👑 Kings and Queens 👑

[Suze]

Queen Elizabeth the first was awesome ! I know u like to read so I can recommend a couple of excellent books ; Legacy by Susan Kaye ( I think there is an 'e' on the end of Kaye ) and the Six Wives of Henry the Eighth by Antonia Fraser , both great reads !

 

[Suze]

There r apparently two books called the six wives of Henry the Eighth , don't get the wrong one !

 

[SonJudgment]

Reading Kings is like hearing a broken record...over and over and over it just repeats itself about the Kings doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.

I'm like enough already. When are you going to get to the good ones??

Don't bore us, get to the chorus!

Kings is my favorite OT book it is both exciting to read when doing cover to cover or just now and then quickly on its own. Then you get to run it back with the Chronicles with other details and from another vantage point. For the OT books Kings and Chronicles is the most secularly provable, meaning it has most literary cross references from obviously non-Christian cultures (pagans), as well as actualyl a lot of artifacts that were lost or unable to be translated and understood for centuries until modern times corroborating the basic narrative and even kind of enriching it to a degree too. Though granted the Kings and Chronicles cycle span a large period of time so its maybe not so as unthinkable as skeptics might care to admit, praise Jesus King of all the Kings.

 

[SonJudgment]

Reading Kings is like hearing a broken record...over and over and over it just repeats itself about the Kings doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.

I'm like enough already. When are you going to get to the good ones??

Don't bore us, get to the chorus!

Also to your final question, Hezekiah is the 2nd to last Good King it is written in the Book of the Kings and the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Praise Jesus, King over all Kings.

 

[Lanolin]

Wasn't King Hezekiah the one who asked God that he could live longer?

Yea some Kings die young.

 

[Lanolin]

Queen Elizabeth the first was awesome ! I know u like to read so I can recommend a couple of excellent books ; Legacy by Susan Kaye ( I think there is an 'e' on the end of Kaye ) and the Six Wives of Henry the Eighth by Antonia Fraser , both great reads !

Non-Fiction right?
Although I suppose that far back, they may have become myth and legend.

 

[seoulsearch]

I don't know if he would have been king if he had lived, but there is one royal family member who has always fascinated me more than any of the minor royal figures named in the Bible.

King Jeroboam had a young son who became sick. He told his wife to disguise herself and go to the prophet Ahijah, but Ahijah already knew who she was, even though he was blind. (1 Kings 14)

He greeted her with, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam," and he told her that because her husband had done more evil than all who were before him, God would bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam.

"The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field, for the Lord has spoken! (1 Kings 14:11)

BUT, there was one exception -- his son, Abijah, who would soon pass away.

" Arise, therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him an bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam." (1 Kings 14:13)

I have always wondered what that "something good toward the Lord" was that God found worthy of honoring -- especially since this was a boy who was raised up in a household of wickedness on a scale even God said was worse than ever before.

Who was it that taught him about the Lord, and what was it in his heart that held on to the One True God?

I'm looking forward to hearing what that something was someday in heaven.

 

[Suze]

Hahaha !

Non-Fiction right?
Although I suppose that far back, they may have become myth and legend.

That far back , it was only about 500 years ! There r plenty of historical documents and artifacts etc , from this country and the rest of Europe , that give us a very good idea of what went on amongst the nobility . They were mostly well educated , not like the ordinary folk , keeping the peasants illiterate etc was one way of keeping them in their place but most nobles could read and write , we r talking about Shakespeare's time .
Those two books r a very interesting read and based on all the known facts and evidence that we have , diaries , letters , official documents etc .

 

[Lanolin]

Hahaha !

That far back , it was only about 500 years ! There r plenty of historical documents and artifacts etc , from this country and the rest of Europe , that give us a very good idea of what went on amongst the nobility . They were mostly well educated , not like the ordinary folk , keeping the peasants illiterate etc was one way of keeping them in their place but most nobles could read and write , we r talking about Shakespeare's time .
Those two books r a very interesting read and based on all the known facts and evidence that we have , diaries , letters , official documents etc .

Ok, I suppose I thought maybe they were like novels or fictional retellings. Well sort of.

I mean Royals publish their own books now....!

 

[SonJudgment]

Queen Elizabeth the first was awesome ! I know u like to read so I can recommend a couple of excellent books ; Legacy by Susan Kaye ( I think there is an 'e' on the end of Kaye ) and the Six Wives of Henry the Eighth by Antonia Fraser , both great reads !

My favorite Queen from Britain. Though like mentioned Henry VIII did technically start hte English Reormation, one might not be oso proud of that as he committed the great heresy of divorce and remarriage to do it and really it wasn't so clear cut of a reformation as some reimagine but actually spawned an era of instability and chaos. Elizabeth I is the one really more correctly ordered the English Reformation while returning the heretical schisms back into standard essential Christian orthodoxy solidifying the Protestant Reformation in Britain while also navigating the ship of State in the most turbulent temporal waters of 1500s AD Europa and actually turned the tide against all odds and the blessings of God. The real Elizabeth's Golden Age gave birth to the British Empire as after the defeat of the Spanish armada, the Catholic bulwark of Europe and the most powerful navy of her time, Britain would become the predominant naval and European power for four centuries after her, God save the Queen Elizabeth I.

Not just ancient history but also somewhat topical to modern news/culture too of course as Elizabeth The Golden Age is a masterpiece of cinema, and actually for a lil closer in time and newer generation Mary Queen of Scots (the movie title from 2018) with Margot Robbie playing Elizabeth and Saorise Ronan playing Mary Queen of Scots (another fascinating Queen) are all actually pretty high tier movies.

