Chapter 3 Section 2: Israelites choose a king

  1. Philistines- although Israel had settled into Canaan, the strongest Canaanites were the Philistines.
  1. They had a strong army, weapons made of iron, and fortified cities.
  2. Fearing their power, the Israelites began to copy their ways. And began worshipping their gods.
  3. The twelve tribes often quarreled among themselves; therefore a strong leader was needed to unite them. They need a king to unify them against the Philistines.
  1. King Saul-In 1020 B.C., Saul was a warrior-farmer that was chosen to be the first king of Israel.
  1. Samuel- a judge and prophet of God who anointed Saul to be king.
  2. Prophet- a prophet is person who is instructed by God to share God’s words.
  3. Anointing- blessing with oil; shows that God has chosen them.
  4. Although, Saul defeated many of Israel’s enemies, God was displeased with him because he had disobeyed some of His commands.
  1. King David- God had Samuel secretly anoint David, a young shepherd, as the new king.
  1. David’s fame as warrior spread due to the slaying of the giant Philistine named Goliath.
  2. Although Goliath was fully armored and carried powerful weapons, David killed Goliath with a slingshot.
  3. Saul grew jealous of David because of his fame and tried to kill David.
  4. David grew close to one of Saul’s sons. His friend’s name was Jonathan.
  5. Saul and his sons were killed in battle and David took control as king of Israel around 1000 B.C.
  6. As king, David would conquer and drive out the Philistines. He would conquer other nations in the surrounding area and create an empire.
  1. Empire- a nation that rules other nations.
  2. Tribute- it is money or slaves given to a stronger ruler. Conquered nations would have to pay tribute to King David.
  1. Israel paid heavy taxes in order to pay for his new capital, Jerusalem.
  2. Jerusalem- not only the capital of Israel, but it would have a fine temple, where sacred objects were permanently placed.
  3. David would never see the creation of this new temple. He would always be remembered as Israel’s greatest king.
  1. King Solomon- when David died, his son Solomon would rule Israel. Solomon built a splendid temple in Jerusalem. It would become the symbol and center of the Jewish religion.
  1. Solomon was considered the wisest man who ever lived.

1.He is known for his wise sayings, or proverbs.

B. After Solomon died, Israel had a civil war. The nation of Israel was split with 10 of 12 tribes forming their own kingdom. This kingdom was located in the northern part of Israel and was known as the kingdom of Israel. Its capital was Samaria. The other 2 of the 12 tribes formed the kingdom of Judah.

C. Judah- Judah had its capital in Jerusalem. It is here where the people were called Jews.

V. A troubled time- while these two kingdoms were fighting among themselves, a new kingdom was being built. These were the Assyrians and the Chaldeans. These two wanted to control the trade route that ran through these two small kingdoms.

B. During this period, many Israelites forgot their religion and various prophets tried to bring them back to God. Their message was that being faithful meant more than going to a temple to worship. It meant a just society.

VI. The fall of Israel- Assyria would conquer Israel in 722 B.C. The Assyrians would scatter the 10 tribes across their empire.

Over time these scattered people lost their identity, religion, and way of life. They were known as the “lost tribes of Israel”.

  1. The Assyrians who settled into this land were a mixture of Israelites and Assyrians. They came to be known as Samaritans.
  2. Samaritans- were despised by the people of Judah. Judah did not believe they were God’s people.

VII. Fall Of Judah- Judah was eventually conquered by the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans would invade Judah in 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldeans would capture Jerusalem.

After a revolt in 586 B.C., the Chaldean ruler would crush Jerusalem and take thousands of Jews to Babylon. In Jewish history, this time period became known as the Babylonian Captivity.