to Kings and Chronicles
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In | Reign and Succession of Solomon
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In | Workbook: David’s Final Charge to Solomon
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In | The Wisdom of Solomon?
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In | Solomon’s Rule over the Promised Land
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In | The Temple and the Palace
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Behind | iMap: Solomon’s Temple
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Behind | Onsite: Cedars and Royal Pretense: Ronit Maoz, Biblical Botanist
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Behind | Onsite: God’s Address on Earth - Edfu Temple, Upper Egypt
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Behind | Onsite: The Holy of Holies - The Edfu Temple: Egyptologist Essam Zeid
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Behind | Kingship
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Behind | Solomon’s Building Projects
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Behind | Phoenicia
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In Front | The "Wisdom" of Solomon
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In Front | Workbook: When Good Things Go Bad
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In Front | Solomon’s Mimicry
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Wrap-Up
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Getting Started
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Lesson TwoSolomon’s Fall (1 Kings 9-11)13 Activities|2 Assessments
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Getting Started
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Lesson Text: 1 Kings 9-11
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In | Workbook: Deuteronomy’s Law of the King and Solomon
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In | Preparing for the Downfall
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In | Workbook: Explaining Solomon’s Sin
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In | Workbook: Solomon’s Reign vs. the King’s Law, Part 2
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In | Workbook: Qualifications of David’s Covenant
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In | David's Covenant
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Behind | Egypt
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Behind | Onsite: Solomon's Fleet of Ships
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Behind | 360 View: Failed Fleet of Ships at Ezion-Geber
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In Front | Workbook: Legacies and Finishing Well
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Wrap-Up
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Getting Started
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Lesson ThreeOverview of 1 and 2 Kings (1 Kings 12–16, 2 Kings 9–17)33 Activities|1 Assessment
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Getting Started
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Lesson Text: 1 Kings 12–16, 2 Kings 9–17
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In | Workbook: The Loss of the Promised Land
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In | The Tragedy of Kings
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In | The Sins of Jeroboam
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In | Workbook: The Rationale for the Fall of the North
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In | The Kings of Israel and Judah
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In | Prophets and Kings: 800-400 BC
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In | Workbook: Good and Evil Kings
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In | Good and Evil Kings
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In | Literary Patterns/Royal Summaries, Part 1
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In | Literary Patterns/Royal Summaries, Part 2
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In | The Covenant and Prophetic History
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In | Workbook: Anticipating the Falls
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In | Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic History: Dr. Daniel Block
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Behind | Shechem, Bethel and Dan
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Behind | Onsite: Reflections on Jeroboam’s Religious Revolution
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Behind | Onsite: The Beginning of the End - Shishak Attacks Rehoboam: Steve Wunderink
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Behind | Workbook: Civil War and the End of the North
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Behind | Civil War
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Behind | Moving Toward the End of the North
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Behind | Annals of Shalmaneser III
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Behind | Assyrian Terror
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Behind | The Fall of the North
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Behind | Onsite: The Siloam Pool and Hezekiah’s Tunnel
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Behind | Annals of Sargon II
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Behind | Assyrian Invasion
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Behind | iMap: Assyrian Invasion
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In Front | Typology
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In Front | Types
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In Front | Workbook: Reflections - Pursuit of Perfection, Part 1
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In Front | Workbook: Reflections - Pursuit of Perfection, Part 2
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Wrap-Up
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Getting Started
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Lesson FourThe Prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 1)26 Activities|2 Assessments
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Getting Started
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Lesson Text: 1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 1
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In | Workbook: Elijah and Ahab, Part 1
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In | Workbook: Elijah and Ahab, Part 2
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In | Workbook: Elijah on Sinai, Part 1
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In | Workbook: Elijah on Sinai, Part 2
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In | Workbook: Elijah on Sinai, Part 3
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In | Elijah on Sinai
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In | Prophets: Predictors, Encouragement, Warning and Miracles
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In | Workbook: On the Prophetic Institution
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In | Ahab, Jezebel and Elijah
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In | Elijah at Horeb
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In | Elijah and Elisha Parallels
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Behind | Samaria
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Behind | 360 View: Samaria, City of Temporary Affluence
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Behind | Samaria: The Capital of the North
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Behind | Onsite: Samaria, Capital of the North - Case Study in Syncretism
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Behind | Onsite: Elijah Confronts the Prophets of Baal - Background for the Contest on Mt. Carmel
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Behind | Onsite: Terror and Intimacy on Mt. Sinai - Elijah at the "Cleft of the Rock"
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Behind | Onsite: Vegetable Gardens and Royalty - Ahab and Jezebel's Mistake
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Behind | Naboth’s Vineyard
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Behind | Onsite: Tel Jezreel and Valley
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In Front | Onsite: Conditioning the Heart of a Prophet - Elijah in Sidon before Mt. Carmel
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In Front | Affluenza
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In Front | Workbook: When Appearances Are Deceiving
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Wrap-Up
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Getting Started
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Lesson FiveThe Prophet Elisha (2 Kings 2–9)17 Activities
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Getting Started
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Lesson Text: 2 Kings 2–9
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In | Workbook: Elisha Story Arc, Part 1
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In | Workbook: Elisha Story Arc, Part 2
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In | Succession at the Jordan
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In | A Ministry of Compassion and Judgment
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In | Workbook: The Ministries of Elisha
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In | Workbook: Elisha’s Spring
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Behind | Onsite: Sweet Water in Jericho - A Visit to Elisha's Spring
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Behind | Onsite: Prophet of Compassion - Elisha's Banquet for the Arameans in Dothan
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In Front | Messianic Prototypes
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In Front | Onsite: Elisha the Healer
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In Front | Workbook: Caring for the Outsider
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In Front | Workbook: Elisha and the Dead Child
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In Front | Elisha and the Dead Child
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In Front | Workbook: “Go up, Baldhead!”
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Wrap-Up
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Getting Started
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity|1 Assessment
Participants 6
In Front | Workbook: Elisha and the Dead Child
Grab your Workbook Journal!
[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]
Early Christians especially emphasized connections between Elisha and Jesus.
Read the passage below and see if you can figure out the connection many early Christians made between the passion of Jesus and this scene in 2 Kings:
When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD. Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.
2 Kings 4:32-37 (ESV)
- Record your observations in your workbook.
- The comment below from Ephrem the Syrian (306-373) is typical of the “typological” connections many early Christians made between this story and the work of Jesus in the New Testament. Summarize this connection in your workbook.
With regard to the fact that the prophet walked back and forth in the house of the dead child, it prefigures the times in which Jesus Christ entered and went out of the houses of humankind and lived with them. Finally the prophet came back and adjusted himself again to the size of the child, and his body covered his body; at that time the dead child was resurrected. Our Lord accomplished this figure and brought it to perfection, when, still alive, He adjusted His dead body in the tomb to the size of the dead Adam. And so God, through His great love for us, after we had died for our sins, brought us back to life with Christ.
— On the Second Book of Kings (4.30-35)