In reading the Bible, we find a lot about the ancient Kings of Israel. Perhaps most notably the Bible speaks of King David and says יהוה will give Jesus Christ David's kingdom and Jesus will rule forever. (Luke 1:30-33) So, maybe we should know who David was. While carefully encouraging you to always remember those historical Kings, along with everything else recorded in the Old Testament, is to serve as a tutor leading us to Christ; (Gal 3:23-26) this information is provided to help you get a mental picture of that timeline of the Bible, all of it directing us to Jesus.
Historical Dates!
We can know many historical BCE dates only + or - 70 years.
To start the period of Kings, the people demanded Kings to rule them, like the surrounding nations. יהוה warned them against a human monarchy, but they kept insisting and he relented. (1 Sam 8:4-18) So, Israel suffered all the things God said they would in dealing with their kings.
Samuel was prophet at the time the people demanded kings. So, at יהוה's direction, he anointed Saul as first King of the Jewish Nation in 1117 BCE[1117 years before the birth of Christ]. Saul was followed by faithful King David and him by his son Solomon. Near the end of Solomon's reign in 997 BCE, the nation split into the two tribe Kingdom of Judah and ten tribes of Israel. By then Nathan was prophet. In around 722 BCE, Israel was taken captive in Assyria. The Assyrians left some and scattered the repopulated ten tribes among other peoples, and moved mixed peoples into the Jewish lands. The blood line trace back to Abraham was lost to the ten tribe kingdom and so they are often referred to as the lost tribes of Israel. In 607 BCE Judah was taken into Babylonian captivity. In 539 BCE, Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Assyrian, and in 537 BCE the Jewish exiles return to their homeland. Jesus was born 537 years later as the seed of promise to Eve (Gen 3:15) and to the Jewish nation through Abraham. (Gen 22:15-18)
The Bible records some good and bad Kings during the years of the monarchy.
Remember as you read about them and what ever they did, the record of the lives of them all serve as a tutor leading us to Jesus Christ. (Gal 3:23-26) Read the Bible while following God's only later day command to focus your attention on Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; recording the words of his son. (Mat 17:5) The words of Jesus are your link to God's spirit. (John 6:63)
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