12. Solomon and a Succession of Kings: Reigns of Good and Bad
12
SOLOMON AND A SUCCESSION OF KINGS
Even Solomon in all his glory,” Jesus said, in comparison to the lilies of the field, “was not arrayed like one of these.” Jesus had it right. Wildflowers and the beauties of nature in general possess a glory far greater than that of material assets. Jesus also had it right in citing Solomon as the premier example of wealth. No one in ancient biblical times displayed such ostentatious affluence as did Solomon.
His riches, however, did come from God, who promised in a dream that Solomon would receive more than the wisdom he had asked for. “I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.”[1]
The wisest of men, Solomon presided as king for forty years over what has become known as Israel’s Golden Age. It was an era of peace and prosperity, during which the Temple and the king’s palace were built. Solomon would never surpass his father in personal charm and charismatic appeal, but like his father, he also would become a great poet—more than that, a philosopher and scientist.
Solomon dies before he celebrates his sixtieth birthday, though he is apparently old before his time—perhaps a result of far too many women to contend with. Like Saul and David before him, he does not end well. He does not go out with a bang—surely not in the eyes of God. “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods.”[2]
The book of Ecclesiastes, “the words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem,” speaks volumes, if indeed written by Solomon. What had all his wealth, women, and wisdom gotten him? In the end, nothing.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”[3]
Rehoboam, son of Solomon, stubborn and arrogant, succeeds his father, and the kingdom splits. His portion in the south becomes known simply as Judah, while rival King Jeroboam reigns in the north over Israel. This sets the stage for a most trying period in the divided nation’s history, particularly in the north, where corrupt kings reign one after another. Among these corrupt kings is Ahab, married to the most corrupt queen of all, Jezebel. But there are also good kings during this era, including Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah.
The era of the Hebrew kings is central to the biblical story. Beginning with Saul and David, who engaged in civil strife for their titles, it proceeds to Solomon, who reigns in power over twelve united tribes. After his death, kings will take a backseat in the biblical text to the great prophets of the era: Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Hosea. No kings will have name recognition equal to that of Saul, David, and Solomon.
Solomon: Reputation for Wealth and Wisdom
Raised in palace luxury, Solomon is the second son of Bathsheba and David. He is still a youth when he succeeds his father as king of Israel, and is no doubt overwhelmed. How can a child barely out of his teens reign over any kingdom, much less a nation of tribes as contentious as this one? Two great men have preceded him, and look what happened to them. The enormous undertaking weighs on him day and night until God comes to him in a dream, almost like a genie in the bottle. Solomon gets one wish. He is encouraged to ask for anything he desires. He asks for wisdom. His rationale for this request shows humility that is not often associated with Solomon: “I’m too young for this, a mere child! I don’t know the ropes, hardly know the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this job. And here I am, set down in the middle of the people you’ve chosen, a great people—far too many to ever count.”[4]
God is pleased with Solomon’s request—particularly because he has not asked for wealth, power, or longevity—so pleased that he gives him riches and splendor as perks. When Solomon awakens, he goes to Jerusalem to worship and throws a feast for his administrative staff and servants. It is in this setting that his wisdom first shines.
Two women who live together and make their livelihood as prostitutes come to him with their bitter dispute. Each in the space of three days has given birth to a baby boy. One of the infants has died, and each of the women is claiming the live baby as her own. Solomon hears their arguments and treats them with respect, with no snide remarks about their profession. But how is he to decide which one is the rightful mother? He has never before laid eyes on either one of them.
Solomon and the prostitutes
His advice to them is the classic illustration of his wisdom. He proposes settling the matter by simply cutting the baby in two parts and giving a half baby to each of them. One prostitute agrees, but the other cries out, begging the king not to kill the baby, but rather to give it to the other woman. Solomon, of course, knows in an instant who the real mother is, and she returns home with her baby boy. But Solomon’s wisdom extends far beyond his quick-thinking solutions to everyday problems. People travel from great distances to consult with him and to benefit from his vast knowledge. Israel itself is secure; the people live in peace and contentment. Solomon’s reign extends to the surrounding pagan nations, who pay him tribute.
Before God had come to him in a dream, Solomon had already made some very significant political decisions. He orders those he considers his greatest potential enemies killed, including his half brother Adonijah as well as Joab, David’s army commander. Joab had not only supported Adonijah’s succession as king, but he also had been responsible for killing Abner, a murder that must be avenged, even if punishment is delayed.
At the outset of Solomon’s reign, Israel had been organized under twelve territorial governors, each of whom was required to collect a tax from his people. This supplied necessary provision for running the government, each region responsible for one month out of the year. In light of Solomon’s lavish lifestyle, taxation was critical. Indeed, his reign is a classic example of the poor propping up the extravagant lifestyle of the rich and famous.
