Hello Tim and staff, I don't want this posted but thought you might like a bit of research I did into the split between these two brother nations. Fits with you latest post on worship in Israel at the time of Jeroboam. This is part 1.
How Solomon’s sins Affected Israel
Graeme McChesney 4/10 5/12 [email protected]
• This is a study paper and not the final word
• Translations used are King James Version (AV) or Concordant Literal (CLV) unless otherwise stated
• Your comments and corrections are welcomed.
Part 1
In this two part series, we want to examine the reasons for one of the most disastrous wars which Israel and Judah ever fought against each other. This war led to the permanent split in the kingdom and happened just after the death of Solomon. What were the causes which led to this fight and what part did Solomon play in this matter? The breach which these events brought about will not be healed until Christ returns and installs David back on the throne of Israel.
Israel’s Disastrous War with Judah
AV Jer 17:9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
The Hebrew word for deceitful is aqob and it means crooked, the opposite of straight. It is used in Isa. 40.4 in the same sense, where the crooked is made straight.
The words desperately wicked are translated from the word anash and mean sick, incurable, frail etc.
How this heart manifests itself and behaves is illustrated in the pages of the Bible. To a greater or lesser degree God limits man’s ability to express his evil desires down through history.
The first two and a half thousand years of mans recorded history God appears to have given him free reign with little or no restrictions. The result is shown in Gen 6.7.
Later God took Israel from Egypt and gave them laws designed to curb this voracious appetite for selfishness. The model society God proposed through Moses was designed to quell the human tendency for selfish desire by various punishments. The idea being that the fear of punishment would curb human nature somewhat and act as a deterrent. These laws which included the death penalty for capital crimes, repayment five-fold for theft etc were designed to teach man something about himself. Even the system of sacrifices was designed to remind man of what he was like.
The penalties of the law were to instil a fear of God which would act as a deterrent to rampant human desire. The end goal being that this law would enable Israel to put evil away from their communities.
AV Dt 19:20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
AV Dt 19:21 And thine eye shall not pity; [but] life [shall go] for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
But evil is not confined to the common herd and even kings are susceptible. So God had a list of things they were to do in order to control their own lusts. When the time came that Israel wanted a king, he would inevitably to gather to himself unprecedented power over the people. Because of this he was admonished to familiarize himself with the Law so that he did not indulge in lust and power which would now be relatively unrestrained. Since the king was over the people, power to do as he pleased was often unchecked and so the law was to be his means of self discipline. After all, who would dare discipline the king?
Because the king held this power God characterised the nation by his example. Judah’s kings sometimes received good reports. Israel’s were all bad. However the people too were responsible.
Israel, a case study in human nature
The degree to which Israel kept the law was the degree to which they prospered as a nation. But more often than not they neglected to do so and the consequent suffering is recorded for us today.
One example of this suffering is recorded in 11 Chron. 13 where Israel and Judah fought a disastrous civil war in which the dead on Israel’s side alone amounted to over half a million
men.
This two part paper explores the reasons for this war and shows where the Bible pins the initial blame for the conflict.
Moses warned future kings of Israel that once they gained power they were to study the law.
CLV Dt 17:18 It will come to be when he is seated on the throne of his kingdom, that he will write for himself a duplicate of this law on a scroll from the one before the priests, the Levites.
Here is the check list which was to contain the king’s lust somewhat and control the unbridled power which he would accumulate.
Since he could become a law unto himself then Moses admonished Israel that when they did set up a king, this is what he was to do. He was required to read and study the laws of God so that he learned to fear the Power who was above him.
CLV Dt 17:19 And it will be with him, and he will read in it all the days of his life that he may learn: to fear Yahweh your Elohim, to observe all the words of this law and these statutes to obey them,
God then held each king largely responsible for the wellbeing of the nation.
CLV Dt 17:15 then you shall set, yea set over you a king whom Yahweh your Elohim shall choose. From among your brothers shall you set a king over you. You cannot put over you a foreign man who is not of your brothers.
CLV Dt 17:16 But he shall neither increase horses for himself nor cause his people to return to Egypt in order to get many more horses, for Yahweh, He has said to you: You should not again return in this way further.
CLV Dt 17:17 He shall neither increase wives for himself, that his heart may not withdraw, nor increase silver and gold for himself to excess.
CLV Dt 17:18 It will come to be when he is seated on the throne of his kingdom, that he will write for himself a duplicate of this law on a scroll from the one before the priests, the Levites.
CLV Dt 17:19 And it will be with him, and he will read in it all the days of his life that he may learn: to fear Yahweh your Elohim, to observe all the words of this law and these statutes to obey them,
CLV Dt 17:20 by no means to exalt his heart above his brothers and by no means to withdraw from the instruction, neither to the right nor left, so that he may prolong his days on the throne of his kingdom, he and his sons among Israel.
