Hebraic Monarchy In Israel

The nation of Israel, for several centuries, was under a theocracy of God. Their king was God instead of a human. When Israel was in distress, God sent judges to deliver them and turn them back to Him. Unfortunately, instead of worshipping God after their deliverance, they turned against Him in their sin. Israel began to become like the other nations and kings reigned over them. The kingships of Saul, David, and Solomon significantly influenced the nation of Israel. When these kings obeyed God, He blessed them and the nation. However, when the kings disobeyed God, He removed his blessings from them and the nation of Israel. The disobedience to and disregarding of God eventually lead to the downfall of the nation of Israel.

One of the clearest themes to emerge when dealing with royal ideology in Ancient Israel is the acknowledgment of the king as

Here we see David in his first major fall from grace. King David accomplished a great evil, a two-fold sin. Not only did he commit adultery, but also he also sent Uriah into battle so that he would be killed. David, being blinded by his selfishness, did not notice that he had committed a great sin in the eyes of God.

The surrounding nations had an influence on the people of Israel and this was not pleasing to God. They wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations and have a leaded. A king they could see.

God calls his people to obedient. In return for obedience, God promises to provide. During the time of Solomon the people of Israel lacked obedience. God as king was no longer good enough. Israel’s lack of obedience caused them to anoint a king that also lacked faith in the Lord. Man is broken and even great leaders have flaws. Israel’s demand for a king ultimately resulted in the division of the kingdom.

As Samuel grew in age he intended to appoint one of his sons as the king of Israel. His sons however did not follow the ways of their father or God. “They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice” (I Samuel 8:3). The people of Israel desired a king, “a king like all the other nations” (Hindson and Yates, 2012. P.164). The people had grown tired of oppression and felt that “the lack of a strong human leader as the cause and did not realize that the reason for the oppression was a spiritual on-their failure to serve God” (Harbin, 2005, p.219). Saul was not God’s choice for the throne but “he was the people’s choice” (Hindson and Yates, 2012. P.164). Saul’s appointment as king was against the “old

Bonnie and sherry both good post. Solomon shows us that even if you’re the wisest person in the world if you are not abiding in the Lord then the vines of the world are going to choke you out. God allowed Solomon to make this choice to disobey as he does with us. “So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.’” (1 Kings 11:11 NASB). God displayed mercy to Solomon for David’s sake “Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.” (1 Kings 11:12 NASB). How faithful and patients God is with us is just amazing.

Our Old Testament Scripture Reading found the tribes of Israel uniting with their new king, King David. The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles lead us to believe that in ancient Israel, there was the hope that this would be an enduring dynasty, meaning that a descendant of King David would always rule over Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-3). The Davidic dynasty did last several hundred years, but to make a long story short, Israel eventually ceased to exist as a nation with a King. There is an Israel today but it is a democracy, like us, and it does not have a king.

Throughout modern history, Judaism has been recognized as one of the most influential religions in Western Civilization. However, to reach the complexity and structure that Judaism has today, the Hebrews had to endure several periods and turning points in history. During the 1500 years after 1200 BCE, “numerous vast empires rose and fall around and over them (Hebrews)”, as they made their transformation into Jews (Pavlac, 45). During these phases, known as the Patriarchy Phase, the Monarchy Phase, and Exile and Diaspore, many new beliefs and practices became incorporated into the foundation of Jewish religion, such as the idea of a monotheistic religion, the introduction of prophets, and the usage of scriptures and rabbi.

This paper is about the types of government that Deuteronomistic Historians would write about the Israelite nation. To understand the theory we need to apprehend what is the Deuteronomistic History’s main belief. The strongest belief was that when Israel is faithful, it prospers, but when unfaithful, it is cursed with defeat, disaster, and exile from their land.

First, there is evidence that even before the death of Solomon, the nation was already starting to fall and this was because the tribes had grown jealous of their “independency and rights.” The tribal jealousy can be traced by to the time of Jacob and his wives. Leah and Rachel were jealous of on another, mainly when it came to their sons and who would receive the blessing of Jacob. But Jacob did not help in this case by showing favoritism to Rachel and the sons

Here with Saul, he has failed to do what God wanted and off he goes, “If Samuel cannot find me for a few days, maybe this will go away”, maybe this is what Saul thought as he went from place to place. We see what guilt did for Adam, Eva and Saul in this; it pushed them to hide from God and Samuel, guilt from their own disobedience.

The nation of Israel was set apart as holy to the LORD. But they When the children of Israel demanded a king, they did so to be like the other nations. The first three kings were Saul, (outwardly tall, handsome and strong—a seemingly good choice for a king, but inwardly arrogant, proud and unrepentant—not God’s choice), David (a man after God’s own heart who repented of his sins and as such was God’s choice), and Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived, but because of covenant disobedience became the catalyst for the division and ultimate exile of Israel.

King David proved to be a wise and effective leader for Israel. However, it can be said that his son, Solomon, made several mistakes during his reign. Many of his problems originated from his Temple, a stucture that was conceptualized by his father to be a deterrent against the paganism, which infested the land. Yet, it seemed as if several of Solomon’s policies actually encouraged paganism rather than deter it.

Before, King David gathered a surplus of wealth when in power to bring the Jewish culture into the Golden Age. “With Solomon...the surplus accumulated...rapidly dissipated in ambitious building.” (Asali p.53) through large fortifications and military armaments. At his old age, he placed a heavy tax burden on his people, and in turn they became largely bitter towards him. After his death, massive conflicts came before the people to eventually split Israel and Judah into separate kingdoms. In 800 B.C.E., “two centuries later, the Assyrians conquered the north, and many of the Jews of Israel were deported” (Ardito, Gambaro and Torrefranca p.42). Later, in 600 B.C.E., the kingdom of Judah was overthrown by the Babylons. In turn, this lead to their captivity as slaves; entering a new era of a nomadic culture spread across the western world. On the other hand, it was this captivity which strengthened their religious identity, and evidently propagated the largest monolithic deity known throughout the 21st century: Jesus Christ.