Solomon was known for hosting sumptuous banquets, and his household ate very well. Indeed, in a single day, his entire household regularly consumed hundreds of bushels of flour and meal, more than two dozen head of livestock, some one hundred sheep, and an assortment of wild game. The cost of maintaining his vast household and possessions added to the burden placed on the people. His chariot drivers alone numbered some twelve thousand, with tens of thousands of horses to be fed.
Additional costs mount as Solomon prepares to build a temple in Jerusalem. He has the good fortune of having a close friend of his father, Hiram of Tyre, who provides all the cedar necessary for the construction, as well as the artisans skilled in gold and bronze metalwork and sailors and ships for transport. Solomon agrees to pay fair wages for Hiram’s lumbermen to cut the cedars and transport them to Jerusalem, but Hiram insists that all he will accept is provisions for his men. Solomon did build his own ships to import gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks, and other exotic animals.
When work on the Temple begins, Solomon conscripts ten thousand workers each month to travel to Lebanon to cut down timber, as well as tens of thousands of stonemasons and menial laborers: “Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these [Canaanite] peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate—to serve as slave labor.”[5] The Temple is lavish, but by no means massive in size: only ninety feet long with a fifteen-foot porch, and thirty feet wide and three stories high—the size of a small church. To the exterior walls, smaller structures are attached.
But if the size is not overly impressive, the splendor of the structure, both interior and exterior, is a magnificent marvel like nothing seen before. The thirty-foot cube that houses the Ark of the Covenant, for example, is gold plated. Indeed, Solomon spares no expense. “Everywhere you looked there was pure gold: gold chains strung in front of the gold-plated Inner Sanctuary—gold everywhere—walls, ceiling, floor, and Altar. Dazzling!”[6]
Everyday Life
Wives, Wealth, and Power
Multiple wives were a sign of wealth and prestige in the ancient world, especially for kings who wanted to impress neighboring rulers. But polygamy was also practiced by those seeking to expand their private domain. Indeed, there are dozens of polygamists named in Scripture.
Abraham was convinced that he could not father descendants as numerous as the sands of the sea or the stars in the night sky if he had only a barren wife. So Hagar, a slave girl, became the mother of his first child. Jacob fathers twelve sons by multiple wives and concubines. Gideon, likewise, had many wives and through them seventy sons. David also had many wives and many sons.
But polygamy was surely not God’s ideal plan of the husband cleaving to his wife, as outlined in Genesis 2. Time and again, the practice of bigamy or polygamy created serious family and spiritual problems. This is illustrated not only in the lives of Abraham and David and Solomon, but also with Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Yet, despite all the pitfalls, the practice continued far beyond the patriarchal era.
Solomon strengthened his kingdom through marital alliances. Less important kings would give Solomon their daughters in marriage for treaties to be signed, gifts of land, horses and other exchanges. The wives and concubines were no more than tokens of friendship. Even though he married them, many of them he was not personally acquainted with.
Solomon’s downfall came because of his disobedience to God, his greed and his love for power and wealth. He had taken many foreign wives, whom he allowed to worship other gods. He even built shrines for the sacrifices of his foreign wives. . . . By the time Solomon had grown old, his heart had been completely changed from [serving] the one and only living God to the other gods of his wives and concubines.
The Temple certainly does not rise up overnight. Three years pass before the foundation is fully laid, and it will take another four years before the last detail is finished. The seven years of construction on the Temple are followed by thirteen years of building Solomon’s palatial residence, which also includes a public hall for judicial matters. When it is completed, the palace, like the Temple, is an architectural masterpiece. The furnishings and sculptures for both structures are the finest money can buy.
When everything is completed, Solomon sends for the Ark of the Covenant to be housed in the gold-plated inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies. All of Israel comes out for the great celebration, the culmination of which is the prayer of dedication led by King Solomon himself. The words form a powerful paean of praise, a series of requests for forgiveness, and a supplication that seeks God’s blessing—and not only upon Israel. Solomon has many connections with people who live beyond his borders, and his prayer continues in a vein not typically associated with a leader of Israel:
And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation—people are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonderworking power—and who come to pray to this Temple.
Listen from your home in heaven
and honor the prayers of the foreigner,
So that people all over the world
will know who you are and what you’re like,
And live in reverent obedience before you,
just as your own people Israel do.[7]
Once the dedication is over, there are cost overruns to consider. Hiram, King of Tyre, had twenty years earlier told Solomon that his cedar for the Temple was being given at no charge. His only expectation was provisions for his men. But over the course of two decades, Hiram had gone far above and beyond the original agreement in his provision of all the cypress and gold needed for the palace, as well as the Temple. He expects to be fairly reimbursed, but Solomon is stingy, offering him only “twenty backwoods hick towns”[8] in Galilee. This in exchange for more than four tons of gold.
