The Kingdom Divides: 931 BC

the political geography of the Divided Kingdom

Solomon's son Rehoboam became the fourth king of the United Monarchy – but it would be a short-lived tenure, not least because of his own ineptitude in dealing with the growing secession crisis. Jeroboam, who had sought sanctuary with Shoshenq to the southwest, returned to Israel after Solomon’s death (according to one theory, he was dispatched back to Israel as Shoshenq’s pawn; but we’re getting ahead of ourselves). Jeroboam made a bid to rule the northern tribes; his ambitions weren’t without precedent, as such splits had happened absent staying power. Jeroboam hoped to change this. The northern tribes resented Solomon’s heavy-handed policies of conscription and burdensome taxation, so they weren’t keen on a continuation of the status quo under Rehoboam. The elders of the northern tribes issued their grievances to Rehoboam and made Jeroboam their spokesman; the fact that they chose Jeroboam, a known insurrectionist, to be their champion showed they meant business and couldn’t be ignored. Rehoboam, who knew of Jeroboam’s capabilities and popularity, had no choice but to respond to their request for an audience. The elders of the northern tribes complained about how Solomon had put them under ‘heavy burdens,’ and they wanted Rehoboam to lighten the ‘harsh labor’ and ‘heavy yoke’ (as that worn by draft animals) that the last king had put on them. Rehoboam knew he was in a pickle: if he complied with their request, he was (in effect) accepting the crown on conditional terms; but if he denied their request, he faced the danger of revolt.

Rehoboam took the question to his older advisors first. These were probably those who’d been in office during the days of Solomon; some probably came from the royal family (as Solomon’s half brothers and cousins) and others likely belonged to the civil services. These ‘older men’ – who were experienced in statecraft – advised Rehoboam to be a servant of the people and to accede to their demands; they believed that a little humility shown now could earn Rehoboam a loyal base and consolidate his hold on the kingdom. Solomon’s policies may have enriched Israel, but they’d created a breeding-ground for revolt and discontent. Rehoboam didn’t like this advice, so he turned to the ‘younger men’ of his entourage. These ‘young men’ were likely those who served as Rehoboam’s personal courtiers and counselors; they’d grow up with Rehoboam in Solomon’s harem and were used to the extravagant living of the ‘rich and famous’ they’d enjoyed during Solomon’s reign. They knew that if Rehoboam acceded to northern Israel’s requests, taxes would be reduced – and they, in turn, would have to trim down their extravagant living. They also feared that placating the northern tribes would be a sign of weakness, and that just would not do. The Hebrew wording of Rehoboam’s question to his younger advisors – in effect, ‘Should we do this?’ – hints at Rehoboam’s deep-seeded contempt at northern Israel’s audacity. The younger men insisted that Rehoboam adopt a ‘get tough’ policy; they suggested that he use a proverbial expression – ‘My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father’ – to get the right message across (roughly translated, this is like Rehoboam saying his little finger was thicker than his father’s cock). The idea was that Rehoboam’s weakness would be stronger than his father’s strength. 

Rehoboam 'tells off' the elders of northern Israel

Rehoboam took the advice of his younger men and compatriots, and he replied to the northern Israelite inquest, informing them that whereas his father had chastised them with whips, he would use scorpions. ‘Scorpions’ is probably a reference to a particular kind of whip, one with barbed points resembling the tip of a scorpion’s stinger (as attested in Akkadian literature). The northern tribes had better get in line and get their act together or they’d experience even harsher consequences than they had under Solomon. Thus not only did Rehoboam take the advice of his younger advisors, he took it a step further, promising drastic, scarring punishment if the northern tribes didn’t bend to his will. The northern tribes, unsurprisingly, couldn’t stomach this response, and they defiantly replied to Rehoboam, ‘We’re receiving no consideration from David’s seed, so why should we pay him homage? His tribe is not ours; his interests are not ours. Let the seed of David henceforth reign only over the tribe of Judah!’ The ten tribes of northern Israel thus officially seceded from the lordship of Jerusalem – and henceforth in the biblical narrative they are identified as ‘Israel’ (and then, in the days of the Omride Dynasty and after, ‘Samaria’) as separate from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (which are identified, collectively, as Judah). An enraged Rehoboam sent Adoniram, an aged royal official, to northern Israel to mend the split, but the Israelites killed him. Adoniram’s stoning was like the first shot of a civil war, though it was a sort of poetic justice that the man in charge of public works (including the movement of rocks) died in a hail of stones. Adoniram no doubt had a bad reputation in northern Israel, for he’d been the one who enforced Solomon’s brutal and heavy-handed conscription policies. At the news of Adoniram’s death, Rehoboam planned on retaking northern Israel by military force – but a prophet of Yahweh stopped him, informing him that the split was the will of God. 

