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1080 BC PHILISTINES CAPTURE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
In approximately 1080 BC, the Philistines defeated Israel at Aphek, a town near Joppa. Thinking the presence of the Ark of the covenant would guarantee them victory, the elders of Israel sent men to Shiloh to bring it into battle (1 Samuel 4:1-9). In the ensuing battle, the Philistines captured the Ark (1 Samuel 4:10-22). However, when the Philistines placed it in the temple of their god Dagon, the statue of Dagon fell down before the Ark and the people developed tumors. The Philistines sent the ark to Ekron, where more people developed tumors and many died (1 Samuel 5:1-12). After seven months of fallen statues and men, the Philistines sent the Ark back to the Jews of Beth-shemesh. There, unfortunately, seventy men broke God's law by looking into the Ark and as a result were struck dead in judgment (1 Samuel 6:19-20).
1078 BC JEPHTHAH DEFEATS THE AMMONITES
In about 1078 BC, the Israelites living in Transjordan were threatened by an invasion of the Ammonites. The leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah, the son of an Israelite and a heathen prostitute, if he would be their commander. He agreed only after insisting that after the war he would be judge over them. Before going to battle, Jephthah, influenced by Canaanite custom, ignorantly made a vow that if God would give him victory, he would make a human sacrifice to God of whoever came out of his house first to meet him (Judges 11:30-31). After defeating the Ammonites (Judges 11:32-34), Jephthah came home to a victory celebration led by his only child, a daughter. A man of faith, tainted by heathen customs, Jephthah regretfully fulfilled his misguided vow to God (Judges 11:34-40).
1055 BC SAMSON DESTROYS THE PHILISTINE TEMPLE
An angel announced the birth of Samson to his previously barren mother, who was told that her son would be a lifelong Nazirite (Numbers 6:1-21). However, the only Nazirite stipulation that Samson took seriously was to let his hair grow. He judged Israel for twenty years (Judges 15:20; 16:31), and they were years of uncontrolled violence and mayhem toward Israel's Philistine oppressors. Samson's final undoing was caused by his obsessive appetite for foreign prostitutes. In approximately 1055 BC, his infatuation with Delilah enabled the Philistines to cut his hair, capture him, and blind him. The only religious act recorded of Samson was his prayer that God would renew his strength as he was paraded as a trophy prisoner at a Philistine temple festival. God answered his prayer and Samson demolished the temple, killing himself and more Philistines than he had slain previously in his life (Judges 13-16).
1050 BC SAUL IS ANOINTED KING
As a vassal kingdom under the Philistines, the Israelites cried to God for a king who would be able to deliver them. God granted the people their wish in approximately 1050 BC, instructing the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul (r. 1050-1012 BC) as Israel's first king (1 Samuel 9-11). Unfortunately, Saul proved to be unfaithful. As a result of Saul's infringement on the office of priest by offering a sacrifice at Gilgal, Samuel prophesied God's rejection of Saul as king (1 Samuel 10:6-8; 13:8-14). Saul also disobeyed God's command to destroy all the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:1-35) and he consulted the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:1-25). As a result of his unfaithfulness, Saul died in battle (1 Samuel 31:1-13), and God raised up a king after his own heart.
1025 BC DAVID IS ANOINTED KING
After Samuel told Saul (r. 1050-1012 BC) of God's rejection of him as king (1 Samuel 13:14), God sent the prophet to Bethlehem to anoint the son of Jesse (the son of Obed, who was the son of Boaz and Ruth) that God had selected to be Israel's next king. Jesse brought seven of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told him that none of them was the one God had chosen. He then asked, "Are these all the sons you have?" Jesse replied that his youngest son was out tending the sheep. Samuel asked to see him, and when David was brought before the prophet, God told Samuel that the young shepherd boy was his choice to be king. Samuel anointed David and the Holy Spirit came upon him mightily (1 Samuel 16:1-13).
1020 BC DAVID BEGINS COMPOSING PSALMS
Although David had rescued the people of Israel from the threat of Goliath and married the daughter of King Saul (r. 1050-1012 BC), any admiration that Saul had for David was superseded by rage and jealousy (1 Samuel 19). On several occasions, Saul even tried to kill David. Saul's daughter Michal learned of one such plot to kill David in his house and helped him escape from the king. It is against this backdrop that David, during or soon after his escape, composed the first of the seventy-three canonical Psalms directly attributed to him. In Psalm 59 David expresses his hope that God will deliver him from his enemies and announces his faith in the mercy of God toward his people (1 Samuel 19:1-24; Psalm 59).
