A Panoramic View of the Bible – From Joshua Through the Kings

“From Joshua Through 2 Chronicles”

2 kingdoms—Put into simplest form, all history can be summed up by a conflict of 2 kingdoms. The kingdom of darkness (Satan’s rebellion) and the Kingdom of Light (God’s rule).

1. Creation (Gen. 1-2) About 4000 BC
2. The rebellion of Satan and his angels (Is. 14, Ez. 28)
3. The fall of mankind (Gen. 3)
4. The promise of a Redeemer (Gen. 3:15)—the battle begins…
5. Cain murders Abel (Gen. 4)
6. The Satanic contamination of the race of mankind (Gen. 6)
7. The flood of Noah. (Gen. 6-9)
8. The establishment of Satan’s earthly kingdom–Babel (Gen. 10-11)
9. The unconditional covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12)—About 2000 BC
10. The nation Israel arises out of Egypt under Moses—Exodus

11. God raises up Joshua to bring His people Israel into the Promised Land. (Joshua)
A. First city conquered is Jericho—ark in front followed by 7 trumpets led by the commander Joshua—the city is destroyed, cursed and burned—just like future Babylon some day. Joshua 6 Strange war strategy but God’s people win. Same in the book of Revelation—Revelation 19:6

B. Satan wins a victory in the life of Achan—Joshua 7. Satan probably hopes Israel will be defeated by all the enemy not just Ai.

C. God wanted Israel to conquer all of the land leaving no of its former inhabitants. God did not want His people compromised. Israel left a remnant of the enemy and they became a snare the entire time. Josh. 11:18; 13:13; 17:13.

12. After Joshua dies, there is not a leader for the nation—everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Judges 21:25. (Judges)
A. Israel went through a cycle for 350 years.
B. The people grew complacent and fell into apostasy and evil behavior. God chastened His people by bringing in an enemy. The people began to cry out to God. God raised up a judge to deliver them. They fell into complacency, God sent an enemy to discipline them, etc…
C. Satan was never able to bring the entire nation to apostasy. Satan knew as the leader so goes the people and persuaded the nation to demand an earthly king. If he could control the king, he has the people.
13. Israel demands their own king. 1, 2 Kings and 1, 2 Chronicles.
A. 1 Samuel 8:5-22. By demanding a king they were rejecting God as their KING. Exactly the result Satan was desiring.
B. Saul, the first king, was led away easily. 1 Samuel 13: 8-14
C. God next raised up David to rule as king. Satan knew that the Seed of the Woman that would crush him would come from David so he sought to destroy David.
1. David’s sin with Bathsheba. Romans 4:6-8 The Law said he must die. God gave grace.
2. David numbered the army—a sign of selfish independence from God. God sent a plague of judgment but in grace had David purchase Arunah’s threshing floor and that became the home of His temple.
3. Solomon was the wisest man in the world. Yet he disobeyed God in the 3 areas God demanded from kings—do not multyiply wives, gold, or horses. Solomon did all so God allowed the kingdom to break into 2 pieces. The Northern 10 tribes (Israel/Ephraim) and the Southern two tribes (Judah).

14. The Civil War between the tribes.
A. The Nothern Kingdom had 19 kings and all were bad. God raised up Assyria to take them into captivity—some intermarried and became Samaritans, others were removed from the land. They are not lost but rather unknown. God will save 12,000 from each tribe in the Tribulation (Rev. 7)

B. The Southern Kingdom had 20 kings and only 8 were good. It seems like Satan always gets a victory.
1. Hezekiah—Isaiah 22 (surrounded by the Assyrians ready to destroy his kingdom and keep the Messiah from coming (Genesis 49). God kills the Assyrian soldiers outside Jerusalem.
2. Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (Israel) and married into the Judah line. She desired to kill all of the royal boys to stop the Messiah from coming. 2 Kings 11. God preserves and protects one little boy, Joash, who will keep the line of our Savior continuing.
3. Jeconiah—Jeremiah 22: 28-30. Was such a wicked king that God cursed the royal line so that none of his descendants would ever sit on the throne of Israel. Years later, Jesus would be born of a virgin. Mary was of Solomon through his son Nathan, and Joseph was of Solomon through Rehoboam. So Jesus was physically from Solomon but not under the curse. His father was not Joseph.

Applications: Satan has blinded the eyes of the world. Are you willing to enter the spiritual battle and share the gospel with the lost this week? Are you in God’s kingdom or Satan’s? One of Satan’s methods is to tempt us to apathy. Are you concerned about your own and other’s spiritual welfare? Are you an obedient follower of Jesus Christ? We are His ambassadors and soldiers. Guard your testimony. Get in the Word. Stay in prayer.