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The prophet told Rehoboam that the splitting of the United Kingdom into northern Israel and Judah was the will of God. But why did it happen? There are several answers to this, and they overlap. From an historian’s perspective, the most likely are economic factors, tribal infighting, and political maneuverings. The biblical narrative couches the split as a physical punishment for religious sins. More often than not, Yahweh orchestrates human events to bring about the changes He desires. In a sense (and in an analogy that can only break down the more you look at it), human beings, cultures, and nations are puppets upon God’s strings. He may enact an event for religious reasons, but the tools He uses are often irreligious in nature. Here we will examine the ‘brick-and-mortar’ factors playing into the split of the United Kingdom, and then we will look at why Yahweh orchestrated the split using human means and measures.

The Economic Perspective. Solomon may be hailed as the wisest of the United Monarchy’s kings, but that wisdom had a downside. ‘Wisdom’ as the Bible portrays it isn’t so much ‘knowledge of right living’ as ‘how to live shrewdly.’ Solomon applied his wisdom to Israel’s economics and statecraft, and the result was magnificent – at least for Israel’s economy. The people of Israel, however, had a different take on things. The very policies that vaulted Israel to international prestige also laid a heavy burden on the people. Solomon’s commercial enterprises and building projects – excluding the Temple, for David had provided most of the funds and material needed to construct it – were built on the backs of heavy-handed conscription and burdensome taxes. The northern tribes especially felt this burden, as Judah and Jerusalem were the prized epicenters of the kingdom and received more lax treatment. The complaints and accusations leveled against Rehoboam by the people of northern Israel reveal that one of the driving forces of their secession was a desire for more economic freedom. 

The Tribal Infighting Perspective. One must bear in mind that Israel, collectively, wasn’t a coherent state: she was a patchwork of tribes. In the same way that the United States is a patchwork of state governments in submission to an overarching federal government, so, too, was the case in Israel. Just as the United States’ state governments are often at variance, so, too, was the case with the tribes of Israel. As a case in point, the tribes of Judah and Ephraim (Rehoboam was of Judah; Jeroboam was of Ephraim) had bad history stretching back to the days of Egyptian bondage. Judah, the largest tribe, was given precedence in leading the Israelites in the wilderness; Ephraim, though much smaller, had matching prestige, as she was descended from Joseph’s lineage and had been given special honor by the patriarch Jacob. Joshua, the last great leader of pre-monarchial Israel, had been from Ephraim. In Judges, Ephraim’s pride rears its ugly head in the stories of the judges Gideon and Jephthah; in the monarchial period, this enmity was heightened when God chose Saul from the tribe of Benjamin (a small tribe wedged between Judah and Ephraim). After Saul’s death, when David was crowned king, Ephraim and the northern tribes pledged allegiance to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son; during Absalom’s rebellion and the rebellion of Sheba of Benjamin, the northern tribes turned against Judah. Jeroboam was just one of many who wanted to wiggle free of Judean domination, and when Solomon’s son showed no tact in dealing with the northern tribes, he exacerbated a long-lasting and deep-seeded situation, inflamed already broiling tribal jealousies, and opened the door to the inevitable split of the United Kingdom.

The Political Perspective. A more recent analysis of the split of the United Kingdom focuses not on the immediate parties involved but on a rising force to the west: the 22nd Egyptian dynasty and its clever-minded ruler, Pharaoh Shoshenq I (called ‘Shishak’ in the biblical narratives). Shoshenq had inherited a weakened Egyptian state, and if he wanted to bring it back to prominence, he had to deal with Israel. The Solomonic Empire – along with David’s continuing Tyro-Israel Alliance – had crippled Egyptian dominance in the region. Shoshenq may have put money and agents into catapulting Israel into civil war; with the kingdom weakened by infighting, he could launch a marauding invasion and bring her northeastern neighbor to her knees. The Bible tells us that Jeroboam found sanctuary with Shoshenq, and he may have even had financial support from the pharaoh. Shoshenq wouldn’t have harbored Jeroboam out of the goodness of his heart: he was looking to counter the Solomonic Empire that was putting a dent in his ambitions of a glorious new dynasty. When news came that Solomon was on his deathbed, Shoshenq may have dispatched Jeroboam with some pretty pennies and shrewd undercover Egyptian agents to enact a change in Israel’s status quo. He may have financed Jeroboam’s revolt and helped to win Jeroboam favors and support from the Israelite elders via monetary enticements. Though the biblical text doesn’t explicitly say this, the fact that Jeroboam side-stepped – without any attempt to oppose – Shoshenq’s raids of northern Israel around 935 BC hints at some sort of deal struck: if Jeroboam were successful, Shoshenq may have required him to ‘step aside’ when the Egyptians raided northern Israel; Egypt would need to make good on their financial losses in financing the insurrection, anyways. Judah put up a fight against Pharaoh Shoshenq but Jeroboam didn’t; because Jeroboam was a new king – the first of northern Israel – it would’ve made sense for him to at least make a show of opposing the foreign invader; the fact that he didn’t implies that he knew what was coming, that the elders of northern Israel were keyed in to the fact; they suffered the humiliation because they had no choice – it may have been the price of their autonomy. In this sense, then, the split of the United Kingdom may have been prompted by an outsider who wanted to fracture Israel in order to advance an Egyptian agenda. 

