Oooooooh! A fancy chart!! Looks like things are getting pretty serious. Deadly serious. Well not yet anyway. Solomon is still reigning in peace but there is trouble brewing. A young man named Jeroboam is faithfully working away for Solomon when he gets a visit from a prophet. The message? He is to become the next king, wow! Well... not over all Israel, just over 10 of the tribes. But still, wow!
Solomon dies (end ch 11) and the kingdom passes to his son Rehoboam who is blissfully unaware of the prophecy to Jeroboam. Rehoboam is not a wise king and turns the people against him and straight into Jeroboam's lap; all the tribes but the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (ch 12). But Jeroboam is not a good king and he leads the people into idolatry by setting up two golden calves in the northern kingdom [Israel] for them to worship. The Lord sends two prophets to warn Jeroboam of the consequences of his idolatry but he does not listen and increases his idol worship even at the expense of his first born son (ch 13-4).
Meanwhile Rehoboam in the southern kingdom [Judah] isn't doing much better. He follows his father's idolatry and as a consequence Egypt, a former ally, attacks and steals all the fine decorations in the temple. Well, that didn't last long...
For the rest of the book we can refer to the chart above. In Judah there are times of faithful kings (above the line) and times of idolatrous kings (below the line) and times of compromised kings (on the line; they worshipped the Lord but did not stamp out idolatry amongst the people). But sadly the kings and people of Israel followed in the sin of Jeroboam and did not worship the Lord but worshipped idols. Jehu is about the closest king to consider the Lord.
BUT the Lord had not rejected his people or left them. He sent them many prophets to try to bring them back to himself, with mixed results. The most famous of these prophets were Elijah and Elisha who were sent to the northern kingdom of Israel. Their ministries would be considered unsuccessful overall by who study these things (because the kings did not repent) but God does not look at the outward appearances. In fact the Lord encourages Elijah that he has kept a remnant in Israel who are faithful to him (1 Kings 19:18). They are un-named and unknown save Obadiah (a servant in Ahab’s palace and Elisha; Elijah’s successor).
Solomon dies (end ch 11) and the kingdom passes to his son Rehoboam who is blissfully unaware of the prophecy to Jeroboam. Rehoboam is not a wise king and turns the people against him and straight into Jeroboam's lap; all the tribes but the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (ch 12). But Jeroboam is not a good king and he leads the people into idolatry by setting up two golden calves in the northern kingdom [Israel] for them to worship. The Lord sends two prophets to warn Jeroboam of the consequences of his idolatry but he does not listen and increases his idol worship even at the expense of his first born son (ch 13-4).
Meanwhile Rehoboam in the southern kingdom [Judah] isn't doing much better. He follows his father's idolatry and as a consequence Egypt, a former ally, attacks and steals all the fine decorations in the temple. Well, that didn't last long...
For the rest of the book we can refer to the chart above. In Judah there are times of faithful kings (above the line) and times of idolatrous kings (below the line) and times of compromised kings (on the line; they worshipped the Lord but did not stamp out idolatry amongst the people). But sadly the kings and people of Israel followed in the sin of Jeroboam and did not worship the Lord but worshipped idols. Jehu is about the closest king to consider the Lord.
BUT the Lord had not rejected his people or left them. He sent them many prophets to try to bring them back to himself, with mixed results. The most famous of these prophets were Elijah and Elisha who were sent to the northern kingdom of Israel. Their ministries would be considered unsuccessful overall by who study these things (because the kings did not repent) but God does not look at the outward appearances. In fact the Lord encourages Elijah that he has kept a remnant in Israel who are faithful to him (1 Kings 19:18). They are un-named and unknown save Obadiah (a servant in Ahab’s palace and Elisha; Elijah’s successor).
The Lord tried again and again to keep his people trusting in him and used many means to get their attention during this time: prophets, miracles, famines and war. Sometimes they listened but often they rebelled. Eventually the Lord’s patience ran out with the 10 northern tribes [Israel] and the Assyrians attacked! (2 Kings 17) The Lord lists their sins against him in chapter 17: 7-23. “They worshipped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced...the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: ‘Turn from your evil ways…’ ...But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the Lord their God…” This is known as the first exile of Israel and the land of the 10 northern tribes was populated with a mix of Assyrians and Israelites and became known as Samaria. Over time the nations intermarried and became known as the “Samaritans”. The prophets Micah, Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied to the people at this time.
While this was all going on in the north Hezekiah was reigning over Judah and Benjamin in the south. Hezekiah was faithful to the Lord but it was too late, for the patience of the Lord was running out with Judah too...Hezekiah enjoys mostly a time of peace but has some trouble from a new player in town; Babylon. The Lord uses Babylon to warn Hezekiah and people of Judah that the kingdom is coming to an end due to centuries of idolatry and lawlessness in the land. A later king Josiah has a similar reign. Josiah does his best to reform Judah back to worshipping the Lord but it is again too late “Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger” (2 Kings 23:26)
The kings after Josiah dive right back into idolatry and despise his prophets (thus justifying the Lord’s anger) and Babylon invades. The Babylonians take all but the poorest Israelites (whom he leaves to tend the land for him), destroy the wall of Jerusalem and remove every scrap of precious metal and stones from the temple. The people are exiled from the land for 70 years until Persia overthrows the Babylonians and the land has had the full number of Sabbath rests [which the people failed to give it while under the reign of the kings] (2 Chron 36:15-21) The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nabum, Obadiah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah prophesied at this time.
But there is hope in this time of darkness and exile; the people will return to the land and Jerusalem will be rebuilt (2 Chron 36:22-23)! They just have to wait 70 long years…
Takeaway: The people thought that by having a king to rule over them they would prosper and become powerful and peaceful. Alas their trust was mis-placed. We learn from the history of the kings of God’s people that it is as Jesus will say “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39) The leaders of God’s people were often as blind as the people when it came to spiritual matters. Overall the kings did not put their trust in the Lord and follow his laws and desires, but followed their own foolish desires and led the people down with them. Even the wisest of them [Solomon] let his heart wander from the truth to idols. The problem was not with having a ruler but who the ruler needed to be. They needed to look to their ultimate ruler! The true king of God’s people! God himself!
But there is hope… their true king was coming… and Jeremiah told the people of Judah that when he came he would be able to do something that none of their previous kings had been able to do. He would be able to change their hearts so they would desire to seek and serve their true and ultimate king alone “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers… because they broke my covenant… I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people… I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Further Reading: The law has no power to save us for we will not keep it. Only the forgiveness of our sins and the righteousness of another can save us! And this has come to pass in Jesus the king of the Jews [and gentiles *plot spoilers*]. Read Hebrews 9-10:18 which explains how the Old Covenant could only cover the sin of the people for a time but could not change them, yet Christ’s blood cleanses us fully and transforms us!
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