Hang on, folks, we’re about to be in for a bumpy ride! Our readings this week take us into the realm that biblical historians refer to as the “divided kingdom.”
Under David, all of the tribes of Israel were united; everyone acknowledged David as the king, and while David’s reign (and his life) had its ups and downs, the nation was united.
This sense of national unity continued under the reign of Solomon, but near the end of Solomon’s reign, the fabric that united the nation began to unravel. One of Solomon’s officials, Jeroboam, a man who showed great leadership, was told (by God!) that he would lead ten of the tribes. Solomon was threatened, Jeroboam ran off to safety, Solomon died (of natural causes), and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
Rehoboam received some BAD advice about ruling, which caused the northern part of the kingdom—ten tribes, now beginning to be known as Israel—to rebel. Judah, the southern tribe (which had assimilated the tribe of Simeon into it) continued to follow Rehoboam, and suddenly the kingdom was divided.
Jeroboam, in an attempt to unite the ten tribes behind him, set up rival places of worship to rival Jerusalem; in the eyes of God, this was the beginning of the end for him. After some bizarre events (you’ll just have to read about them), Jeroboam died. His son Nadab became king, and he was rotten. Baasha succeeded him, and HE was rotten. Baasha’s son Elah stepped in after his death, and after a two-year reign, was killed in a military coup. Zimri claimed the throne, and was promptly killed after seven days.
A leader named Omri claimed the throne; he was an evil king, who was succeeded by an even MORE evil king named Ahab.
And you thought reality TV was bad? You have to use a scorecard to keep track of these kings; and even then, the accounts of Israel and Judah are not necessarily sequential in their telling of the history.
The interesting thing is that the sequences in Judah, while similar, have some significant differences, as well. Abijah, Rehoboam’s son, was pretty dreadful. He enacted practices that were greatly displeasing to God, but when he died, his son Asa ascended the throne, and brought in a national purge that sought to return the people to God. How did a good apple fall from a poisoned tree?! When he died, his son Jehoshaphat becomes king of Judah. (Did you ever hear the exclamation “jumping Jehoshaphat”? Now you know where that name came from!)
With all of this messy history, turning to read Psalm 46 is a breath of fresh air. It is a powerful reminder that even when human history is messy, when it seems dreadful, we can take comfort in knowing that, in the words of the old hymn, “though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler, yet!”