The Undercurrent: Religious Corruption. The biblical narrative explicitly links the degradation of Solomon’s kingdom with his many wives. Solomon, in marrying lots of women (especially foreigners), was just doing what he felt needed to be done to keep his kingdom on the right track. In his day and age, nations and commerce were often evaluated by the size of the royal harem. Solomon, who was hailed as the most well-to-do ruler of his time, was expected to keep a large harem. His marriages, however, didn’t just earn Israel prestige; they also served a political rule: marital alliances built peace with one’s neighbors. By marrying lots of foreign princesses, he was able to secure the Pax Hebraica (the Hebrew Peace). Solomon’s marriages to princesses from Egypt, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Phoenicia, and the Hittite states helped to establish and pacify Israel’s borders. Egypt was located to the southwest; Edom, Moab, and Ammon were to the east; the Phoenician city-states were to the northwest; and the Hittite city-states lie to the far north. If other princesses were daughters of Arab sheiks and tribal chiefs located south of Judah and in the city-states of inner Syria (Aram), then his marriage alliances would’ve ringed Israel with friendly borders and helped cement her subject states as part of the Hebrew Empire. Peaceful borders meant peaceful trade, and peaceful trade meant an ever-increasing national wealth. Thus Solomon’s marriages served multiple purposes for the operation of the Israelite state, but they came with a heavy downside: Solomon’s foreign wives worshipped other gods, and over time Solomon’s fidelity to Yahweh eroded. Solomon followed international custom by building shrines for his wives to worship their foreign gods, but the Hebraic language in the text implies that he went much further and involved himself in their pagan worship. Some of his wives worshipped detestable gods: he tolerated the worship of Ashtoreth (a.k.a. Ishtar, Astarte, and Venus) who was a goddess of sex and war (the Bible alters her name from Astarte to Astoreth by vocalizing with the vowels of the Hebrew word bosheth, meaning ‘shame’). Solomon tolerated the worship of Chemosh, the national god of Moab, who was sometimes worshipped with child sacrifices. Molech (or Moloch) was an Ammonite deity who could also be worshipped with child sacrifice. Solomon built high places for Chemosh and Molech on the Mount of Olives (1 Kings 11.7). Anath, Astarte, and Asherah were three Canaanite goddesses of sex and war that weren’t always indistinguishable; these fertility goddesses serve as ‘sacred prostitutes,’ and the immorality of Canaanite religion, with its male and female prostitution, was far worse than elsewhere in the Near East of Solomon’s day. The worship of Canaanite gods had been present in Canaan before the Conquest, and though it’d been almost abolished under Saul and David, it began making a comeback under Solomon and would plague both Israel and Judah henceforth. The Bible states that Solomon’s kingdom would be torn because of his toleration (and, dare we say it, participation in) pagan religion. Though God no doubt used human means to orchestrate the split of the kingdom, the main catalyst behind it was the divinely-wrought punishment on Solomon and his dynasty for his religious corruption.

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Eight of Judah’s nineteen kings (plus one queen) would be identified as ‘good’ in that they tried to adhere to the Mosaic Law and, to some extent, follow God’s decrees. In contrast to this, none of northern Israel’s kings would be called good. The House of David in Judah would rule about 415 years, from around 1010 BC (an approximate date for David’s crowning as king) to 586 BC (the end of the Kingdom of Judah); this 415 rule would be broken by a short interregnum by Queen Athaliah, but excepting this, the House of David lasted over four centuries. This is a remarkable achievement: of all the ancient Near Eastern dynasties we know of, only one other dynasty – that of the Assyrian dynasty that vaulted Assyria to the height of her power and which lasted 471 years – had such a long rule. Given Judah’s relative weakness, a dynasty of 415 years is incredible; even more so, in all of world history, a family rule of 415 years is seldom surpassed. 

In contrast to this, Israel had five dynasties with four unaffiliated kings (Zimri, Shallum, Pekah, and Hoshea). The five dynasties of Israel were the House of Jeroboam (which included Jeroboam I and Nadab), the House of Baasha (which included Baasha and Elah), the House of Omri (also known as the Omrides, which included Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, and Queen Athaliah of Judah), the House of Jehu (which included Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah), and the House of Gadi. The nineteen Israelite kings came from nine different families, and eight of its kings were either assassinated or committed suicide. Six of Israel’s kings died by assassination and a seventh probably did; an eighth died by suicide during a rebellion; a ninth died in battle, and the last was taken prisoner at the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians in 722 BC. Thus only ten (or half) of the Israelite monarchs died a natural death while in power. In addition to this, there were three ‘mass executions’ of entire dynastic lineages by usurping kings. The constant overturn in Israelite dynasties was largely due to unending turmoil from the competing interests of the various tribes with their individual agendas and jealousies; these fueled the political and social factions and rivalries for the throne. This dynastic instability is highlighted in the fact that Israel had four capitals during its tenure (Shechem, Penuel, Tirzah, and Samaria) whereas Judah only had one. 

