Lecture 7: January 25, 2011

Today, Dr. Cargill started by talking about some of the things you do to make a Golden Age. David and Solomon—the formation of the state. In order to have a Golden Age, you must die. Once you are dead, you tend to be memorialized. Also, you must have a record of building great things—palaces, temples, etc. It is important when building a temple to get a divine promise and memorial. Dr. Cargill made a reference to the Chronicles as the State of the Union; individuals will ‘chronicle’ the address.

At the end of the Golden Age, David and Jerusalem are gone. After this, the Kingdom splits up. There was a dispute if there ever really was a “United” Kingdom. Dr. Cargill stated he believed that there was. We learned about Rehoboam, who took control after Solomon died. In relation, 1 Kings 12:1-14 describes Rehoboam. The South likes Rehoboam, but the North is unsure. Jeroboam told Reoboam--lower our taxes and then we will submit.  This triggers a rebellion.

In the South, the Temple of Jerusalem exists. People in the North do not want people doing their worship and pilgrimages to the South because it lends credibility, and there is money to be made. The new shrines created in the North assisted in worship. Dr. Cargill said that the South wasn’t innocent; there is a shrine at Baer-Sheva and a temple at Arad. Not only was the North created alternate shrines; there was some in the South. This is “alternatives” to Jerusalem.

We then moved on to the 8^th Century, to the Rise of the United Monarchy in 1000 BCE. North of Jerusalem was an industrial state where South was much more of a countryside—where no one bothered to go. Hezekiah was considered to be the new “messiah”. The Bible always refers to Kings in the North. Dr. Cargill said that whether a King was good or bad depended on if they obeyed the commands.

We were introduced to Pharaoh Shoshenq, who invaded in 925 BCE. Apparently Shosenq ‘attacked’ Jerusalem. There is a confirmation of this from the Great Temple in Karnak.