1 Kings 9 begins with a second appearance of the
Lord to Solomon. The Lord promises Solomon that if he is obedient then the Lord will establish his throne over Israel forever. If he is
disobedient and goes after other gods then the Lord will cut Israel off from
the land, and the Temple will become a heap of ruins. Of course, this is a
warning of things to come, perhaps written many years later by someone who knew what was to come.
In chapter 10 we get another glimpse of the glory
days of Solomon, the golden age of Israel as a united kingdom. The Queen of
Sheba comes to hear the wisdom of Solomon and to test him. She leaves amazed at
all she sees of Solomon’s wealth and all she hears of his wisdom.
However, chapter 11 presents us with the downward
spiral of Solomon’s life. He marries many foreign wives (700 princesses!) and
takes 300 concubines. However, the many wives and concubines are not
a problem in and of themselves. The authors of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Kings
express no displeasure over polygamy. The problem is that Solomon marries many foreign wives and allows them to lead
him astray into worship of their gods.
In response, the Lord tells Solomon, “I will
surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. Yet for the sake
of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime.” (1 Kings 11:11-12)
Thus, Solomon’s defection from the Lord leads to the division of his kingdom and,
in the context of the entire Deuteronomic History, Solomon’s defection will
eventually lead Israel into exile.
After Solomon’s death, his son, Rehoboam succeeds
to the throne. However, when the people ask Rehoboam to be more lenient with
them than Solomon was, Rehoboam makes the mistake of disregarding the advice of
the older men and he listens to the young whippersnappers with whom he has
grown up. He tells the people, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s
loins.” This sounds to me like the ancient Israelite equivalent of the F-word, and giving the people the finger.
The result, delineated in chapter 12, is
predictable. The ten northern tribes rebel against Rehoboam and take Jeroboam
as their king. The authors/editors of 1 Kings portray this eventuality as a
result both of Rehoboam’s lack of wisdom and God’s determination. “It was a
turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which
the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.” (1 Kings
12:15) Thus, as is often the case, Scripture presents the argument for dual agency.
God chooses and human beings choose as well. Neither one overrules the other,
but both work together.
The northern tribes, once they break off from
Judah, prove to be no more faithful to the Lord than Solomon was. Almost
immediately, Jeroboam sets up two golden calves, one in Bethel and the other in
Dan, for the people to worship, so that they do not continue to worship in
Jerusalem and thus defect to Rehoboam. This is all rather explicitly
reminiscent of the golden calf incident in Exodus. In fact, Jeroboam uses the
same language that Aaron did: “Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up
out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:28)
From this point on, the history of
the kings in Israel and Judah is one long series of ups and downs, mostly downs,
that eventually leads to the exile of both kingdoms. Judah eventually returns
to the Promised Land, but the northern tribes are lost forever, assimilated
into the people who take them captive.
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