CHAPTER XII.
After the Division of the Kingdom.
While the arrogance of Rehoboam and the extravagances of Solomon were the direct causes of the disunion, yet other agencies had long been at work to bring it about. In the first place, natural land features divided the ridge on the west side of the Jordan into two distinct parts. Any permanent union was not probable. Again, the northern tribes inhabited the more prosperous district. Their resources were greater; and with the jealousies that always manifested themselves among the tribes, it was hardly to have been expected that they would indefinitely consent to be ruled by Judean kings. Moreover, during the reign of Solomon, Judah had been exempt from taxation. Into a Judean city had poured the wealth of the kingdom, while the hand of oppression, so heavy elsewhere, was unfelt alone in this province. Indignation had apparently reached a high pitch before Solomon's death, yet spokesmen for the northern tribes met with the new king and made a simple and reasonable demand for reduced taxes in turn for allegiance. A statesman might have held the kingdom intact, yet it is scarcely probable that union would have indefinitely endured. The royal messenger sent to reconcile the northern tribes after their withdrawal was so speedily stoned to death that the king fled for safety to Jerusalem. Jeroboam, an experienced general, was elected king of Israel—the northern kingdom, and hostilities between the two kingdoms were inevitable.
Judah was somewhat protected—on the north by the new-formed state, on the east by the river and Dead Sea, on the south by the desert. On the other hand, Israel, with her traversable plains, lay open to approach from every side, and she it was who had to bear the brunt of outside attack for the next two centuries.
A comparison of the two states at the outset shows Israel to have been first in natural resources, size and population; to have been second in unity and centralized government. Judah, with her limited area, scarcity of water, absence of fertile soil and scanty population, had marked advantage in her unity and hereditary kingship. There were ten tribes to be pacified in the north—only two in the south. In Israel the jealousies were so strong that it was the work of a moment for an influential prince to assassinate the reigning king and usurp the crown.
Judah was crippled shortly after the division by an invasion of Egyptian forces. They penetrated into Israel as well, but treasure was greatest in Jerusalem. Three hundred golden shields, made by Solomon for his guards, were taken, together with the rich decoration of the temple. Rehoboam soon after had the ornaments of gold replaced by others of bronze, so the splendor of the temple was not greatly changed.
For some time hostilities continued between the Hebrew kingdoms. Then danger from Syria, a rising state with Damascus at its head, made an alliance desirable to both kings.
After the disunion, Jeroboam felt that it would be manifestly unsafe to allow the people of Israel to go to Jerusalem to celebrate their national festivals, lest they might be led to return to Judah's king. Consequently he established two sanctuaries, one at Bethel and one at Dan, instructing people to worship at the one nearest them. He caused a golden bull to be placed before the altar of each, thus violating the commandment forbidding graven images. Perhaps in so doing the king was merely symbolizing the strength of Jehovah. At an earlier period this would have been less objectionable, but the people had grown somewhat accustomed to worship without symbols, and this was plainly a retrogression. The imageless worship of Jehovah was one of its distinctive features, lifting it above that of surrounding peoples.
While prophets of a later day denounced the act of Jeroboam, the priests of his own day were too near the change to discern its grave dangers.