The Old Testament A Little history

After Moses Moses dies – Joshua takes over as leader of the Israelites After Joshua’s death – Israel is led by a series of military leaders : “Judges” (Deborah, Gideon, Samson) Israelites still struggle with enemies – they feel they should unite under on leader a King: e.g. Saul, David, Solomon

Solomon By Solomon’s time the covenant has been forgotten (Solomon had many foreign wives, who began worshiping and building temples to their gods) Began governing unjustly – imposed heavy taxes on the people ad forced them to help build these pagan temples Solomon’s son Rehoboam makes conditions worse after Solomon dies

Israel Divides The 10 northern tribes revolt and split the kingdom in two: Kingdom of Israel in the north (ruled by Jeroboam – Solomon’s former director of enforced labour) Samaria is the capital Kingdom of Judah in the south (rules by Rehoboam) Jerusalem is the capital

Israel & Judah People of the North continue to worship at the Temple in Judah – Jeroboam was against this so he provided them with temples and idols to worship in Israel Both kingdom become more unfaithful to their covenant with God and tensions mount to the point of civil war Successive Kings of both Israel and Judah continue this corrupt rule Greed and injustice become their way of life