Alrighty, today we’re gonna have a “Let’s Get Our Bearings” session.
However, instead of spraying you with a bunch of tedious facts…
Let’s have some fun with this.
You know what that means, don’t you?
That’s right!
It’s…
QUIZ TIME!
So, let’s see how well you can answer the following questions about the saga of the 1st Temple.
These questions deal with the Temple in whatever shape or form it took before the Babylonians finally destroyed it.
Alrighty, let’s get started.
QUESTION 1:
Why is studying the history of the Temple so freakin’ important?
QUESTION 2:
What cataclysmic event happened within only a few years of Solomon’s passing away?
QUESTION 3:
By what names do the Northern and Southern Kingdoms go by in Scripture?
QUESTION 4:
Which kingdom sank deeper into idolatry, the northern kingdom or the southern?
QUESTION 5:
Who were the first kings of Judah (the Southern Coalition) and the Israel-Ephraim (the Northern Coalition)?
==================================================================
ANSWER 1:
Studying the history of the Temple is so freakin’ important because it’s impossible to understand Israel’s story without it. For the next several centuries, the nation rose or fell depending on the kind of kings who sat on the throne. Some honored God. Others didn’t. And one of the clearest ways you could tell was by how they treated the Temple in Jerusalem and the priesthood that served there.
ANSWER 2:
Not long after King Solomon died, Israel fell into a civil war. This resulted in the nation splitting into northern and southern coalitions. What had been one united kingdom under a single king for about 80 years suddenly became two independent kingdoms, each with its own ruler.
ANSWER 3:
The southern kingdom retained the name Judah, while the northern kingdom was called Israel. But that didn’t last forever. A few decades later, people started calling the northern kingdom Ephraim instead. Why? Because Ephraim had become the dominant tribe among the ten tribes that made up the northern kingdom.
ANSWER 4:
The northern kingdom was by far the most idolatrous. They rejected the Temple in Jerusalem and established two worship centers of their own, one in Dan in the far north and the other in Bethel along their southern border. But that was only the beginning. They continued drifting farther from the Lord by promoting calf worship, blending Ba’al worship with the worship of Yehoveh, and establishing a priesthood God had never authorized.
There’s a reason why Judah is still with us today, and the northern tribes are not (though remnants have resurfaced and are now making Aliyah). If you ever doubted whether idolatry affects your future or not, look no further than the history of the 12 tribes of Israel.
ANSWER 5:
After the civil war that followed Solomon’s death around 925 B.C., Rehoboam became Judah’s first king, while Jeroboam became the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel.
=======================================================================
Okay, so this concludes our little “Let’s get our bearings” session via this quiz.
The next time we meet, we’ll pick up where we last left off, which was the reign of the wicked King Ahaz.
See ya all next time.
Leave a Reply