“Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him
and praise his name.
For the LORD is good
and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues
through all generations.”
Psalm 100:4
 Kings of Israel
Read and talk about the following kings. Were they good kings or
bad kings? What makes a good king?

▪ Saul (1Samuel 8 to the end of the book) He was the first king of
Israel. Why did God reject him as king?
▪ David (1 & 2 Samuel) He was Israel’s second king. Was he
perfect? How was he different from Saul?
▪ Solomon (1 Kings 1-11) Third king of Israel. What went wrong in
this king’s life? Did he make things right with God?
▪ Josiah (2 Kings 22 – 23, 2 Chronicles 34 – 35) He was 8 years old
when he began to reign.
▪ Joash, or Jehoash (2 Kings 11 – 12 & 2 Chronicles 24) He was 7
when he was crowned king. Who was his great-grandmother?
▪ Hezekiah (2 Kings 18-20) What did Hezekiah build that you can
still visit in Israel today? Why did he build it?

Which other kings do you know? Some of these kings were your age when they
began to reign. What kind of king would you be?
 Non-Israelite Kings in the Bible
▪ King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1 – 4) This king loved playing with
fire. He razed Jerusalem, then later in the book of Daniel he had
Daniel’s friends thrown into a fire. But God had a big surprise for
him. It is also interesting that God gave this king a dream about
some very important kings who would rule until Jesus the true King
comes. By the time Nebuchadnezzar died, he knew that God is the
King of kings.

▪ King Hiram of Tyre (1 Kings 6) A good friend of King David, he

helped Solomon with cedar wood to build the temple.

▪ King Cyrus (Ezra) This king allowed the Israelites to go back to

Jerusalem and rebuild their city and temple. The prophet Isaiah
mentioned Cyrus by name more than 100 years before Cyrus was
born.
 Non-Israelite Kings in the Bible (Contd.)

▪ King Xerxes/Artaxerxes/Ahasuerus/Achashverosh (the book of

Esther) Lots of names for one king! And they’re not easy to say. Give
them a try ☺

▪ Pharoah (Genesis and Exodus). There are 3 different pharaohs in those

2 books. Pharoah was the title used for Egyptian rulers. Were they alike
in how they treated the Israelites?

▪ King Herod (the gospels and Acts) Herod and Herod’s son were kings in
Israel during Jesus’ earthly ministry. This family however were not of
Jewish descent. They were Edomites. Read Acts 12 to find out how
Herod Agrippa got puffed up and died.

Which of these kings were good kings. Can you think of any other kings mentioned in
the Bible who were not from Israel?
 Queens in the Bible
The Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1-12 and 2
Chronicles 9:1-13)

This queen had heard about the wisdom and wealth of

King Solomon and decided to travel a long way to see for
herself. When she meet King Solomon, she asked him
some very tough questions, all of which he answered very
easily and wisely.

This queen is important because she represents a

fulfillment of the plan God had for Israel. God had
blessed Israel, and other nations were to hear of this
tiny kingdom that had God as her true King and want to
know more about her God. The Queen of Sheba went to
see an earthly king, but she left Jerusalem with a
knowledge of the King of kings in heaven.
 Queen Vashti (Esther 1:8-20)

Queen Vashti was the wife of King Xerxes. Vashti means “beautiful”. She refused to be shown off by the
drunk king to his guests after a 187-day party.

Why is this queen important? She refused to be made a spectacle because of her looks. She made a hard
choice, because defying the king could mean death or getting deposed (to be removed from being king or
queen). She chose to remain dignified despite what would happen to her.

Queen Esther (the book of Esther)

After removing Vashti from being queen, Xerxes chose Esther to be his new
queen. This queen is important because she also made a hard and brave choice.
To save her people, she risked her life by appearing before the king unsummoned.

She is also important because she realised that God had made her, an ordinary
girl, queen for such a time as to save the Jews from certain death. Esther means
“star”. Like Esther, do you let your light shine so others can see your good works
and glorify our Heavenly King?
 Queen Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11, 12)
She was the wife of King David after he took her from Uriah. Queen Bathsheba is
important because her story is one of redemption and restoration. She did not allow her
tragic and shameful circumstances break her. She is also important because she was the
mother of Solomon, who became the next king of Israel. And from her lineage we get King
Jesus.

