State five factors which led to the division of the Kingdom of Israel after the death of King Solomon

Factors which led to the division of the kingdom of Israel

• Foreign wives – Solomon had married many foreign princesses who bought high places ( idols) with them for the worship of foreign gods in Israel.
• Sol. Worship ( idols) – Solomon not only allowed his foreign wives to worship their gods but also built high places of worship where his wives worshipped their gods. This displeased God.
• Solomon broke the covenant with God by disobeying his commands not to worship foreign gods. ( 1 Kings 11: 9- 10)
• Over-taxation – To support his harem of wives and court officials, Solomon needed a lot of money and this he got by overtaxing his subjects. This was oppression.
• Forced labour – Solomon spent years and a lot of resources building his palace and the temple, and projects made him introduce forced labour in Israel.
• Kingdom divided redness of Jeroboam – The over-taxation and forced labour made the Israelites dissatisfied with Solomon’s rules. The dissatisfaction among the Israelites found a spokesman in Jeroboam.
• After Solon’s death, his son Rehoboam succeeded him/rejected of the advice from the old men
• Jeroboam led a delegation of Israelite elders to Rehoboam to ask him to rule them less harshly than his father Solomon. The bitterness of the Northern Kingdom led to the rebellion.
• Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the elders who advised him to tell the delegation that he would rule them less harshly than Solomon. The bitterness of the Northern Kingdom led to the rebellion
• He listened to the young men who told him to tell the delegation that he would rule them more harshly than his father cared for him/ Rehoboam listened. The readiness of Jeroboam to lead a rebellion/ encouragement from the prophet. Elijah led the rebellion in North
• When Rehoboam told the delegation that his rule would be harsher than his father’s’ they were so angered that the ten northern tribes of Israel rejected him as King and rebelled against him.
• The rebellious tribes chose Jeroboam as their king and only the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained under the Kingship of Rehoboam. The redness of Jeroboam to lead rebellious tribes/ encouragement of Prophet Elijah to lead rebellion tribe.