After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided in 931 BC. Ten tribes formed the Northern Kingdom, called Israel; Judah and Benjamin formed the Southern Kingdom, called Judah. The following is a list of the kings of Israel and Judah. All the kings of Israel practiced idolatry; the worst served Baal. Many of the kings of Judah served idols; few served the Lord faithfully. Some bad kings were partly good; some good kings partly bad. The kings, the approximate dates of their reigns, and descriptions of their overall obedience to God are:
| KINGS OF ISRAEL: | KINGS OF JUDAH: |
| Jeroboam I, rebellious, 931–910 BC Nadab, bad, 910–909 BC Baasha, wicked, 909–886 BC Elah, evil, 886–885 BC Zimri, sinful, 885 BC Tibni, iniquitous, 885–880 BC Omri (overlap), extra bad, 885–874 BC Ahab, the worst to that point, 874–853 BC Ahaziah, disobedient, 853–852 BC Joram/Jehoram, mostly rotten, 852–841 BC Jehu, not good but better than the rest, 841–814 BC Jehoahaz, noncompliant, 814–798 BC Joash, wayward, 798–782 BC Jeroboam II (overlap), badly behaved, 793–753 BC Zechariah, abysmal, 753 BC Shallum, full of vice, 752 BC Menahem, horrible, 752–742 BC Pekahiah, idolatrous, 742–740 BC Pekah (overlap), awful, 752–732 BC Hoshea, appalling, 732–722 BC | Jeroboam I, rebellious, 931–910 BC Nadab, bad, 910–909 BC Baasha, wicked, 909–886 BC Elah, evil, 886–885 BC Zimri, sinful, 885 BC Tibni, iniquitous, 885–880 BC Omri (overlap), extra bad, 885–874 BC Ahab, the worst to that point, 874–853 BC Ahaziah, disobedient, 853–852 BC Joram/Jehoram, mostly rotten, 852–841 BC Jehu, not good but better than the rest, 841–814 BC Jehoahaz, noncompliant, 814–798 BC Joash, wayward, 798–782 BC Jeroboam II (overlap), badly behaved, 793–753 BC Zechariah, abysmal, 753 BC Shallum, full of vice, 752 BC Menahem, horrible, 752–742 BC Pekahiah, idolatrous, 742–740 BC Pekah (overlap), awful, 752–732 BC Hoshea, appalling, 732–722 BC |
Give Us A King
God did want Israel to have a king; he just had a certain kind of king in mind. In Deuteronomy 17:14-20, long before the time of Saul, God said, “Be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses” (emphasis added). God’s choice for king: that is what Israel ignored.
God’s Qualifications For Israel’s King
First, the king was to be an Israelite (Deuteronomy 17:15). This meant the king would belong to the people who recognized the authority of God.
Second, the king must not acquire many horses (17:16a). Horses came from Egypt, and horse-trading would tempt the Israelites to interact with the pagan people from whom they had been delivered.
Third, the king must not take many wives (17:17a). It was normal in ancient times to seal treaties between kings by intermarriage. Foreign women would influence the Israelites to abandon the unique lifestyle to which God had called them.
Fourth, the king must not accumulate large amounts of gold and silver (17:17b). A king’s success was dependence upon God; interacting with the pagan nations supplying gold and silver would tempt.
Fifth, the king must keep a copy of God’s Torah with him to be read throughout his life, so he would rule according to God’s principles (17:18-20).
This was God’s king: faithful, separate from the pagans, guiding God’s people to righteous living as a shepherd leads his sheep.
A King Such As Other Nations Have
Facing a Philistine threat at the time of Samuel the prophet, Israel demanded a king. The key to God’s displeasure was the request itself, to “appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” (1 Sam. 8:20), not asking for a king that God would choose, but one like that of the heathen world.
When the people asked for a ruler such as other nations had, God gave them Saul, a man who couldn’t track donkeys (1 Samuel 9:5) to show them what their kind of king would be: a self-absorbed failure. By contrast, David was God’s choice for king, a man after his own heart. David lived by the words of the Torah, keeping the Lord always before him. When he sinned with Bathsheba, he was beside himself with sorrow, because he knew he had turned from God. His sensitivity to God was intact and on display.
Who Do You Want As Your King?
Solomon was the wisest king of all. Yet the Bible judges Solomon by God’s standards: “Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses” (compare 2 Chron. 9:25 with Deut. 17:16a). “The king [Solomon] made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones” (compare 2 Chron. 9:27 with Deut. 17:17b). “The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents” (compare 2 Chron. 9:13 with Deut.17:17b). “He [Solomon] had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines (mistresses)” (compare 1 Kings 11:3 with Deut. 17:17a). Finally, “Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command” (1 Kings 11:10). What a shock! The wisest human ruler who ever lived broke almost every command God gave for a king, ultimately dividing the very kingdom of God on earth – his sin for all to see; tragedy we sense yet today.
We are left wanting something better than an earthly king: “…one greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). That is God’s first and final choice for the ideal king: Jesus the Messiah. “But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today…As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Yet again, God gives us a choice with ramifications just as dramatic.