 

[Lanolin]

The first Queen Elizabeth famous speech --to her troops

"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too"

The second Queen Elizabeth made this speech on her 21st birthday

"I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong"

 

[Gideon300]

We know we have a King of Kings and Lord of Lords...

And lest we say something treasonous about the current reigning monarchs of various lands and have our heads cut off... I'm restricting this discussion to Kings and Queens of the past. In the Bible, in history, or in myth and legend.

Who was good, and who was evil?

Did they rule well, or was it a disaster?

Any favourites?

Hard to go past King David. In spite of his failings, he was the "man after God's own heart". He proved that you do not have to be perfect to be godly. He also showed that sin has consequences even if we are forgiven.

 

[PAC-fit]

He proved that you do not have to be perfect to be godly.

After Nathan the prophet brought his actions to light, forgiveness restores a person's relationship with God, but it does not always remove the real-world consequences if I'm not mistaken, for the rest of his days. The whole affair is one of those instances that begs the question for me (Prov 24:16), can a return to the "first works" (Rev 2:5) restore to pre-consequence?

 

[Lanolin]

After Nathan the prophet brought his actions to light, forgiveness restores a person's relationship with God, but it does not always remove the real-world consequences if I'm not mistaken, for the rest of his days. The whole affair is one of those instances that begs the question for me (Prov 24:16), can a return to the "first works" (Rev 2:5) restore to pre-consequence?

It just seemed to me regarding David, he was allowed to have all these wives, (he had about 8?) but women were only ever allowed to have ONE husband. And sometimes they had to share.

I mean Jacob had 2 wives and 2 concubines, the wives were only married to him and had to share. The concubines I assume were just unmarried. Or maybe they were just surrogate mothers. Not really sure what the difference is.
And what made Judah so special that Kings would come from his lineage? He wasn't the firstborn.

I sometimes wonder what made Solomon so special when David already had other children and a firstborn son. He had about 19 sons mentioned in the Bible and 1 daughter (Tamar, who was raped by her half brother who was David's eldest.)

The firstborn sons are dedicated to God, but they don't automatically succeed to their fathers position or the family business. So I am not sure how succession really worked in the Biblical Kings. Why was Bathsheba never named Queen?

Was David King not just because he slayed Goliath and all these Philistines, but because he won the hand of Michal, who was King Saul's daughter and I suppose a princess? What about Jonathan then? King Saul wasn't about to give the Kingdom to David after he fell out of favour, he was jealous and tried to kill David! I mean David could have killed Saul in revenge but he didn't.

I mean the whole I am King only after the previous King dies is kind of weird if you think about it. Everyone would be tempted to murder/assasinate the current King if they wanted or thought they could be the next one.

 

[SonJudgment]

Who can forget the Last Good Christian King of Jerusalem? Baldwin IV not only is a King, but he is also a certified guarantee to appear in the Apocalypse, a Saint King canonically per the prophecy of Revelation 14 and he will return with Jesus the King of Kings to judge all the world and end it and live forever, praise Jesus.

 

[Gideon300]

After Nathan the prophet brought his actions to light, forgiveness restores a person's relationship with God, but it does not always remove the real-world consequences if I'm not mistaken, for the rest of his days. The whole affair is one of those instances that begs the question for me (Prov 24:16), can a return to the "first works" (Rev 2:5) restore to pre-consequence?

Good question. I'd say, not completely. How do you put the toothpaste back in the tube? However, God can work all things together for our good.

For example, I lost a job because I said something out of line when the company was making some bad decisions. What I said was true but wisdom said I should keep my mouth closed. I learned from that and my next job was a lot better.

 

[PAC-fit]

Good question. I'd say, not completely. How do you put the toothpaste back in the tube? However, God can work all things together for our good.

Oh my but of course, where I should have devoted more before asking, Paul, who looks to have confirmed for you. How else but to maintain our testimony speaking from the very imprint of Christ, knowing how to be "abased" and "abound" confirms both the criminal and Apostle, "For I am the least of the apostles", "For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles."

 

[PAC-fit]

I'm restricting this discussion to Kings and Queens of the past. In the Bible, in history, or in myth and legend.

Great thread! Do our ancients qualify? It is apparent the dominant consensus across orthodox Christianity is that all regenerated believers in Jesus Christ of the past, qualify as "kings and priests."

 

[Lanolin]

Great thread! Do our ancients qualify? It is apparent the dominant consensus across orthodox Christianity is that all regenerated believers in Jesus Christ of the past, qualify as "kings and priests."

Well sure
I mean it is a spiritual Kingdom I suppose.
Not sure how Queens fit in, they don't have to be married to Kings. Maybe they just have the fortune of being the eldest daughter. But didn't the city of Babylon say I sit a Queen, and am no widow and shall see no sorrow. And the Kings of the earth commit fornication with her.

The book of Revelation isn't that kind to women, casting them mostly as Jezebels and whores. Except the mysterious woman with a crown of 12 stars who I suspect may be Mary, although she isn't named.

 

[Lanolin]

Who can forget the Last Good Christian King of Jerusalem? Baldwin IV not only is a King, but he is also a certified guarantee to appear in the Apocalypse, a Saint King canonically per the prophecy of Revelation 14 and he will return with Jesus the King of Kings to judge all the world and end it and live forever, praise Jesus.

I don't know anything about him?! I don't know much about that part of history, or the crusades or such. Was never told anything about it in church.

Most of the focus was on King David in the OT and the wicked King Herod in the NT.