There is no question that the ancient Israelites were easily distracted and worshiped deities other than Yahweh. However, how they got to the point of idolism and the consequences of it are a less know fact in today’s world. Also, the general understanding of the specific practices and who all was a part of this idolism in ancient Israel has become more clear with recent discoveries. Unfortunately, because this is of ancient Israel’s culture not everything is obvious and many artifacts and much evidence has been lost as the time of the Israelites was a violent one and they were surrounded by anything but peaceful lands. Thus, it is vital to understand the many views and different understandings of what relevant evidence is available today.
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To start, Solomon is traditionally thought of as “King Solomon the wise,” but there was far more to this man then knowing how to solve a few tough problems. He was not afraid to get things done and that becomes very obvious when one realizes how much forced labor he used. The book of first Kings mentions forced labor several times under Solomon’s reign, mainly in chapters 5 and 9, and while this is not necessarily implying slavery, the concept is much the same from a twenty first century viewpoint. King Solomon built the temple for the name of Yahweh and also his own house, which 1 Kings chapter 7 verse 2 clearly points out that Solomon built his own house much larger than the temple. Something that is harder to believe is 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 3 states that King Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines! While these are not all exactly sins, especially in the Old Testament times, they make it clear what kind of man Solomon was. As 1 Kings chapter 11 states, many of Solomon’s wives were foreign women and naturally had foreign gods. In Solomon’s old age, they turned him away from Yahweh and got him to worship false gods such as “Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Amonites” (1 Kings 11:5). This is a major sin and Yahweh tells Solomon he …show more content…
Since the house of Yahweh is in Jerusalem where Rehoboam reigns, Jeroboam fears his people will turn to join Rehoboam’s kingdom. So, he makes two golden calves and sets them in Bethel and Dan marking the borders of the northern kingdom of Israel saying “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28). This seems like an almost clever response by Jeroboam, but what is odd is that the exact same phrase and situation is raised by Aaron, Moses’s brother, in Exodus chapter 32 verse 4. Since this was clearly a major sin by Aaron, Jeroboam would not have simply been quoting him in front of the entire nation that would have known about this sin in Exodus. Some commentaries, for example the Pulpit Commentary, have used this text to support the idea that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) could not have been written until after the split of the kingdom of Israel and probably several hundreds of years after that. Thus, Jeroboam could not have been quoting Aaron and simply used similar terminology that would seem the same of years of editing and translations (Spence 271). While this argument presents the idea that Jeroboam knew he was not starting a new cult or practice, there are also several arguments that the Pentateuch had to have been written for the Israelites to know the law. However,
To start, Solomon is traditionally thought of as “King Solomon the wise,” but there was far more to this man then knowing how to solve a few tough problems. He was not afraid to get things done and that becomes very obvious when one realizes how much forced labor he used. The book of first Kings mentions forced labor several times under Solomon’s reign, mainly in chapters 5 and 9, and while this is not necessarily implying slavery, the concept is much the same from a twenty first century viewpoint. King Solomon built the temple for the name of Yahweh and also his own house, which 1 Kings chapter 7 verse 2 clearly points out that Solomon built his own house much larger than the temple. Something that is harder to believe is 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 3 states that King Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines! While these are not all exactly sins, especially in the Old Testament times, they make it clear what kind of man Solomon was. As 1 Kings chapter 11 states, many of Solomon’s wives were foreign women and naturally had foreign gods. In Solomon’s old age, they turned him away from Yahweh and got him to worship false gods such as “Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Amonites” (1 Kings 11:5). This is a major sin and Yahweh tells Solomon he …show more content…
Since the house of Yahweh is in Jerusalem where Rehoboam reigns, Jeroboam fears his people will turn to join Rehoboam’s kingdom. So, he makes two golden calves and sets them in Bethel and Dan marking the borders of the northern kingdom of Israel saying “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28). This seems like an almost clever response by Jeroboam, but what is odd is that the exact same phrase and situation is raised by Aaron, Moses’s brother, in Exodus chapter 32 verse 4. Since this was clearly a major sin by Aaron, Jeroboam would not have simply been quoting him in front of the entire nation that would have known about this sin in Exodus. Some commentaries, for example the Pulpit Commentary, have used this text to support the idea that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) could not have been written until after the split of the kingdom of Israel and probably several hundreds of years after that. Thus, Jeroboam could not have been quoting Aaron and simply used similar terminology that would seem the same of years of editing and translations (Spence 271). While this argument presents the idea that Jeroboam knew he was not starting a new cult or practice, there are also several arguments that the Pentateuch had to have been written for the Israelites to know the law. However,