Little Kings In A Divided And Dangerous World

No Kings! Or, Maybe, Kings? …. What Does the Bible Say?
Led by Robin Orwant and Jeremy Wolfe

It seems like this might be a good time to ask if kings are a good idea. The Bible tells a very complicated story about our relationship with our own kings (to say nothing of the rulers we encountered in the diaspora). We will spend four weeks in July and August looking at different aspects of the problem of kings. We welcome you to any or all sessions.

Time: 7pm-9pm, July 15, 22, 29, and August 5
Place: Weintraub Community Room

Week 4: Little Kings In A Divided And Dangerous World
“We have no portion in David, No share in Jesse’s son! To your tents, O Israel!…Now look to your own House, O David.” I Kings 12:16  After the death of Solomon, things really begin to fall apart as the nation splits into the kingdoms of Judah in the south and Israel in the north. The Bible tends to think that the kings of the northern kingdom were either bad or worse. Archeology seems to think that, until the Assyrians came, they ruled a thriving state. Regardless, the kings of Israel and Judah are no match for the powerful empires that sweep over them in the early part of the first millennium BCE. One enduring legacy has been fervent hope for a Messiah, descended from David himself that has influenced Judaism from the Greek and Roman to the present day.