From the Divided Kingdom  to The Exile    Adapted from Chronogical Life Application Study Bible  Tyndale Press

The Divided Kingdom & Wars

When David died, the kingdom passed to Solomon, to whom God had given the call to build a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. The result was The First Temple, which took seven years to build, starting in the fourth year of Solomon's reign and completed in 957BC.

Solomon's Temple     Source: The Illustrated ESV Bible  

The Consecration of The Temple

When the Temple was completed, the priests brought the Ark of the Lord's Covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies), and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. (1 Kings 8:6-7) When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple (1 Kings 8:10).

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said:
 “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today."
   
“Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true."

“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. He ar the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive " (1 Kings 8:22-53)

Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats.

God Appears To Solomon with A Promise & A Warning

God spoke to Solomon promising 

“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’ ”

The Contradictions of Solomon

Solomon is a contradiction in many ways  -  a man who asked God for wisdom and God was pleased he had not asked for fame or wealth and gave him the privilege of building the First Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. A man who wrote The Book of Proverbs traditionally attributed to Solomon, who was reputed to be the wisest man in the world at the time and visited by the Queen of Sheba.

But Solomon also saw the Kingdom he had inherited from David riven asunder as a result of his marriage to foreign wives, who worshipped pagan gods and led him into idolatry.

King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done (1 Kings 11:1-6).

The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord's command. So the Lord said to Solomon,

“Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen." (1 Kings 11:9-13)

The Kingdom Divided in Two & Attacked by Enemies

In 931 BC God divided the kingdom in two -  The Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. In 922BC the Northern Tribes of Israel under King Jeroboam attacked the southern kingdom of Judah because of the oppression by Rehoboam, the son who had succeeded his father Solomon. It was the beginning of the era of the Divided Kingdom and the rise and fall of kings, both good and bad, of Israel (with its capital in Samaria) and Judah (with its capital in Jerusalem).

Jeroboam Sets Up Golden Calves at Dan & Bethel

Jeroboam was concerned that the people might think they could only worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. So after taking advice, he ordered the building of golden calves.

He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other. Jeroboam also built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites (1 Kings 12:28-31).

Sin Has Serious Consequences

Bathsheba at her bath               Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi  Columbus Museum, Ohio

Satan's Subtle Seduction To Sin

Years after his victory over the Philistines, David was at war with the Ammonites and ordered his commander Joab to lead the army out against them in the Spring. David, however, stayed behind in Jerusalem lounging in his palace.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said,

“She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”   
                           
Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 

The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” (2 Samuel 11:2-5)                                    

Denial Leads From One Sin To Another  

In an attempt to conceal his guilt David invited Bathsheba's husband Uriah to enjoy some R and R with his wife, hoping he would think he had got her pregnant. Uriah, however, was a loyal subject and refused to abandon his post at the palace!                                                                    

When David said he was due some respite from the fighting and should go home to enjoy some home comforts, including making love to his wife, Uriah once again said he could not do that when the rest of the men were living in tents at battle stations!

With an increasing sense of desperation that Uriah might discover Bathsheba's pregnancy, David invited him to dine at the palace and got him drunk in the hope he would go to his house to sleep it off. But Uriah slept with the servants on a mat at the palace and did not go home.

Finally, David instructed Joab to put Uriah in the front line of battle, where he was more likely to be killed, and withdraw the troops so he would definitely die . And sure enough, word came back from the battlefield that Uriah had been killed. Bathsheba observed a time of mourning for her husband's death. And when the time was over, David took her to the palace to be with him and she eventually gave birth to a son. And there the matter might have ended............

God Sees & Is Not Mocked

God was not deceived by David's deceit  and sent the prophet Nathan to confront David with his sin by telling a story of two men in a certain town, one rich, the other poor.

" The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveller came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveller who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan,

“As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:

‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own."

" This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel."  (2 Samuel 12:7-12)

David's Heart After God's Heart

David's immediate response was to confess: " I have sinned against the LORD! " (2 Samuel 12:13)
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

Sure enough, the child became ill and died seven days later. All during these days, David pleaded with God for the child's life in prayer and fasting. But when he was told the child had died, he stopped, saying:

" While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

He returned to Bathsheba and comforted her. In time she gave birth to another child, a son whom they named Solomon.

God's Covenant with David

In 2 Samuel 7 God had made a covenant with David via the prophet Nathan.

“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”  (2 Samuel 7:11-16)

God warned David he would punish him for his disobedience, but that his love would never be taken away from him and the House of David would be established forever.

The Divided Kingdom

Circumcision of male child on the eighth day   Photo: © Yaakov Aryeh Alter, Wikipedia Commons

God's Covenant with Abraham

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to Abram again and told him he was making a covenant with him.

"You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will your name be called Abram. From now on your name is Abraham (meaning 'Father of a Multitude') for I will make you father of a multitude of nations. (Genesis 17:4-5)

As a sign of his covenant God ordered Abraham to circumcise every male born in his household, including Ishmael. And Sarai was no longer called Sarai but Sarah, and she would give birth to a child even at the age of ninety. Not surprisingly, Sarah laughed at the idea (Genesis 18:12), but, as God had promised, the following year she gave birth to a son and called him Isaac, meaning he laughs.

God made three promises as part of his covenant with Abraham.

• THE PROMISE OF BEING THE FATHER OF MANY NATIONS
• THE PROMISE OF A LAND OF THEIR OWN
• THE PROMISE OF A SON OF HIS OWN BODY

The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision

When Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised his son as God had instructed him.

The Abrahamic Covenant & The War for World Domination 

God's call to Abraham and the promises he made as part of the covenant are crucial in understanding the war for world domination because they are the basis for the enmity at both natural and supernatural levels.

At the natural level the birth of Isaac  -  the child of the promise  -  set in train a historical enmity still seen today between God's Chosen People, the descendants of Jacob (who became Israel), and the descendants of Ishmael, the Arabs. This is also to be seen in the distinction between Jews and Gentiles in terms of circumcision of all males at eight days old.

At the supernatural level God's covenant set God's Chosen People against the rest of the world that is under the dominion of Satan. Hence the enmity between Jews and Arabs, The Holocaust and Hitler's attempts to annihilate the Jews, and the stated aim of Islamic terrorism to wipe the state of Israel from the face of the earth.

A Cheat Becomes Father of a Nation

David anointed king by Samuel             Painting by Antonio Velasquez   Real Academia de Bellas Artes, San Fernando

David's Three Anointings

David was anointed king three times
•  1 Samuel 16:13 Privately before his brothers
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.
•   2 Samuel 2:4 King of Judah
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah.
•  2 Samuel 5:3 King of Israel
When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. (2 Samuel 5:4-5)

David & The Philistines

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord,

“Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.” So that place was called Baal Perazim. The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

God's Covenant With David