The instruction in Deut. 17.15 relates specifically to another admonition. Ammonites and Moabites were specifically excluded from rulership of any kind in Israel unto the “tenth generation”. (Deut. 23.3)
In order to keep the king in check he was to familiarize himself with the Law. All the things that would tempt him now that he could virtually do what he pleased were to be on the list. Many wives who would lead him into idolatry was on the list.
Civil War between Israel and Judah
Twenty years after the death of Solomon a war broke out between Israel and Judah. Threat of war had long been simmering since Jeroboam led the Ten Tribes away from the union with Judah over the question of taxation. Rehoboam, one of Solomon’s sons, came to the throne after Solomon died and the question of the heavy taxes imposed on the people – probably as the result of the huge public works programs which Solomon had embarked on during his reign - became an issue. So much so that Ten of the twelve sons of Jacob whom David had re-united under his reign, ceded from the union and formed their own nation with Jeroboam as king. The war which followed came twenty years after the death of Solomon and during the reigns of Jeroboam, king of Israel, and Abijah [Abijam] king of Judah.
Here are the brief statistics taken from 11 Chron. 13.17
1.2 million combatants 400,000 from Judah vs 800,000 from Israel
500,000 casualties on Israel’s side alone [it is unclear if these casualties were those killed or killed and wounded]
Assuming that 1 in 6 of Israel’s population were combatants, that would mean out of a population of say 5 million, that would amount to a casualty rate of 12%.
We do not have figures for Judah
America’s death rate from all sources in WW 11 was less than 1%.
The Bible tells us that after this battle Jeroboam [Israel] never recovered his strength. (11 Chron. 13.20)
We have no details of the on-going human suffering which resulted from this great loss of life but Steven Collins in his book The Lost Ten Tribes … Found surmises that the effect of this conflict weakened both nations and allowed for the rise of Assyria. This conflict of bloody hand to hand combat in which brother was pitted against brother can be traced back to Solomon’s decision to import many foreign wives. It had much to do with the fact that these women brought their religious ideas into the land and so led to idolatry.
Under David and then Solomon, Israel was the power in the Middle East. Not only did Solomon enjoy a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity but if the nation had remained united Israel could have mustered an army of 1.2 million men according to the above stats.
Winning lotto
If anyone could be said to have won lotto it was Solomon. He inherited from his father David a united kingdom which was on the verge of prosperity. David had subdued all his enemies round about (11 Sam. 7.1) and so Solomon inherited a kingdom which was settled and stable. What’s more he had personal contact with God through dreams and when he first ascended the throne God asked him what he would like. He asked for wisdom to rule the people wisely, but God gave him so much more. Wealth and fame came his way.
CLV 1Ki 10:23 And king Solomon is greater than any of the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom,
In his book Steven Collins details the exploratory journeys and intellectual curiosity which made Solomon famous. He was seriously filthy rich - So much so that those who came to visit were wowed by the splendour of the kingdom. (1 Kings 4.34; 10.4)
But the problem with sudden wealth, fame and power is that it allows human nature to assert itself in areas that should be kept in check and the major failing on his part was his proclivity to want many wives. David had a problem in this area too, and it seemed to run in the family because both Rehoboam and Abijah also had many wives and concubines. Jeroboam only ever had one wife.
It’s not as though God didn’t warn him about all this because three times at least he was warned about keeping the Law of Moses. Twice in dreams. David warned him too. Here’s what the Law stated.
The king was to write by his own hand a copy of the Law of Moses and become familiar with what it said. He was to do this throughout his life. (Deut. 17.18-19) He was to avoid the temptation to take many wives and he wasn’t to gather riches for his own benefit. (v. 17) To begin with Solomon appears to have done these things. But when he was old and established on the throne he went off the track. We will see what repercussions this had, not so much for himself, but for the nation. As a footnote, it could be said that many of these instructions also apply to anyone who gains power, whether is through religious hierarchies or corporate ladders.
The Background to the conflict
The reasons for this dreadful conflict went back to the split which developed between Judah and Israel after Solomon died. Rehoboam had become king over all Israel, but an unknown who had previously been governor under Solomon rose up and led the Ten Tribes out of the union which David had previously united. The pretext was heavy taxation – maybe as a carryover from Solomon’s lavish spend up. Initially Jeroboam had shown great potential so Solomon appointed him to govern the Ten Tribes within the nation of Israel, but he later fell out of favour and had to flee to Egypt because Solomon sought to kill him. After Solomon died and Rehoboam had ascended the throne and then refused to reduce taxes, Jeroboam was recalled from Egypt and became the spokesman and leader of these disaffected tribes. He led them to separate and form their own kingdom with him as king.
While the initial cause of this breakup may have been taxation, the Bible pinpoints in 1 Kings 11 why Jeroboam rebelled. While he was Governor over Joseph and faithfully serving Solomon, God sent a Prophet to him in private and offered him the job of leading these ten away from the line of rule established in Judah. This is recorded in 1 Kings 11.27-35.