1012 BC DAVID BEGINS HIS REIGN IN HEBRON
When David (r. 1012-970 BC) received word that Saul and his son Jonathan had been killed in battle with the Philistines, he was finally free from danger after years of being threatened by Saul. However, David grieved the deaths of both his dear friend Jonathan and of the Lord's anointed king, Saul. When David asked God what he should do next, God told him to go up to the city of Hebron. When he and his family arrived in Hebron, the people of Judah anointed him king. However, the northern tribes continued to follow Saul's son Ishbosheth for the next seven and a half years. David reigned as king over the southern tribe of Judah until Saul's kingdom finally collapsed and David assumed the throne as king over all of Israel (2 Samuel 1:1-2:7; 1 Chronicles 11:1-3).
1005 BC DAVID BEGINS HIS REIGN IN JERUSALEM
After Saul's death, David (r. 1012-970 BC) reigned for seven and a half years over the tribe of Judah in Hebron. Then around 1005 BC, David was anointed king over the twelve tribes of Israel and made Jerusalem his capital (2 Samuel 3-5). He successfully conquered Israel's enemies, built a royal palace, and secured the material prosperity of his kingdom. Even more importantly, he brought the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and placed it in the Tabernacle (2 Samuel 2-6). God made a covenant with David, promising the eternal reign of his descendants (2 Samuel 7). David experienced great successes and committed great sins, including adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). But because he repented (2 Samuel 12), his descendant the Messiah now sits on David's throne (Acts 2:30-36).
970 BC SOLOMON'S REIGN BEGINS
Solomon, David and Bathsheba's son, became king in 970 BC (1 Kings 1-2). When God offered to grant Solomon any desire, Solomon chose "an understanding mind" (1 Kings 3:5-9). Because of his wise choice, God promised to give him riches and honor in addition (1 Kings 3:10-15). Solomon demonstrated his wisdom by writing many proverbs, as well as the books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Solomon's greatest achievement was building the Temple in Jerusalem, which he began in 966 BC (1 Kings 6:1-9:9). The Temple was one of the most magnificent edifices of the ancient world. Solomon's greatest mistake was marrying seven hundred foreign wives who turned his heart to their gods (1 Kings 11:1-13). God postponed judgment on Solomon until the next generation because of the faithfulness of his father David.
970 BC SOLOMON BEGINS WRITING PROVERBS
The wisdom of Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) became legendary in his own day, and many of his insights have been preserved in the book of Proverbs, which he began writing around 970 BC. In it, he expounds on wisdom that begins and ends with the fear of the Lord (1 Kings 3:5-4:34; Proverbs l:7ff).
966 BC SOLOMON BEGINS TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION
In 966 BC, the fourth year of his reign, King Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) began to build the Temple for which his father, David (r. 1012-970 BC), had prepared. Four hundred and eighty years had passed since Israel left Egypt, and the Temple's construction marked a fulfillment of God's promises to the people. The Temple was built on Mount Moriah on the very spot where Abraham had almost sacrificed Isaac and where David had built an altar to the Lord. The Temple, which took seven years to build, was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high. The ornate details beautified the dwelling place of God on earth. The structure represented God's presence and set the nation of Israel apart as God's representative people for as long as his glory dwelt with them. (1 Kings 6:1-8:66; 2 Chronicles 3:1-7:22).
965 BC SOLOMON WRITES SONG OF SONGS
Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) wrote this collection of love poetry known as the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) somewhere around 965 BC. Because of the erotic nature of the book, both Jews and Christians have had a tendency to allegorize its meaning. Some Jewish interpreters have inferred that the book is a love song between God and Israel, and many Christians see it as referring to Christ and his church. Regardless of other meanings, at face value the book presents the account of a bride and bridegroom and the events surrounding their wedding celebration. As such, it is an affirmation of God's intention that a married couple should express and enjoy sexual relations.
935 BC SOLOMON WRITES ECCLESIASTES
The author of Ecclesiastes identified himself as the "Teacher (or Preacher, as some versions translate it), King David's son." The Teacher/Preacher was Solomon (r. 970-930 BC), who likely composed this book later in his life, in approximately 935 BC. The book's theme is the emptiness of temporal pursuits: "Meaningless . . . utterly meaningless!" (1:2). The majority of Ecclesiastes describes Solomon's lament over the failure of temporal pleasures to bring him satisfaction (1:1-12:8). He found that all forms of worldly pleasure—levity, food and drink, power, sexual pleasure, and riches—do not lead to fulfillment. After all his pleasure seeking, Solomon concluded that true joy comes by fearing God and keeping his commandments (12:9-14).
