Smoky Mountain Bible Institute
Lesson #59
Break
out your maps and histories as we travel again in our time machine to examine
history & geography through a Biblical worldview. It’s time for us to walk
through the middle days of the Israelite monarchy; David’s reign, which is
estimated to have run from 1009 BC to 969 BC.
During
that reign, the next king, David’s son Solomon, is born in 994 BC. At the time, Solomon already had many half
brothers and sisters, many of whom were in early adulthood, from his father’s
many wives but it is he who would be king. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, born in 973
BC would follow Solomon as king.
Briefly,
some other things going on in the world during the century between 1000-900 BC
are: the beginning of the Iron Age in Greece, (there is evidence of) Pinto Indian
hut construction in the Sierra Nevada and California regions, the construction
of the Temple of Hera (its ruins can be seen today in Olympia Greece), and
rationalism of the Chau dynasty gains prevalence over the mysticism of the
Shang (Yin) dynasty in China. There are also many literary developments during
this century. For example, the introduction of Greek script based on old Semitic-Phoenician
characters with the addition of vowels, and the practice of using capitals only
in Greek script (which prevails for the next 200 years). China’s script is fully
developed by this time, and the Hebrew alphabet is becoming fully developed, growing
out of earlier Semitic alphabets. In Babylonia, Urartu is being written in cuneiform.
The biblical books of Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and much of Psalms were written
during David’s reign, Kings, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs were
written during Solomon’s. This means that by Solomon’s death almost half of
what we call the Old Testament was written.
David
begins his reign in 1009 BC in Hebron. From that point forward, most of Israel
quickly acknowledges David as their king. However, in 1005 BC, Abner, seeking
to shore up his authority, makes Saul’s son Eshbaal king and until his
assassination in early 1002 BC, there is a small area around Jerusalem that
acknowledges Eshbaal as king. In mid-1002 BC, David conquers Jerusalem, and
while a few others later vie for his throne, for the most part, David is the
undisputed king until his death in 969 BC.
David’s 34 years in Jerusalem, however, are quite eventful as recorded
in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles.
After David establishes his capitol in
Jerusalem and defeats the Philistines, in 998 BC, he goes to war with the
Ammonites. This war ends in 997 BC with the conquering of Rabbah, the capitol
city of the Ammonites, about 20 miles east of the Jordan River. This was
David’s last battle of conquest and expansion, although he spent most of this
two year battle in Jerusalem. This is also the battle in which David has his
trusted Hittite warrior Uriah murdered after having committed adultery with
Uriah’s wife. Although the rest of David’s reign is relatively peaceful within
the borders of his country, his personal life is filled with strife and grief
until his final days
In 985
BC, David’s son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar which leads to Amnon’s murder
by Tamar’s brother and David’s oldest son Absalom. This leads to Absalom
spending 3 years in exile, and when David lets him return to the city, it is
still another 2 years before he again receives him into his home. From 979 to
976 BC, David gives much of his attention to building his palace. After
spending over 25 years in Jerusalem, David makes it the holy center of Israel
by moving the Ark of the Covenant there in 975 BC.
In 974
BC Absalom rebels and unsuccessfully tries to take the throne and ends up
paying for it with his life. David ordered that Absalom be spared if possible
and grieved much at the news of the rebel’s death. Sheba tried the same thing a year later in
973 BC and was equally unsuccessful.
In 972
BC David orders a census taken and it turns out to be one of his last big
mistakes. Israel pays dearly for that mistake with a 3 day plague that kills 70,000.
Interestingly enough, the nation that entered Israel 430 years earlier, in 1406
BC, is about the same size (less than 10% total population growth in over 400
years). David wanted to build a temple for God but was told by the Lord through
Nathan that he could not. His son Solomon would build God’s temple, so starting
in 972 BC, David ordered the collection of building materials for that purpose.
A year later David made Solomon his coregent, then died two years later in 969
BC. Next month, on to Solomon’s reign.
Till then, blessings,
Pastor Portier
