When and why did Israel and Judah split?

I was struck in my scripture reading the last few days how Israel, God's chosen people, began to divide into factions. Instead of fighting their external enemies in unity, the Israelites were fighting among themselves! It began with Saul, God's chosen (first) king of Israel, and David with his devout followers. This conflict came about because Saul was no longer devoted to God and became jealous of David's military success, even though David was fighting on his behalf! Because Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and David from the tribe of Judah, the conflict took on a tribal dividing line:

Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel. Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David. The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months. (2 Samuels 2:8-11)

Eventually when David became king, he (and later his son Solomon) would re-unite all 12 tribes into a very strong and united kingdom. However, when King Solomon became unfaithful God punished him by dividing up Israel into southern (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King David and Solomon) and northern (AKA Ephraim - the other ten tribes who split off to join Jeroboam) kingdoms. For the sake of David, this happened after Solomon's death:

The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” (1 King 11:9-13)

So to answer the question: "Why was Israel divided into the Southern Kingdom and Northern Kingdom?". I have found this resource helpful:

From the divine viewpoint, the division was a judgment on not keeping God’s commands, specifically the commands prohibiting idolatry. From a human viewpoint, the division was the result of tribal discord and political unrest. The principle is that sin brings division. The good news is that God, in His mercy, has promised a reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms. “He will raise a banner for the nations / and gather the exiles of Israel; / he will assemble the scattered people of Judah / from the four quarters of the earth. / Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, / and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed; / Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, / nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim” (Isaiah 11:12-13). When the Prince of Peace—Jesus Christ—reigns in His millennial kingdom, all hostility, jealousy, and conflict among the tribes will be put to rest.

This is not unlike the questions: "Why are there so many denominations?" or "Why are there divisions in the church?". I can appreciate the diversity of the different denominations and doctrinal foundations of our belief. I do acknowledge that sin often plays a role in many of these divisions. My take home application is that I should always be faithful to God and serve Him only. No matter how good my current church is, it can be turned into some form of idol worship. Praise God for His promise to bring all believers together through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

Davd and the other Goliath's

I am at the airport lounge waiting for my flight back to Canada. It has been a wonderful vacation although I missed my wife. My siblings do appreciate my visit and hopefully my time spent with them will encourage them in their spiritual journey.

Just finished reading the book David and Goliath. In terms of facing formidable enemies and the wisdom and the endurance needed to defeat them, I wrote in my last blog how David needed not only strategies and skills (like throwing a little rock with utmost precision), he was no doubt trusting the Almighty God (El Shaddai) to win the battle for him.

Now the opposite can be true also. In today's scripture reading of 2 Samuel 5, David has finally eliminated all his immediate enemies and is now reigning over the entire Israel. He continued to demonstrate his political wisdom by carefully gaining trust and support from Saul's supporters. He also defeated the Philistines utterly and removed the Jebusites from Jerusalem to establish his own palace there (The City of David). Knowing what will be coming in the next few chapters I feared for David. Success often comes with its own enemies. He will become overly reliant on himself instead of God. He may feel his entitlement to luxury and other pleasures of life (such as his many wives). He will become slack in his disciplines - and prone to temptations. These are the real giants that face those of us who have come to this point in our lives when we feel we deserve to "retire" from all the hard labor of yester-years. The next few chapters in David's life weren't pretty. Let me learn from his mistakes and keep running my race strong - and be able to say as Paul said:

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)

David and Goliath

I have been reading Malcolm Gladwell's book "David and Goliath" and it happened that this morning's bible reading was also on the same topic. 1 Samuel 17 told the story of a little known shepherd boy David who defeated Goliath, the experienced war hero, in an one on one combat. This story always reminds me of how we can do the impossible, as long as we have faith in God and the courage to do what will bring honour to Him.

In Malcolm Gladwell's book he "challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks." I have enjoyed the first half of this book so far. He has helped me look at life slightly differently - especially when I encounter set back. However, he doesn't touch on the spiritual side of things - what role does God play in the impossible situation? Is there such a thing as a miracle?

The most famous 3 verses in 1 Samuel 17 are:
17:45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 
17:46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 
17:47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

These are the take home messages:

• When we fight a serious enemy we invoke the name of the Lord Almighty (or "El Shaddai"). His name gives us the confidence that he is not only all powerful, but also his character - all loving, faithful and just, full of compassion and mercy.
• The more impossible the situation is the more we know that it is the Lord who has done it and not we.
• The purpose for the victory is to make His name known. "The whole world will know...".
• The Lord uses a different weapon (unlike human weapons) - "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit" (Zechariah 4:6)

P.s. I am writing this blog inside the Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong (where wifi is free!). I have been visiting my siblings this week and tomorrow we travel to Japan for a week of R&R. Praise God!

When is God's punishment too severe?

A common objection to the Christian belief of a loving God often brings up the subject of eternal punishment in hell. How can a truly loving supreme being create such an awful punishment? This is a very complex question and I won't be able to give it a fair treatment in this blog. But in today's scripture reading of Judges 20-21, it invoked in me the same sentiment - did God go too far in punishing the sinful Benjamites?

The background story to this chapter has to do with the rape and murder of a Levite's concubine by the wicked men of Gibeah (who were Benjamites, or people of the tribe of Benjamin). The Levites and his concubine were making a stop at Gibeah  on their return from Bethlehem to their home in Ephraim (Judges 19). When the Levite arrived home he cut up the dead concubine's body (yes it's in the bible!) to 12 pieces and sent them all over Israel. This apparently stirred up the anger of the other tribes of Israel who then came together at Mizpah to punish the tribe of Benjamin. The ensuing civil war ended in tens of thousands of lives lost and a near complete annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin.

This story is the last of a series of "weird" stories recorded in the Book of Judges. It is weird mostly because I am living in a well protected and basically civilized country and this type of events just don't happen in modern day! However, looking around the world, it is not difficult to find similar stories happening even right now - in Syria, Egypt, Ukraine, and many countries in Africa where civil wars have torn these countries apart.

"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit." (Judges 21:25)

This sentence appears multiple times in the Book of Judges. It describes the moral decline of the nation of Israel. In earlier chapters, when the Israelites sinned, God sent their enemies to punish them. But when they cried out to God in repentance, God sent them a Judge to redeem them. Not so in this last story. The Levite, who was at the centre of this story did not cry out to God. He called for vengeance. He took matters into his own hand. The result was severe casualties on both sides.

What I make out from this story is that:

• Severe consequence accompanies moral decline (even among God's people).
• God is gracious and will preserve a remnant of His people to accomplish His ultimate goal.
• God is our King, our obedience to His rule will serve us well.
• God sent the ultimate Redeemer, His son, to save us - not by conquering over our enemies, but by dying for our enemies. We do well to follow His example.