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.
Following the United Monarchy separating into two different nations the Kingdom of Israel, sometimes referred to as Samaria, existed with nineteen kings for two-hundred and seven years from 928 to 721BC. Consisting of ten of the twelve tribes - Reuben, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ash, Ephraim and Manasseh. The Kingdom of Israel became weakened after the breakup of the United Monarchy which the Egyptians take advantage of in 925BC when they invaded and made the Kingdom of Israel a vassal nation of Egypt followed by the Kingdom of Ammon which gains its independence from the Kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam I the first king of the Kingdom of Israel from 928 to 907BC, created worship centers in the cities of Bethel and Dan and encouraged the people to return to their worshipping of pagan deities such as El, Asherah, Baal and Dagan from the Canaanite Pantheon.
Solomon was the son of David. When king David died, Solomon became king. Under king Solomon "the kingdom was established" in peace (I Kings 2:12,45-46; I Chronicles 22:9). "Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king" (I Chronicles 19:23) and "built a temple for the name of the Lord" (II Chronicles 2:1). For Jesus to be greater than Solomon He would have to ascend the throne of God and build the house of God, with all His enemies no longer making trouble. Matthew records Jesus the King saying to His disciples "I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18); later, having ascertained that the Messiah is a Son, the Son of David, Jesus shows that even king David calls the Messiah "Lord" (Psalm 110:1 and Matthew 22:41-45). Jesus is therefore the King of kings.
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.
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.
Judges 1:21 interprets the Jebusites as continuing to dwell at Jerusalem, within the territory otherwise occupied by the Tribe of Benjamin. The Books of Kings state that once Jerusalem had become an Israelite city, the surviving Jebusites were forced by Solomon to become serfs; though since some archaeologists believe that the Israelites were simply an emergent tribe in Canaanite society, it is possible that this is an etiological explanation for serfs than a historically accurate one. It is unknown what ultimately became of these Jebusites, but it seems logical that they were taken in by the Israelites. According to the "Jebusite Hypothesis," however, the Jebusites persisted as inhabitants of Jerusalem and comprised an important faction in the Kingdom of Judah, including such notables as Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Bathsheba, the queen and mother of the next monarch,
King David had sworn to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, that her son would be king following him. Solomon was a wise man. When the Lord came to Solomon and allowed him to ask whatever he wanted Solomon asked for more wisdom. “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10). Solomon ruled with greatness and that was evident in the cities he built, the number of followers he had. Another sign of his greatness was the fact that the queen of Sheba ventured to Jerusalem just so she could lean at his feet and gained wisdom.
Josiah found the copy of the law of God in the temple and when he heard the news that the people were not following the law, gathered all the people and kings to promise to obey the book of law. Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims for keeping the passover. They sacrificed more than 45,000 sacrifices. After the temple was refinished, The king of Egypt and his army gathered with the king of Jerusalem. The king of Egypt told the king of Jerusalem that the Lord had spoken to him telling him that if the king of Jerusalem interferes with him he will destroy the kingdom. In the battle, Josiah was badly hurt and died a few days later. Then, Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, instead of tearing his clothes he tore apart the book and the whole generation changed. Jehoahaz was the king of Judah for three months. When pharaoh defeated his father the kingdom, Judah was handed over to the Egyptians. He allowed the people to go back to practicing idolatry. When he stopped listening to the king of Egypt he imprisoned him and send him to Egypt where he died. Jehoiakim reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years and for the first four years he paid large tribute to Egypt and he reestablished idolatry then in 605 B.C., the Babylonian king, King Nebuchadnezzar, fought with Pharaoh and
Uzziah aka Azariah, or Ozias was the son and a successor of his father Amaziah (2 chronicles 25:25-28; 26:1-3; 2 kings 14:21). He was the tenth king of Judah and the fifth generation descendants of Jezebel. He was a good and God fearing king and the ancestor of Jesus Christ (2 kings 15:1-4; 2 chronicles 26:1-18; Matthew 1:1, 8-9).
First, foreseeing the day that Israel would have a king, expressed in Deuteronomy are instructions for such a time. At this point it should be noted that the idea of Israel having a king, began in the mind of God. Contrary to what some believe about the idea of kinship and God’s supposed disdain for it, Howard mentions the fact that “God has spoken of kings to Abraham from the beginning (Gen. 17:6, 16; 35:11)”; furthermore, he noted that the problem with anointing a king was intention of the people to be like the nations
It is apparent that the Southern Kingdom would have to face God’s judgment. The northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria because of the sins and idolatries. Assyria tries to destroy Judah as well, but because of God’s intervention, the Assyrian army is slaughtered by an angel before they can enter Jerusalem. King, Hezekiah the righteous king who is supposed to have been one of Judah's very best rule survives. When he became ill and was told by an angel he was going to die the cried and prayed to God for help, and because he was the recipient of divine favor God gave him another fifteen years onto his life and reign after nearly dying. Yet, again, bad follows good, and the wicked king Manasseh starts doing all sorts of idolatrous
Israel and Judah survived the collapse of the united monarchy for 50 years after it fell. This was due mostly to the fact that there was no state that had achieved dominance around them (cite book pg. 158). After Omri was able to reform his alliance with Phoenicia Israel’s relations with Judah changed for the better. To symbolize the union between the two kingdoms, Ahab’s daughter was married to Jehoram of
First, the Divided Kingdom. From studies, the Old Testament and other sources have it that not long after the reign of Saul, David, and Solomon the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms. Despite warnings from many prophets, both kingdoms repeatedly turn from God. The Divided Kingdom, of the South and North, period follows the continuing story of Scripture in the books of 1 Kings (chapters 11-22) and 2 Kings. And this period is recounted in three acts: the division of the kingdom, the resulting northern kingdom (which takes “Israel”), and the resulting southern kingdom (which takes the name “Judah.”). Assyria and Babylon force the divided kingdoms into exile. Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed.
Jezebel was a queen, identified in the Book of Kings as the daughter of Ithobaal I of Sidon and the wife of Ahab, King of Israel. According to the Hebrew Bible, Jezebel incited her husband King Ahab to abandon the worship of Yahweh and encourage worship of the deities Baal and Asherah instead. Jezebel persecuted the prophets of Yahweh, and fabricated evidence of blasphemy against an innocent landowner who refused to sell his property to King Ahab, causing the landowner to be put to death. For these transgressions against the God and people of Israel, Jezebel met a gruesome death – thrown out of a window by members of her own court retinue, and the flesh of her corpse eaten by stray dogs. Jezebel became associated with false prophets. In some