In Judah, the name of the king’s mother is given for every king, likely because the position of Queen Mother was influential in the southern kingdom. The Judean kings, though faring far better than those of Israel, weren’t spectacular when it came to adherence to God’s Law. In general terms, Judah’s kings and her people didn’t regularly practice the national observances and festivals prescribed in the Law. Only two special Passovers are singled out: one in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chron 30) and one in the days of Josiah (2 Chron 34). Regular observance of the Sabbath isn’t mentioned. The Law wasn’t regularly taught; it’s noteworthy when kings (such as Jehoshaphat) instituted programs to actually teach the Law; and the Law even disappeared for a time, being rediscovered during the reign of Josiah around 620 BC (2 Kings 22). The Temple wasn’t properly maintained, and at times kings stripped its revenues and gold to pay tribute to foreign invaders. During much of Judah’s history, idolatry was rampant and Yahweh was displeased. It was this rampant idolatry and stubbornness towards God that would result in Judah being ‘divinely disciplined’ and cast into Babylonian exile in 586 BC. 

The United Monarchy: An Overview

To understand the Divided Kingdom, one must grasp that which preceded it: the United Monarchy. When Yahweh led the Israelites out of Egypt in the Exodus and settled them in the land of Canaan during the Conquest, He intended to rule over them in a theocracy: Yahweh was their king, and when they needed help, He would raise judges to deliver them. These judges served judicial and combat purposes: they upheld God’s Law in the land, arbitrated disputes (both religious and civil), and led God’s people-in-arms against their oppressors. The people didn’t like this set-up; they wanted to be like the pagan nations around them who were ruled by kings. The Book of Judges details twelve judges who served Israel, and in 1 Samuel we meet the thirteenth (and last) judge who is named, unsurprisingly, Samuel. It is to Samuel that the people petition Yahweh for a king, and Yahweh relents – He gives them what they want. 

~  King Saul  ~

the devolution of King Saul

The first King of Israel was ‘Saul.’ It’s likely this wasn’t his real name; it was probably a nickname meaning ‘you got what you asked for.’ The Israelites wanted a king, and they got what they asked for – and it didn’t turn out the way they hoped. Though the early years of Saul’s reign were good, he went off the rails towards the middle and end, and when he died by his own hand after getting trounced by the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, Israel was in a worse state than before. Saul reigned from around 1050 to 1010 BC, and he faced two main enemies: an assemblage of pagan nations in the Transjordan and the Philistines of old. The Philistines were a warrior race known in many ancient accounts as the ‘sea peoples’ because they came from the sea; like the Greeks, they liked to play games on the battlefield (such as trial-by-champion) and they adopted the Greek concept of ‘baleful wrath,’ a method whereby they got their adrenaline pumping by banging spears, swords, and shields together while screaming bloody hell. Saul was a tall man, standing around 6’6” in a time period when the average Israelite height was between 5’4” and 5’6”. He had the potential to be a good king but lost his way.

Saul’s story has four parts: his rise to power, his greatness, his unmasking, and his lunacy. Saul was a man of false humility; he used a façade of meekness to cover up his insecurities, and though his humility was convincing early in his reign, it was shown to be a put-up job later on. Saul’s story begins in 1 Samuel 9 when Samuel confronts him: Saul had lost a donkey, and his servant couldn’t find it; in lazy desperation Saul and his servant decided to see the seer (Samuel) to determine the donkey’s whereabouts. Samuel met them at the gates of the city and gave Saul a cryptic message: ‘You are the one who is desired in all Israel.’ Saul’s response was humble; he and Samuel hung out for a while, and Samuel gave him food as an act of hospitality. The next day Samuel poured oil on Saul’s head, kissed him out of reverent respect, and prophesied lots of trivial stuff (except for Saul’s joining a band of prophets). Samuel prophesied the small things to show that Yahweh was in control of even the smallest things and can turn them into great things. Later on, as Saul was walking through a Philistine garrison, the Spirit of God came upon him and he began prophesying; in a show of God’s power, the Philistines did nothing to him, and he walked out of there unharmed. In 1 Samuel 10 Samuel proclaimed Saul as king, but Saul was hiding among the baggage; this has been interpreted as an instance of his timidity or as a show of humility – ‘That chap sure is a humble fellow!’

