Standard 10 · Lesson 18
The Kingdom of Israel (Part I)
Lesson Content
The land of Israel once called Canaan and then Palestine, is in West Asia on the east of the Mediterranean, where the two great continents of Asia and Africa meet Europe. This was the land of promise given to Abraham and to his seed (Gen.15:18-21). In it were seven nations ruled by thirty one kings (Deut.7:1; Josh.12:8-24). The promise was confirmed to Jacob, Abraham’s grandson whose name was changed to Israel (Gen.35:10-13). Jacob had twelve sons whose children were called Israelites or the children of Israel. When there was a sore famine in Canaan, the children of Israel left for Egypt in search of food and settled there. There they were in bondage for four hundred years. God heard their cry of affliction and remembered His covenant (Exo.6:4,5). He delivered them from Egypt through Moses (Exo.12:40,41) and they were led through the wilderness for forty years. After Moses’ death, Joshua led them the rest of the way into Canaan. They conquered the seven nations and thirty one kings in the land of promise. Joshua divided the land among the tribes by lot. From the time of Israel’s first judge, Othniel to king Saul’s time (about 450 years), thirteen judges ruled over Israel (Acts 13:20). When Israel forsook the commandments of the Lord and walked in the ways of the nations around them, God gave them up into the hands of their enemies. But when they turned from their wicked ways to the Lord, He in mercy raised up a deliverer each time and through him led them to victory. In the days of the last judge, Samuel, Israelites desired a king to rule over them and to lead them in battle, that they might be like the other nations. But God had chosen Israel to be His own people and His own inheritance above all other nations on the earth (I Kgs.8:51). So God Himself wanted to rule over them (I Sam.8:7). Therefore, the Israelites desiring a king was against the will of God. Nevertheless God granted their request. God gave them Saul anointed by Samuel, to be their first king. After him, David and Solomon ruled over Israel. Solomon’s backsliding brought God’s judgment upon the kingdom. In the days of his son Rehoboam, the kingdom was divided into two. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin formed the kingdom of Judah with Rehoboam as king. The other ten tribes formed the kingdom of Israel with Jeroboam as king. The kingdom of Judah was known as the Southern kingdom and the kingdom of Israel as the Northern kingdom.
Moral
In all things we should give God the pre -eminence and accept Him as King that He might rule over our life. We should not rely upon the arm of flesh.
Memory Verse
“For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”
Deut.4:7,8; 7:6