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1 Kings 15 Bible study: A lamp in Jerusalem
The Hebrew word for the lamp the LORD gave Abijam "for David’s sake" (15:4), nir, comes only four times in the Hebrew Bible, each time of the lamp for David (11:36; 2 Kings 8:19; 2 Chronicles 21:7). And each of the three times 1 Kings 15 says "made Israel to sin", the sin is Jeroboam's (15:26, 15:30, 15:34).
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“But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the LORD all his days.”
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“In 1 Kings 15, Asa sends silver and gold from the treasures of the LORD's house to Ben Hadad.”
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What's really going on
"Nevertheless for David's sake"
Abijam's reign is short: "He reigned three years in Jerusalem" (15:2). The verdict comes at once: "He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father" (15:3) (tap perfect). Then the turn: "Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem" (15:4) (tap lamp). The LORD had promised it when he tore the kingdom from Solomon: "I will give one tribe to his son, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem" (11:36). In Hebrew lamp is the same word in both verses, nir. The lamp is kept for a king whose own heart "was not perfect" (15:3), and the reason given is David, not Abijam. "Abijam slept with his fathers… and Asa his son reigned in his place" (15:8).
Where it leads to Jesus
Asa's son, in Jesus' line
1 Kings 15:24leads toMatthew 1:8
Asa's reign ends: "Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place" (15:24). Matthew's "book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David" (Matthew 1:1) names the same father and son, "Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat" (Matthew 1:8), and runs on to "Jesus, who is called Christ" (Matthew 1:16). The verse before reads, "Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa" (Matthew 1:7). 1 Kings names Rehoboam's son Abijam: "Abijam his son reigned in his place" (14:31), and "Abijam slept with his fathers… and Asa his son reigned in his place" (15:8). Matthew doesn't quote 1 Kings 15; he names Asa and Jehoshaphat, the father and son 15:24 ends with.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 1 Kings 15
That was a taste
The rest of 1 Kings 15 is waiting in Favor
- "Except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite"
- Two kingdoms, told side by side
- Into the LORD's house, and out again
- Kings and Chronicles, side by side
- "With which he made Israel to sin"
- 15 questions as you read
- 11 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach 1 Kings 15 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
נִירnirsay NEER
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "lamp". Strong's: "a lamp (i.e. the burner) or light". "Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem" (15:4). Strong's gives nir the same number as the usual word for a lamp, ner, but Brown-Driver-Briggs lists it as its own entry, and it comes only four times in the Hebrew Bible, each time of a lamp for David: in the LORD's word to Jeroboam, "that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem" (11:36); here; and in 2 Kings 8:19 and 2 Chronicles 21:7, where the LORD "promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always" (2 Kings 8:19). The lamps in the LORD's house (7:49) are ner.
For your group
1 Kings 15 Bible study questions
- 1Asa "removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah" (15:13). When has following the LORD asked something hard of you with someone close to you, and what helped you do it?
- 2"But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the LORD all his days" (15:14). Is there something in your life you've left standing? What does it mean to you that the LORD weighs the heart?
- 3When Baasha built Ramah against him, Asa sent the treasures of the LORD's house to Ben Hadad (15:17-19). When you're under pressure, where do you turn first for help, and what would turning to the LORD first look like this week?
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home