Once a Whole, Now Divided

(January 25)

For a king to make a Golden Age, a few factors need to be met. The king must first build great palaces, create a united kingdom, and build a great temple where a divine eternal promise is given, remembered, and chronicled. The king must also die because that is usually when a person is memorialized. The reigns of David and Solomon were known as a "Golden Age." When Solomon dies, his son, Rehoboam takes throne. This is where the Golden Age ends.
The once united kingdom becomes divided into "Judah" and "Israel." In 1Kings 12:1-14, the people ask Rehoboam to lower the heavy taxes his father imposed on them. Rehoboam did not know what to do so he asked the older counsel, who have been around during his father's reign, for advice. They told him to listen to the people so that he can gain their trust. Instead, however, Rehoboam listens to his peers who said that he should not follow what the people want to display his authority over them. Because of this, the ten tribes from the north rebel with Jeroboam as their leader as become Israel.
For the people that live in Israel, their problem is that the Temple is in the south. Instead of having to travel to the south and spend their money there, increasing Judah's wealth, they decide to set up places of worship in Tel Dan and Bethel.
In addition, the rise of Assyria threatened both Israel and Judah. Their fight tactic was the scare the people so they would not fight nor rebel against them. When the Assyrians conquered Israel to the north, the Assyrians began deporting people. Once Israel falls in 721 BCE, these people start going to Jerusalem. The Assyrians did not fight Jerusalem, however, because it was difficult to fight a city up on a hill and they did not appear as a threat.