What do I do when people I look up to really disappoint me?

Hey, what's up? This is Sheree at Bible Project.

In this episode, we're learning from Curissa.

She's walking us through the Book of Kings where we discover a long line of

disappointing leaders. You and I both know how painful it is when someone we admire

lets us down. So what do we do? We'll have a chance to reflect on this together

after the Bible reading, so stay tuned and listen in.

In the previous book, The Book of Samuel, we met Israel's first kings, Saul and then David.

The Book of Kings picks up the story and traces the lines of Israel's kings over 40 kings

all the way until the nation's exile. So why is the author telling us about so many kings?

What's the message? Well first, let's remember that by the end of the book, the people are in exile.

So they're reflecting on their situation, how they got there, and whether God will be faithful to

his promise to their forefathers and to David. You might remember that in 2 Samuel 7, God made a promise

to David that even after he died, his kingdom would endure forever and that a king from his line

would also build a house or a temple for Yahweh. So as we enter the story of kings, we're looking

for this king to come who will lead the people in following God and will bring about God's

ultimate plan of dwelling among his people just as in the Garden of Genesis 1 and 2.

After David dies, his son Solomon is anointed as king. As readers, we're meant to be asking,

is this the one? And the writer is highlighting a lot of good qualities about this king, and this

is meant to shape our expectations about what this righteous king to come will be like.

There are two things in particular that the author highlights about Solomon that are really

positive. First, he's incredibly wise. So much so that the nations whom the queen of Sheba

...