Pastor Geziel Gomes,

·      cross-cultural missionary;

·      international lecturer;

·      author of several books;

·      professor in the chairs of Systematic Theology, Evangelism, Homiletics and Hermeneutics.

Dear teacher,

Our feelings are of happiness and exultation in the Lord for offering you the Booklet #55 of the series Lessons from the Word of God, whose theme is: The great kings of Israel: stories of wars, failures and conquests.

In this booklet, we present summarized biographical studies of important Old Testament characters, who were selected for their historical relevance, not for being considered, in any respect, superior to the others.Our purpose with this series is to present little explored contours of men who became kings of Israel, with Jehovah's permission, in order to fulfill His eternal purposes.The biographical text imposes analytical limitations on us. Therefore, we suggest that, throughout the lessons, the contents are applied to the needs of the class.Consider that the lives of the biographies must be placed in the historical context in which they took place, because as man is a child of his time, as the French historian Marc Bloch would say, their lives and deeds make more sense when observed in the period in which they played them.May the Lord bless us.

Remember the former things from of old: that I am God, and there is no other God, there is none like me; that I announce the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that have not yet come to pass; which I say, my counsel shall be firm, and I will do all my will; I call the bird of prey from the East, and the man of my counsel from far off lands; for I have said so, and so it will come to pass; I have determined it and I will also do it.Isaiah 46.9-11

Elba Alencar

Executive Director of Central Gospel