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CHRIST IN KINGS I Kings 4:21: “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.” So, Jesus will rule over all kingdoms, and presents will be brought to him: “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.” (Psa. 72:10-11) Matthew 2:11 is only a foreshadow of something far greater that is coming. I Kings 8:8: “And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.” The staves were for moving the ark, but they were taken out at the dedication of Solomon’s temple. With the tabernacle of Moses the staves were not taken out (Exo. 25:15) because they were constantly needed for moving the ark. Solomon’s temple, on the other hand, was not mobile, so the staves were removed. We know from John 2:19-21 that this temple pictures Jesus, so the removing of the staves points to the fact that the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ will be a permanent kingdom. The tabernacle of Moses pictures the First Coming of Christ, and the temple of Solomon pictures the Second Coming. Daniel 2:44 is a good reference: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” I Kings 11:36: “And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.” The long view obviously points to Christ the “light of the world” who will rule from Jerusalem with a name above every name (John 8:12; Mat. 5:35; Plp. 2:9). I Kings 18:44: “And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” After seven trips to the sea, the servant reports to Elijah that a little cloud like a man’s hand is visible, and then a great rain comes (vs. 45). The seven times match the seven year tribulation, while the little cloud like a man’s hand is similar to Jesus’ description of the Second Coming: “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” The rain points to the early and latter rain of Joel 2:23 and James 5:7, a restoring rain that is given to Israel at the end of the Great Tribulation. I Kings 21:13: “And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.” Like Naboth, Christ was killed as a result of false witnesses (Mat. 26:60). I Kings 22:8: “And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.” There was “one man” that provided the way of truth. The rest of the prophets were liars. So there’s only one man that can provide the way of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6; I Tim. 2:5). But, like Micaiah, He is hated. II Kings 2:9-10: “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” This is very similar to Acts 1:8-9 where spiritual “power” is spoken of in the context of Christ ascending up to heaven in the presence of witnesses. II Kings 4:40-41: “So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.” Since the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), this whole scene is a picture of man being plagued by sin and death until Christ enters the human race, pictured by the meal. II Kings 5: The first fifteen verses of this chapter offer an excellent picture of salvation with the healing of Naaman the leper. II Kings 5:1: “Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.” The last five words speak volumes. Just as Naaman was a leper, in spite of his many accomplishments and his social status, men today are sinners in need of Christ, in spite of their many accomplishments. II Kings 5:2-3: “And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.” Naaman’s healing comes as the result of this little maid witnessing about Elisha’s healing power. Sinners today can only be saved by being told about the Lord Jesus Christ and then believing on Him. II Kings 5:10: “And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” So the sinner must be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ: “. . . Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” (Rev. 1:5) II Kings 5:14: “Then went he down . . .” This typifies the humility that a sinner must have, if he is to have his sins washed away. Like Naaman, he must come down from his “high horse” and be humble enough to receive God’s Son as his only hope for salvation. “. . . his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” So it is with the converted sinner who has been born again: he starts over as a little child. The New Testament reference is Matthew 18:3: “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” II Kings 5:15: “. . . Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel . . .” So the converted sinner has assurance after believing on Christ. He doesn’t think or hope that he’s saved; he knows he is saved. I John 5:13 says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” II Kings 11:1-12: Joash (“whom Jehovah bestowed”) became king after six years of hiding. This is interesting because it is after 6,000 years that Jesus Christ returns to become King. In fact, Jesus is revealed (hence: Revelation) after hiding Himself from Israel (Deu. 31:17-18; Hos. 5:15-6:2; Ezk. 39:29). II Kings 20:5: “Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.” Hezekiah is a good king who pictures Christ. Here we have something more. Hezekiah was “sick unto death” (vs. 1), yet he is told that he will be healed and that he will go up into the house of the LORD on the “third day.” In addition to picturing the third day resurrection of Christ, tis also points to the third millennial day (II Pet. 3:8; Hos. 6:2) after Calvary when Christ returns and establishes His kingdom and the “house of the LORD” (Isa. 2:1-5).