Although Solomon had remembered the foreigner in his dedicatory prayer, he treats badly those outside his borders—especially those who had been defeated in battle, conscripting them into forced-labor camps. The product of their labor further supports his sumptuous lifestyle.
Among those in the parade of dignitaries who make their way to the palace is the famed Queen of Sheba. She knows how to impress, and she makes a striking appearance as she enters the gates of Jerusalem with a train of camels loaded with gifts. Solomon is not hard to buy for; she knows exactly what he wants: gold, gems, spices, and more.
She also knows how to flatter, telling him that the acclamations of his wisdom had not been overstated and how fortunate the people are who work closely with him and have opportunity to benefit from his vast knowledge. In return Solomon lavishes gifts on her.
With his staggering assets, Solomon wallows in wealth. There is nothing his gold and silver and precious gems cannot buy. He is ostentatious in his tastes—gold-plated armor and gold dinnerware and almost anything else that could be fashioned from gold. He has a menagerie of exotic animals and an immense wardrobe of the most costly fabrics. His wealth allows him to have any woman he wants. But women will become his Achilles’ heel.
His ancestors had multiple wives—three and four, sometimes more. But Solomon amasses trophy wives that rival his stables full of thoroughbreds. He rules over an exotic harem of a thousand: seven hundred wives, three hundred concubines, mostly foreign, who bring their idols with them. For his part, Solomon defies the clear command of God not to marry foreign women who bring their own gods into the household. But he sees himself as above the law. With all his wealth he can do what he pleases. As time passes, he actually begins worshiping many of the foreign gods, indeed, making shrines to them where sacrifices are offered. God is not pleased. Solomon’s wealth has no sway with him. God lays out the grave consequences in no uncertain terms.
Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.[9]
So while Solomon is relishing his riches and women and foreign gods, enemies are joining forces outside his borders, and plots are being hatched inside his kingdom—indeed, with God’s blessing. After a forty-year reign, Solomon dies and is buried in Jerusalem, the City of David.
Jeroboam: King Who Made Israel to Sin
Jeroboam is a hard hat, working to shore up the fortified walls securing Solomon’s capital city. He is highly competent and is soon promoted to foreman. He’s loyal to the king. Then one day, as he is walking on a remote stretch of road outside Jerusalem, he meets the prophet Ahijah, who has a shocking prophecy, complete with an object lesson. Ahijah takes off his brand-new outer garment and tears it into ten pieces, which he hands over to Jeroboam.
These ten pieces of fabric represent the ten tribes—only ten, not twelve. The stunning punch line is that Jeroboam will rule over the ten tribes as king of Israel. If he is faithful to God alone, God promises him that his dynasty will be long and prosperous.
Jeroboam is the son of Nebat and his wife Zeredah. He hails from the tribe of Ephraim, with no close ties to the lines of either Saul or David. Word of the prophecy gets out, and Jeroboam is quickly placed on King Solomon’s most wanted list. With a price on his head, he flees to Egypt, where he resides until he receives word that King Solomon is dead. Then he heads back to Israel, where he is hailed as king.
But Jeroboam is insecure now that Rehoboam has succeeded his father, and he fears his people will want to make pilgrimages to worship at the glorious Temple in Jerusalem. And once they start worshiping in Solomon’s Temple, they will suppose his son is their rightful king. And then sure as summer follows spring, Jeroboam will be dead—murdered by his own people. A most dreadful scenario, but he nips it in the bud by fashioning two golden calves.
Golden calves? Has he forgotten the account of Aaron and the Israelites while Moses was on Mount Sinai? What is he thinking? Be that as it may, he tells the people they need not travel all the way to Jerusalem to worship. They now can go to either Bethel or Dan, where they can bow before an idol of gold.
In order to cover all his bases, Jeroboam constructs shrines and discharges the rightful Levite priests. He then appoints new priests, most of them utterly unqualified. He also declares a holiday to celebrate the New Year—a time of festivity and feasting to make the people feel as though they aren’t missing anything by not worshiping in Jerusalem.
All the while God is biding his time until Jeroboam himself is making a sacrifice at the altar of the golden calf in Bethel. A prophet from Judah stops by and begins shouting at the altar, prophesying that a new king named Josiah will be born in the house of David who will destroy Jeroboam’s altars, but not before the priests’ bones are sacrificed on them. It all sounds crazy, but the holy man supports the message with a sign: this very altar will crack into two pieces, and the sacrifice on it will fall to the ground. And so it happens.
Jeroboam, embarrassed and outraged, reaches out to grab the man and have him arrested, only to suffer paralysis in his arm. When Jeroboam cries out for the holy man to pray for healing, his arm is restored. Returning to Judah, the holy man, having been deceived into disobedience to God, is killed by a lion. His burial site serves as a reminder to the people who pass by that this holy man’s prophecy against Jeroboam will indeed come true.
