1 Kings tells of the death of David, and of Solomon's reign as king. The Lord spoke to Solomon, and gave him

the opportunity to ask for anything that he wanted. Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom. He could have asked for

riches, as many men might do, but because he chose wisdom the Lord was pleased with him, and gave him riches as

well. Read 1 Kings chapter 3, verses 5 to 13.

So Solomon became a rich and wise king, and was able to have anything he wanted. In the book called

Ecclesiastes, which Solomon wrote, he tells us that he was able to try everything in the world, and that it was all

vanity, it was empty and ended in death. Only the Lord Jesus can make the things in this world worthwhile. Apart

from Him all is empty.

After Solomon's death the Jews became split into two kingdoms. The twelve tribes were divided under two

kings. Ten of the tribes became the Northern Kingdom, and the other two, the Southern Kingdom. The ten tribes of

the Northern Kingdom are sometimes called Israel in the Bible, and the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom, Judah.

The rest of 1 Kings and the whole of 2 Kings are about these two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, and the kings who

reigned over them. Neither kingdom was very faithful to God, and both were sent into slavery by Him. First the

Northern Kingdom was taken by a powerful country called Assyria, and later the Southern Kingdom became subject

to Babylon. The prophets, which we will look at later, warned the Jews many times of this slavery, but they would

not listen, and continued in their disobedient ways. At the end of 2 Kings, both kingdoms had tasted the punishment

of God for their disobedience. Read 2 Kings chapter 25, verses 8 to 11.

It is not easy to understand the place that these two books have in the Bible, because they tell many of the same

stories as Samuel and Kings.

1 Chronicles begins with a long list of names, showing how the Jews had descended from Adam, the first man.

This list makes difficult reading, but is very important. We have already said that the Lord Jesus had to be related to

us in order to redeem us. Later on in Luke's Gospel this list is extended to reach the Lord Jesus, showing how He is

related to Adam, and to us.

The rest of 1 Chronicles and the whole of 2 Chronicles tell us again of David, Solomon and the kings who

reigned after them over the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Read 2 Chronicles chapter 36, verses 5 to 23.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came up against Judah and took them as slaves into Babylon. God allowed

this because of their disobedience. Nebuchadnezzar also burnt the house of God (the temple), and broke down the

walls of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the capital city where Solomon had built the temple for God during the peaceful

days of his reign.

After a while another country became strong - Persia.

God had chosen the Persian king, Cyrus, to deliver Judah from Babylon.

These next two books carry on the story from 2 Chronicles. If you read Ezra chapter 1, verse 1, you will see that

it is almost exactly the same as 2 Chronicles chapter 36, verse 22. Compare these two verses.

Ezra and Nehemiah tell of the way that God freed Judah from the king of Babylon, and how they went back to

Jerusalem to rebuild their temple and walls. Read Ezra chapter 1, verses 1 to 8.

Esther was a young Jewish woman who lived during the time when the Jews were in Babylon. She became

queen of Persia, and so was able to help the Jews.