The Divided Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Divided Kingdom - Essay Example In Samaria which was the capital of Israel at the time, people fed on their children (2 Kings 6:25-30). According to Collins, for both Judah and Israel, the offences against God were: idol worship, religious syncretism, desecration of the temple with idols, a litany of social and economic injustices and moral decadence. All these problems persisted because of Israel and Judah’s failure to listen to God’s word which came through the prophets. Bad leadership may also have exacerbated this unfortunate state of affairs. All the kings of Israel were not faithful to YHWH, while the bad kings in Judah were Rehoboam (930-913 BC), Abijam (913-911 BC), Jehoram (848-841 BC), Ahaziah (841 BC), Queen Athaliah (841-835 BC), Uzziah (781-740 BC), Manasseh (697-642 BC), Amon (642-640 BC), Jehoahaz (609 BC), Jehoiakim (609-598 BC), Jehoiachin (598-597 BC), Zedekiah (597-586 BC). The good kings of Judah were Asa (11-870 BC), Jehoshaphat (870-848 BC), Jehoash (835-796 BC), Amaziah (796-781 BC), Jotham (740-736 BC), Hezekiah (716-687 BC) and Josiah (640-609 BC) (Collins, 75). Question 2: The history outlined in 1 and 2 Kings is a theological history rather than an accurate accounting of events because therein, the authors were interested in giving an explanation for the division of Israel into two; the reason for the captivity; and hope for the future, rather than an accurate blow-by-blow chronicles of events. The Deuteronomistic History clearly shows that both Judah and Israel succumbed to unfaithfulness to YHWH, and that total destruction of both empires was the appropriate punishment. Again, there are those who trace Deuteronomistic History back to the Babylonian Exile of 585 BC, as the place and time of authorship. The gravity behind this standpoint is that the authors of these books may have been written out of retrospection, and not at the time the actual events contained in Deuteronomistic History materialised. This is to the effect that writing from memory may not be as detailed as a writing which may have been composed at the actual time an incident happened. While this absence of much specific detail may accost the books in Deuteronomistic History, it is not to be misconstrued as to mean contradiction. Instead, details such as exact timeframes and more details concerning Judah are characteristically missing from Deuteronomistic History. Being in Babylon, the authorship behind the Deuteronomistic History may have written to explain the reason behind God’s people being in exile, in lieu of giving a blow-by-blow account on the details which built up, in the run-up to the Exile. In another wavelength, other theorists such as Thomas Romer, a French scholar, have come to see a distinct party of authors who may have had different views (Raymond, 130). 3: David and Solomon as Both Good and Evil Kings Both David and Solomon are remembered simultaneously as both good and evil kings because their regimes were marked with faithfulness and u nfaithfulness to God. The good exploits David and Solomon exacted emanated from faithfulness to God, while their negative acts were are a result of their unfaithfulness to God. David’s goodness is exemplified in the fact that he is the only king, who presided over a united Israel, transported the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh to Jerusalem, established Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, drove away Israel’s enemies from Jerusalem and Israel, extended mercy to Mephibosheth (the house