Still Jeroboam continues in his wicked ways. Through the old prophet Ahijah, he learns of God’s judgment on him, which will be manifested first in his son Abijah’s death, but even more in his own death and those of his male descendants. In the years that follow, Jeroboam’s forces suffer some half million casualties at the hands of Judah. After a twenty-two-year reign, Jeroboam’s son Nadab succeeds him. Baasha, one of Nadab’s own soldiers, assassinates him, declares himself king, and then assassinates Jeroboam’s remaining male descendants, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Ahijah.
Name
Volume
Commonly used for
Jeroboam
3 liters
Bordeaux
Rehoboam
4.5 liters
Champagne and Burgundy
Solomon
20 liters
Champagne
Jeroboam becomes the prototype of an evil king and is later repeatedly referred to as Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin—anything but a flattering epitaph.
Rehoboam: Successor to Solomon
Meanwhile, back in Judah, the political situation has deteriorated during the two decades of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. Rehoboam, son of Solomon, had taken the reins of government at age forty-one and continues as king until his late fifties. His mother, an Ammonite, is one of his father’s seven hundred wives. Rehoboam therefore does not grow up in a God-fearing household, and he leads Judah down the wrong road. Indeed, under his rule, Judah, like Israel, is overrun with shrines dedicated to false gods, some of them featuring male prostitutes who combine idol worship with sex acts.
As Solomon’s son and chosen successor, Rehoboam had traveled to Shechem after his father’s death. There he had expected to be crowned king. But he ran into a snag—Jeroboam and the Israelites. They had been very dissatisfied with the rule of Solomon, whose wealth was derived largely from their hard labor. They agreed to pledge their loyalty to Rehoboam only if he eased up on them and lowered his expectations. He told them he needed time to consider.
After three days, he rejects the wise counsel of his father’s closest advisors in favor of the foolish advice of the young fellows he hangs around with. He returns to the people and announces that he will have none of their bargaining. In fact, they should expect to work harder under him, with more severe punishment if they slack off. The people are in no mood to hear such a message, and they essentially run Rehoboam out of town. When he sends his father’s administrator Adoniram to oversee the Israelite workers, they murder him.
The message to Rehoboam is loud and clear. The ten northern tribes that had been ruled by Saul and later David and Solomon are simply not going to buckle under the rule of the grandson of David. They have suffered too long, and now they are breaking free. Rehoboam, however, is not taking this lying down. He is back in the safety of Jerusalem in control of Judah, but is determined to bring the remaining ten tribes under his rule. He prepares for a holy battle with upwards of two hundred thousand men. But before his army even sets out for Israel, God, through the prophet Shemaiah, speaks to Rehoboam and stops the soldiers in their tracks. They are to go back to their homes and forgo any attack. So war between Judah and Israel is at least temporarily put on hold.
King Rehoboam
Rehoboam spends the next few years fortifying the border towns of Judah and fully secures his hold on the southern kingdom. But Judah has other enemies. Some years into Rehoboam’s reign, Egypt attacks, pillaging Jerusalem, stealing the priceless treasures of Solomon, including the gold inlay and sculptures in the Temple. If this is not bad enough, war then breaks out with Israel and continues for most of his reign. He is succeeded by his son Abijah, who carries on with the wicked ways of his father, ruling for only three years, during which time his armies continually battle those of Jeroboam.
Asa: Good King Who Does Not Finish Well
Idol worship had been promoted by three successive kings—Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah—when Asa becomes king of Judah. His reign lasts more than forty years, during which time seven kings of Israel come and go. During the first decade of his reign Judah enjoys an era of peace, allowing Asa time to build up the kingdom’s defenses. When he is attacked by the enemy, God gives him victory. Indeed the victory is so stunning that “many from Israel had left their homes and joined forces with Asa when they saw that GOD was on his side.”[10]
Prompted by a message from the prophet Azariah, Asa is determined to rid the land of its foreign gods and shrines. He sets a date for a religious revival in Jerusalem and invites the people to come. They sacrifice thousands of animals and, amid the sound of joyful music, promise to be true to the God of their fathers.
No one is exempt from this housecleaning. Not even Maacah, the queen mother. Everything must go, including her sacred phallic pole. And with a royal decree, she loses her status as queen mother. Asa is determined to bring Judah back to God. The Temple in Jerusalem is refurbished and the gold and silver relics are restored. But not for long. The priceless treasures are used to fund the continual battles with Israel.
Throughout Asa’s reign, however, Judah is relatively stable in comparison to Israel, with its continual succession of evil rulers. Asa is essentially a good king, but he fails to demolish all the pagan sex shrines, and he makes an unholy alliance with King Ben-Hadad of Syria against the king of Israel. The prophet Hanani brings God’s word of reproach to Asa, telling him that he can expect continual war for the remainder of his reign. Rather than repenting, Asa arrests the prophet.