This Prophet, Ahijah, was specifically sent by God with the express purpose of putting the idea into Jeroboam’s head that he should take the ten tribes and become their king, The kingdom would be taken from Judah and given to Israel.
CLV 1Ki 11:31 and said to Jeroboam, `Take to you ten pieces, for thus said Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, lo, I am rending the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and have given to you the ten tribes,
The Davidic covenant had established David’s Jewish line over all Israel but Ahijah was telling Jeroboam, an Ephramite, to seize the kingdom and become king.
CLV 1Ki 11:35 and I have taken the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and given it to you--the ten tribes;
In other words, he would not just remain a Governor over what now became Israel, but he would become their king.
Because this was such political dynamite and would be viewed as seditious in anyone’s language, Ahijah approached Jeroboam privately. They met in an open field – just the two of them.
CLV 1Ki 11:29 And it comes to pass, at that time, that Jeroboam has gone out from Jerusalem, and Ahijah the Shilonite, the prophet, finds him in the way, and he is covering himself with a new garment; and both of them [are] by themselves in a field,
No one else was there to witness what Ahijah had been told to tell Jeroboam. Shortly after this Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, so he fled to Egypt. (v. 40) We are not told why but it could have been because he began fomenting rebellion.
Jeroboam was one of three adversaries God raised up against Solomon because of his sins. While the matter of taxation then raised its ugly head after Solomon had died and Rehoboam was ruling, the real reason Jeroboam returned from Egypt was not to have taxes reduced so that Israel would stay in the union but to prepared for revolt. Jeroboam believed he had a Divine mandate from God to do this. 1 Kings 11 tells us that this was the reason Jeroboam began plotting against Solomon. What Ahijah told Jeroboam then was most revealing and incriminating against Solomon. Ahijah revealed personal details about Solomon’s standing before God which were extremely incriminating and political dynamite.
What God told Jeroboam
God told Ahijah to tell Jeroboam that He was going to split the kingdom in two and give him – an Ephramite who was not part of the royal lineage from David – ten of the twelve tribes.
And the reason for this?
AV 1Ki 11:33 Because that they [Solomon and the royal court?] have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do [that which is] right in mine eyes, and [to keep] my statutes and my judgments, as [did] David his father.
This explosive information appeared to run not only contrary to the Davidic Covenant as we will see, but it told Jeroboam that God was unhappy with what Solomon was up to, even while he was basking in luxury at the height of his power.
Jeroboam was now in possession of some of the most secret information about the most famous king of that time. He knew how God felt about this man and he knew what He intended to do about it too. Jeroboam knew that Solomon had fallen out of favour with God and was going to do something about it. This information came from a recognised prophet of God. His many wives had led him into idolatry.
Jeroboam had the goods on Solomon. He knew things about the king which no one else did. The king would remain on the throne until his death, but in the days of his son the kingdom would be split in two. Ahijah told Jeroboam this.
AV 1Ki 11:34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:
AV 1Ki 11:35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, [even] ten tribes.
AV 1Ki 11:36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
AV 1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
He also learns that the covenant with David is now altered to include a second king and kingdom. David will still have one of his seed ruling over Israel, but it won’t be over all Israel. It will be only over two tribes. Jeroboam will have the rest.
The Real Cause of the Split
While taxation was a cause of friction within the Ten Tribes and was the impetus to cause the split, Jeroboam had a mandate from God to bring this about. Therefore the split was God’s doing because of Solomon’s sins. It was not Jeroboam’s doing primarily as was generally believed in Judah. Here was the source of the problem. How God accomplished this was extremely clever. This episode gives us a glimpse into how God works out His purposes. This breach which will not be healed until after Christ returns (Isa. 58.12).
1 Kings 11.26-27 tell us that Ahijah encouraged Jeroboam to rebel. But the encouragement was done in private with no other witnesses, therefore Judah and its kings could not verify that this was indeed from God - unless the only other witness who could corroborate the story stepped forward. That other witness was Solomon.
In calling Solomon to account because of his sins, God used several players to bring about not only a split in the nation but the eventual demise of both kingdoms at that time. These players included Solomon, Jeroboam, Rehoboam and Abijah. Twice He warned Solomon in dreams not to depart from the Law. The Law was at the heart of the problem. The consequences of departing from the Law and worshipping other gods was going to have a profound impact on the nation.
What did God say to Solomon?
Just after he ascended the throne God appeared to him in a dream. This is found in 1 Kings 3 where God asked him what he desired and he asked for wisdom. God was so impressed that He added all the things he didn’t ask for – riches, fame etc. But He also said this.
AV 1Ki 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
He was promised a long life on the throne – if he kept the Law. Later, while he was building the Temple, the word of God came to him again.
