Show I I II i The GRAPHIC BIBLE By LEWIS BROWNE DROWNE A ur N Xu Sent d iW 1 1 Jul T l TVA r sou t CR A avs euw 11 ear MuL srn r w All AR lloil a wt n e ARA terri EPT fore M t. t Phoenicians Called In InO NE of ot Solomons Solomon's first Brat projects O ONE eels was wag the building of a series of ot fortresses to protect protect pro pro- the frontiers Hut But Solomons Solomon's Sol Sol- omon's far more splendid splendid and and ex ex- pensive proJect pensIve project was the beautify Ing of Jerusalem In the center of the land Here lIere he Ill wanted to erect a magnificent palace and temple to show the world how bow vast was his power and how deep his bis dove devo tion to Jehovah But lint no Israelite was capable of planning and erectIng erect erect- Ing tag such structures for none had seen any great palaces or temples So Solomon had to call on his neighbors neighbors neigh neigh- bors the Phoenicians for help The Phoenicians had never once tried to Invade the Hebrew kingdom probably because they had never felt the need to spread Inland They had all the seven seas to roam They were the great traders of ot the ancient world It was natural therefore that Solomon should call can on these neighbors neigh neigh- bors bars for tor help The Phoenicians knew all about architecture and Interior decorating for tor they had seen the palaces palace of all the great potentates of the world More than that they could also provide fine building ma mal for the forests of their Lebanon Leb Lob anon mountains were thick with tall cedar And the Phoenicians were delighted to dispose of both their knowledge and timber timber for for a aprice price So Solomon struck a bargain bargain bargain bar bar- gain with Hiram who was king of Tyre one of Phoenicia's chief cities and forthwith the building operations opera opera- In Jerusalem began The site Solomon chose for his palace and temple was the hill hili rising ris ing lag to the north of the stronghold now called Davids David's City Mt lit this hill bill was named In later years ears Apparently the palace was the themore themore themore more magnificent structure for It took 13 years to build whereas the temple required only seven and a ahaU half haU The sanctuary Itself was but buta a very small building GO 00 cubits long and 20 cubits wide wide that that is about 00 feet by 30 feet The royal roal residence was considerably larger its assembly hall alone built of or huge cedar logs was actually feet by 75 feet In size Fortunately for Solomon h he was wasa a brilliant organizer and this alone made mode It possible for him Wm to draw out of his little kingdom dom the great grea t wealth he be needed Disregarding th theold the theold e old tribal divisions he substituted 12 federal districts each with a governor In charge These governors governors gov had bad to collect the produce e for the Phoenician hirelings and an d also for Solomon and his court Tir The e Bible DIble tells us that each day the provisions for the royal court alone consisted of bushels of fin fine e flour COO bushels of meal 30 oxen oien sheep and end an odd assortment t of at gazelles roebucks harts and fa fat t fowl So much provender was needed neede d because Solomon had a large family tam fame V fly ily to feed feld Not merely was there ther e his standing army his corps o of f servants his lots counsellors and nod secretaries sec to care for but In addition add addi tion he had his harem of a thousand thousand thou sand wives and concubines This harem It must be realized was wa s more for show than comfort fo foin forIn for forIn In those days a kings king's wealth wa was s measured by the number of hl his s wives But Dut whatever may piny have been the reason for the extensive harem It was an expensive luxury And for all an this Immense entourage en Solomon had to provide shelter as well as food I At first he drafted the non non non-He He Hebrew brew Inhabitants of Palestine Into his labor gangs He lie took what and the 11 like ke were still surviving surviving sur sur- In the land and made them state slaves slaves precisely precisely as his own ancestors had been made state slaves by Pharaoh of Egypt two cen cen- tunes earlier Hut But since there were not enough of these non-Hebrews non for all nil the work Solomon planned he Ile actually drafted Hebrews too He lIe forced his own people to supply men to work as his serfs one month out of at every three thrle r Israel Discovers the World UT It ft was Impossible for Solomon Solomon Solomon Solo Solo- BUT mon to finance all his projects with revenues collected from his own realm and he was wa forced after a while to take tako to trading Situated Situ sled as be was between two continents con be could very conveniently go In for commerce He Ise bou bought bt I horses from the Egyptians Egyptian In the South and sold Bold them to the Alit- Alit II It- It lies Ites In the North And be he levied a 8 high tariff on all merchandise transported through hit his realm by foreign