From the recording 12 Stories: the Bible Album
STORY 7: The Divided Kingdom (1, 2, Kings, 2 Chronicles 1-9, Proverbs, Isaiah 1-39
It is David’s second son Solomon, who becomes the next king, and who is the one to build a temple in Jerusalem where the golden ark of the covenant can stay. Solomon asks God for the wisdom to lead God’s people and as a result becomes the wisest of kings, sought out from all over to hear his wisdom. But he later marries 700 foreign wives (yep, the foreign wives again) and builds temples to their gods! This, and some heavy temple taxes, split the kingdom in half: of the 12 tribes, the 10 in the north become their own kingdom, keeping the name Israel, and the 2 tribes in the south use the name of the tribe Judah. Israel in the north takes the city of Samaria to be its own capital while Jerusalem is still the capital for Judah. So now there are separate kings and prophets (and capitals) in the north and the south. The kings on both sides are chronicled as good or bad depending on how they compare to King David. The good kings follow God’s laws, but the bad kings mix the worship of God with the worship of other gods like Ashera and Baal, using things like golden calves, sacred poles, and prostitutes. There is the famous prostitute Jezebel and her brotherhood of false prophets, while real prophets like Elijah and Elisha go around calling out the kings and the people whenever they lose their way.
Lyrics
Solomon, I love that your only wish was wisdom to rule.
But when you got older you built the temples to other fools.
Thank you for the house where my golden ark could finally reside.
But 700 wives and that wisdom turned to lust and to pride!
Golden calves and sacred poles and Baal prostitutes?
The kings are lost and think they’re found!
My prophets go round and round and round.
People are lost and think they’re found!
My prophets go round and round and round,
Round and round.
Now the house is split in half: 10 up north and 2 to the south.
Kings and prophets, good and bad,
in following the words from my mouth.
The 10 in the north took Samaria to house a new throne,
Kept the name of Israel while Judah took Jerusalem home.
Golden calves and sacred poles and Baal prostitutes?
The kings are lost and think they’re found!
My prophets go round and round and round.
People are lost and think they’re found!
My prophets go round and round and round,
Round and round.
Jezebel you worship Baal so take your so called prophets to see.
Elijah, go to Mount Carmel and bring that “brotherhood” to its knees.
Then find me in the whispering breeze…
All the kings in Chronicles were good or bad compared to the one:
The shepherd boy who became a king,
The one I loved like a son.
But golden calves and sacred poles and Baal prostitutes?
The kings are lost and think they’re found!
My prophets go round and round and round.
People are lost and think they’re found!
My prophets go round and round and round,
People are lost and think they're found
prophets go round and round and round
Kings are lost and think they're found
prophets go round and round and round
People lost and think they're found
prophets go round and round, round and round and round
Round and around,
Round and round and round and round and
round and round and round and around.