AV 1Ki 6:12 [Concerning] this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
The promise to David was to have one of his seed always on the throne of Israel. This promise would be extended to Solomon’s lineage too – if he kept the law.
Then, after he had finished building the Temple and had dedicated it with that impressive prayer, God appeared to him again – also in a dream.
AV 1Ki 9:2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. [in a dream]
AV 1Ki 9:4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, [and] wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
AV 1Ki 9:5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel [all Israel] for ever,[to the age] as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
Of the many sons of David who could legitimately sit on the throne, Solomon was promised permanency for his children “if” he kept the Law. In the Covenant with David he was promised rulership until he died. He was not going to be removed from the throne if he sinned as Saul had been. But in this dream God promised him that while David’s lineage would always be, his lineage too would branch out from that, if he kept the Law. His lineage would be established over all Israel as a branch from David’s root. The Davidic covenant ensured David’s line ‘forever’ – Heb. Olam – to the age – but Solomon’s could also be established. However, subsequent events would prove that God could alter this promise and this was the cause of the war. Judah didn’t believe that the Covenant with David could accommodate alteration, and we will see why. Within the promise to David God had a little known clause which allowed Him to not only remove kings within the boundaries of the Davidic promise but the word ‘Israel’ became the key. Israel could be just Ten tribes, rather than twelve.
At the time God appeared to David and made the promise of his kingdom, he had lived a life pleasing to God. But the promises to Solomon were made at the beginning of his reign and they were conditional on being obedient. They were not unconditional as were those made to David. Also, when they were made to him he was still obeying the Law and so no punishments were specified in detail. There was nothing even hinted at in the Davidic covenant which showed what God would do if Solomon did sin. Both David and then Solomon ruled over all Israel. The promise to both of these men was that they should be kings over all twelve tribes. David was promised this at that time and this will be his role again in the resurrection, but Solomon also had a promise that he would not be removed as Saul had been.
So, understanding in all Israel was that God would always have a man from David’s lineage over all Israel. Within that promise, Solomon’s lineage could be established as David’s was – if he kept the law.
But unbeknown to David, and also for most of Solomon’s life, was this clause which allowed God to alter the promise if the king sinned. Clearly the Davidic covenant said that David’s Jewish lineage would always be on the throne. But later in life Solomon came to understand that God could alter that because of his sins. He only learned this though when he was old and was well established in his kingdom. David went to his grave thinking that rulership for his seed was over all Israel. Solomon believed this initially too. So did all Israel. But in the all-important third dream God revealed something to him which showed otherwise. We have seen that God appeared to Solomon twice in dreams. Once when he began his rule and then when he had built the Temple. But when he was old God appeared again. We will show that this too was in a dream.
AV 1Ki 11:9 . And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
AV 1Ki 11:10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.
AV 1Ki 11:11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
AV 1Ki 11:11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
AV 1Ki 11:12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake:[so as to honour the covenant with David] [but] I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. [Rehoboam]
AV 1Ki 11:13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; [but] will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
In this dream, God points the finger at him and tells him that his wives have led him astray and caused him to worship other gods. Because of this God pronounces judgment on him and the nation.
This judgment was that God would split the nation in two and give the kingdom to someone not of the line of David. This was unheard of according to the understanding of the Covenant.
Solomon then goes to the grave knowing that after his death the kingdom will be split 10/2 and that a servant of his – therefore not from the royal line – will take the kingdom from David’s seed.
We will see that this information was not passed on the people of Judah in particular and became the cause of the friction which exists even to this day. While the Davidic covenant was well known in the land, the problem of sin and its consequences for that covenant was not, because God had not yet revealed this. However He did reveal it to Solomon. The question was, What did he do with this information? Solomon knew before his death that the covenant which all Israel thought applied to all twelve tribes viz David’s seed, was going to be changed. He didn’t know who this servant was who would take these ten tribes – because God didn’t reveal this to him – but he did know how God was going to change the promise to David’s sons.
Whether he believed all this we are not told, but at least he had heard it from God himself. [What he did with this knowledge will be discussed in the second paper].
What did God say to David?
After David had subdued all his enemies and reunited the twelve tribes under his kingship, he decided he wanted to build the Temple, but God spoke to him through Nathan the Prophet. Besides telling him that he could not do this because of the blood on his hands, Nathan told David what would happen to his dynasty. This is the Davidic Covenant.
AV 2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
AV 2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.[Heb. Olam]
It is important to understand the context here. David had reunited Israel when this covenant was made. He was near the end of his life. God was pleased with his attitude. Therefore “Israel” here meant all twelve tribes. This tells us that the legitimate heir to the throne of the united kingdom of Israel had to come from David’s children. That this is clearly talking about Solomon is seen in v.13. He would build the house and God was going to establish Solomon on his throne over all Israel. He would not be removed as was Saul prior to this.