In his later years Asa suffers serious health problems, his feet swelling so much that he can hardly walk. Had he only turned to God in repentance instead of relying on the court physicians, such problems could have been averted. Nevertheless, he has gone down in history as a good king.
Ahab and Jezebel: Israel’s Power Couple
When Asa is old and nearing the end of his reign, a change is also occurring in Israel. King Omri dies after twelve years of defying God and fighting Judah. His son and successor Ahab will reign for twenty-two years and bring a certain amount of stability to Israel, though he will go down in history as the wickedest king of all.
Ahab’s name does not stand alone. It is most often linked with that of his wife Jezebel. Like most of the kings before him, Ahab marries to strengthen political alliances. Jezebel is the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and through her, the worship of Baal becomes commonplace. But Baal is not a solitary god among the Israelites. Idols and shrines dot the towns and countryside. Though a worshiper of idols, King Ahab does not ignore ominous messages purporting to come from God. So when Elijah shows up talking famine, Ahab is upset and imagines that killing the messenger might annul the message. But Elijah, now with a price on his head, escapes Ahab’s vengeance.
All of Israel suffers while Ahab sends out scouts looking for Elijah. The famine becomes so severe that Ahab summons his palace administrator Obadiah to go out and search for any spring and stream that may still have water. The king agrees to go in one direction while Obadiah goes another. While he is out hunting for water, Obadiah meets Elijah. With Elijah’s prodding, Obadiah returns to Ahab with the message that Elijah is on his way.
After nearly three years of hunting for the prophet, Ahab is no doubt surprised that Elijah would risk his life to come and meet him. Ahab doesn’t mince words when he sees Elijah: “So it’s you, old trouble-maker!”[11] It turns out Elijah is there to make a wager with Ahab: he and God will prevail over the prophets of Baal.
Ahab sends for his prophets to appear at Mount Carmel for a contest between Baal and God, between Ahab’s 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah. Each side prepares an ox to be sacrificed on the altar. Each side prays the sacrifice will be burned up without their actually lighting a fire. God and Elijah prevail; the prophets of Baal are killed; the drought ends, and the rains descend in a torrent.
Rushing home to Jezebel, Ahab tells her what has transpired. She is furious. She immediately sends Elijah a message vowing to get even: within twenty-four hours, he will be as dead as the prophets of Baal. But her words are hollow.
Despite his detractors, Ahab is not a thoroughly evil man. He rules Israel effectively much of the time and is noted for the ivory palace he built and the frontier towns he fortified. On occasion he even takes heed of God’s prophets. Therefore, he wins battles over his enemies. After defeating the army of King Ben-Hadad of Syria, he lets the king live, in blatant disobedience of God’s orders. He even makes a covenant with him and regards him as a brother. But one of God’s prophet’s delivers a stinging message telling him that for letting Ben-Hadad live, Ahab will pay with his own life and the lives of his people.
Furious with both the prophet and God, Ahab arrives home only to confront another matter—seemingly minor in comparison to all he’s been through. Naboth owns land adjacent to the palace. The king would like it for himself—and no doubt Jezebel would like it too. It’s a great vineyard, but Ahab claims he wants to turn it into a vegetable garden. Ahab has money and tells Naboth he will give him a much better vineyard in trade. But Naboth likes his land, which has long been in the family, and he refuses the offer.
Ahab goes home upset—in such a funk that he refuses to eat. Jezebel wants to know what the problem is, and when he tells her, she belittles him. Why doesn’t he, the king of Israel, man up? How dare Naboth think he can say no to the king? What happens next is reminiscent of King David’s actions when he murders Uriah in order to marry Bathsheba, especially as his behavior is summed up by Nathan the prophet—a rich man taking a poor man’s only lamb for his own feast. The difference in this case is that the evil offender is not the king, but the king’s wife.
Jezebel tells Ahab to get a grip on himself and get out of his funk. She will handle the details of Naboth’s vineyard. As it turns out, she devises a creative scheme. She sends messages that bear Ahab’s royal seal and purport to be from his hand, ordering officials to throw a grand feast with Naboth seated as one of the dignitaries. Then, while he is enjoying the banquet, someone is to jump up in horror, accusing him of cursing both God and the king. The invited guests will have no choice but to ask him to step outside and be stoned to death. Thus it happens.
Then on Jezebel’s orders, Ahab goes next door to put up a sign that the property is under new ownership. He lingers, plotting out how his workers will cultivate the ground and make new gardens—or maybe he’ll just decide to maintain the wonderful vineyard as it is. Suddenly he’s interrupted by his archenemy. Elijah has dared to enter his vineyard without an invitation. He might have called out his body guards and put an end to this nuisance once and for all, but he doesn’t. He listens to the prophet’s warnings of terrible doom to befall Ahab’s household.
