Why the Kingdom of Israel fell

It controlled more territory than Egypt, had a unified government, a capital, an organized military, one Temple and one GOD. Yet it only lasted about seventy-seven years. I'm typing about a Kingdom (which can be defined as an empire) that existed in the middle east in the ninth and tenth centuries BC. It begin when King David, a man of the Israelite tribe of Judah reigned over Israel in the north and Judah in the south. He proceeded to subjugate the surrounding peoples and their lands so that his people could live in safety.

This map shows the approximate territories ruled by King Solomon; His father David had conquered most of the surrounding nations and Solomon reaped the reward in wealth.











After King David died, he choose his son Solomon to reign. David had to deal with a rebellion from another son,  Absalom: the dramatic and tragic family drama can be read starting here. GOD's victories through David would bring Solomon great riches, which would wrongly be used to destroy what could have been a beautiful long-standing empire.

Here's five reasons why within one hundred years everything would fall apart:

Marrying like a madman: Before criticizing King Solomon it's only right to mention that he began well and not just because of his father: for example he had the first Temple built, as well as a palace, but it is revealing that he built the palace built twice as large as the Holy Temple. He clearly had a good relationship with GOD in his early years (GOD spoke to him directly and came down during the dedication of the Temple he had built.) Despite this he disobeyed the Torah's words about marrying gentile women despite his father telling him "I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong. Show yourself to be a man. Do what the Lord your God tells you. Walk in His ways. Keep all His Laws and His Word, by what is written in the Law of Moses. Then you will do well in all that you do and in every place you go. Then the Lord will keep His promise to me. He has said to me, ‘Your sons must be careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and soul. If they do, you will never be without a man on the throne of Israel." And Solomon didn't just ignore the commandment, he married more women than any ruler before or after him. He married seven hundred women and had three hundred concubine. He married Pharaoh's daughter as well as women from Moab and Ammon (east of Israel), as well as from Edom (south-east), Sidon (north) and Hittites (whose kingdom had existed in modern day Turkey hundreds of years before Solomon.) These women were against the Torah for a reason: they lead him to idolatry. 

Worshiping idols like a fool: When Solomon got older he did what would be un-thinkable for Moses and David before him: He build altars to gods from surrounding areas: what made Israel's culture unique was that it was strictly monotheistic--idolatry was punishable by death according to GOD's Law and yet here was the king of the empire doing it openly. Here GOD was blessing the King with wisdom and riches, and how does Solomon respond? By willingly disobeying GOD.

Rebels: After King Solomon began to build altars he faced rebellions: Hadad an Edomite, Rezon who became a warrior and ruler of the kingdom of Damascus, and Jeroboam one of Solomon's own officers. Both the Kingdom's of Edom and Damascus rebelled. But the final mistake that would officially end "The United Kingdom of Israel" would only be partially the fault of King Solomon. 

Hardship and 'noble' indifference: During Solomon's reign he placed on his people a heavy burden, for this reason when his son, Rehoboam, succeeded him they said to the new king: "Your father made us carry a heavy burden. Reduce the hard work and lighten the heavy burden he put on us, and we will serve you.” King Rehoboam told them to come back in two days and inquired both of older leaders and young nobles who had grown up with him. 

The two groups gave very different advice:

The older men told him: "If you will serve these people today, humble yourself, and speak gently, then they will always be your servants."

While the younger men told him: "This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is heavier than my father’s whole body. If my father put a heavy burden on you, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will punish you with scorpions.’” 

When the time came to announce his response he told the people: “If my father made your burden heavy, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will punish you with scorpions.” Which lead to a rebellion, when Jeroboam (the rebel who fled to Egypt) returned, the people made him king of Israel. 

And so everything fell apart and the United Kingdom fell from it's golden age; the remaining Kingdom of Judah was attacked by King Shishake of Egypt soon afterwards, then came the Assyrians and the Babylonians if the Kingdom of Israel and Judah had remained united with one organized military, one religion with one GOD, one capital and Temple it could well have lasted another five hundred years or so. 

So what's the lesson to take from this? 
1.) Obey GOD, even if you have strong desires and don't see why your actions are harmful.

2.) Don't be ungrateful to GOD and don't return His blessings with idol worship. 

3.) Listen to people if they claim they need a break. 

4.) Listen to the old folks, not young people. 

Approximate land controlled by the Kingdom's of Israel (north) and Judah (south). 









  

This image shows a record of Pharaoh Shishak's invasion, just five years after King Solomon's death.

Who Really Wrote Ecclesiastes?

If you ask the average Christian who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes they either don't know or will tell you it was King Solomon. Even if you were to go to preachers and Biblical scholars across the centuries and modern ones today they would almost always tell you King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes. But there's a problem: neither the Old nor the New Testament ever says that. 