AV 2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
AV 2Sa 7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took [it] from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
Yes, God would use men to correct Solomon during his reign, but he would remain king. God gave David a cast iron guarantee that this son he would choose [Solomon] would not be removed from the throne as Saul and his house had been because of sins. Since David ruled all Israel, then so would Solomon.
But Nathan also told David that his house or lineage and his kingdom which presently ruled over these twelve tribes, would remain “forever” [Heb. Olam to the age].
AV 2Sa 7:16 And thine house [David’s] and thy kingdom [David’s] shall be established for ever [Heb. Olam - to the age] before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. [olam]
AV 2Sa 7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
Jeremiah confirms this.
AV Jer 33:17 . For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
The promise to David was that he would sit over all twelve tribes of Israel. He did this during his life and he will do this again when he is resurrected and the tribes are reunited too, but this promise also extended to Solomon – if he kept the Law. The consequences if he didn’t were only revealed to him later in life and they were a private matter as we will see. Solomon was to be the first of the many sons of David who could potentially become kings.
1) His throne would last to the age
2) He would remain on that throne until he died
3) The rulership would be over all twelve tribes
4) Solomon knew all this because his dedication prayer at the Temple shows this
This dedication prayer was well known in Israel.
CLV 1Ki 1:35 and you have come up after him, and he has come in and has sat on my throne, and he does reign in my stead, and him I have appointed to be leader over Israel, and over Judah.'
So, David understood that Solomon was to reign over all Israel and that his Jewish lineage would do so too. He wnt to his grave thinking this. Solomon thought so too initially and his public dedication prayer shows this.
AV 1Ki 8:20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel,[all Israel] as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.[all Israel]
This knowledge about who was supposed to rule all Israel was still firmly believed by all Judah at least twenty years after the death of Solomon. 11 Chron. 13.5 shows this.
[For another aspect of the Davidic covenant see the study paper, A Closer Look at the Davidic Covenant]
However the covenant with David was not a cast iron guarantee that these successive kings could sin with impunity and still remain long on that throne. Nor was it a guarantee that they would rule over all Israel, as we will see. While God had told David that Solomon would not be removed as Saul had been earlier, there were conditions to be met before Solomon’s sons could rule the whole nation.
We know this because of the third dream to Solomon. When God appeared to him the third time he then became aware that He could take away ten tribes and give them to someone not even from the Davidic line without altering the promise to David. In making the promise to David about the royal line, God had left a conditional clause which allowed Him to make changes to the covenant if any of these kings sinned. (1 Chron. 28.4-5) This was unknown at the time of David and only became apparent when Solomon sinned. Speaking of Solomon God said-
CLV 1Ch 28:7 and I have established his kingdom to the eon, if he is strong to do My commands, and My judgments, as at this day.
Yes, God had given a promise that he would not remove Solomon no matter how he behaved, but He did say that what he did would affect the next generation of kings and this is what Judah seems to have ignored.
Now how was that going to happen?
How did this play out in history and what part did Solomon have in all this?
For much of his life Solomon was obedient and so no punishment was specified. Although he was warned several times to keep the Law, it was not until he had broken it and committed idolatry that God revealed what He was going to do about it. The third dream then became most important. It would reveal to Solomon the huge impact his sins were going to have on the whole nation.
The way God revealed this information and what Solomon did about what he heard will the subject of the second paper, but by the time the penalty was revealed to him, the dye was set and the nation was openly entertaining foreign women who were worshipping their gods in public. Solomon became so deeply involved in all this that it was impossible to extricate himself without causing major diplomatic problems.
Here is the conditional nature of the promise to Solomon, made just after he dedicated the Temple.
CLV 1Ki 9:4 `And you--if you do walk before Me as David your father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you--My statutes and My judgments you do keep--
CLV 1Ki 9:5 then I have established the throne of your kingdom over Israel [all Israel] --to the eon, as I spoke unto David your father, saying, There is not cut off to you [personally] a man [Solomon in this case] from [being] on the throne of Israel.
“Israel” here obviously meant all twelve tribes because he was ruling over them at that time. But the word “Israel” is the key. Israel did not have to include Judah. Subsequent events proved that God could still split the nation while keeping His promise to David. Solomon would still have a son on the throne, but not over all Israel. At the time of this promise to Solomon though, this was not evident at all, because he had not yet sinned.
It was only when God privately revealed the punishment which Solomon’s idolatry would bring in that it became evident to him that God could establish kings outside David’s line and that they could rule over part of the nation.
We will see that only Solomon knew about this change in the covenant because it was revealed to him in the third dream. The question was, Who else knew this?
So here we have a very interesting situation.
God reveals to Solomon the punishment coming upon the nation because of the influence of his wives. He now knows God will take Ten tribes and give them to a ‘servant’ during his sons reign.
