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The Divided Kingdom

by Micky Galloway

After the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam ruled. He did not have the wisdom of his father and therefore rejected the wisdom of the older men who had sat in council with his father. He listened to the young men and rejected the petition of the people. The kingdom was divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel with Samaria as its capital and the southern kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem as its capital. Rehoboam continued to rule over the southern kingdom. Space does not permit a detailed discussion of the history of the divided kingdom as recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles.

However, from the beginning of this division, the northern kingdom fell prey to idolatrous worship. King Jereboam set up two calves, one at Dan and one at Bethel, opposite ends of the kingdom. He changed the priesthood, days of worship and the feasts to be observed (cf. I Kings 12:25-33). From Jereboam there was not one good king in the northern kingdom. All walked in the ways of Jereboam in idol worship. Another form of idol worship was introduced when Ahab was king of Israel. He and his wicked wife Jezebel forced Baal worship on the people. Elijah rebuked the worship of Baal and challenged the people, “How long go ye limping between the two sides? if Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (I Kings 18:21). Four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal were slain. The worship of Baal and calf-worship lead to moral, social and religious corruptions, from which the nation never recovered. Prophet after prophet God sent to these people. Amos and Hosea (755 - 735 B.C.), cried out against the corruptions in Israel. After reminding them of all the calamities God brought upon them to cause them to repent, and after noting their stubborn rebellion, Amos said, “prepare to meet thy God , O Israel” (Amos 4:12). Hosea said to the people, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children” (Hosea 4:6). Such wickedness could not go unpunished. Moses had warned them long before, “When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, to provoke him to anger; I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah shall lead you away” (Deuteronomy 4:25-27).

Tiglath-pileser III was rising as king of the Assyrians (II Kings 15:19). He became a threat to the peace and security of the nations of the west. In the years of 734-732 BC he made inroads into the territory of Israel and exacted tribute from them. Shalmaneser V, who reigned from 728-722 BC succeeded Tiglath-pileser and was succeeded by Sargon III (722-707 BC). Whether it was Shalmaneser or Sargon who conquered the city of Samaria, it is agreed that the northern kingdom fell in either 721 or 722 BC.

In time, Hezekiah became king over the southern kingdom (716-687). During the reign of Hezekiah the southern kingdom of Judah had several years of freedom. King Hezekiah brought about many reforms and sought to restore true worship to the few who had escaped the Assyrian captivity in the north. He repaired the house of Jehovah, cleansed the temple, and made preparation for the feast of the Passover. He invited all Israel to attend the feast, pleading with them saying, “… Ye children of Israel, turn again unto Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, who trespassed against Jehovah, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as ye see. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves unto Jehovah, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve Jehovah your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto Jehovah, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that led them captive, and shall come again into this land: for Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them (II Chronicles 30:6-10). The only hope that Israel had of God blessing them they rejected (cf. Deuteronomy 28-30).

The kingdom of Judah escaped Assyrian captivity. After a hundred eighty-five thousand of his men were slain in one night, Sennacherib, king of Assyria left Judah and returned no more (cf. II Kings 19:35-37). However, after about one hundred years (612-600 BC) Judah had also become corrupt. Habakkuk, sometime before 606 BC, cried to the Lord, “O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up. Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted” (Habakkuk 1:2-4). Habakkuk became especially perplexed when God told him, “Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs” (Habakkuk 1:5-6). Indeed, God was preparing the Babylonians to punish Judah’s wickedness. The prophets Jeremiah (625-586 BC) and Zephaniah (630-625 BC) also saw the threat presented by the Babylonians and the wickedness of God’s people that would lead them into captivity just as the nation of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar, ruled Babylon during the time of this captivity. “The first deportation, then, was c. 605 BC, and included Daniel among those who were deported (Daniel 1:1-3,6). The second deportation was made in 597 BC, and included Ezekiel among the captives. The third deportation was made in 587/586 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and burned the city and the Temple (II Kings 25:9,10)” (Joseph P. Free, Archaeology And Bible History). Ezekiel and Daniel were the prophets during the period of Babylonian captivity (606-535 BC). The deportation into Babylon was the beginning of the seventy year period of captivity foretold in Jeremiah 25:12; 29:10.

While the people of God should have enjoyed the peak of their glory, now both Israel and Judah lived in captivity. The prophecy of God through Moses was fulfilled. They were indeed scattered among foreigners because of their rebellion against God. Rebellion always results in consequences, as we have learned before. Like King Saul, King David and King Solomon, when we forsake God, we forsake His blessings.

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