1 Kings 13-16

A great lead-up to the arrival of Elijah. One king appears after the other, most of them doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. Repeatedly we see how unreliable a human king can be. How sad that, in the gospels, the Israelites were still yearning for a human king rather than a divine one. However powerful the kings may be, God rules over them - the passage reads like a trail of dominoes, one falling after the other. Only God has the authority to give and take life, and each king passes away and must give up his power to someone else.