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Divided Kingdom (Israel and Judah)
Meaning
The term “Divided Kingdom” refers to the entire population of the Jewish people during Old Testament times, which was divided into a northern and southern kingdom. Solomon was the son of David, and he reigned over the united kingdom after the death of his father David. Solomon the third king of Israel started out very well. When the Lord told Solomon he could ask for anything, Solomon asked for wisdom to rule God’s people wisely. Because of this request God told Solomon He would give him wisdom beyond the abilities of men, along with wealth. God did this because Solomon did not ask anything for himself. It was after this encounter with God that Solomon became the wisest and richest man who ever lived. However Solomon did not end well. As a matter of fact, he ended horribly and forever changed the future of the nation. Solomon took on hundreds of wives and concubines. Both of which were against God’s will. Many of these wives were from foreign nations who worshipped idols and demons. As a result Solomon allowed idolatry to enter the kingdom and his life. And because of this God divided the kingdom.
The divided kingdom started in 931 B.C. And it consisted of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel consisted of the ten northern tribes and they lasted for two-hundred years. They immediately set up idolatry to persuade the people not to travel to Jerusalem, which lie inside the borders of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Because of their idolatry, having ignored God after He sent prophets to warn the people for decades. They were brought to an end by the Assyrian Empire in 722 B.C. The Assyrians invaded and conquered the northern kingdom and through deportation removed the Jewish people from the land. The southern kingdom of Judah had a combination of good and bad kings. However, they disobeyed God and has a result, they were taken into captivity for seventy years in Babylon. Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., and many of the best and brightest were taken into captivity. Seventy years later under the Persian king Cyrus they were allowed to return. It’s important to understand that the seventy years was not a random number. It was the amount of time the people stole from God through disobedience. Therefore God sent them into exile to reclaim the time the people had taken from God.
“Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. ‘Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.'” (Book of First Kings 11:11-13)