Understanding The Bible
STUDY REFERENCE
Clarence E. Mason's "OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY"
The History of Israel:  Part 6b of 9
COMMENT ON:
THE DIVIDED KINGDOM:

THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
TO THE TIME OF OMRI (Period 1, Northern), and

THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM
THROUGH THE TIME OF JEHOSHAPHAT (Period 1, Southern)

 

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Dr. Clarence E. Mason, Jr.
Philadelphia College of Bible
1964

  1. DIVIDED KINGDOM (I)
    1. THE NORTHERN KINGDOM TO THE TIME OF OMRI (Period 1, Northern)
      1. Jeroboam I (22 years)
        Solomon’s reign, although it brought great wealth to Israel, was also a time of great taxation. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, refused to promise a reduction of taxes. Jeroboam returned from exile in Egypt, and led the revolt. He was a self-made man with real ability; he carefully laid the foundation of the new nation. He is the only important king in the first period of Israelite history, a period of 50 years which saw the northern kingdom established. (During the Divided Kingdom (henceforth abbreviated D.K.), the term “Israel” refers to the northern kingdom alone; although both before and after the D.K. the term usually refers to the whole Hebrew people.

        In judging Israelite (and some Judean) kings, it is customary to state their religious positions, G standing for good, E for evil. In respect to evil, Scripture differentiates between the sin of Jeroboam ben Nebat, and that of Ahab (1 Ki. 12:26-33; 16:31-33). Jeroboam’s sin consisted in trying to represent Jehovah the God of Israel by an image, a breech of the second commandment. Since God refuses such worship, Jeroboam’s cult was idolatrous. Ahab’s sin (via Jezebel, his Phoenician queen) was the importation of a false god, the Tyrian baal—one of the Canaanite deities (see note, p. 30). This revival of Canaanite worship in Israel was met and defeated by the vigorous campaigns of Elijah and Elisha. Ahab’s sin is considered worse than Jeroboam’s.
         
      2. Nadab ben Jeroboam (2 years); unimportant. (The word “ben” means “son of.”)
         
      3. Baasha (24 years); an usurper. Note his cruelty.
         
      4. Elah ben Baasha (2 years)
         
      5. Zimri (7 days); an usurper.
        After a reign of one week, Omri contested the throne and Zimri committed suicide. A three or four year struggle between Omri and Tibni followed.
         
    2. THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM THROUGH THE TIME OF JEHOSHAPHAT (Period 1, Southern)
      1. Rehoboam (17 years)
        Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, was not a capable statesman. His lack of political foresight cost him the better part of his kingdom. After Jeroboam I’s revolt, only Judah and Benjamin, together with most of the Levites, remained loyal to the Davidic regime in Jerusalem. Although Judah (as the southern kingdom was called because of the dominant Judah tribe) had Jerusalem, the temple, and the Davidic dynasty, it was small and usually weak when compared with Israel.

        Rehoboam attempted to bring back the ten revolting tribes by force, a policy followed by his immediate successors, but was unsuccessful. Indeed, he was greatly weakened by the plundering of Jerusalem by Shishak, a Libyan soldier who had usurped the throne of Egypt. Shishak records this raid on one of the walls of the great temple at Karnak on the Nile and there also claims to have raided Israelite cities as well. Egypt was at this time in its final decline. The burial chamber of Shishak was discovered in northern Egypt in 1938. It showed faint glory when com­pared with the great Pharaohs of earlier days.
         
      2. Abijah (3 years)
        Continued his father’s policy of war with Israel.
         
      3. Asa (41 years)
        A good king, he instituted many reforms and even was able to persuade some Israelites (no doubt a pious remnant) to come over to Judah to keep the Feast of Weeks and make a covenant with the Judeans. He was not able, however, to persuade the people to cease worshiping the Lord at their own high places. Indeed, this was almost never accomplished by any king (SRB, p. 408, n. 1). Asa fortified his cities, no doubt espe­cially the cities on his northern border, for he also fought intermittently with Israel.

        Note Asa’s reliance on Syrian help against Israel (2 Chr. 16:1-10). This precedent of getting help from one foreign nation against an enemy nation (instead of trusting God) was widely followed during the whole D.K. period. It was always condemned by God and helped to lead to Judah’s downfall.
         
      4. Jehoshaphat (25 years)
        Another good king. His reign of revival brings to an end the first period of Judean history—the first decline (under Rehoboam, Abijah) and revival (Asa, Jehoshaphat). Note that “decline” and “revival” refer to the spiritual life of the nation, although often political revival followed spiritual awakening (2 Chr. 7:14).

        Jehoshaphat’s reign was one of revival and of great prosperity. His greatest mistake was his league with Ahab. Jehoshaphat and Ahab of Israel inaugurated a new policy—that of peace and cooperation between Judah and Israel—and sealed this policy by the marriage of Ahab’s daughter Athaliah to Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram. The unfortunate effects of this union, and also of Jehoshaphat’s con­stant cooperation with wicked Ahab, will be noted later. Jehoshaphat tried to revive the Ezion-geber operations which Solomon had used so successfully, but failed in the attempt.

 

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20160408

2011-11-20