traders trader I I i Later he extended his activities and with a fi fleet et of at merchant ships built for him by the Phoenicians sent agents to distant lands to acquire ac quire gold and other precious commodities commodities com com- for tor him And thus the Hebrews suddenly discovered ered the outside world Un Until til then they had remained an almost almost al al- most e folk pasturing their flocks and tending their olive I groves amid emote hills bills along along- alongside alongside side the Jordan Jordann Hut But now they ther became a cosmopolitan people and the fame of ot their great king was RS spread far tar and wide People leople came came from all parts of the world to seethe lIlethe see lIle seethe the monarch The queen of Sheba traveled with a train of attendants all the way from southwestern Ara Are bin bia about 1500 miles away to discover dis dis- discover cover whether Solomon was really as wise as he was reputed to be But this sudden plunge Into the vortex of ot civilization had hat dire consequences con sequences for tor Israel The foreign princesses whom Solomon took Into his harem brought with them their foreign gods and priests and the Israelites ceased to worship Jehovah with perfect hearts Moreover the extravagance of Solomon was a great burden on the people and some of them be began n to talk of ending the union of the tribes Rebellion Re Tie- hellion bellion seethed In the masses espe espe- In the North which still was not reconciled to serving a king kine who belonged to the South Solomon's Solomons Solomons Solomon's Solo Solo- mons mon's last years were not glorious as the first lie He became lax In his religion and powerless among his people And when at last he he died the whole structure his father had reared and which he himself had tried to embellish came tottering to the the ground Almost Immediately after the death of Solomon came a tion lion The new king was crowned In Jerusalem and then went to Shechem to receive the approval approval ap ap- approval of the northern tribes But when the men of these tribes asked It If he would reduce the burdens his father had put upon them Robe Reho boam being an arrogant youth routh of sixteen replied My father chastised chas used you with Ith whips but I will chastise you with scorpions So the North rebelled The leader of the movement was wasa a II certain Jeroboam who had comeback comeback come comeback back for the purpose from Egypt whither he be had been driven by Solomon Solo Solo- mon He lIe was the logical choice for forking forking forking king of the seceding region and at once he be was given the crown at Shechem So now there were again two kingdoms In the land Tho The northern state took the name of Israel Is Is- rael reel but It was almost as frequently frequent frequent- ly lr called Ephraim after the name of one of Its chief tribes I and the southern state was known as Judah There were many points of difference differ ence once between the tho two kingdoms As AsI I have already said sold Judah and Simeon tended to drift away from the rest of the nation when the Hebrews He lie- brews first invaded the land AD And with time that tendency only In In- creased By Dy the time of Saul the difference between North and South had llad already reached the point of ol open hostility and though David tried to heal the breach he was only temporarily successful Had Solomon Solomon Solo Solo- mon won not been so autocratic the union might have been preserved much tanner longer but even this Is II far I from certain for the differences between between be be- tween tweet the two groups had grown to tobe tobe tobe be fundamental Judah and Simeon dwelt In n a region re re- gion goa consisting almost entirely ol of at hills hIlIs and sand Almost al althe all the fertile valley land In the South was occupied by the Philistines As Asa a result Judah and Simeon were never able to take to agriculture and had to remain a pastoral peo pee pie The tribes In the North on the theother theother theother other band hand possessed man many broad valleys and therefore Instead of or wandering about with herds these settled down and took to farming But there was another element contributing to make moke the North richer than the South The main caravan route from tram Africa to Asia Alia did not touch the land of Judah Jodah It clung to the coastal plain wh where re rethe the Philistines were settled anc and did not enter Hebrew territory save In InI I d But Dut prosperity brings certain evils In Its train It provides an opportunity opportunity op op- for the abler and abler and less scrupulous men scrupulous men to outwit the rest resi and get more than their share of the wealth A few people the arts arts- berate get to have far tar more than they can use and the rest the masses masse are left with not even as much as the they need Both claws classes suffer sulfer for tor the rich become In time lazy and corrupt and the poor become be tie- come spiritless and sod debased |