930 BC REHOBOAM BEGINS HIS REIGN
When Rehoboam (r. 930-913 BC) became king, the repressive measures his father, Solomon (r. 970-930 BC), had initiated to fund his building projects led to a confrontation between the new king and the ten northern tribes of Israel. Rehoboam's arrogance led him to accept his friends' advice to increase the taxes. As a result, the northern ten tribes revolted and chose Jeroboam as their king (1 Kings 12:1-20). Rehoboam ruled the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (1 Kings 12:20-21). Rehoboam's seventeen-year reign saw the flourishing of pagan religions with their high places and Asherim, probably wooden representations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah. Especially abominable was the Canaanite fertility religion with its male cult prostitutes (1 Kings 14:22-24).
930 BC JEROBOAM I BEGINS HIS REIGN OVER ISRAEL
Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) had placed Jeroboam (r. 930-909 BC) over the forced laborers from the northern tribes, who were working on construction projects in Jerusalem. A prophet had prophesied to him that God would give him a kingdom composed of the ten northern tribes of Israel. Upon learning this, Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt until Solomon died. When the ten northern tribes rebelled against Solomon's son Rehoboam (r. 930-913 BC), they made Jeroboam their king (1 Kings 12:20). During his twenty-two-year reign, Jeroboam I incurred God's wrath by building shrines at Dan and Bethel and staffing them with non-Levitical priests to keep his subjects from going to the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:26-14:20). His successors were continually evaluated as perpetuating his sins (e.g. 1 Kings 16:26).
913 BC ABIJAM BECOMES KING OF JUDAH
Abijam (Abijah) succeeded his father, Rehoboam (r. 930-913 BC), as king of Judah and reigned for three years (913-910 BC). Unfortunately, Abijam was not wholly committed to the Lord, as David his great-grandfather had been, and he continued all the sins of his father (1 Kings 15:1-3). Yet in spite of Abijam's incomplete devotion, God still worked through him. As war was beginning between Judah and Israel, Abijam addressed King Jeroboam of Israel (r. 930-909 BC) and his people from a mountaintop, condemning Jeroboam I for his rebellion against God and for driving the priests out of Israel. Even though Jeroboam had the army of Judah trapped and had twice as many warriors, God gave the victory to Judah. Jeroboam's army suffered five hundred thousand casualties, and he never recovered from that defeat.
910 BC ASA BECOMES KING OF JUDAH
In about 910 BC, Asa succeeded his father, Abijam (r. 913-910 BC), as Judah's king. Asa (r. 910-869 BC) followed the example of his great-grandfather David (r. 1012-970 BC) rather than that of his father and grandfather. Heeding the prophet Azariah's message to him, he abolished male cult prostitution and removed all the idols his predecessors had made. When an Ethiopian army of one million men attacked Judah, God gave Asa the victory because of the king's faith in him. Many true believers in Israel defected to Judah when they realized that God was with Asa. The king and all the people renewed God's covenant by recommitting themselves to him. Unfortunately Asa's life did not end well. Near the conclusion of his forty-one-year reign he depended upon Aram (Syria) instead of on God to defeat Baasha (r. 908-886 BC), king of Israel (1 Kings 15:8-22; 2 Chronicles 14-16).
909 BC NADAB BECOMES KING OF ISRAEL, FOLLOWED BY BAASHA
Following the death of Jeroboam I (r. 930-909 BC), his son Nadab became king of Israel. Nadab reigned only one year (909-908 BC) until he was assassinated by Baasha (r. 908-886 BC) of the tribe of Issachar. Baasha proceeded to exterminate all the descendants of Jeroboam I, so that he would have no rivals for the throne. In doing so he fulfilled Ahijah's prophecy to Jeroboam that every male descendant of his would be killed and another king raised up in his place (1 Kings 14:10, 14). Because Baasha followed in the sins of Jeroboam I during his twenty-four-year reign, God sent a prophet to announce to him that one day all of his descendants would be killed, just as he had exterminated the house of Jeroboam. This prophecy was fulfilled two years later by his son's servant Zimri (r. 885 BC) (1 Kings 15:25-16:12).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
In approximately 1080 BC, the Philistines defeated Israel at Aphek, a town near Joppa. Thinking the presence of the Ark of the covenant would guarantee them victory, the elders of Israel sent men to Shiloh to bring it into battle (1 Samuel 4:1-9). In the ensuing battle, the Philistines captured the Ark (1 Samuel 4:10-22). However, when the Philistines placed it in the temple of their god Dagon, the statue of Dagon fell down before the Ark and the people developed tumors. The Philistines sent the ark to Ekron, where more people developed tumors and many died (1 Samuel 5:1-12). After seven months of fallen statues and men, the Philistines sent the Ark back to the Jews of Beth-shemesh. There, unfortunately, seventy men broke God's law by looking into the Ark and as a result were struck dead in judgment (1 Samuel 6:19-20).