Later, Jeroboam learns much the same thing via Ahijah the prophet and that he has a mandate to become king over these tribes. And he knows the reasons why. Solomon has committed idolatry. Ahijah reveals this to him in private.
The only ones who know about this coming split then are Solomon, Jeroboam and Ahijah. But didn’t Judah know this? Wasn’t it evident in the royal household as to the reasons for this coming split? And wouldn’t Jeroboam have spilled the beans?
What did Rehoboam and Abijah believe?
Twenty years after the nation is split in two, Abijah makes this charge against Jeroboam. Just before this all- out battle he brings up this matter of rulership over all Israel. This is the major reason for this war. Who is supposed to rule?
CLV 2Ch 13:5 Is it not for you to know that Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, has given the kingdom to David over Israel to the eon, to him and to his sons--a covenant of salt?
He obviously has all Israel in mind here because he is saying that the kingdom should never have been split in the first place. Jeroboam is entirely to blame for this, he says. He has 400,000 men from Judah who believe the same thing.
A covenant of salt is described in Num. 18.19. It means something which would last ‘to the age’ or perpetually until a final date. So Abijah is referring back to this promise to David. He is saying in effect that God made a perpetual covenant with David about rulership over all Israel. Not just two tribes.
CLV 2Sa 7:16 and stedfast [is] your house and your kingdom unto the eon before you, your throne is established unto the eon.'
He believes Jeroboam has broken this covenant. The charges against the king of Israel are that he is not of the line of David and therefore is not eligible to rule at all. Only someone from David’s lineage can rule Israel – all Israel. All Judah thinks this way too. Therefore 20 years after Solomon’ death no one in Judah believes Jeroboam’s “story” about the ten pieces of cloth.
Jeroboam a liar?
It is clear from the statements that Abijah is making in 11 Chron. 13 that he believes Jeroboam is not only an imposter who has usurped the throne of David, but a liar too.
He denies that God told Jeroboam to take Ten Tribes.
He also denies that the Covenant with David allowed for God to split the nation
He makes no mention at all about the sins of Solomon which the Bible reveals were the real source of this split.
He blames Jeroboam entirely for the problem.
It seems then that he and the rest of Judah, twenty years down the track, are either ignorant of what God said to Solomon about his sins and the claims of Jeroboams about his mandate or he simply doesn’t believe him.
Clearly he is going to war on the pretext that Jeroboam is an illegitimate king who has stolen Israel from the rightful line.
How could he lead Judah into war knowing full well that this split really was from God? How could He claim God was on his side if he really knew that what he was doing was against God’s wishes? Didn’t Solomon explain the reasons to his successor?
11 Cron. 13 shows that Abijah believed Jeroboam was not only a liar but a rebel who has gone against God by changing the covenant of salt. Israel should never have been split and there are no kings outside the line of David.
As further proof that Jeroboam is in the wrong he then cites numerous breaches in the Law which show that Judah is right. (11 Chron. 13) He points to the Priesthood, Temple and Jerusalem as proof that Israel should be with Judah, not worshipping other gods in other places.
In fact to this day, most Jews would agree with the king of Judah here.
Rehoboam felt the same way
Rehoboam came to the throne at the death of Solomon. The context reveals that Jeroboam rebelled in the same year. Jeroboam reigned for 20 years and Rehoboam over Judah for 17. But just after he ascended the throne and after Israel rebelled, Rehoboam assembled an army to take back what had been lost.
CLV 2Ch 11:1 And Rehoboam comes in to Jerusalem, and assembles the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight with Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam.
Here we see that Judah even at that early stage thought it necessary to go to war to recover the Kingdom of Israel.
Obviously Rehoboam didn’t believe Jeroboam’s fanciful tale about a meeting in the field with Ahijah – if he had heard about it - either. He disagreed so strongly with the notion that Jeroboam had a mandate from God that he was ready for war over the matter. God had to send a prophet – Shemaiah – to Judah telling them this thing was really from Him.
CLV 1Ki 12:24 Thus said Yahweh, You do not go up nor fight with your brethren the sons of Israel; turn back each to his house, for from Me has this thing been;' and they hear the word of Yahweh, and turn back to go according to the word of Yahweh.
While Rehoboam and Judah did heed this Prophet and turned back from war with Israel, it is apparent that they were not fully convinced. This thing rankled both Rehoboam and all Judah for seventeen years and this is hinted at in the preparations he made to strengthen Judah’s borders after being told to desist from war, as recorded in 11 Chron. 11. In spite of the warning he warred with Jeroboam all his days.
