This page gives you ready-to-use study questions for 1 Kings 15, arranged in observation, interpretation and application sets. It is written for a small group, a Sunday class or personal study, and each question comes with a leader’s note so you can move straight into discussion without preparing your own answers first.
1 Kings 15 at a Glance
Chapter 15 moves quickly through three kings of Judah and Israel. Abijam reigns briefly in Judah and walks in his father’s sins, though God keeps a lamp burning in Jerusalem for David’s sake. His son Asa then reigns for forty-one years, leads a real reform, and removes idols and the queen mother Maacah from her position. Alongside him, the northern kingdom of Israel falls into a cycle of violence, with Baasha overthrowing Nadab and wiping out the house of Jeroboam.
The chapter closes by repeating its verdict on the northern kings, showing that a bloody change of dynasty did not change the spiritual direction of the nation. Keep this flow in mind as you work through the questions, since the contrast between Judah’s mixed legacy and Israel’s steady decline is the thread running through the whole chapter.
Observation Questions
Use this set first to slow the group down and anchor everyone in what the text literally says before anyone offers an opinion. Ask one question at a time and let several people answer before you add commentary.
1 Kings 15:4-5
4 Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem; 5 because David did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
(WEB)
Read these verses to highlight God’s faithfulness to David and the honest exception named in the text. They give the group a clear anchor for the discussion about covenant promise and personal failure.
1 Kings 15:11-13
11 Asa did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, as David his father did. 12 He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13 He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
(WEB)
Reading this passage aloud shows the concrete reforms Asa carried out, including the removal of his own mother from her position. It is a useful text for talking about courage in obedience.
1 Kings 15:14
But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the LORD all his days.
(WEB)
This short verse captures the tension between a devoted heart and unfinished reform. Read it slowly so the group can wrestle with what it means to be sincerely faithful while still having work to do.
1 Kings 15:26
He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.
(WEB)
Reading this verse aloud introduces the repeated verdict on the northern kings. It helps the group see that the narrator is tracing a steady pattern rather than isolated events.
1 Kings 15:29-30
29 As soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam. He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; 30 for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.
(WEB)
These verses explain how Baasha’s violence is tied to the word of the LORD and to Jeroboam’s provocation. Read them together to open a conversation about divine judgment and human responsibility.
Memory Verse for 1 Kings 15
1 Kings 15:5
Because David did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
(WEB)
This verse names the standard the whole chapter uses to measure faithfulness: doing what is right in the LORD’s eyes and not turning aside from his commands. Memorizing it gives the group a simple, portable summary of the kind of wholehearted obedience the chapter holds up.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as a group that has looked honestly at kings who were faithful in part and faithless in part. Thank you that you keep your promises even when the people who carry them fall short. Show us the high places in our own hearts, the places where we have kept comfortable exceptions to your will, and give us the courage to take them down. Help us to trust your purposes when the world around us seems unstable, and to keep a light burning for those who come after us. Make our hearts wholly yours, as much as they can be in this life, and lead us in the way of faithfulness. Amen.