Saul, as king, made leaps and bounds. When ‘Snake the Ammonite’ besieged an Israelite town, the residents promised they’d surrender shortly if Snake let their messengers go to try and find help. Snake, thinking that no help would come, sensed an easy capitulation with no losses of his men and lots of loot, and so he agreed. The Israelite messengers spread through Israel, calling for help. King Saul was plowing his field when a messenger reached him; he seemed humble, taking care of his field rather than making someone else do it. The messenger informed Saul of what was happening. Saul, mortified, cut up his own oxen and sent the pieces to all the tribes of Israel, declaring that whoever didn’t join him and Samuel against Snake the Ammonite would end up just like the oxen, sliced to pieces! As king he had the power to do it, too. This was Saul’s moment to shine, to show the Israelites that he could be a good king, and thousands of Israelites took up arms against Snake and slaughtered the Ammonites. It was clear, then, that Saul had the potential to be a good king – and he kept up a string of victories. But as he accumulated laurels, his character began to deteriorate; perhaps the power, prestige, and recognition got to his head, corrupting him. He ended up taking credit for other peoples’ victories (even those of his son Jonathan), and his timidity got the best of him: he became a coward before his enemies, and he was frightened by his own subjects.

Saul kills himself after defeat at Mount Gilboa

It’s no surprise, then, that in 1 Samuel 15 Yahweh said He regretted making Saul king. Saul served himself for his own glory and gain; he didn’t serve God. He compounded this sin by shoving the blame for his mistakes on others, and he turned from God and His ways to seek his own fortune. Samuel brought Saul out on the carpet, informing him that God wasn’t happy and He was withdrawing His support. Saul responded first in anger, and then he played the penitent, remorseful sinner; but Samuel saw through his lies (as seers tend to do) and called him out as a fake. Saul grabbed Samuel by the jacket, tearing his cloak; Samuel told him, ‘Just as my cloak has torn, so your kingdom shall be given to another.’ That ‘other’ was a shepherd boy named David. At this point Saul plummeted into episode of lunacy; the Holy Spirit abandoned him, and an ‘evil spirit’ entered him. He neglected the reign of his kingdom in the pursuit of the supposed usurper, and his reign ended with a bloody death on the battlefield against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. 

~  King David  ~

King David is THE character of the Old Testament. Not only is he viewed as the greatest king who ever ruled Israel, but he also serves as an antitype of Christ: he prepares the people for the Messiah through a ‘now but not yet’ image of the coming Christ. The first half of David’s life prepares the reader for the coming Messiah who will rescue Yahweh’s people and reign over all the nations, even the world; the second half of his life shows that David is not the Messiah that everyone’s hoping for. David’s life was a rise of glory shattered by great sin that warranted punishment through the end of his life; David’s rise of glory points us to Christ, and his failure shows us that he was not the Messiah and that the Messiah was still to come. Yahweh made a covenant with David – called the Davidic Covenant – in which God promised that David and his family-line would be God’s earthly representatives. It was prophesied that a king of David’s line would rule for all eternity; though the last royal descendant of David was King Zedekiah in 586 BC, Jesus, a descendant of David, is the eternal king.

David was born to a wealthy businessman named Jesse who lived in the small town of Bethlehem. David’s job was to watch the family’s sheep. He was tasked with shepherding duty when the rest of his family partied, and he had to watch the sheep when Israel’s great judge and prophet Samuel came to visit. Even before Samuel’s visit David possessed divinely-inspired powers: he was able to kill lions and bears with his bare hands (both lions and bears lived in Israel at the time, and would continue to do so into the Middle Ages), and he was exquisitely skilled in music, able to play instruments, sing, and compose masterpieces on the spot. Though these peculiarities showed that God was with him in a unique way, no one – especially his family – noticed. Thus it came as quite the shock when Samuel came by their lodgings and announced that Yahweh had chosen David – the weakling and runt of the House of Jesse – to be Israel’s next king. 

David and Goliath

Saul had been rejected by God and overcome by an evil spirit, and Samuel was tasked with choosing a new king to replace Saul; once anointed, it wasn’t long before David became Saul’s court musician. He filled this niche by an act of God: whenever David played music, the evil spirit left Saul. No other musician could accomplish this, for it wasn’t the music but God working in the music that effected the change, so the court was no doubt glad to have David commissioned. David rose in rank within Saul’s court; he went from the royal musician to Saul’s personal armor-bearer, and be became nationally renowned for his valiant skills in combat – previously attested by his skill in slaying lions and bears – after defeating a Philistine champion in a trial-by-combat. Goliath – which is a title meaning ‘Giant’ rather than a personal name – towered at nine feet above the (likely) 5’5” David. David distracted the giant with a stick, killed him with a sling, and humiliated the Philistines. Saul knew who David was, but after the episode he asked for David’s identity: he may have forgotten, or perhaps lunacy had settled upon him, and who dares to correct a lunatic king? David’s prowess against Goliath vaulted him into the upper echelons of the Israelite army. He befriended Saul’s son Jonathan, and the two of them formed an intimate ‘Band of Brothers’ camaraderie (this was, it should be noted, genuine friendship rather than defiled friendship, as some like to argue to advance their secular ideologies). David and Jonathan forged not one but two covenants of friendship, and David was brought to maniacal tears after Jonathan’s death alongside his father at Mount Gilboa. 

