Israel, as northern kingdom

The northernmost region of the two kingdoms, comprising the ten northern tribes which broke away from Judah in 930 B.C. and remained independent until the Assyrian conquest of 722 B.C., when the nation was exiled because of its sinfulness.

Origins of the division between Judah and Israel

Israelite settlement in Canaan had developed around two distinct regions in the north and south

Joshua 18:5

and divide the land into seven portions. Judah shall remain in their territory in the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory in the north.

The northern Israelite tribes were less ready to transfer allegiance from Saul to David

2 Samuel 2:10 See also 2 Samuel 19:41–20:2 Israel seems to have been ready to follow Sheba, because he came from the same tribe as Saul.

Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.

Israel's separation from Judah was the result of disobedience under Solomon

1 Kings 11:26–33

Rehoboam's folly provoked Israel's rebellion

1 Kings 12:1–17 parallel 2 Chronicles 10:1–17

Israel's foreign affairs

Centres of worship in Israel

The calf idols in Bethel and Dan

1 Kings 12:26–33 See also 2 Kings 10:29

Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom might revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves. Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites. And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up, and he installed priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel. So he ordained a feast for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.

Worship of Baal and Asherah in the capital, Samaria

1 Kings 16:32–33

First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.

Gilgal was also a centre of worship

See also Hosea 12:11

Condemnation of Israel's way of life

Israel's worship condemned

Amos 4:4–5 Amos' language here is full of irony. See also Hosea 8:11–13; Amos 5:21–24

“Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings. For that is what you children of Israel love to do,” declares the Lord GOD.

The corruption of Israel's priests condemned

Hosea 6:9 See also Hosea 4:6–9

Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.

Israel's unfaithfulness to God condemned

Hosea 5:7 See also 2 Kings 17:7–23; Hosea 4:10–13

They have been unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land.

Prophetic condemnation of sin in Israel

Hosea 4:1–2 See also Hosea 6:11–7:2; Amos 2:6–8, Amos 5:12

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

Israel condemned for looking to foreign nations for help instead of to God

Hosea 11:12–12:1 See also Hosea 5:13–15, Hosea 7:8–11, Hosea 8:9–10

God's attitude to the northern kingdom of Israel

God's call to Israel to repent

Hosea 14:1–2 See also Hosea 10:12; Amos 5:4–6

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

God's attempt to call Israel back through hardship

1 Kings 17:1 See also Amos 4:6–11

Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

God's rejection of Israel

Hosea 1:6 See also 2 Chronicles 25:5–7; Hosea 1:8–9

Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.

God's punishment of Israel

Amos 5:26–27 See also Hosea 10:5–8; Amos 3:11–12

You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.

God's intention to restore Israel

Hosea 1:10 See also Hosea 2:23, Hosea 14:4–8; Amos 9:11–15

Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’