Storry 22 - Solomon part 3
As King Solomon gets older he makes some bad choices. He increased taxes to pay for his huge building projects and demanded that each tribe provide forced labourers, one month each year, to work on his various building projects. So cheap labour and high taxes! Also, Solomon because he wanted to maintain peace with surrounding countries, married literally hundreds of foreign princesses!! But they worshipped other gods and so Solomon “turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God”, (1Kings 11:4). He even built places for them to worship these idols.
So Solomon who began so well, ended so badly! After his death his son Rehoboam became king. Unlike his father he, is foolish and the 12 tribes of Israel, who were united as one kingdom, became divided. The northern tribe of Israel and the southern of Judah. This time in history is known as the Period of the Divided Monarchy. |