The construction of King Solomon’s Temple
As all great rulers of that period even Solomon loved to show off his reign with beautiful buildings. During his reign, Jerusalem was a city with beautiful buildings and beautiful homes. First of all, he built a magnificent temple. Thousands of workers and slaves, Phoenicians and Jews, mined stones from the mountains and cut cedar forests of Lebanon and brought all this material in Jerusalem. Hiram, the King of Tyre and Phoenicia, a friend of Solomon, sent his most skilled builders to build the temple with the help of Jewish workers. The inner side of the walls made of stone was covered with expensive cedar wood carved and decorated with gold ornaments. The building became a symbol of luxury and art.
In the temple there was a copper altar for sacrifice victims - oxen and sheep.
They met people from all over the country, especially during the Easter holidays, Shavuot and Sukkot. The temple of Jerusalem was so great that even foreigners from distant lands came to admire it. This splendor of Jerusalem could only be achieved at the cost of high taxes that the people were forced to pay. Both the rich and poor had to pay a lot; thousands of people were forcibly taken to the hard work. Buildings and solemn palaces were built by the suffering of the people. The workers, craftsmen and farmers were impoverished, and the number of dissatisfied continued to grow. Jeroboam, the military commander of the tribe of Ephraim, took advantage of this situation and the people began to rebel against the king. To justify these attacks, it can be cited the words of the prophet from Shiloh Shiloh, who had no estimate of Solomon for his waste and luxury. One day the Prophet met Jeroboam (Jerobeam), and on that occasion took off his coat, tore it into twelve pieces and gave him ten, saying: "The kingdom of Solomon is divided into ten tribes, and you will be elected as their king ". Jeroboam had secretly prepared the rebellion of the tribe of Ephraim, but Solomon got to know and ordered to kill him. But Jeroboam escaped to Egypt.
After Solomon's death, while his son Rehabeam prepared to succeed to the throne, the rebellion broke out. Jeroboam returned from Egypt, the tribe of Ephraim joined him. The officers of the nation had gathered in the ancient city Šehemu to discuss the choice of the future king. Rehabeam showed up at the meeting, the officers turned to him and said, "Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke and we will serve you." Rehabeam answered them harshly that he would never allow to establish the rules and that his intention was to impose rules even heavier. After hearing these words, the sons of Ephraim raised the flag of rebellion and shouted: "What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" The Sons of Ephraim and nine other tribes chose Jeroboam as their king, and only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Rehabeam. Thus the kingdom was divided into two parts: the kingdom of Judah or Judea and Ephraim - the kingdom of Israel (930 BC).
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