It is significant that the Lord in His foreknowledge had put on record that the choice of a human king by Israel

rather than Himself would take place in the future. The Lord therefore laid down laws clearly governing the type of

person who would fill this office and meet with His approval:

`When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell

therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise

set him a king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose ... he shall not multiply horses to himself ...

neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to

himself silver and gold ... it (the law) shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life ...' (Deut.

The earthly kingdom of Old Testament history reached its zenith of power and glory under its first three kings,

each of whom held his throne by the permission of Jehovah. David was indeed God's choice. He said to Samuel:

`How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with

oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided Me a king among his sons' (1 Sam.

`Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him (David) in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the

LORD came upon David from that day forward' (1 Sam. 16:13).

At the end of his life, David indicates the Lord's choice of his successor:

`of all my sons, (for the LORD has given me many sons,) He hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne

of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel' (1 Chron. 28:5).

It is important to note that Solomon, the last of the kings directly chosen by God, is also the last king of the united

kingdom of Israel. From Saul to Solomon there was a tremendous expansion and transformation of Israel's

kingdom. The great military achievements of David opened the way for the more peaceful work of Solomon. The

Philistines, for long the most powerful foes of Israel, were defeated and brought under subjection (2 Sam. 5:17-25).

The city of Jerusalem was captured and made the capital of the nation (2 Sam. 5:6-10). The hostile kingdoms of

Moab, Ammon and Edom were reduced to tributaries. Other kings, noting what had happened, came to David to

seek peace (2 Sam. 8:2-15).

Solomon, when he commenced his reign, proceeded to expand the kingdom by fortifying strategic points (1

Kings 9:15-19). He greatly increased in wealth which became fabulous, but this was in the Lord's will, given

because of the wise choice in his youth of wisdom from God rather than riches. This wisdom became proverbial:

`So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to

Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart' (1 Kings 10:23,24 and see 1 Kings 3:5-14).

But the gift of wisdom from God is of no avail if it is not used. And this was the reason why Solomon failed

lamentably. Although he was `wiser than all men' (1 Kings 4:31), he ended his days as a common idolater. Not

only this, but his failure to use his wisdom in obedience to the Lord was the cause of his backsliding. He

transgressed the divine rules, that God had laid down for observance by kings, to which we have already alluded.

He multiplied horsemen and chariots, the equivalent of modern armaments (1 Kings 10:26-29); he kept a harem of

1000 women and multiplied wives (1 Kings 11:1,3,4), taking them from pagan nations around, with the consequence

that they `turned away his heart after other gods' (verse 4). Moreover it meant that his sons had pagan mothers and

were influenced by their false religion. As he grew in power his ambitions increased and he engaged in tremendous

building projects and for this he exacted a levy of 30,000 men from all Israel, who were forced to labour in Lebanon

one month in every three. This was like the bondage in Egypt! No wonder then that when Rehoboam, Solomon's

son, came to the throne, the people approached him and said:

`Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy

yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee' (1 Kings 12:4),

but Rehoboam unwisely taking the advice of young people rather than the older and more experienced ones, gave

the people a contemptuous refusal and actually threatened to increase their burdens (verses 13-15). The result was