Queen Abijah (2 Chronicles 29:1, 2)

Her name means “my God is Jehovah”. Queen Abi was the wife of wicked King Ahaz. She is
important because though her husband was an evil king, she taught her son to fear God. Her
son was King Hezekiah, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Wife (Daniel 5:10-12)

Not mentioned by name, she is notable in that when God stopped Belshazzar’s party by
writing on the wall, she sent a message to her grandson telling him there was someone in
whom was the Spirit of God who could tell her what the writing meant. Years after
Nebuchadnezzar had died, she still believed there was a King in heaven who could help in
times of trouble.
 Queen Jezebel
Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab. A Phoenician princess, she
taught the Israelites to worship Baal. She helped her husband
take away a neighbour’s vineyard by having the owner killed.

Queen Jezebel was the mother of Queen Athalia (wife of King

Jehoram, and mother of King Ahaziah, and grandmother of
King Joash).

Why is this queen important? We learn that God does sees the wrong things we plan against others
to hurt them. And though it may seem like the bad guys got away with it, if we do not repent we
will suffer the consequences of sin.

We also see from her story that being a bad influence can cause a lot of other people to sin.
Jezebel not only led the Israelites to worship idols, but her son, grandson and eventually great
grandson were all evil kings. Joash was good at first, but as soon as Priest Jehoiada died, he
started doing evil.
King of the Zulu Nation King of the United The Sultan of Brunei Salman of King of the Afro-
Kingdom Saudi Arabia Bolivians

Kings and queens usually wear crowns. There are many kingdoms around the world, and each
monarch’s head dress looks different from another. Their crowns represent power and
wealth. With the exception of kings from the Arab world, their crowns make them stand
out and look spectacular.

2 Samuel 12:30 talks about a very heavy crown that King David took from a defeated enemy
king. The crown was made of gold and probably weighed about 30kg and had precious stones
in it. That was a very heavy crown! Do you think the king wore that all day or just on special
occasions?
 Homophones We Noticed When
Talking About Bible Royalty In Class
Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different spellings and meanings.
 Royal Colour Fun Fact
Ancient kings are often shown wearing purple or blue. Long ago, colour was very expensive,
especially those two colours. They didn’t use the dyes we have today, and had to get them from
nature – berries, spices, leaves, animal blood, etc. But blue and purple were very hard to get.

They came from special sea snails that would be very carefully farmed and then “milked” to get
colour. This took a lot of time and and made purple and (royal) blue very expensive, and only the rich
could afford them. Purple and blue were special and rare, which is why they were worn by royalty.

And that is how Lydia, the seller of purple mentioned in the Acts 16 got rich.
 Finally…

Israel’s kings were not to be like other nations’ kings, doing what they liked when they liked.
When a king ascended the throne (became king) he was to copy the scrolls of Moses and
keep them near him as he ruled on his throne. The king was not to make great riches for
himself. He was to depend on God and follow the laws of God.

When David and Ahab sinned by killing and stealing from their neighbours, God sent
prophets to them to tell them what they had done was wrong in God’s eyes. Both kings were
sorry, and God forgave them.

God always sent prophets to warn the kings when they did wrong, but most of the kings did
not pay attention, and they often ended up in big trouble.

King Jesus is the only king who could help the earthly kings rule justly. When He came to
earth, He showed us what His Kingdom is about; obeying and loving God and serving our
neighbours. He will come again, to bring an end to sin, and to take those who belong to His
Kingdom. We can be a part of Jesus’ Kingdom today by walking with King Jesus daily,
obeying Him and hiding His Word in our hearts.
 To Do
1. Memorise Psalm 100:4 (write it in your heart!)

2. Do a story chart (or story map) of one queen in the Bible

and use your chart to tell the story out loud. Use drawings
in your chart – they need not be perfect. Tell the story in
order.

3. Make a king or queen (or both!) puppet using paper roll,

paper and wool. You can also use a wooden spoon. Your craft
MUST include a crown. The puppet with a crown will
suffice as our fulfilment of requirement number 6 on page
1. Alternatively, you can do any two of the requirements
from a – e.