Long before Jonathan’s death, however, Saul became jealous of David’s growing notoriety and accurately perceived him as a threat to his throne. Saul knew Yahweh had rejected him, but he hoped to stem the tide or even to counteract God’s plans. He tried assassinating David multiple times, and eventually David was forced to flee Saul’s army. He and his friends spent several years dodging Saul’s hunting parties, even (for a time) seeking sanctuary with Israel’s hated neighbors, the Philistines. While cozying up with the Philistines, David was rather duplicitous: he used Philistia as a base for operations against Israel’s enemies, especially those who opposed her in the south, but he told the Philistines that he was fighting Israel. Multiple times David had the opportunity to assassinate Saul, but he refused, because Saul had been anointed by God; the one time he did touch Saul, he exposed himself and asked forgiveness. David was convinced that Yahweh would eventually deal with Saul; David didn’t need to badger his way to the throne. It was in exile that David wrote many of his psalms of lament.

Jerusalem around 1000 BC

Following Saul’s death, David was crowned King of Judah for seven years. The northernmost tribes of Israel didn’t accept him, but Judah did: Judah was on friendly terms with Benjamin, and David had been active in the area of Judah during his exile, fighting against Judah’s immediate enemies. He’d garnished a great name for himself, unspoiled by Saul’s propaganda machine, and Judah was glad to have him as king. In time David became King of all Israel, and his reign was off to a great start. From the get-go, at the start of his reign over Judah, he worked pragmatically to win the support of many of Saul’s loyalists by lamenting the deaths of Saul and Jonathan and executing Saul’s supposed murderer (a Philistine who lied about killing Saul in the hope of winning favor with the new king). He won further support among northern Israel by giving the reign of the northern tribes to one of Saul’s surviving sons; when that son died, the people of Israel were cool with making David their king. David cared for (without adopting) Jonathan’s orphaned son, and he eventually won over the heart of all Israel. As king he chose a new capital, Jerusalem, which he seized from the Jebusites (it’d been outside Israel’s proper control for a while); Jerusalem was thus a ‘neutral city’ that was easily defensible and lie between Israel and Judah. He started to rebuild the Tabernacle (which had been destroyed by the Philistines), but Yahweh told him to stop because he had blood on his hands: the Temple of God was to be built by a man of peace, not war, in sharp distinction from pagan temples. David enacted a ‘Final Solution’ against Israel’s harshest neighbors, the Philistines: he critically wounded them in countless campaigns, and never again were they able to reach their former glories. No one knows how David did it, but he made the Philistines – some of the toughest warriors in the known world who fought in bloodlust to the death and swore never to surrender – refuse to even pick up their swords!

the murder of Uriah the Hittite

David’s reign started with a meteoric rise, marked by glory upon glory, but when it began to unravel, it did so quickly. This began with a certain episode, a centerpiece in biblical literature, that is the story of David and Bathsheba, in which David ‘takes’ another man’s wife for his own. This wasn’t the first time he did it: he’d already taken Saul’s daughter Michal, who was already married; and then he took the wife of a desert trader named Nabal. This time he took the dear wife of his friend Uriah, one of his ‘Mighty Men’ (a group of his closest warrior cohorts). He slept with Bathsheba and she conceived; fearing that his adultery would be uncovered, he tried to get Uriah to sleep with his wife so that he could claim the son as his own and no one would be the wiser. Uriah, however, was an honorable man, and he refused to take his wife to bed while the soldiers under his command were suffering deprivations in the field. David, feeling cornered, then ordered that Uriah be slain before the walls of an enemy city; if Uriah was dead, he wouldn’t be able to point out that Bathsheba’s son wasn’t his. Thus David was guilty not only of adultery but also murder – and the murder of a dear friend, to cover up his sin. His deceit and scheming only compounded his sin, and the prophet Nathan – who was active throughout David’s reign – confronted him about it and, by use of a parable, tricked David into pronouncing judgment on himself. Though David repented of his sin (his Prayer of Repentance is found in Psalm 51), he still had to bear the consequences of his sin: the child he conceived with Bathsheba died, and three more of David’s sons died; his kingdom was ravaged by civil war; and in his old age, David was unable to get an erection despite his lust. He couldn’t ‘get it up’ even with one of the most beautiful girls of Israel naked by his bedside. Sexual potency was equated with power (as it still is in the Near East today), and David’s impotence carried a signal that he just wasn’t up to the mettle anymore. His frailty prompted a short-lived rebellion by his fourth son, but his later son Solomon – whom he’d later had with Bathsheba – had already been chosen by Yahweh to be the next king of Israel.

~  King Solomon  ~

Solomon was not like his father; he didn't pursue God as David had, and he was more concerned about himself and his prestige than about God and His ways. He was a man enslaved to the pleasures of the world, a man who was both greedy and a prick. Solomon couldn’t compare to David, but then again, no kings would compare to David; the people were always longing for a king like Solomon’s father. Solomon was the last of the three kings of Israel’s Untied Monarchy; the united monarchy would be divided after Solomon’s death, a penalty for how he had flagrantly turned his back on God (though he likely repented in his old age).