Indeed, influenced by Jezebel, Ahab had actually expanded his false-god collection and had become more involved in sexually explicit religious rituals. But now he tears his kingly robes in an act of repentance. He dresses in a pauper’s attire and takes up fasting. In response, God seems to relent and does not bring down Ahab’s kingdom in his lifetime.
Ahab would end up dying on the battlefield, though not gallantly in hand-to-hand combat. He forms an alliance with Jehoshaphat of Judah against the Arameans. He knows the enemy is out to get him, so he is in disguise, covered from head to toe in armor. By chance, a stray arrow penetrates a seam in the armor. He is mortally wounded, but he continues to fight until he bleeds to death just before sundown.
Jezebel, however, lives on, ruling through her sons Ahaziah and Joram. Ahaziah essentially continues the ways of his mother, while living a life of debauchery. Often drunk, he falls out of a window (perhaps prefiguring his mother’s death) and dies sometime later of his injuries. Brother Joram succeeds him, and to his credit, he removes some of the shrines of Baal, but he worships idols, and under his rule the nation continues its idolatrous practices. He dies at the hand of Jehu, an army commander who becomes Israel’s next king.
Jehu is the one who makes certain Jezebel is severely punished for her unspeakable wickedness. When he and his men lay siege to the town of Jezreel, Jezebel defies him openly. In fact, she stands in her palace window hurling insults down at him. Jehu commands her bodyguards to hurl her out the upper-story window. Her blood spatters on the palace walls, after which she is run over by horses. Jehu then strides inside his new palace and sits down for a feast. When he later orders his lieutenants to go outside and check on the queen mother, all that remain are her skull, hands, and feet. This is what Elijah had foretold—that wild dogs would feast on the body of Jezebel.
King Jehu: A Man of Action
A military officer anointed king of Israel by one of Elisha’s student prophets, Jehu is charged with carrying out the curse against Ahab and his extended family. He is a man of action and wastes no time in disposing of his rivals, including King Joram, whom he kills with an arrow as he seeks to escape in his chariot. He also kills Ahaziah king of Judah, one of Ahab’s shirttail relations. An even more stunning deed is the decapitation of all seventy of Ahab’s sons. Jehu, whose headquarters are in Jezreel, then has the heads piled up at the gate of the city. After that he tracks down and kills other relatives and associates of Ahab. But it doesn’t stop there. Ahaziah’s relatives are wiped out as well, and after that anyone in Samaria who had been associated with Ahab is slaughtered.
While Ahab rules over Israel, Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, is king of Judah. These two readily join forces to take back territory from their mutual enemies. But unlike Ahab, Jehoshaphat is a righteous king. He rules for a quarter century over Judah—one of the high points in that nation’s history. He even attempts to construct a maritime fleet, and he reestablishes the system of judges, positioning one in each of the fortified cities of Judah. In fact, during his reign Judah and Israel make peace after decades of conflict. The alliance is reinforced by the marriage—though without God’s approval—of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah.
But this king of Judah is remembered most for his tearing down the altars of Baal and reinstituting the worship of God. Jehoram succeeds his father as King of Judah for eight years. To secure his position, his first act is to kill his six brothers and any officials who may be loyal to them. With his wife Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, he brings back Baal worship. For all of this and for killing his brothers, Judah is punished by a devastating plague and numerous attacks by enemies.
As for Jehoram, he suffers from a terrible disease, as Elijah had prophesied. His ailment is most likely colon cancer. He dies writhing in pain. So disgusted with him were the people that they did not inter him in a royal burial plot. Ahaziah, at age twenty-two, succeeds his father as king, with his evil mother Athaliah hovering in the wings. After he is chased down and murdered by Jehu, Athaliah seizes power and slaughters the whole royal family in order to secure her own status. Her bloody reign lasts six years, until her grandson Joash is brought out of hiding and crowned king. She is dragged out of the temple, where she had tried to interrupt the coronation, and is struck down near the palace stables.
With all this accomplished, Jehu goes after the Baal priests and worshipers. He sets up a sting operation, sending out word that there will be a mass worship celebration at the temple of Baal. People come from all over, filling the temple to overflowing. Jehu carries out the rituals as his commandos wait for the signal. When he has finished, they attack and massacre everyone who has come, then demolish the temple and all its sacred relics.
For accomplishing the task of ridding Israel of all descendants and relatives of Ahab and all remnants of Baal worship, God promises Jehu that his sons will rule the nation for the next four generations. But Jehu himself does not steadfastly follow God’s laws. He reigns over Israel for twenty-eight years, and when he dies he is buried in the family plot in Samaria.
