1 Kings

John Woodhouse (DPhil, Victoria University of Manchester) served as principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia, from 2002 to 2013. He previously worked in pastoral ministry in a suburb of Sydney. He has published articles in various academic journals and is the author of four volumes in Crossway’s Preaching the Word commentary series.

• A Word to Those Who Preach the WordPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroduction: Fourteen Kings of Israel and “The King of the Jews”Part 1: Politics or Promise? How the Kingdom Was Established (1–2)1. A Frail and Fading King: What Hope Can There Be? (1:1–4)2. An Up and Coming King: “But It Shall Not Be So Among You” (1:5–10)3.The Right Side of History (1:11–40)4. Sooner or Later . . . (1:41–53)5. Good Government—What Would It Be Like? (2:1–12)6. The Bible’s Disturbing News (2:12–46)Part 2: The Wisdom of God: How Things Were Put Right (3–4)7. It’s Complicated (3:1–3)8. What a Complicated World Needs (3:4–15)9. The Wisdom of God to Do Justice (3:16–28)10. What a Kingdom! (4)Part 3: The Goal of History (5–8)The Most Important Building in the History of the World (5–7)11. A Chosen and Precious Stone (5)12. A True Perspective on the History of the Whole World (6)13. The King Who Will Build (7:1–12)14. The Truth about Everything (7:13–51)The Church of the Living God (8)15. King Solomon’s “Church” (8:1–11)16. Excited about Church? (8:12–21)17. “Whatever You Ask in My Name” (8:22–53)18. The Joy of God’s Blessing (8:54–66)Part 4: Not Yet (9–12)19. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (9:1–9)20. Are We There Yet? (9:10–28)21. “All the Treasures of Wisdom” (10)22. The Failure of King Solomon (11:1–8)23. There Are Consequences (11:9–25)24. What Hope Can There Possibly Be? (11:26–43)25. Power in Unworthy Hands (12:1–24)26. The Terrifying Prospect of Actually Trusting God (12:25–33) Part 5: The Power behind Everything: The Word of the Lord (13)27. The Word of the Lord versus Human Religion (13:1–10)28. The Word of the Lord versus Human Lies (13:11–24)29. The Word of the Lord and Human Hope (13:25–34)Part 6: Power Politics Played Out  (14–16)30. Deceiving God (14:1–20)31. Do You Dare to Hope? (14:21–31)32. Where Is the Promise? (15:1–24)33. Power Politics in Perspective (15:25–16:34)Part 7: The Ultimate Question: Who Is God? (17–19)How The Drought Began (17)34. Does Your God Rule the Rain? (17:1–7)35. Is Your God Too Small? (17:8–16)36. Can Your God Beat Death? (17:17–24)How The Drought Ended (18)37. The Troubler (18:1–19)38. Religion for Dummies (18:20–29)39. Decision Time (18:30–40)40. The God Who Answers (18:41–46)Not Quite What We Had Hoped (19)41. There is No Plan B (19)Part 8: The Failure of Political Power (20–22)42. King Ahab Did Not Destroy the Enemy (20)43. King Ahab Did Not Put Things Right (21)44. King Ahab Hated the Truth (22:1–14)45. King Ahab Did Not Have a Listening Heart (22:15–28)46. King Ahab Died (22:29–40)47. The Hope of the World and the Legacy of King Ahab (22:41–53)NotesScripture IndexGeneral IndexIndex of Sermon Illustrations