In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple Solomon built and proceeded to deport the people of Judah to Babylon. The temple was rebuilt later, which is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Poster with World History around 530 BC.
According to the Bible, they stayed in captivity for seventy years until the rise of King Cyrus of Persia, who conquered the Neo-Babylonian empire. Cyrus allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem from Babylon in 538 BC, and more than 40,000 people (Ezra 2:64) chose to go back to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel. They brought with them gold and silver articles recovered from the Babylonian temple after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem.
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The first thing they did was to rebuild the altar and offer sacrifices to the Lord after they had settled in Jerusalem. The construction of the second temple began in 520 BC, which was two years after they arrived in Jerusalem. Cedar logs from Lebanon were imported to build the temple, and the foundation was completed soon after. But some local residents opposed the building of the second temple, and they discouraged the former exiles from continuing with the construction. The construction work will not resume until the second year of the reign of King Darius (Ezra 4).
The people led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua resumed the construction of the temple after the encouragement of prophets Haggai and Zechariah. But the governor of Trans-Euphrates Tattenai banded together with some people to discourage them again. He schemed by sending a letter to the new Persian king Darius asking him to confirm an earlier decree by King Cyrus, which permitted the people of Judah to rebuild their temple.
Darius discovered a memorandum by Cyrus and told Tattenai to allow the people to continue the temple construction. Tattenai was also instructed to help the Jews and pay for the full construction cost. He followed Darius’ decree and the second temple was completed in 516 BC, which was the sixth year of Darius’ reign (Ezra 6). The temple was dedicated to the Lord and sacrifices were offered there once again. Ezra the scribe arrived in Jerusalem soon after the construction of the temple was completed.
Shishak (Shoshenq I) of Egypt was one of the few foreign kings named in the Bible and was known for his raid in Jerusalem during the time of Rehoboam. He can be found on the Bible Timeline around 979 BC. 2 Chronicles 12 offers a detailed account of Shishak’s raid on Jerusalem, which happened in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign. Shishak took with him thousands of chariots, horses, and soldiers to strike the fortified towns of Judah. These towns fell under the onslaught of Shishak’s troops, and they continued to Jerusalem for another wave of attacks. Shishak then invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasures of the Lord’s Temple. He also stole the treasures of Solomon’s royal palace including the gold shields, which were replaced by Rehoboam with bronze shields.
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Libyan Origin and Rise to Power
The Libyans who lived on the coast of Marmarica and Cyrenaica first appeared during the rule of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Akhenaten. They were included as military escorts of the king. High ranking Libyans also accompanied Egyptian nobility to temple ceremonies. Evidence of this can be seen on various stone reliefs in the Tomb of Ahmose and Meryra at Amarna.
The Meshwesh and Libu tribes raided Egyptians territories and clashes with the Egyptian troops were common at the time of the 19th and 20th Dynasties. Libyan immigrants also settled in the nome of Bubastis in the Nile Delta during periods of famine, but some of them were children of early Libyan garrison troops who grew up in Egypt. As centuries passed, the population of the immigrants increased and they successfully integrated into the Egyptian society. Their chieftains also gained enough wealth and power to marry into Egyptian noble families.
Shoshenq I was one of the first Meshwesh chieftains who rose to power, and he became the second Pharaoh of Libyan origin after his uncle Osorkon, the Elder. Marriage with some of the members of the royal family also played an important role in easing Shoshenq’s rise to power. He arranged the marriage between his son Osorkon I and Maatkare, the daughter of Psusennes II who was the last Egyptian pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty.
Rule of Egypt
The 21st Dynasty was marked by a division of power between the pharaohs ruling from Tanis in Lower Egypt and the High Priests of Amun based in Thebes in Upper Egypt. Shoshenq unified political authority under his rule and ensured that the high priests would not hold as much power as the pharaoh held. Priests were consulted for oracles, but they did not influence political decisions and foreign policies.
He appointed his own son, Prince Iuput, as a High Priest of Thebes to strengthen his own rule and reduce the power of other priests. Iuput was also the commander-in-chief of the army and governor of Upper Egypt. The loyalty of family members and supporters was rewarded with their appointment to administrative posts, as well as marriages to royal daughters.
Shoshenq had planned on building a great court in the temple of Amun at Karnak, but this remained unfinished at the time of his death. Shoshenq’s military victories were inscribed at the Bubastite Portal, which is the entrance to the Precinct of Amun-Re temple complex.