Joash: Boy King Reigns Nearly a Half Century
Joash, the new king of Judah, will please God for most of his forty-year reign, although he does not destroy the pagan sex shrines. Only seven years old when he becomes king, Joash, with the tutelage of the priest Jehoiada, brings Israel back to the worship of God. With Jehoiada’s help Joash collects a special tax to restore the Temple to its onetime grandeur. But after Jehoiada’s death at age one hundred thirty, worship of God deteriorates as the Temple is desecrated and people go back to their false gods. Despite prophetic warnings, Joash does nothing to stop the evil—not even when Jehoiada’s son Zechariah comes with a portentous message. In fact, Joash orders the stoning of Zechariah.
The following year Judah is attacked by Syrian forces, who destroy Joash’s military and leave him severely wounded. While he is in bed hoping to recover, two of his servants, still angry over the stoning of Zechariah, kill him. He dies at age forty-seven, and is buried without the customary royal rituals. He is succeeded by his son Amaziah, who reigns twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. He lived a mostly righteous life, but in later years took to worshiping the gods of the neighboring Edomites. He did, however, avenge his father’s murder by killing the two assassins.
King Hezekiah: A Deadly Boil and a Sundial
At twenty-five, Hezekiah succeeds his father Ahaz, king of Judah, who was an idolatrous and wicked king who actually sacrificed one of his own sons in a pagan ritual. Hezekiah, who reigns for thirty years, does not follow in his father’s footsteps. His first major initiative is the re-consecration of his subjects to the service of God, followed by a purification ceremony of the dissolute priesthood, a celebratory rededication of the Temple, and destruction of remaining pagan shrines.
Uzziah could have been one of the greatest kings in Israel’s history. He served for 52 years, more than half a century; that’s longer than David or Solomon. He was a great military leader; he led the nation into a period of economic growth and security. He could have truly been the greatest king, and yet the Bible tells us in verse 16 [2 Chron.] that “. . . when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God.” He had military and economic power, but that wasn’t enough! All of that power went to his head, and he wanted more. He wanted the ability to serve in the temple. That was the one thing he could not do.
And so the Bible tells us that he “entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” The king knew he shouldn’t be doing this. Everybody knew that only the priests were allowed in the temple. . . . God struck him with leprosy on the forehead. As far as I can tell, Uzziah became the first king of God’s people to ever be struck with leprosy. The Bible tells us that King Uzziah was rushed out of the temple. Smitten by the Lord, King Uzziah lived the rest of his life in a separate house, completely cut off from the temple, and his son [Jotham] took over the daily responsibilities of the king. This one act of rebellion ruined his reputation as a good king, and he lived the rest of his life in quarantine, alone.
Hezekiah then does what no king in Judah had ever done since the division following the reign of Solomon. He invites all the northern tribes to Jerusalem for a proper celebration of the Passover. These acts of spiritual renewal result in a sincere outpouring of gifts and tithes that strain the storage facilities of the Temple. And God is well pleased.
But danger lurks on the horizon. Hezekiah is able to drive the Philistines out of the land, but Judah is overwhelmed by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who lays siege to Jerusalem. Hezekiah does lead a successful revolt against the occupying Assyrians, but can do little more against Assyria’s massive military might. Amid his weakness, the king apologizes for the revolt and strips the Temple and shrines of gold and silver as a bribe to buy time and keep the Assyrian king from attacking.
Hezekiah shores up Jerusalem’s fortifications and cuts off the water supply outside the city to foil enemy forces. He likewise builds up the store of arms and rallies the people so they will be prepared to defend their city.
But the Assyrian king’s messengers make a public announcement to Hezekiah’s subjects, telling them they will be far better off to peacefully submit to Assyrian rule than to trust the impotent king Hezekiah. When Hezekiah learns of the threats, he rips his clothes, dons sackcloth, goes to the Temple with his aides and priests, and forwards a message to the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah sends back good news. But the threats against Hezekiah and his kingdom keep coming.
Finally Hezekiah falls on his face before God and begs God to save Judah from the mighty Assyrian army. God answers and sends an angel, who slaughters nearly two hundred thousand Assyrian troops. Hezekiah is now free from the terrible threat that has been hanging over him. But his problems are not over.
Not long after this, Hezekiah falls ill from a very serious boil. He learns from the prophet Isaiah that he will not recover and that he should make preparations for dying. Isaiah leaves, and Hezekiah weeps and begs God for mercy. His prayer is barely over when Isaiah returns with a favorable report. In three days Hezekiah will be completely healed. Besides that, God is giving him fifteen more years to live.
On Isaiah’s instructions, Hezekiah prepares a potion of figs for the healing. But he is insecure. How can he know for sure whether God is speaking or whether this is just some hocus-pocus? He asks for a sign. Isaiah gives him an option. God can make the sundial go either forward ten degrees or backward the same distance. His decision. Hezekiah considers it more difficult to make the instrument go backward, so that is his choice, and God makes it happen. Here is a miracle reminiscent of Joshua’s battle when the sun stood still.
