Two Kingdoms (922-721 B.C.E.)

B. Two Kingdoms (922-721 B.C.E.)

Solomon may have died in peace but he left behind a precarious kingdom and a legacy of resentment. After his son Rehoboam took the throne, the northern leadership held a conference with him. They wanted to find out whether or not he would continue Solomon's oppressive policies. When Rehoboam refused to back down, they rebelled and opted out of the Davidic empire. Rehoboam was powerless to stop them.
    In these events we see the old, fiercely independent spirit of the tribes reasserting itself. The kingdom reverted back to what it had been, a southern faction and a northern faction. Biblical historians may talk of a "United Kingdom," but while it lasted it was an unnatural alliance. It was only due to the military savvy and political genius of David that the two collections of tribes ever overcame their regional identities, put aside parochial differences, and became one kingdom.
    The Northern Kingdom, now called Israel, chose Jeroboam to be its king. Jeroboam made Shechem his capital, the place of covenant renewal under Joshua and a city strongly associated with the tribal federation of the judges period. But Jeroboam had a serious problem: Israel, though politically independent of Judah, still worshiped Yahweh, the same god Judah worshiped. The religious practices of Yahwism were still associated with Jerusalem, the home base of the Davidic family. That was where the ark was housed, the temple was located, and the chief priest officiated. If the people had no choice but to go to Jerusalem to fulfill their religious duties, Jeroboam feared the people might develop divided loyalties.

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Tell Dan High Place. Excavations at Tell Dan have uncovered an open-air sanctuary dating to the time of Jeroboam. Photo by Barry Bandstra

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    To counter this threat he developed a version of Yahwism for Israel. He instituted alternate feast days, a new set of priests, and new religious centers. These religious centers, one at Bethel near the Judean border, and one at Dan near the northern border, housed golden bull statues which became the new symbols of divinity in Israel.
    The powerful empire that once was David's no longer existed. In its place were two relatively small states, certainly insignificant compared to the empires of their day. They shared many of the same traditions and both still worshiped Yahweh, but they were different in other ways. The Elohist texts of the Torah, according to standard source analysis, come from the Northern Kingdom sometime in the ninth century (see Part 1).
    Throughout its history, the Southern Kingdom of Judah was ruled by the Davidic family. It lasted as an independent nation until 587 B.C.E. Not so the Northern Kingdom, Israel, which never had a stable monarchy. Instead, one dynasty after another tried to establish itself, resulting in political instability. Israel only lasted as an independent nation for two hundred years. In 721 B.C.E. it was conquered by the Assyrian empire. Much of its population was dispersed throughout Assyrian territory, but some Israelites escaped south to Judah.
    The religious and civil politics of this period inspired the prophetic movement in its classical form (see Part 2). Prophets could be pro- or anti-monarchy, pro-Israelite or pro-Judean, but their unifying distinctive characteristic was the transcendent moral perspective they brought to bear on the realm of human affairs. Amos addressed issues of social justice in Israel (see Chapter 13), while Hosea exposed Israel's religious complacency (see Chapter 13).