Solomon’s story can be told in three parts: his Rise to Power, ‘The List’ of his achievements, and his Fall from Grace. In his rise to power, Solomon was surrounded by adversaries but managed to consolidate his rule by killing three of them and banishing the fourth; in ‘The List’ we have the ‘Acts of Solomon,’ a chronicle of all that Solomon accomplished and praise for his wisdom; and in his Fall from Grace, we find Solomon turning away from God and worshipping pagan deities. Yahweh punished Solomon by raising three adversaries against him and splitting his kingdom after his death. The story of Solomon, as presented in both Kings and Chronicles, gives the reader the bare-boned facts about his reign without offering praise or condemnation of his rule. This leaves the reader to forge his own opinion about Solomon’s ability as king. Though it’s often assumed that Solomon was a good king because he was wise, we mustn’t equate wisdom – which has less to do with ‘right living’ and more about shrewdness in living well – with righteousness. Solomon was definitely wise, rivaling even the extolled Arabian wisdom of his day, but he didn’t apply his wisdom to his own life.

In 1 Kings 1 we’re returned to the last days of the frail and impotent King David. His fourth son Adonijah, not born of Bathsheba, seized the throne. He incorrectly assumed that he would be king, as he was next in the line of succession; given David’s impotence, he assumed the right to rule. He gained a large swathe of followers and claimed to be in control. Many people, even those who had been staunch supporters of David, aligned themselves with Adonijah, and a threat of civil war – like that seen with David’s rebellious son Absalom earlier in David’s reign – loomed over Israel. David’s Mighty Men refused to endorse Adonijah, but the Israelite army under Joab was in Adonijah’s pocket. David was clueless as to what was going on until the prophet Nathan, prompted by Bathsheba, rushed to David’s bedside and told him what was happening. Bathsheba hated the idea of Adonijah becoming king; she wanted Solomon, her flesh and blood, to be on the throne. She had a domineering power over David, and David succumbed; now Bathsheba, formerly the villain, became the hero. Solomon was blessed by David, anointed by the prophets, and made David’s coregent. Adonijah back down, and the threat of war diffused. When David died, he gave a ‘final charge’ to Solomon, imploring him to ‘be a man’ and ‘obey Yahweh.’ Wedged inside David’s charge was the command to deal with some wicked people; Solomon killed three of them (including Adonijah) and banished the fourth (who was a high priest; Solomon knew better than to slay a high priest, one of God’s anointed). 

Solomon's Temple

1 Kings 3-9 gives us a snapshot of Solomon’s accomplishments after consolidating his throne, but the scriptures lack any moral commentary on whether his actions were good or bad. The list shows that good can take place in spite of evil, as good things come despite Solomon’s selfishness. In 1 Kings 3.1 Solomon forged a marriage alliance with Egypt, taking Pharaoh’s daughter as his wife; this shows Solomon’s power and prestige (despite Egypt’s current 21st dynasty being weak), and in the eyes of the world it’s a good and wise deed – but in God’s eyes, it was a bad decision (Deuteronomy 17.14-17). In 1 Kings 3.5-9 we find Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, and later in the chapter we see that he brings justice even to the outcasts; this is all well and good, but though he can apply wisdom in his law courts and in the management of Israel, he failed to apply it to his own life. His greed is highlighted in 1 Kings 4: he takes, takes, and then takes some more, just as Yahweh warned would happen to the Israelites if they had a king. Solomon’s expansive building projects – which highlighted his power and prestige – drained Israel’s coffers, and he levied huge taxes that became a burden to the lower class; this burden would become pivotal in spreading discontent in the days of coming civil war. Though Solomon followed his father’s footsteps in conscripting foreigners within Israel’s borders to serve as forced labor, he went even further in forcing Israelites to work for him for free two months out of the year. Though Solomon – a ‘man of peace’ unlike his father – built the Temple (1 Kings 5-6), he paid more attention to the building of his palace (and even built himself numerous palaces). It took four years for Solomon to build the Temple, but it took thirteen to build his main palace. This highlights how Solomon was selfish and self-absorbed, caring more for himself than for God. The building of his palace in the first half of 1 Kings 7 is sandwiched between the building of the Temple and the Ark going into the Temple along with the Temple’s dedication; this forms a chiasm, in which the reader is drawn to that which is in the middle. Without outright saying it, the text focuses on Solomon’s palace because that was where he put his focus. In 1 Kings 9 we see that Solomon’s wisdom is a blessing to foreign nations, but, again, he failed to apply it to his own life. Solomon’s accomplishments must be read in the context of Ecclesiastes 2; when asking, ‘Why did Solomon do so much?’ the answer is that he was wholly selfish and self-absorbed.