1078 BC JEPHTHAH DEFEATS THE AMMONITES
In about 1078 BC, the Israelites living in Transjordan were threatened by an invasion of the Ammonites. The leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah, the son of an Israelite and a heathen prostitute, if he would be their commander. He agreed only after insisting that after the war he would be judge over them. Before going to battle, Jephthah, influenced by Canaanite custom, ignorantly made a vow that if God would give him victory, he would make a human sacrifice to God of whoever came out of his house first to meet him (Judges 11:30-31). After defeating the Ammonites (Judges 11:32-34), Jephthah came home to a victory celebration led by his only child, a daughter. A man of faith, tainted by heathen customs, Jephthah regretfully fulfilled his misguided vow to God (Judges 11:34-40).
1055 BC SAMSON DESTROYS THE PHILISTINE TEMPLE
An angel announced the birth of Samson to his previously barren mother, who was told that her son would be a lifelong Nazirite (Numbers 6:1-21). However, the only Nazirite stipulation that Samson took seriously was to let his hair grow. He judged Israel for twenty years (Judges 15:20; 16:31), and they were years of uncontrolled violence and mayhem toward Israel's Philistine oppressors. Samson's final undoing was caused by his obsessive appetite for foreign prostitutes. In approximately 1055 BC, his infatuation with Delilah enabled the Philistines to cut his hair, capture him, and blind him. The only religious act recorded of Samson was his prayer that God would renew his strength as he was paraded as a trophy prisoner at a Philistine temple festival. God answered his prayer and Samson demolished the temple, killing himself and more Philistines than he had slain previously in his life (Judges 13-16).
1050 BC SAUL IS ANOINTED KING
As a vassal kingdom under the Philistines, the Israelites cried to God for a king who would be able to deliver them. God granted the people their wish in approximately 1050 BC, instructing the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul (r. 1050-1012 BC) as Israel's first king (1 Samuel 9-11). Unfortunately, Saul proved to be unfaithful. As a result of Saul's infringement on the office of priest by offering a sacrifice at Gilgal, Samuel prophesied God's rejection of Saul as king (1 Samuel 10:6-8; 13:8-14). Saul also disobeyed God's command to destroy all the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:1-35) and he consulted the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:1-25). As a result of his unfaithfulness, Saul died in battle (1 Samuel 31:1-13), and God raised up a king after his own heart.
1025 BC DAVID IS ANOINTED KING
After Samuel told Saul (r. 1050-1012 BC) of God's rejection of him as king (1 Samuel 13:14), God sent the prophet to Bethlehem to anoint the son of Jesse (the son of Obed, who was the son of Boaz and Ruth) that God had selected to be Israel's next king. Jesse brought seven of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told him that none of them was the one God had chosen. He then asked, "Are these all the sons you have?" Jesse replied that his youngest son was out tending the sheep. Samuel asked to see him, and when David was brought before the prophet, God told Samuel that the young shepherd boy was his choice to be king. Samuel anointed David and the Holy Spirit came upon him mightily (1 Samuel 16:1-13).
1020 BC DAVID BEGINS COMPOSING PSALMS
Although David had rescued the people of Israel from the threat of Goliath and married the daughter of King Saul (r. 1050-1012 BC), any admiration that Saul had for David was superseded by rage and jealousy (1 Samuel 19). On several occasions, Saul even tried to kill David. Saul's daughter Michal learned of one such plot to kill David in his house and helped him escape from the king. It is against this backdrop that David, during or soon after his escape, composed the first of the seventy-three canonical Psalms directly attributed to him. In Psalm 59 David expresses his hope that God will deliver him from his enemies and announces his faith in the mercy of God toward his people (1 Samuel 19:1-24; Psalm 59).
