Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents
Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom – Chapter 1 – Prelude
Earthly kings and the rejection of God as king
[Bible references:1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings; 1 and 2 Chronicles]
The last of judges was Samuel, who also functioned as a priest. By this point in time, Israel was convinced that their continuing problems were, of course, not themselves. They thought that their problem was that they didn’t have a king like everyone else. Actually, God was their king and Samuel was His representative. But the Israelites were not satisfied with God choosing prophets who would speak for Him. So, God gave them a king, like everyone else, Saul. While it did not take Saul a long time to turn from God so completely that God rejected him, Saul was able to reign for 40 years. David, who was described as someone after God’s own heart, replaced Saul. David expanded the kingdom from the Orontes River in the north to the Sinai peninsula in the south.[1] Solomon, building off of David’s legacy, did not focus on expanding the kingdom as much as building its wealth. Solomon’s wealth increased not only in riches of gold and silver, but also in wives and concubines. His love towards his wives and concubines overrode his love for God, so at Solomon’s death, the kingdom split in two parts.
Ten tribes who rebelled against Solomon’s son, aligned with the northern kingdom, which became named Israel. Of the other 2 tribes, the tribe of Judah was most prominent. Both kingdoms were eventually conquered by neighboring empires: the northern kingdom by Assyria and the southern kingdom by Babylon.
[1] Archaeologists have had difficulty locating evidence of the kingdoms of David and Solomon. That is due, in part, to the Israelites tendency to adopt the customs of the Palestinian nations, making their artifacts indistinguishable from the nations they displaced.
Reflect
From what we see in the world around us, how often do people take responsibility for their own problems?
Observe
Read 1 Samuel 15:15. What’s the clue that Saul was no longer following God?
Dancing In The Kingdom 