The splendors of Sol'o-mon's reign passed away even more suddenly than
they arose. In less than a year after his death his empire was broken
up, and two quarreling principalities were all that was left of
Is'ra-el.
I. Let us ascertain the =Causes of the Division of Is'ra-el=. These
were:
1. =The oppressive government of Sol'o-mon= (1 Kings 12. 3, 4). How far
the complaints of the people were just, and to what degree they were the
pretexts of an ambitious demagogue, we have no means of knowing. But it
is evident that the government of Sol'o-mon, with its courts, its
palaces, its buildings, and its splendor, must have borne heavily upon
the people. Probably, also, the luxury of living among the upper
classes, so suddenly introduced, led to financial crises and stringency
of money, for which the government was held responsible by the
discontented people.
2. =The opposition of the prophets= (1 Kings 11. 11-13, 29-33). It is a
suggestive fact that the prophets were opposed to Sol'o-mon and friendly
to Jer-o-bo'am. Their reason was a strong resentment to the foreign
alliances, foreign customs, and especially to the foreign idolatries
which Sol'o-mon introduced.
3. =Foreign intrigues=, especially in E'gypt. The old kingdoms were not
friendly to this Is'ra-el-ite empire, which loomed up so suddenly, and
threatened to conquer all the East. Sol'o-mon's attempt to win the favor
of E'gypt by a royal marriage (1 Kings 3. 1) was a failure, for two
enemies of Sol'o-mon, driven out of his dominions, found refuge in
E'gypt, were admitted to the court, married relatives of the king, and
stirred up conspiracies against Sol'o-mon's throne (1 Kings 11. 14-22,
40). Another center of conspiracy was Da-mas'cus, where Re'zon kept up a
semi-independent relation to Sol'o-mon's empire (1 Kings 11. 23-25).
4. =Tribal jealousy=; the old sore broken out again. Notice that
Jer-o-bo'am belonged to the haughty tribe of E'phra-im (1 Kings 11. 26),
always envious of Ju'dah, and restless under the throne of Da'vid. The
kingdom of the ten tribes was established mainly through the influence
of this tribe.
5. =The ambition of Jer-o-bo'am= was another force in the disruption. It
was unfortunate for Sol'o-mon's kingdom that the ablest young man of
that time in Is'ra-el, a wily political leader and an unscrupulous
partisan, belonged to the tribe of E'phra-im, and from his environment
was an enemy of the then existing government. The fact that he was sent
for from E'gypt to the assembly at She'chem showed collusion and
preparation of the scheme (1 Kings 12. 2, 3).
6. But all these causes might have been insufficient but for =the folly
of Re-ho-bo'am= (1 Kings 12. 13, 14). If Da'vid had been on the throne
that day an empire might have been saved. But Re-ho-bo'am, brought up in
the purple, was without sympathy with the people, tried to act the part
of a tyrant, and lost his ancestral realm (1 Kings 12. 16).
II. =The Results of the Division.= These were partly political, partly
religious, and were neither of unmixed good nor unmixed evil.
1. The =political results= were: 1.) The entire _disruption_ of
Sol'o-mon's empire. Five kingdoms took the place of one: Syr'i-a on the
north, Is'ra-el in the center, Ju'dah west of the Dead Sea, Mo'ab east
of the Dead Sea, and E'dom on the extreme south. Mo'ab was nominally
subject to Is'ra-el, and E'dom to Ju'dah; but only strong kings, like
A'hab in Is'ra-el and Je-hosh'a-phat in Ju'dah, could exact the tribute
(2 Kings 3. 4; 1 Kings 22. 47). 2.) With the loss of empire came
_rivalry_, and consequent _weakness_. For fifty years Is'ra-el and
Ju'dah were at war, and spent their strength in civil strife, while
Syr'i-a was growing powerful, and in the far northeast As-syr'i-a was
threatening. 3.) As a natural result came at last _foreign domination_.
Both Is'ra-el and Ju'dah fell under the power of other nations and were
swept into captivity, as the final result of the disruption wrought by
Jer-o-bo'am.
2. =The religious results= of the division were more favorable. They
were: 1.) _Preservation of the true religion._ A great empire would
inevitably have been the spiritual ruin of Is'ra-el, for it must have
been worldly, secular, and, in the end, idolatrous. The disruption broke
off relation with the world, put an end to schemes of secular empire,
and placed Is'ra-el and Ju'dah once more alone among their mountains. In
this sense the event was from the Lord, who had higher and more enduring
purposes than an earthly empire (1 Kings 12. 15-24). 2.) _Protection of
the true religion._ Is'ra-el on the north stood as a "buffer," warding
off the world from Ju'dah on the south. It was neither wholly idolatrous
nor wholly religious, but was a debatable land for centuries. It fell at
last, but it saved Ju'dah; and in Ju'dah was the unconscious hope of the
world. 3.) _Concentration of the true religion._ The departure of
Is'ra-el from the true faith led to the gathering of the priests,
Le'vites, and worshiping element of the people in Ju'dah (2 Chron. 11.
13-16). Thus the Jew'ish kingdom was far more devoted to Je-ho'vah than
it might otherwise have been.