The “Times” after Solomon, 1 Kings 11:7-8; 12:25-33

There are two phrases that describe the spiritual struggles of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah after the days of Solomon.  As you read I and II Kings you see these phrases consistently, one with respect to the northern kingdom (Israel) and the other with respect to the southern kingdom (Judah).

·        1 Kings 15:26,30,34 etc.: the sins of Jereboam.  This refers to the false worship that was established by Jereboam when Israel was first divided.  He wanted to discourage people in his kingdom going to Jerusalem to worship for fear they would someday want to return to live under the Davidic king.  So he built golden calves at both Bethel (Just north of Jerusalem, in the southern part of the northern kingdom) and Dan (in the far north of the northern kingdom).  Bethel was a special place going back to the time of Jacob; Dan was formerly the city of Lachish located in a beautiful area near the border of Sidon (Lebanon).  The actual site in Dan has been discovered at the Tel Dan site (photo shows the site of the altar on the left and the steps to the high place to the right).  Not only did Jeroboam’s son carry on this sin; the dynasties that followed, clear until the time of the carrying away of the Northern Kingdom, also continued this practice (2 Kings 17:21-23).

·        1 Kings 14:23; 15:14; 22:43, etc.: the high places were not removed.  God had told the people of Israel that the day would come when He would appoint one place for worship.  That place would, of course, eventually be Jerusalem.  Thus Jereboam did what he could to keep his people from going to Zion.  But sadly the kings of Judah, for many generations, did not remove the   Rehoboam allowed more to be built by the people (14:23), and even though Asa destroyed the idols he allowed these high place to continue to exist (15:14) as did the kings of Judah after him until finally Hezekiah destroyed them (2 Kings 18:4).  In Tel Arad, in the south of Israel today, one of those high places was discovered (4 photos include the descriptions of what was found).  It was a place for worship patterned after the layout of the temple (same ratio, but smaller dimensions of the holy place/holy of holies).  Perhaps it was built because the people of the area thought it was too far to go to Jerusalem.  But whatever the reason, it was idolatry, and it was eventually the reason for Judah’s judgment by God.  Hezekiah’s son Manasseh rebuilt the high places and re-introduced the Canaanite religion to Israel and became the reason that God was no longer willing to overlook Israel’s idolatry (2 Kings 21:1-18).

high places that had been used prior to God’s selection of Jerusalem (1 Kings 3:2), and which Solomon established for the idolatry of his foreign wives after the temple was built in Jerusalem (11:7-8).

These two issues not only speak of the necessity of righteous leadership in a nation; they speak of righteous leadership in the home.  The tendency is that sins are repeated from generation to generation.  We say the tendency, because in any generation the righteous can, by God’s grace, repent of the sins of the fathers and walk in righteousness.  Let us be challenged by the examples of God’s people!