Chapter 33 fall of empire

A wise leader can save the country from the fate of all empires.But Solomon's heir is lazy and ignorant, surrounded by treacherous villains.He forced the ten northern tribes to rebel, and they chose their own king to form a new nation called Israel.The south remained loyal to its rightful king and was called Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital. Rehoboam, who succeeded his father, was the son of Solomon by Naamah the Ammonite woman. He is stupid, ignorant and narrow-minded. After he ascended the throne, the country suffered many disasters, and the people of Israel were finally divided into two small countries that were hostile to each other, but it is not very fair to blame all these on him.There were other reasons besides general dissatisfaction with the king.

From the very beginning of Jewish history, there has been mutual jealousy and animosity between the tribes of Judah (dwelling south of the Achor Valley) and the tribes of Israel (dwelling north of Achor). It is difficult to trace the ins and outs of these ancient disputes. The first eleven books of the Old Testament (the only source of early Jewish history) contain many legends and very little accurate history.Those who wrote these chronicles were often biased and wanted to prove their favorite point of view, and they often mixed in some rumors that had nothing to do with the real history of the Jewish people.

Moreover, during those hundreds of years, the territories occupied by the Jews continued to change owners. The original inhabitants were either killed or accepted Jewish rule and converted to the Jewish religion. However, some villages or small cities remained semi-independent for hundreds of years.So it is not clear when Palestine really became a purely Jewish state. There will be other questions and similar incidents in this chapter, which must be read carefully. There is a problem with the names "Judah" and "Israel", which appear everywhere in the Old Testament and are used very inaccurately.

In Joshua, Judges, and Kings, when the authors write about Israel or Judah, they actually mean "to win from the Canaanites, Ammonites, and Jebusites." soil of".Sometimes they are more careless and write Israel as Judah, or Judah as Israel. For Jewish scholars two thousand years ago, "Judah" and "Israel" were very clear terms that would not cause misunderstandings, but that world is now buried under the dust of two thousand years of history, and it is not easy for us to understand that the prophets often mentioned What is that "city" or "river", and they often naively say that people "on the other side of the river" ruined the city.It is likely that the "people across the river" were Babylonians who lived on the other side of the Euphrates.And "this city" refers to the city of Jerusalem in nine out of ten cases.With a little use of imagination, we can often guess pretty well.But we were always sure that further excavations in Mesopotamia might show our guesses were wrong.

You will now see that in the following chapters we can only make the most general historical assumptions, and that our arguments in this chapter, in explaining why the Jewish kingdom was divided before it had all the characteristics of an empire, may perhaps be Not perfect. Whether the area of ​​Israel (Jacob's direct descendants) is more superior and capable than the people of Judah (who claim to be descended from Jacob's fourth son and a native woman in the village of Adulan), we don't know. Perhaps the difference between the Israelites and the Jews was that the former dwelt in the villages and cities of the northern plains, while the latter lived on the rocky hills, and their tribal patriarchy lasted longer than the former, of which we cannot tell with certainty. you.

But one thing is certain, almost all the leaders of the Jewish people, from Joshua and Gideon to Samuel and Saul, all the way to John the Baptist and Jesus, were born in the North. The South produced almost no famous leader, with the sole exception of David. An open question was whether it would have been better for the Jewish people if it had been a Northerner who had fused the tribes into a single nation. But such historical speculation is of little value. One thing should be sure.When David escaped persecution from Saul (perhaps prejudiced by Saul because David was a "southerner") and became king of the Jews, he adopted a very clever policy of conciliation.

He was eager to dispel the prejudices of the northerners, but often went too far, leaving the tribesmen disaffected.But his kingdom is based on gentle compromise, so when the king is too old to go out, he can also quell the storm of rebellion. Solomon tried to pursue the same policy during the first half of his reign.However, he was not as serious and tolerant as David. Anyone who threatened national security and acted dangerously was mercilessly executed. But in diplomacy, he was more successful than his father.Through a series of wars (all commanded by his generals, the king himself disliking the harsh life of the barracks), he secured the borders and won peace and prosperity for his subjects.

In a short period of time, he not only gained support in the south, but also won the hearts of the north.However, starting in middle age, he made a series of mistakes that finally led to the downfall of the empire. Probably out of strategic considerations, Jerusalem was designated as the nation's capital.The Israelites might have preferred to see palaces and temples built in the northern territories, but they were still willing to accept Solomon's decision to travel hundreds of miles to worship the Lord.