• Division of the Kingdom
• • Reason
  • • Theological - God had told Solomon that He would remove the kingdom from him (1 Kings 11:9-13)
    • Historical (1 Kings 12:1-19)
    • • Rehoboam, son of Solomon, went to Shechem to be anointed king
      • Israel asked what he planned to do about the tax burden and forced labor Solomon had imposed on his subjects
      • Rehoboam received two types of advice
      • • From older advisors - ease the burden
        • From younger advisors - be even stricter
      • Rehoboam followed the advice of the younger advisors and the northern tribes seceded and selected Jeroboam as their king
  • Division of political kingdom set the stage for further division in other areas
  • • Jeroboam created competing temples and cults in Bethel and Dan so the people of the northern kingdom (Israel) would not have to go to Jerusalem to worship - this was a shrewd political move because it prevented the people from seeing the Davidic king in Jerusalem and attempting to reunite with the southern kingdom (Judah)
    • Concept of kingship differed in the two kingdoms
    • • Israel - seized by most charismatic leader
      • Judah - passed from father to son in Davidic line
• General Historical Situation
• • One fact that is often overlooked when discussing the early days of Israel in Canaan is that there was a power vacuum in Canaan during that period - Egypt and Mesopotamia were too weak to interfere in Canaan and thus Israel could conquer the land and establish the empire of David and Solomon
  • The division of the kingdom occurred at a time when Egypt and Mesopotamia were regaining strength and desiring to extend their influence into Canaan - the resurgence of these superpowers inevitably threatened the two small kingdoms of Israel and Judah
• Some Notes on the History of Israel (Northern Tribes)
• • Kingship in Israel was very unstable which led to an unstable government - while a few family dynasties lasted several generations, there was no established dynasty that ruled the land - when the old king died, deciding on a new king was often a bloody process
  • Israel was in a more difficult situation than Judah
  • • Israel was much closer to the domineering power of Assyria than was Judah - the domination of Assyria was felt far more in Israel than in Judah

• • • Israel's territory included fertile valleys which were far more attractive to Assyria than the Judean wilderness
    • Egypt gave nominal support to Judah to keep Judah as a buffer between itself and Assyria but Egypt was not concerned to support Israel
    • Israel was tempted by Syria and others among its neighbors into suicidal rebellions against Assyria
  • Fall of Israel
  • • Due to its unstable government and proximity to Assyria, it is no wonder Israel fell first
    • Samaria, the capital of Israel, was destroyed in 722 B.C.E.
    • Assyria had a three-stage policy of subduing nations - Israel experienced all three stages
    • • First, Assyria contented itself with declarations of loyalty from the native ruler and the payment of tribute - if the nation withheld tribute or tried to rebel, Assyria moved to the second stage
      • Second, Assyria reorganized the nation into several provinces and appointed a ruler sympathetic to Assyria - deportation was also associated with this step - if the nation tried to rebel, Assyria moved to the third stage
      • Third, Assyria exterminated the remnants of the nation and formed the remaining fragments into a province - deportation was also a part of this stage
    • Assyrian policy of deportation was to scatter some of the inhabitants among other nations and to move people from other nations into the newly conquered nation - this would create a diverse people through intermarriage who would find it difficult to unite and rebel against Assyria - the result of the mixed marriages in Israel as the centuries passed by were the Samaritans whom those in Judah looked down upon since they were of an impure bloodline and not part of the true Davidic kingdom
• Some Theological Points
• • Although there is history in the material in 1 and 2 Kings (note the references to sources - e.g., 1 Kings 14:19, 15:7), the primary interest is in theology - note the following:
  • • King Omri of Israel is only briefly mentioned (1 Kings 16:15-28) but his name is mentioned in texts outside of Israel as an important and influential king
    • • The texts of other nations refer to Israel as the "land of Omri"
      • Omri was much like David
      • • Purchased a hill and built his capital city, Samaria, just as David had captured and built Jerusalem as his city
        • Chose a location for his capital that would be ideal for ruling his nation just as David did
    • Lengthy treatments of Elijah and Elisha emphasize the text's concern with theology - Ahab is not a greater or more evil king than his father Omri but Ahab gets more attention because Elijah lived during the time of Ahab
  • Elijah and Elisha
  • • Both are known for miracles
    • • Miraculous feeding (1 Kings 17:8-16, 2 Kings 4:42-44)
      • Raising the dead (1 Kings 17:17-24, 2 Kings 4:18-37)
    • Relations with the kings of Israel
    • • For Elijah - more negative than positive (although he did anoint Jehu as new king of Israel - 1 Kings 19:16-17) - chief conflict is with Jezebel, Ahab's wife, who wants to establish Ba`al religion as the religion of Israel - just as Solomon's marriages to foreign women who had other faiths proved to be a problem so did Ahab's marriage to Jezebel
      • For Elisha - more positive than negative - prophesies victory (2 Kings 3:9-20, 13:14-19) and salvation (2 Kings 6:32-7:20)
    • Some interesting stories about Elijah and Elisha
    • • Elijah and the "still, small voice" (1 Kings 19:9-18)
      • • God is not like Ba`al, the Canaanite god - Ba`al always revealed himself in the elements of a storm as God did on Mount Sinai - it would be easy then for people to confuse Ba`al and God
        • Elijah discovered that God cannot be confined to one method of revelation - God is free to come in any way He chooses, even a barely audible voice within - people must be open and willing to see God when He comes in whatever way He comes and to obey Him
      • Elijah did not die but was taken by God (2 Kings 2:11) - this supernatural "taking" of Elijah is why he was expected to return before the messiah and prepare the way for him - God would allow him to return, finish out his work and ministry, and then die
      • Elisha, the boys, and the two she-bears (2 Kings 2:23-25)
      • • As Elisha was traveling, some boys began to make fun of him - Elisha cursed the boys and two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the boys
        • Not one of the most uplifting accounts about Elisha but one of the most memorable
        • Seems to emphasize the holiness of prophets - to mock a prophet is to mock God who sent him and God will not tolerate that
  • Bible regards the fall of Israel as the result of Israel forsaking God and following other gods - such destruction had been predicted in Deuteronomy (Deut. 28:15-68) for any nation that disobeyed God

Top artwork by Jean Fragonard from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art (c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97. Bottom artwork from the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh from the same source.