1012 BC DAVID BEGINS HIS REIGN IN HEBRON
When David (r. 1012-970 BC) received word that Saul and his son Jonathan had been killed in battle with the Philistines, he was finally free from danger after years of being threatened by Saul. However, David grieved the deaths of both his dear friend Jonathan and of the Lord's anointed king, Saul. When David asked God what he should do next, God told him to go up to the city of Hebron. When he and his family arrived in Hebron, the people of Judah anointed him king. However, the northern tribes continued to follow Saul's son Ishbosheth for the next seven and a half years. David reigned as king over the southern tribe of Judah until Saul's kingdom finally collapsed and David assumed the throne as king over all of Israel (2 Samuel 1:1-2:7; 1 Chronicles 11:1-3).
1005 BC DAVID BEGINS HIS REIGN IN JERUSALEM
After Saul's death, David (r. 1012-970 BC) reigned for seven and a half years over the tribe of Judah in Hebron. Then around 1005 BC, David was anointed king over the twelve tribes of Israel and made Jerusalem his capital (2 Samuel 3-5). He successfully conquered Israel's enemies, built a royal palace, and secured the material prosperity of his kingdom. Even more importantly, he brought the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and placed it in the Tabernacle (2 Samuel 2-6). God made a covenant with David, promising the eternal reign of his descendants (2 Samuel 7). David experienced great successes and committed great sins, including adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). But because he repented (2 Samuel 12), his descendant the Messiah now sits on David's throne (Acts 2:30-36).
970 BC SOLOMON'S REIGN BEGINS
Solomon, David and Bathsheba's son, became king in 970 BC (1 Kings 1-2). When God offered to grant Solomon any desire, Solomon chose "an understanding mind" (1 Kings 3:5-9). Because of his wise choice, God promised to give him riches and honor in addition (1 Kings 3:10-15). Solomon demonstrated his wisdom by writing many proverbs, as well as the books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Solomon's greatest achievement was building the Temple in Jerusalem, which he began in 966 BC (1 Kings 6:1-9:9). The Temple was one of the most magnificent edifices of the ancient world. Solomon's greatest mistake was marrying seven hundred foreign wives who turned his heart to their gods (1 Kings 11:1-13). God postponed judgment on Solomon until the next generation because of the faithfulness of his father David.
970 BC SOLOMON BEGINS WRITING PROVERBS
The wisdom of Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) became legendary in his own day, and many of his insights have been preserved in the book of Proverbs, which he began writing around 970 BC. In it, he expounds on wisdom that begins and ends with the fear of the Lord (1 Kings 3:5-4:34; Proverbs l:7ff).
966 BC SOLOMON BEGINS TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION
In 966 BC, the fourth year of his reign, King Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) began to build the Temple for which his father, David (r. 1012-970 BC), had prepared. Four hundred and eighty years had passed since Israel left Egypt, and the Temple's construction marked a fulfillment of God's promises to the people. The Temple was built on Mount Moriah on the very spot where Abraham had almost sacrificed Isaac and where David had built an altar to the Lord. The Temple, which took seven years to build, was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high. The ornate details beautified the dwelling place of God on earth. The structure represented God's presence and set the nation of Israel apart as God's representative people for as long as his glory dwelt with them. (1 Kings 6:1-8:66; 2 Chronicles 3:1-7:22).
965 BC SOLOMON WRITES SONG OF SONGS
Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) wrote this collection of love poetry known as the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) somewhere around 965 BC. Because of the erotic nature of the book, both Jews and Christians have had a tendency to allegorize its meaning. Some Jewish interpreters have inferred that the book is a love song between God and Israel, and many Christians see it as referring to Christ and his church. Regardless of other meanings, at face value the book presents the account of a bride and bridegroom and the events surrounding their wedding celebration. As such, it is an affirmation of God's intention that a married couple should express and enjoy sexual relations.
935 BC SOLOMON WRITES ECCLESIASTES
The author of Ecclesiastes identified himself as the "Teacher (or Preacher, as some versions translate it), King David's son." The Teacher/Preacher was Solomon (r. 970-930 BC), who likely composed this book later in his life, in approximately 935 BC. The book's theme is the emptiness of temporal pursuits: "Meaningless . . . utterly meaningless!" (1:2). The majority of Ecclesiastes describes Solomon's lament over the failure of temporal pleasures to bring him satisfaction (1:1-12:8). He found that all forms of worldly pleasure—levity, food and drink, power, sexual pleasure, and riches—do not lead to fulfillment. After all his pleasure seeking, Solomon concluded that true joy comes by fearing God and keeping his commandments (12:9-14).
