Part 7: Monarchy: Divided Kingdom

Scripture Covering this Period:

• 1 Kings 12-22
• 2 Kings
• 2 Chronicles 10-36
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah 1-38
• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah

Dates:

• 930 - 586BC

Main Points:

1. God splits the united kingdom of Israel in two, each ruled by its own king: Judah (and Benjamin) in the South; the rest of the tribes in the North.

2. Each king was faced with the same choice: to trust in their own wisdom or have faith in God.

3. God sent prophets to both kingdoms to persuade the king and people to return to the covenant so that they could live and be blessed.

4. All kings of the North and most of the kings of the South led their nations into further rebellion against God.

• The North was exiled by Assyria in 722BC
• The South was exiled by Babylon in 586BC

Summary:

Because of Solomon's unfaithfulness, God divided the kingdom of Israel in two.

The kings of the North (Israel) made idols in Bethel and Dan so that people would not travel to the Jerusalem temple to worship God. All 19 kings of Israel led the nation into covenant unfaithfulness. The South (Judah) was also ruled by 19 kings (all from the line of David). Less than half of these Davidic kings led Judah in obedience to God. However, both kingdoms ultimately chose their way over God’s and experienced the covenant curse of exile. God had sent the prophets to warn of this.

However, the prophets also offered renewed hope. They predicted a day when God would redeem His people from exile like He had redeemed them from slavery. They would return to the Promised Land, be ruled by a Son of David, and He would dwell with them once more.