- Welcome to the biblical Game of Thrones.
It's 1100 BCE.
The 12 tribes of Israel have settled the promised land,
but have split into two separate,
though closely related, nations.
In the South are the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
In the North are the 10 remaining tribes.
The 10 Northern tribes are known simply as Israel.
And the two Southern tribes are called the Nation of Judah.
At this point,
both Israel and Judah are under constant attack
by the nations that surround them
and both live under the thumb of the Philistines.
As separate nations with 12 tribes between them,
they're too disorganized and weak to fight back.
They ask Samuel, a great prophet
and the last of the Judge Chieftains
to appoint a King to rule over them.
This shift in government creates a kingdom whose influence
still reverberates in the world today.
When Jews pray for return to "The Days of Old,"
these are the days they're referring to.
While the impact of the united monarchy on human history
is immeasurable,
by itself, it lasted all of 80 years.
Samuel is hesitant to appoint a King
to rule over the Israelites.
After all,
only God is supposed to be the King of Israel, right?
But according to the book of Samuel 1,
God tells him, heed their demand
and appoint of King for them.
Okay then.
Samuel anoints Saul from the tribe of Benjamin.
Tall Saul stands a head above his brothers
and he's not too sure about taking the job.
The Israelites are not too sure about him either,
but then Saul proves himself in battle.
He successfully defends the Israelites
from the enemies who surround them
and pushes back the Philistines.
Now the people celebrate.
They publicly inaugurate Saul and declare him the King
of both Judah and Israel.
The young King starts off strong,
but the good times don't last.
God commands Samuel
to have King Saul wipe out the Amalekites
The Amalekites and Israel had been enemies
ever since the Amalekites attacked the vulnerable nation
as it wandered through the Sinai
en route to the promised land.
And in Samuel's day, King Agag of the Amalekites
was infamous for killing women and children in battle.
This was an evil man leading an evil people.
God gives Samuel the order to eradicate them completely.
No soldier is to derive any benefit from the victory.
Samuel then communicates this to Saul
and Saul defeats the Amalekites in battle
and fulfills God's command.
Mostly.
He wipes them out,
but he gives the best of the Amalekite cattle
to his soldiers.
And he takes pity on their King, Agag,
and disobediently keeps him alive.
Samuel is livid.
Saul begs Samuel for forgiveness.
But Samuel tells Saul,
you have rejected the Lord's command
and the Lord has rejected you as King over Israel.
Samuel then has King Agag brought before him
and he cuts him into pieces.
About here is where the narrative
turns into a fascinating character study of Saul.
Saul does not step down from the throne.
Samuel meanwhile, with God's instruction,
anoints the young, ruddy cheeked,
bright eyed and handsome David as the next King of Israel.
Fearing for David's life, Samuel anoints him in secret.
David is now the divinely anointed King of Israel,
but only his father and brothers know about it.
Saul's mood begins to turn bitter.
The spirit of God, withdrawn from him.
He's taken over by a darker state of mind,
which the Bible describes as an evil tormenting spirit.
The courts attendees hire a young harpist
to lift Saul's mood.
They hire David.
Turns out he's a very good harpist.
The secret King now lives in the court of the disgraced King
and plays the harp to calm his nerves.
And Saul has no idea.
To make matters worse,
Saul's daughter Michal falls in love with David
and Saul's son Jonathan becomes David's closest friend.
The two young men grow to love each other like brothers.
The Philistines, meanwhile, amass for a counter attack.
A giant Philistine steps forward.
He is a goliath of a man.
In fact, he is Goliath.
He challenges Saul's army to champion warfare.
No Israelite volunteers to fight this mouth breather
until little David steps into the ring.
Enormous and well-trained, Goliath is terrifying.
People aren't afraid to fight again
because they're worried they're gonna look stupid.
They're worried they are going to look dead
and smushed into the ground.
Goliath charges, David palms a rock in his satchel.
He loads a sling, lets loose a projectile
that strikes Goliath cleanly through the forehead.
Goliath collapses face forward
into the dirt at David's feet.
David then decapitates the fallen giant
with Goliath's own sword.
Victorious, David holds Goliath's head out
before the Philistines who run away in terror.
Saul, meanwhile, watches these events with unease.
He can't help but wonder how his harpist
just managed to fall a ginormous Philistine.
He pointedly asked David, 'who are you?'
And David answers, 'the son of Jesse
'from the town of Bethlehem.'
Pretty much just rank and serial number.
Blind with jealousy,
Saul puts the untrained David in charge of his army
and sends them to the front lines to be killed in battle.
Saul tries this again and then again,
but every time David returns victorious.
In fact, David is becoming pretty popular
while Saul's popularity is waning.
Soon after, the Philistines organize another massive force
and attack the Israelite kingdom.
The battle is a route.
Saul's son Jonathan is killed
along with two of his three brothers.
As the battle rages around him,
Saul is struck by arrows and knows he won't recover.
He falls down on his own sword,
such is the tragic ending of the first King of Israel,
a great man and a great leader.
And one of the most deeply drawn and troubled personas
in all of biblical literature.
Finally, the time has come
for King David to assume the throne.
His men anoint him King of Judah.
However Saul's surviving son Ish Boshet
declares himself the King of the North
or rather, the King of Israel.
A civil war breaks out and it drags on for years.
Slowly, the kingdom of Israel weakens.
King David and the Kingdom of Judah grow stronger.
The Kingdom of Israel finally surrenders
and David is anointed
both King of Judah and Israel.
At last begins the united monarchy.