Invasion of Palestine and Death
Egypt’s influence over Palestine decreased during the division of political power of the 21st Dynasty. Shoshenq reestablished Egypt’s power over Palestine by launching a series of raids into a number of towns, including Shunem, Gibeon, Megiddo, Beth Horon, and Ajalon among others.
Shoshenq reestablished trade with Phoenicia during the time of King Abibaal of Byblos. A statue of Shoshenq I that had an inscription of Abibaal, was found in a temple in Byblos. It symbolized the goodwill between two kingdoms during their reign.
Shoshenq died shortly after his invasion of Palestine, and he was succeeded by his son Osorkon I as pharaoh.
The Consequences of Disobedience
Israel was greatly protected by God, but through disobedience, they experience many wars and hardships. This event is recorded on the Bible Timeline Chart between 1004 BC and 904 BC. It all started with exogamy or marriage outside of the ethnic group. This was generally frowned upon and even expressly forbidden in Israel in the ancient times (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). The patriarchs such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob practiced endogamy, marriage within the group. They even went as far as marrying their own close relatives.
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The law against intermarriage with other ethnic groups that surround Israel was laid out to prevent them from worshiping other gods and ensure Israel’s fidelity to Yahweh. Israel was not chosen because of any special attributes it might have, but simply because of God’s love (Deuteronomy 7:7-11). This covenant was made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so the people must keep it or there will be consequences as shown in the Books of Judges and Kings.
The command to unconditionally obey the Lord was also passed by David to his son in 1 Kings 2:1-4, but Solomon was led astray because of his marriage to foreign women. It was said that he married 700 wives of royal birth (which included an Egyptian princess) and had 300 concubines. They led him to worship and build shrines to other gods in the Canaanite pantheon such as Chemosh, Ashtoreth (Astarte), and Molech (Moloch). The consequences of this particular disobedience were reaped by Solomon’s descendants firsthand.
God warned Solomon to turn away from worshiping other gods but the warning fell on deaf ears. As a result, God promised to tear the kingdom away from Solomon’s son and give a portion of it instead to one of Solomon’s own servants. God still honored his covenant with David by leaving a piece of the kingdom to Solomon’s son where his dynasty reigned over the years.
Jeroboam, King of Israel and Rehoboam, King of Judah (1 Kings 11:26 to 1 Kings 14)
Similar to Kings before him, Jeroboam was appointed ruler over Israel through a prophecy. Jeroboam worked for Solomon as a foreman on one of his building projects. However, a meeting with the prophet Ahijah would change his life forever. After tearing his new cloak, the prophet gave Jeroboam 10 pieces of the scraps which symbolized the ten tribes of Israel, thus fulfilling God’s warning to Solomon before he died. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam after this prophecy and Jeroboam fled to Egypt afterward.
Solomon died years later and his son Rehoboam now held the throne. As the person who threatened his life was now dead, Jeroboam was compelled to come back to Israel and fulfill the prophecy. Meanwhile, Rehoboam was not doing very well as king either. Solomon’s extensive building projects required heavy labor from the people he employed and at Rehoboam’s ascension as king, they petitioned the newly-crowned ruler to lighten their load.
Instead of following his father’s advisers who told him to grant the request of his people, Rehoboam followed the counsel of his friends and rejected the pleas of his own people. This sowed the seeds of discord in his own house resulting in a rebellion, fulfilling God’s warning and Ahijah’s prophecy. The 10 tribes which broke away from the House of David then elected to make Jeroboam as their king.
Descent into Civil War
Rehoboam mobilized an army of 180,000 men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (1 Kings 12:21) but was thwarted when the prophet Shemaiah told them not to fight their own brothers. Rehoboam’s counterpart in the northern kingdom was also busy making himself gold calves to prevent the people from worshiping in Jerusalem.
Jeroboam had made Shechem the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel and had the gold calves installed in Dan at the northern end of Israel and South in Bethel. In his insecurity, he committed a list of sins that may have surpassed or equaled Solomon in his worship of other gods.
Ahijah prophesied Jeroboam’s downfall in 1 Kings 14:1-19 while Rehoboam and the people of Judah were also busy making themselves Asherah poles and sacred pillars. The Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonq I (the Biblical Shishak) raided Jerusalem during Rehoboam’s reign. There were also constant wars between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah during both kings’ time. Jeroboam outlived two kings of Judah and the few remaining years of his reign overlapped the reign of King Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15:1 and v 9). Wars between the two kingdoms continued until the reign of Baasha of Israel and Asa of Judah.