AV 2Ch 12:1 . And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
Once Rehoboam had secured himself on the throne of Judah he fell into the same trap as Solomon his father. During his seventeen year reign he took for himself 18 wives and 60 concubines and fathered many children whom he placed in positions of local government to strengthen his position as king of Judah. He practised cronyism. But just five years into his reign we are told that he had forsaken the law of God. Not only did he marry against the instructions of Deut. 17.17 but he allowed Sodomites to flourish in the land ( 1 Kings 14.22-24) and so God sent the Egyptians to punish both him and Judah. (11 Chron. 12.1-2) The fact that he was half Ammonite did not help either. (Deut. 23.3; 1 Kings 14.21)
National captivity was averted at this time because he and his officials raided the Temple and gave a huge tribute to the Egyptians.
Meanwhile during this time Jeroboam was also busy strengthening his position and hold over Israel. His first mistake was to believe that “the kingdom” included a mandate to set up a rival religious system peculiar to these Israelites.
He began to set up a separate Priesthood, not from the line of Levites as God had commanded but from among the common people, and established two new centres of worship at Bethel and Dan under the pretext that it was more convenient to worship there than travel all the way to Jerusalem.
Because of this new political/religious line of priests, those who were true Levites left the land and migrated to Judah.
CLV 2Ch 11:14 for the Levites have left their suburbs and their possession, and they come to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons have cast them off from acting as priests to Yahweh,
CLV 2Ch 11:15 and he establishes to him priests for high places, and for goats, and for calves, that he made--
Similarly, many in Israel also continued to keep the Law of Moses and attended the feasts in Jerusalem for a period of three years until Rehoboam and Judah also apostatised.
CLV 2Ch 11:16 and after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those giving their heart to seek Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, have come in to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Yahweh, Elohim of their father.
CLV 2Ch 11:17 And they strengthen the kingdom of Judah, and strengthen Rehoboam son of Solomon, for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
But as time went on Jeroboam gradually left the laws of Moses and established a ‘customised’ version of his own which suited his political fears and ambitions.
CLV 1Ki 12:26 and Jeroboam said in his heart, `Now does the kingdom turn back to the house of David--
CLV 1Ki 12:27 if this people go up to make sacrifices in the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, then has the heart of this people turned back unto their lord, unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they have slain me, and turned back unto Rehoboam king of Judah.'
So, lacking faith in what God had told him through Ahijah, and taking to himself the responsibilities which should never have been his regarding the Levites and Jerusalem, he diverted the people’s attention away and substituted a different worship system in Bethel and Dan. (1 Kings 12.28) God never intended that a rival religious system be set up in opposition to the Temple in Jerusalem, But Jeroboam reasoned that the Israelites would be influenced by the Jews to overthrow him if they maintained this religious contact. This became a bone of contention too with Judah.
During this time Jeroboams son fell ill, so he instructed his wife to disguise herself and go and see this Prophet Ahijah who had previously met him in the field.
CLV 1Ki 14:2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, `Rise, I pray you, and change yourself, and they know not that you [are] wife of Jeroboam, and you have gone to Shiloh; lo, there [is] Ahijah the prophet; he spoke unto me of [being] king over this people;
Maybe Jeroboam didn’t want his wife to be recognised by Ahijah because he knew he was not doing what he had been told regarding the law, but notice he believed that God had made him king over Israel.
The more Jeroboam changed the law in Israel, the more Judah thought they had legitimate reasons for discrediting him as an apostate! How could he possibly claim that God had authorised his kingship when he was moving away from the very laws given by God in the first place?
So, while Jeroboam was doing all this, Rehoboam spent his time strengthening the frontier towns and at the same time the Levites who lived among the Ten Tribes migrated back to Judah because of the way Jeroboam was leading Israel away from the established customs.
Here was vindication to Rehoboam that he was on the right track. He had repented after the Egyptian invasion and so believed he was holding fast to the original agreement of Sinai while Jeroboam and the Ten Tribes had apostatised.
But Rehoboam, like his son who would follow, was placing the blame for the split in the wrong place. He did not seem to grasp that this split was not because of Jeroboam and his departure from the Law, but because of Solomon. As a result of all this,
AV 1Ki 15:6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
Now Rehoboam reigned for 17 years over Judah and the end of his reign is characterised overall as evil. (11 Chron. 12.14)
So, for twenty years after the nation split in two, Judah and her kings are of the firm opinion that such a split was against God’s intentions. What about current Jewish thinking?
Current Jewish thinking
God said that this split within the Kingdom which David had painstakingly united and which Solomon managed to destroy, would not be resolved until Christ returns.
CLV Isa 11:13 And He will withdraw the jealousy of Ephraim, and the distressers of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not distress Ephraim
CLV Ezk 37:19 Speak unto them, Thus said the Lord Yahweh: Lo, I am taking the stick of Joseph, that [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and have given them unto him, with the stick of Judah, and have made them become one stick, and they have been one in My hand.
CLV Ezk 37:22 And I have made them become one nation in the land, on mountains of Israel, And one king is to them all for king, And they are no more as two nations, Nor are they divided any more into two kingdoms again.
Until that happens, we should expect to see a totally different take on events back then than rather than described in this paper. The Jews today are also in denial about Jeroboam’s mandate from God.