The people have the King that they had hoped for
and a united country spanning from North to South.
King David takes over a Jebusite stronghold
on a hard to reach hill,
a small fortress town
that might already have been known as Jerusalem.
He declares it as new capital.
He dissociates it from all the tribes
so as not to play favorites.
And there he builds his city of David.
He moves the Tabernacle Tent and the Arc of the Covenant
to the new capital city.
It is a glorious celebration.
He then attacks
and subdues the Philistines and the Moabites.
David's army, at this point
functions almost on autopilot.
One summer, his commander tells them
that they don't really need him in the field.
He can stay home.
While idly strolling on the palace roof one day,
David sees a woman bathing and she is very attractive.
Her name is Batsheva.
She's the wife of a soldier in David's army,
a man named Uriah.
David invites her over.
They sleep together.
Then he sends her home.
About a month later, she sends him a message.
She's pregnant.
David hurries to cover his tracks.
He repeatedly asked Batsheva's husband Uriah to step away
from his assigned military post and to spend a nights leave
with his wife.
Her husband repeatedly refuses.
David gives up and tells his chief commander
to place Uriah at the front of a siege
and to leave him there to be killed in battle.
When Batsheva learns that her husband has died, she mourns.
And then moves to the palace to become David's wife.
God is displeased .
As punishment, David, and Batsheva's first child
dies soon after birth.
God also condemns David to live out his days
in unrelenting warfare.
He tells David that he won't be the one
to build God's temple in Jerusalem.
His hands will be too soaked in blood.
David and Batsheva have another son, Solomon.
David promises Solomon the monarchy.
Years later, David is ailing.
And Adoniyah, David's oldest son claims to be the next King.
Batsheva reminds David of his promise to Solomon.
David has the high priest and the court prophet
publicly anoint Solomon and declare him King
over all of Israel.
When Adoniyah hears this,
he runs and begs for mercy.
Solomon swears to Adoniyah
that he won't hurt a hair on his head
as long as he stays worthy.
At 70 years of age
and after a 40 year reign, David dies
and is buried in the city of David in Jerusalem.
And then Solomon cleans house.
Solomon has Adoniyah killed saying, quote,
Adoniyah shall be put to death this very day.
He also kills David's old commander
who had backed Adoniyah's illegitimate claim.
And he places the priest who had supported Adoniyah
under permanent house arrest.
What follows is a long period of political stability
that allows for the expansion of the Israelite empire,
all the way up to the Euphrates
in what is now Northern Syria.
It also allows for the accumulation
of great wealth for Solomon and economic wellbeing
for the nation as a whole.
And now, according to the book of Kings 1,
God tells Solomon that the time has come
to start building the temple.
The construction of the temple
is one of the largest building projects
in the ancient world.
It takes both the nations of Israel, and Tyre to the North
to get the job done.
The temple takes seven years to build,
and that whole time not a hammer or an ax
can be heard on the temple mount.
The components are finished off site
so that the temple construction itself
is completed in reverential silence.
Upon completion, it is an architectural masterpiece.
One can only imagine the celebration
when the Ark of the Covenant
is finally installed
in the heart of Solomon's newly finished temple.
The land of Israel is protected by Solomon's wealth,
his might, and his alliances.
But more importantly,
the laws of the land are fair and just
due to Solomon's great wisdom.
In fact, for all of his riches and accomplishments,
it's his wisdom for which Solomon is most famous
as demonstrated by this one well known story.
In it, two women share a house each with her own baby.
One of the babies tragically dies
and its mother steals the other woman's living infant.
The case is brought before Solomon.
Standing before the King, each woman claims
that the surviving child is hers.
Solomon orders a soldier to draw his sword
and cut the baby in two.
He'll give each one of them half a child.
One woman says nothing.
Her jealousy likely placated,
but the other screams madly, don't kill the baby,
give her the child, let her have the child.
Now, knowing who the true mother is,
Solomon returns the living baby to her.
Among the people of Israel,
this story became the great example of Solomon's wisdom.
His wisdom can still be witnessed today
in his literary achievements.
He is credited with the writing of the Song of Songs,
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
Here, Israel's dream is fully realized.
A united kingdom at a time of national safety,
a wise and just court system
and a temple within which they could worship God.
Then, in old age, Solomon starts to slip.
Solomon has a weakness for excess,
and it's his wives that lead him astray, all 700 of them
and his 300 concubines probably didn't help matters.
As Solomon gets older,
he builds temples for his wives
so that they can worship their foreign gods.
And eventually,
Solomon starts worshiping in these temples as well.
Displeased with Solomon,
God sends him new enemies
and Solomon loses control of Damascus.
The kingdom of Israel is in retreat.
Solomon's death is recorded without fanfare.
He ruled for 40 years
and is buried in the city of David and Jerusalem
beside his father.
Upon Solomon's death,
the Northern kingdom of Israel
almost immediately breaks away
from the Southern kingdom of Judah.
Solomon's son, Rehoboam the King of Judah
now rules over a territory, a fraction of the size
of his father's kingdom.
So ends the united monarchy,
a mere 80 years after it began.
As for the 10 Northern tribes of Israel,
they were eventually conquered by the Assyrian Empire
and vanished culturally from the world stage.
The monarchies of Judah that followed
each have their own storied histories,
but they all existed as vassal states
under a series of ancient superpowers.
The next time the people of Judah,
now known as Jews,
would rule the land from North to South
under their own sovereign power
would be almost 3000 years later
when the modern state of Israel was established in 1948.
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