Monday, 6/10/16
The first reading speaks of the end of the Kingdom of Israel.
Let’s look at the beginning and end of that kingdom.
King David died in 963 B.C.. And Solomon, who followed him
as king of Judah, taxed the people for building funds to give them ports,
roads, and a temple.
When Solomon died in 930 B.C., the leaders of ten of the tribes
asked his son Rehoboam to ease up on the taxes, so that they would have funds
to build up their own holdings. When Rehoboam responded by increasing their
taxation, the ten northern tribes broke away under Jeroboam, a man who had led
Solomon’s construction crews.
When the people of Israel kept journeying to Jerusalem to
present their petitions in Solomon’s temple, Jeroboam countered by building a
rival temple in Samaria, putting it in charge of the priests of Baal.
For two hundred years the Kingdom of Israel lived on, independent
of the Kingdom of Judah. It had it own major prophets in Amos, Elijah and
Elias, while Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied in Judah.
In 722 B.C. the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel,
carrying off its people as prisoners, while the Kingdom of Judah lived on until
its people were carried off to Babylon in 587 B.C.
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