The Book it'self never mentions the author by name,but it does give us five general hints:

1.) The author was a "son of David" (Ecclesiastes 1:1)

2.) The author was "King in Jerusalem." (Ecclesiastes 1:1) 

3.) The author was "...king over Israel in Jerusalem." (Ecclesiastes 1:12) 

4.) The author undertook great projects. (Ecclesiastes 2:4-8) 

5.) The author "became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before [him.]" (Ecclesiastes 2:9)

At first glance the author being the "son of David" makes it obvious: it was Solomon. The problem is twofold at this point however: (1) Solomon had brothers and (2) "Son of David"could also mean a descendant of David. So there are at least 23 possibilities: Solomon, Adonijah, Absolum, Nathan,Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoachin and Zedekiah. 

We can narrow down this list to twenty-one because the author was King in Jerusalem. And we can narrow it down even further if we assume that GOD used a mostly "righteous" king to write His book. This leave us with: Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat , Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah. 

Now we can narrow down even further when the Book tells us the author was "king over all Israel" and so at this point we can be sure it's Solomon right? Well maybe not; there is still a slight chance that by King of all Israel the author means of those few Israelites who escaped from Israel to Judah. Which narrows it down to either Solomon or perhaps Judean kings who reigned after the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed. This leaves us with: Solomon, Hezekiah and Josiah. 

Three candidates remain the test this time is who undertook great building projects? 

The answer? Two kings did. 

King Solomon had both the Temple built and a palace. King Hezekiah had a water tunnel built (which can still be visited today) 

Both of them did more than were recorded in The Bible (1 Kings 11:41, 2 Kings 20:20) 

The final test is found in Ecclesiastes 2:9: "became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me." 

If the author is King Solomon than he is saying he was greater than King David and some Jebsite kings who weren't particularly known for their greatness. But if the author is King Hezekiah than he's saying he is greater than more than twenty kings before him. 

In conclusion, it certainly seems reasonable that the author is Solomon especially if you read Eccesaties chapter two. However, King Hezekiah is also a possibility. 

What matters most is that the Ultimate Author was The Holy Spirit Who guided a man who from a worldly prospective seemed to have it all but deep down knew he lacked what he needed most. 

Here's a link to Ecclesiastes. 

Five things to pray for regarding the events in the Middle East

We, as Christians should pray:

1.) That the members of ISIS are given mercy and become Born Again. Jesus said "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."-Matthew 5:43-45. Of course we should not praise the terrorist organization's actions but we must strive to love for them and it would be wise for us to remember that GOD is able to save even the worse of people. He saved Saul of Tarsus when he was on his way to persecute our siblings in Christ and He is fully able to save any number of terrorists He wants to. 

2.) That the members of ISIS receive justice for what they have done. By justice I don't mean eternal damnation. I mean here on earth; that the organization falls and any member that has committed murder is put to death.

3.) That our brothers and sisters, should it be GOD's will, die as bold martyrs. The Christian testimony is one of the most powerful forces GOD uses to save people; in the Roman empire while the Christians were persecuted there are many accounts of how noble they were even when they face death and hundreds were converted after witnessing a martyrdom. Therefore we should pray that they stay faithful until the end (for if they reject Christ He will reject them, Matthew 10:32-33) and that while they are dying they testify about Jesus in forgiveness and love even to their murderers.

4.) That our brothers and sisters remain safe, feed and find comfort in GOD's Spirit and His promises so long as GOD wants them to. 

5.) That all Iraqis and Syrians come to Christ and are given the basic physical needs to survive the tragedy that has befallen on them; and that any psychological damage from these terrible events would be healed by GOD's Spirit. 

In blessing our enemies and praying for them, in praying for justice, in praying for our brothers and sisters and all Iraqis and Syrians we glorify the Name of GOD.

Salvation even of terrorists is good,
Justice is good,
The Christian testimony is good,
The welfare of our brothers and sisters as GOD sees it is good,
The salvation of Iraqis, Syrians and indeed every people group is good.

``Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.``(James 1:17)  Therefore it is GOD Who we must in earnest love turn to in prayer.

Twenty differences between Christian and North-American culture

Christian viewpoint	Modern North-American cultural view
Women should dress modestly and men shouldn’t look at women with lust.	Women can sexualize themselves as much as they want and men can look at pornography because “its normal.”
Sexual intercourse should be reserved for a marriage.	Sexual intercourse involving anyone but children is accepted as long as consent is given.
Marriage is defined as one man and one women.	Marriage is anything between two people regardless of gender. (Marriages of more than two people together are becoming more acceptable.)
Abortion should be illegal because it is killing a child which (1) has a beating heart, (2) active organs, (3) a unique finger print and (4) has the shape of a human in every way.	Abortion should be legal because (1) the child seems to be disabled, (2) the child should be killed because of the rape of his or her father, (3) the mother is inconvenienced by the child and (4) the child is somehow a clump of cells that only resembles a child in every way.
No person should be killed by a doctor who swore to protect their patients life regardless of what the patient wants because the human life is sacred.	Every person can be killed if they give their consent to a doctor and are suffering greatly. Regardless of the so-called “value of life” the person has the right to call upon a doctor to kill them.
Unborn children that are likely to live with physical or mental disabilities should never be killed because their life is of equal value to other children.	Unborn children that are likely to live with a physical or mental disability can rightfully be killed at the mother’s will because the child may pose an inconvenience to her.