Volume 51: Kings of the Bible — Full Sequence
Every Throne from Jesus the King of Kings to the Last King, the Beast
Kings of the Bible — Full Sequence is a reference volume listing all 71 rulers named in Scripture and the Apocrypha in canonical order. It begins with Jesus the Messiah, King of Kings, and runs through the United Kingdom, Israel, Judah, the foreign kings, the Seleucids, Hasmoneans, Herods and Nero to the last king, the Beast, recording reign length, scripture reference, prophets sent and how each reign ended.
Every king in Scripture in canonical order — United and Divided Kingdoms, the foreign kings of the exile, the Seleucid and Hasmonean rulers of the Apocrypha, the Herods, Nero and the Beast — with reign length, scripture reference, prophets sent and how each reign ended.
Key facts
- The Northern Kingdom of Israel had nineteen kings across nine dynasties and Scripture records not one of them as doing right in the sight of the LORD.
- Judah had twenty rulers from Rehoboam to Zedekiah, all of David's line except the usurping queen Athaliah, and eight of them are recorded as reformers.
- God repeatedly sent a prophet before a judgment: Samuel to Saul, Nathan to David, Elijah to Ahab, Isaiah to Hezekiah, Jeremiah to Zedekiah and John the Baptist to Herod Antipas.
- Foreign rulers such as Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus are called God's servant and God's anointed (Jeremiah 25:9; Isaiah 45:1), showing that every throne answers to Him.
- The Herods of the New Testament were Idumean client-kings of Rome, and Herod Agrippa I died 'eaten of worms' after accepting worship as a god (Acts 12:23).
- The sequence ends with the Beast of Revelation 13, whom the Lord destroys with the brightness of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:20).
Frequently asked questions
How many kings are named in the Bible?
Counting the United Kingdom, the nineteen kings of Israel, the twenty rulers of Judah, the foreign kings who touch the biblical story, the Seleucid and Hasmonean rulers of the Apocrypha, the Herods and Nero, this volume tabulates 71 thrones — bracketed by Jesus the King of Kings at the start and the Beast at the end.
Why does the sequence begin with Jesus rather than Saul?
Because Scripture presents kingship as belonging to the Messiah first: He is the Lion of Judah promised in Genesis 49:10, the Son of David of Matthew 1:1, and the King of Kings of Revelation 19:16. Saul's throne was granted when Israel rejected the LORD as king (1 Samuel 8:7), so every human reign is measured against His.
Were any kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel good?
No. From Jeroboam I to Hoshea, the books of Kings judge every northern ruler as walking in the sins of Jeroboam who made Israel to sin. Judah, by contrast, had reformers such as Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah alongside its apostates.
Who were the Herods and how were they related?
Herod the Great, who ordered the massacre at Bethlehem, was followed by his sons Archelaus, Antipas (who executed John the Baptist) and Philip, then by his grandson Agrippa I (who killed James) and great-grandson Agrippa II (before whom Paul testified in Acts 26).
What is the tribe-of-Dan Antichrist conjecture?
An ancient interpretation, recorded by Irenaeus and Hippolytus, that the final counterfeit king arises from Dan, based on Genesis 49:17, Jeremiah 8:16, Dan's omission from the sealed tribes of Revelation 7 and its idolatry in Judges 18. The volume presents it as historic opinion, not settled doctrine.