Lessons

Old Testament Study – Part 11. We see that the golden age of Israel was presented to us in the time of David and Solomon. The Egyptians were waning and the Assyrians and Babylonians were not prominent yet so this was the prime time for Israel. The wisest man on earth, Solomon, had been made King and the glory of Jehovah was in the temple. David was a solder and a gatherer but he wasn’t allowed to build the temple. That job was given to Solomon and it was impressive but we see that Solomon, in the end, did not keep the Lord’s commandments. Chronologically, this lesson covers the time around 880 BC to 600 BC. The divided kingdom of Israel resulted after his death. Solomon’s problem was when he followed after idols which was from the influence of all the wives he had With the passing of Solomon, Rehoboam was presented with a situation when the people of Israel asked him if he would take it easy on them instead of what his father had done. He asks two groups how to answer: The old men that had walked with Solomon and young men that had grown up with him. He forsook the counsel from the old men and listened to his “buds”. The advice of his “buds” was more grievous and the people rebelled and the kingdom split into two groups. The northern kingdom of ten tribes under Jereboam is taken by the Assyrians. The two tribes of the southern kingdom were under Rehoboam (Rehoboam was the son of Solomon). When we see passages addressing the house of Israel (the ten northern tribes) and the house of Judah (the two southern tribes were of Judah and Benjamin), it is addressing these two groups. For instance, Jeremiah 31:31 (KJV) says “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:” Samaritans were the ten northern tribes (in Samaria). The ten northern tribes and two southern tribes kept a line of Kings in both groups. Two kings down from Rehoboam you find Abijam in 1 Kings 15:1. The northern tribes went to idolatry in Bethel and Dan to keep them away from Rehoboam. The southern tribes once in a while served God but were off track as well. The history of the Kings in Israel is covered in this lesson.