Notice this from the Jewish Encyclopedia.com article “Ahijah (the Prophet)”
That Ahijah, though one of the pillars of righteousness, should have been sent to Jeroboam with a divine message inducing him to establish his idolatrous kingdom is explained by the rabbis in the following manner: They say that he was entrapped by a ruse of Jeroboam's idolatrous friends, who circulated a document requesting Jeroboam to become king and stipulating that, if he were elected, he set up a golden calf at Dan and Beth-El. Ahijah signed this document, believing firmly that Jeroboam would not belie his trust. Herein he was mistaken in his pupil. Jeroboam had shown great wisdom and learning, and appeared to Ahijah "as pure as the new garment" he wore when Ahijah saw him coming out of Jerusalem (I Kings, xi. 29). Moreover, as he excelled all the rest of the pupils, he had been initiated by Ahijah into the innermost secrets of the Law (Sanh. 101b et seq.). Just as the words said of Isaac, "his eyes were dim, so that he could not see" (Gen. xxvii. 1), are taken to refer to spiritual blindness, because he favored his wicked son Esau, so the words, "Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age" (I Kings, xiv. 4), imply spiritual blindness on the part of Ahijah, who favored a wicked pupil and set him up as ruler (Gen. R. lxv.). It was, however, only Jeroboam's son Abijah, and his friends, who, starting the rebellion against Rehoboam, followed Ahijah and called themselves "the children of Belial" (II Chron. xiii. 7), as if Ahijah were Belial. For this reason Ahijah was stricken with the plague (Gen. R. lxv., Yer. Yeb. xvi. 15c and parallels). [my emphasis]
This fanciful tale claims that Jeroboams sons initiated the split and that Ahijah was duped into going along with their scheme. In other words, the Rabbis are in denial over the reasons for the split. They claim it was not from God at all and should never have happened. But didn’t God speak to Solomon too on this matter?
They are the ones who are right and Israel must return to their system of worship. They are the faithful brother of the Prodigal son. In their thinking, How could God possibly condone this rift seeing that Jerusalem was the only place where God would speak to them. They had the city and the Temple and the Priesthood.
Rehoboam dies and the battle lines are set
Seventeen years into the reign of Jeroboam, Rehoboam his fierce opponent dies. Judah then has a new king, Abijah. He was the son of Rehoboam therefore from David’s lineage.
CLV 2Ch 13:1 In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam--Abijah reigns over Judah;
11 Chron. 12.15 tells us that up to his death, Rehoboam was continually at war with Jeroboam and Israel. This tells us that Rehoboam did not believe that Jeroboam was telling the truth about what Ahijah had told him. Nor was he heeding what the Prophet Shemaiah had said to him in 11 Chron. 11.4.
Abijah must have felt the same way too because we see that while he reigned for three years in Jerusalem he too prepared for war with Israel.
CLV 2Ch 13:2 three years he has reigned in Jerusalem, (and the name of his mother [is] Michaiah daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah,) and war has been between Abijah and Jeroboam.
Twenty years then, after the split in which Jeroboam seceded from Judah and split the kingdom in two, Abijah prepares for a major confrontation with Jeroboam.
That this was indeed a huge confrontation can be seen by the numbers mustered on each side for battle. Judah assembled 400,000 men against a force of 800,000 from Israel.
CLV 2Ch 13:3 And Abijah directs the war with a force of mighty men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men, and Jeroboam has set in array with him battle, with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty of valor.
To get a glimpse of the destructive forces which Solomon’s sins unleashed, consider this. The combined numbers of these two armies was 1.2 million men. Had the kingdom remained intact, then Israel would have maintained her dominant position in the region, but this battle would suck the lifeblood out of both nations. It appears to have allowed for the rise of Assyria whose forces later led to the captivity of Israel. But how could this hatred have developed to such antagonism in the space of just twenty years? We will examine the impact Solomon’s sins played in this drama in the next paper.
In Summary
We have surveyed the main protagonists in this coming conflict. We have seen how Jeroboam felt about his mandate from God. We have seen that there was constant hostility between Judah and Israel from day 1 of this split on for the next twenty years. Both kings of Judah firmly believed Jeroboam’s actions were ungodly.
We have also looked briefly at the Davidic Covenant and seen how God made an unconditional promise to David to always have one of his seed on the throne of Israel. But that He had also allowed Himself room to alter what constituted “Israel” if sins did occur. He could and did split the kingdom because of sin. He could also install a king from outside the line of David if He chose. This was not understood when the covenant was made and only became apparent when God revealed it to Solomon in the third dream. What Solomon did with that information and how it impacted on both Judah and Israel is the subject of the second paper.
In Part 2 of this two part series we will examine Solomon’s life in a little more detail and see why his many women led him astray and how this had such an impact on the two kingdoms.