During his fifteen extra years, instead of becoming a more righteous king, he becomes haughty, no doubt exaggerating his own importance because God had turned the sundial backward just for him. God is upset by his attitude and takes it out on Jerusalem and all of Judah. Realizing his sin, Hezekiah repents, and God’s wrath is appeased.
During the last decade of his life Hezekiah amasses great wealth, more, it would seem, than any other king apart from Solomon. And he’s not shy about showing off his wealth. Among his treasures are not only gold, silver, and gems, but also livestock and land—and whole cities. There is apparently no resentment among the people because on his death, all Judah turns out to honor him. He is succeeded by his son Manasseh, who does evil in the sight of the Lord.
Josiah: Beloved King Who Follows God’s Laws
Josiah is a mere boy—anointed king at eight years old. He reigns as king of Judah for thirty-one years, a reign that begins with his mother Jedidah as regent. As kings go, he ranks near the top, alongside his great-grandfather Hezekiah.
Josiah’s birth was unique among all the kings. It had been part of a prophecy of judgment against King Jeroboam some three hundred years earlier that a son named Josiah would be born into David’s family. This king, it was foretold, would demolish the altar at Bethel, dig up bones of evil priests, and burn them on the altar. That prophecy is fulfilled by Josiah, who initiates a wholesale cleansing of the land of all its false gods.
At age twenty-six, more than halfway through his reign, Josiah makes arrangements to have the Temple repaired. As the construction is moving forward, the high priest Hilkiah discovers the Book of the Law that had long been gathering dust. The book is brought to Josiah and he tears his clothes. He is horrified that this book has been left untended and unread. He fears that God’s anger will explode, so he asks his spiritual advisors to pray to God for guidance on how to respond to the words written therein.
Hilkiah and the four others are at their wit’s end. Who can help figure out exactly what God is saying in this book? Then it comes to them. There is a prophet living in Jerusalem. Her name is Huldah. All five go to consult with her. Bad news. She prophesies doom and gloom on Judah. God will judge his people because they have abandoned him and worshiped false gods.
But Josiah acts quickly. When he hears Huldah’s prophecy, he appoints Hilkiah to be in charge of decontaminating the Temple by disposing of anything, dead or alive, that smacks of idol worship. Incense, relics, pagan priests, everything must go—and not in Jerusalem only. Throughout the country there is a thorough housecleaning. Only then is Josiah prepared to lead the people in a celebration of the Passover, which had not been commemorated since before the time of the judges.
During much of Josiah’s reign, foreign powers are not pressing down on Judah’s borders. With the Assyrian empire in decline, he is able to rule from Jerusalem without interference. He might have lived on and ruled longer than any other king, but he cannot resist leading his army in an attack against the Egyptian Pharaoh who is passing nearby with his mighty army. To his credit, the Pharaoh warns Josiah that he has no intention of harassing him or his people. In the name of God, he begs him to stay neutral. Josiah, however, refuses to listen to God, who warns not to attack. Josiah is wounded by an arrow and taken back to Jerusalem, where he dies.
He is a beloved king, and his funeral is a time of great sorrow for the people. Jeremiah offers the eulogy—a lament that would be sung by choirs for generations to come.
Concluding Observations
Who can possibly keep all these kings—since Saul and David—straight? Those who reign over Judah are easily confused with those many more who reign over Israel. Some are good; most are bad. But bad and good are categories that are easily blurred, especially when it comes to kingly behavior. Yet these kings are some of the most fascinating characters in the Bible.
Solomon, son of David, is of course the most famous of them all. His sin sets the stage for those who will follow. What if he had acted differently and followed in the ways of the Lord? Had he set a good example and trained his son Rehoboam to faithfully serve God, how different the history of the Israelites might have been. The kingdom might not have been divided, and wars upon wars might not have been fought. Solomon, though wealthy and wise, would never attain the timeless popularity or venerable reputation of his father King David. Yet Solomon’s reputation has not dimmed even today, especially among certain Baptists. A Google search shows many results for King Solomon Baptist Church in cities across America: Memphis, Detroit, Abilene, Colorado Springs, Louisville, Little Rock, Jacksonville, and elsewhere.
Sandwiched in between both good and bad kings of Israel and Judah are fiery prophets of God. Among the most prominent are Elijah and his successor Elisha.
Further Reading
Finkelstein, Israel, and Neil Asher Silberman. David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible’s Sacred Kings. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006.
Knapp, C. Kings of Judah. Dubuque, IA: ECS Ministries, 2004.
Walk Thru the Bible. A Walk Thru the Life of Solomon: Pursuing a Heart of Integrity. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2009.
Weitzman, Steven. Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.