Wednesday Bible Study: Losing the plot

In Chapter 11 Solomon, supposedly the wisest man who ever lived, is seduced by some of his 700 wives into worshiping Gods other than Yahweh. God doesn ' t like this, obviously, but instead of the usual military defeats and plague and famine and all that, we just get the kingdom divided after Solomon dies peacefully of old age. By the way, Solomon ' s 700 wives and 300 concubines produced only three children: his son Rehoboam and daughters Taphaph and Basmaph. There are hints that he faces rebellions of some kind but we learn nothing about them. First there is the story of Haddad, who was purportedly the sole escapee from the massacre of the Edomites by David ' s lieutenant Joab. We get a substantial history about him escaping to Egypt, finding favor with Pharaoh who marries him to Pharaoh ' s sister in law. Then Haddad learns that David and Joab are dead and asks to go home. Pharaoh doesn ' t want him to but he does anyway, and that ' s the last we ever hear of him. Then we also learn about a guy named Rezon who became king of Syria and was supposedly an adversary of Israel, but that ' s the last we ever hear of him as well. Both of these stories are total non sequiturs.Then there is the strange arithmetic of the prophetAhi ′jah, who meets Jeroboam on the road, takes off his garment and rips it into 12 pieces, apparently symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel. He explains this strange gesture as meaning that Jeroboam will become king of 10 tribes, while Solomon ' s son wi...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs