Samson and Delilah (Rubens-1609-10)
After Joshua died the Jews were subjected to the rule of the Philistines.
God commanded Samson to deliver them. From the time of his birth Samson
was exceptionally strong and was marked out by God to accomplish feats of
strength and to be the Jews legendary hero. But Samson fell in love with
a temptress named Delilah who seduced him and extracted from him the source
of his strength, his hair, which had never been cut. Although Delilah cut
his hair but it grew back and so did his strength.
Samuel Anoints David King
God chose new leaders for the Israelites. They were called Judges. God
chose Samuel to be the new prophet and judge of Israel. He went to every
city to judge the people but eventually the elders of Israel came to Samuel
and said they wanted to have a king. First Samuel anointed Saul to be the
king of Israel. He was a great leader and king for many years. But Israel
went astray and God was displeased and rejected Saul and told Samuel to
go to the house of Jesse, the father of David.
"Samuel...purified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice..."Are
these all the young men?" Samuel said to Jesse. "There is still
the youngest", he said, "but just now he is shepherding the flock".
So he sent and brought him in. Now he was a youth with beautiful eyes and
attractive appearance...then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him
in the midst of his brothers"
( I Samuel, XVI 4, 5, 11-13).
David (Michelangelo)
It was David , who is remembered as Israel's greatest king, who brought
the Ark to Jerusalem.
As a shepherd David was chosen by the prophet Samuel to be king. He was
a composer and singer of many famous Psalms. David was summoned to the court
of the king, Saul, to play soothing music.
David Slays Goliath
There was a war in the land of Israel and the Israelites were fighting
the Philistines. One of them was a giant. His name was Goliath.
"Now when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David...David
put his hand in his bag and took from it a stone and slung it and it struck
the Philistine on his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, so
that he fell on his face to the earth" ( I Samuel, XVII 48-49).
The Triumph of David
"Then David defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah...
and David took from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand cavalry, and
twenty thousand infantry...So David won fame. On his return, he overcame
eighteen thousand Edomites in the valley of Salt" (II Samuel, 3, 4,
13).
David and Bathsheba
"Then one day at sunset, David got up from his couch, and walked
to and from upon the roof of the king's house; and he saw a woman bathing.
The woman was very beautiful...so David sent messengers and took her; and
she came to him, and he lay with her" (II Samuel, XI 2, 4).
This was Bathsheba and she was married to a man named Uriah who was a soldier.
David sent him to the front line to die and then he married her. Their son
was named Solomon. God then sent a prophet named Nathan to talk to David
and tell him that God would punish him for having been wicked. David repented
and was forgiven and remained a good king for many years.
David created the beginnings of a secure, prosperous Israelite empire. He
made the captured city of Jerusalem its capital.
Solomon Consecrated King
David's son Solomon is anointed king by a priest. "Accordingly Zadok
the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, together
with the Cherethites and the Pelethites, caused Solomon to ride on a mule
of King David, and brought him to Gihon. Then Zadok the priest took a horn
of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon"
(I Kings, I 38-39).
Judgment of Solomon
Solomon became a wise king. One day two women came to him with a baby
boy. They lived in the same house and each had a baby but one of the babies
died. Now both women wanted the baby that was alive. Each mother said it
was her baby. They wanted king Solomon to tell them who could keep the baby.
Solomon wanted to find out which woman was the mother. He asked for a sword
and told a servant to cut the baby in half. He would give each woman half
the baby. The real mother couldn't bear this and told him to give it to
the other woman. He then knew who the real mother was and gave her the baby.
God had made Solomon wise.
Construction of the Temple
There was peace in the land and God told Solomon to build a temple in
Jerusalem which would be the house of God. The ark of the Covenant would
be in the Temple. The great temple was built by 183,000 men and it was 90
feet long and 30 feet wide and 45 feet high. The walls and the floors were
covered with gold. It took 7 years to build.
God is said to have appeared to Solomon after the Temple was dedicated and
he pledged "I consecrate this House which you have built and I set
My name there forever. My eyes and My heart shall ever be there" (I
Kings, VI 2, 37, 38).
The temple became the central focus of Judaism. It has been the spiritual
heart of the Jewish people ever since.
Solomon's Temple (Reconstruction)
But then Solomon accumulated great personal wealth at the expense of
the the people and he built an altar to the gods of his many wives. . This
angered God and he divided the kingdom after Solomon's death into Judah,
with Jerusalem its capital, and Israel, to the north of Judah, with no permanent
capital. Divided, neither prospered and war was common.