The Story - After David | A Prophesied Savior

Unfortunately, the heights that Israel reach don't last forever. 

After David dies (and after some disputes over the succession of the throne are resolved), his son Solomon takes over. God grants an unusual level of wisdom to the new king, as per his request, and he governs his kingdom well—but it isn't enough to save Israel from the curse that all men are under. 

Solomon, being a king in the thousands BC, has certain temptations that he struggles with. First of all, he tries to make Israel great—sounds fine on the surface, but his motivation is not God-honoring. He takes the large and grand palace that he lives in, and builds another, larger and grander. The amount of horses and chariots he has at his disposal skyrockets; a small thing, but one that represents a larger problem at hand. 

Solomon's greatest achievement during his rule is the temple. Built over many years by the most skillful of craftsmen, the temple is truly magnificent. No more does the presence of God dwell in a tent, like when Israel was traveling; now, he has a gloriously beautiful house. It can't compare to how gloriously beautiful the presence of God actually is—but nothing on this Earth can. 

However, the temple is a high point. Solomon, in keeping with the sin of his father David and mother Bathsheba, struggles with temptation. As a king, he takes many wives for political purposes, and concubines for other purposes. It's recorded that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines by the time his reign ended. 

Solomon, though wise, is human like we are. And his recorded sins show that. 

Rehoboam, Solomon's oldest son, inherits the sin but not the wisdom. Taking the throne as a youth, Rehoboam doesn't have his father's experience, and doesn't seem to want it. Instead of listening to the advice of the king's old counselors, he follows the recommendation of his peers, who advise him to be a strong ruler who will show his people no mercy. 

The people don't like that. Understandable; I wouldn't like to be threatened with being "disciplined with scorpions" either. So they revolt, ten of the twelve tribes hailing the upstart Jeroboam as their king, leaving only Judah and Benjamin with Solomon's son. 

The kingdom is split. God's people are divided. Many wonder: is this God's will for us? But, at least things can only go up from here. Right? 

Wrong. Of the 19 kings that follow Rehoboam to his throne, only five of them are described as righteous. The others, well... they seek their own power, blaspheme the Lord their God, and turn away to worship foreign idols. One, Ahab, persecutes the followers of Jehovah enough that the prophet Elijah believes that he's the only faithful Israelite left in all the land. 

Elijah's a significant individual in the Old Testament. A prophet in the land of Israel, he confronts Ahab and his wife Jezebel on multiple occasions, calling them to repent. And he works marvelous miracles; calling down fire from heaven, multiplying a small portion of wheat into a huge feast for a needy widow, raising the son of another widow from the dead, and finally, being caught up to heaven in a whirlwind.

Those miracles might be important later, by the way. Because, the Lord says through the prophet Malachi, "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." 

Elijah is coming back, before the day of the Lord. 

But Elijah is gone now, and Israel is wanting him. Soon, they are cast into exile by the Assyrians, and once they return after many years, they are exiled again, this time by the Babylonians. Though most have abandoned the word of God in favor of the more immediately beneficial rabbinic teachings, a remnant of believers remain—waiting, always waiting, for the prophesied day where Elijah will come. 

They wait for 500 years.