930 BC REHOBOAM BEGINS HIS REIGN
When Rehoboam (r. 930-913 BC) became king, the repressive measures his father, Solomon (r. 970-930 BC), had initiated to fund his building projects led to a confrontation between the new king and the ten northern tribes of Israel. Rehoboam's arrogance led him to accept his friends' advice to increase the taxes. As a result, the northern ten tribes revolted and chose Jeroboam as their king (1 Kings 12:1-20). Rehoboam ruled the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (1 Kings 12:20-21). Rehoboam's seventeen-year reign saw the flourishing of pagan religions with their high places and Asherim, probably wooden representations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah. Especially abominable was the Canaanite fertility religion with its male cult prostitutes (1 Kings 14:22-24).
930 BC JEROBOAM I BEGINS HIS REIGN OVER ISRAEL
Solomon (r. 970-930 BC) had placed Jeroboam (r. 930-909 BC) over the forced laborers from the northern tribes, who were working on construction projects in Jerusalem. A prophet had prophesied to him that God would give him a kingdom composed of the ten northern tribes of Israel. Upon learning this, Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt until Solomon died. When the ten northern tribes rebelled against Solomon's son Rehoboam (r. 930-913 BC), they made Jeroboam their king (1 Kings 12:20). During his twenty-two-year reign, Jeroboam I incurred God's wrath by building shrines at Dan and Bethel and staffing them with non-Levitical priests to keep his subjects from going to the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:26-14:20). His successors were continually evaluated as perpetuating his sins (e.g. 1 Kings 16:26).
913 BC ABIJAM BECOMES KING OF JUDAH
Abijam (Abijah) succeeded his father, Rehoboam (r. 930-913 BC), as king of Judah and reigned for three years (913-910 BC). Unfortunately, Abijam was not wholly committed to the Lord, as David his great-grandfather had been, and he continued all the sins of his father (1 Kings 15:1-3). Yet in spite of Abijam's incomplete devotion, God still worked through him. As war was beginning between Judah and Israel, Abijam addressed King Jeroboam of Israel (r. 930-909 BC) and his people from a mountaintop, condemning Jeroboam I for his rebellion against God and for driving the priests out of Israel. Even though Jeroboam had the army of Judah trapped and had twice as many warriors, God gave the victory to Judah. Jeroboam's army suffered five hundred thousand casualties, and he never recovered from that defeat.
910 BC ASA BECOMES KING OF JUDAH
In about 910 BC, Asa succeeded his father, Abijam (r. 913-910 BC), as Judah's king. Asa (r. 910-869 BC) followed the example of his great-grandfather David (r. 1012-970 BC) rather than that of his father and grandfather. Heeding the prophet Azariah's message to him, he abolished male cult prostitution and removed all the idols his predecessors had made. When an Ethiopian army of one million men attacked Judah, God gave Asa the victory because of the king's faith in him. Many true believers in Israel defected to Judah when they realized that God was with Asa. The king and all the people renewed God's covenant by recommitting themselves to him. Unfortunately Asa's life did not end well. Near the conclusion of his forty-one-year reign he depended upon Aram (Syria) instead of on God to defeat Baasha (r. 908-886 BC), king of Israel (1 Kings 15:8-22; 2 Chronicles 14-16).
909 BC NADAB BECOMES KING OF ISRAEL, FOLLOWED BY BAASHA
Following the death of Jeroboam I (r. 930-909 BC), his son Nadab became king of Israel. Nadab reigned only one year (909-908 BC) until he was assassinated by Baasha (r. 908-886 BC) of the tribe of Issachar. Baasha proceeded to exterminate all the descendants of Jeroboam I, so that he would have no rivals for the throne. In doing so he fulfilled Ahijah's prophecy to Jeroboam that every male descendant of his would be killed and another king raised up in his place (1 Kings 14:10, 14). Because Baasha followed in the sins of Jeroboam I during his twenty-four-year reign, God sent a prophet to announce to him that one day all of his descendants would be killed, just as he had exterminated the house of Jeroboam. This prophecy was fulfilled two years later by his son's servant Zimri (r. 885 BC) (1 Kings 15:25-16:12).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The