Solomon's Palace

It’s not surprising, then, that Solomon ‘fell’ from God. He was woman-crazy and had a bad case of ‘jungle fever’: he loved exotic women, and though it’s been argued that his many marriages to foreign women were the result of alliances rather than desire (as was common in the ancient Near East), 1 Kings tells us straightaway that he loved foreign women and was more than happy to take them as his own despite God’s decrees. Though these marriages no doubt served political ends, they were more than that, too. Solomon even went as far as worshipping his wives’ gods in order to appease them, building temples to pagan gods so that his wives could worship as they pleased. He built shrines to Molech and Dagon, foreign gods who desired child sacrifice. As king he would undergo the greatest acts of worship to these pagan gods; the gods mentioned in 1 Kings are all gods who claimed child sacrifice as the pinnacle of worship. Though the text doesn’t say it outright, it’s implied that Solomon took Israelite children, aged zero to four years of age, burned them alive, placed their remains in jars, and buried them in gardens dedicated to the pagan gods. Yahweh, of course, was immensely angry with Solomon (the narrative doesn’t tell us that God was merely displeased but that He burned in anger). Thus God raised three enemies against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, a rebel bent on reclaiming Edom from Israelite lordship; Rezon, a warlord in Damascus; and Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

Jeroboam, unlike Hadad and Rezon, was an internal enemy. Jeroboam was an Ephraimite from the insignificant village of Zeradah. His mother’s name, Zeruah, meant ‘leper,’ and she was a widow; the scriptures may record these facts to highlight Jeroboam’s humble origins. The Ephraimites were a proud people to begin with, and Jeroboam had reason to be even prouder: he was a great and feared warrior (Hebrew gibbor), so it’s not surprising that he took offense when Solomon conscripted him to become a measly slave-master overseeing forced conscription on Jerusalem’s fortifications. Jeroboam, skilled in the art of war and clinging to fierce honor, was infuriated at such treatment and stewed against the king. Sensing unrest among his fellow workmen, he ‘lifted up his hand against the king’: he didn’t just foment rebellion, he actually did it. This brief phrase in scripture is the only mention of his insurrection, which took place around the twenty-fifth year of Solomon’s reign, hinting that it was short-lived. A prophet named Ahijah the Shilonite (from the town of Shiloh) confronted Jeroboam in a field outside the city. The prophet wore a new outer garment which he tore into twelve pieces; he instructed Jeroboam to take hold of ten of the pieces, symbolizing the ten tribes that God would tear from the hands of Solomon. Israel has always been counted as twelve tribes, but there’s a bit of mathematical hoops involved: since the tribe of Joseph had been divided into two – Ephraim and Manasseh – the total should’ve risen to thirteen. However, the tribe of Levi – who were tasked with bearing the religious honors of the Israelites – was scattered throughout the other tribes where they performed their priestly functions. Thus there were twelve tribes with land allotted to them. Jeroboam would reign over the so-called ‘ten lost tribes of Israel;’ Judah and Benjamin would continue to be ruled by a king of the House of David. 

Solomon squashed the rebellion before it could blow up, and Jeroboam fled to Pharaoh Shoshenq I. The fact that Shoshenq granted asylum to the fugitive shows he was no friend of Solomon; Solomon’s Egyptian wife came from the last dynasty, whereas Shoshenq initiated a new dynasty, the 22nd. The 21st Egyptian dynasty had been weak; Shoshenq aimed to bring Egypt back to its former glory, and he harbored Jeroboam because he thought he might be useful. This would prove to be a good move for the forward-thinking pharaoh. Solomon died shortly after Jeroboam’s flight to Egypt. Solomon had only one son, Rehoboam, who would succeed him on the throne and inherit an Israel ripping at the seams. Rehoboam would botch any hope of diplomacy, and the kingdom would split from underneath him. It’s telling that Solomon only had one son but a litany of daughters; the king who abused women mostly had daughters, which (in that culture) portrayed a sense of shame on his family name.

Interestingly, nowhere in scripture is Solomon pictured as being in heaven. This raises the question: ‘Did Solomon die an evil man consigned to eternal destruction?’ Some argue this to be the case, but others believe he repented before his death. Though neither Kings nor Chronicles mentions Solomon’s repentance, it’s attested in Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, and it looks like the king’s ‘deathbed confessional,’ and it reads like a confession of repentance. Jewish tradition has it that Solomon turned back to God at the end of his life and wrote Ecclesiastes as a memoir in which he highlighted his futile pursuits and the key lesson he learned: fear Yahweh and keep His commandments. 

2020: ambitions

Reading. Last year I read 237 books (give or take); this may seem like a hell of a lot, but a lot of them were comics, and those are fast reads. This year I'm shooting for 100 books (non-comics, to be specific). I'll be focusing on historical fiction (particularly of the ancient and Napoleonic variety) and dabbling in fantasy (who knows? maybe I'll like it!). I have several modern science fiction novels to scope out, and of course I have six books for my 'summer westerns' gauntlet. I love pairing them with chili and cornbread. 

Spirituality. This year I'm going to focus on reading the Bible rather than spiritual books. Spiritual books are like cookbooks; the scriptures are actual food. If I time it right I can make it all the way through the Bible, but I plan on going slowly, mulling my way through the gospels and the Pauline epistles, chewing through the minor prophets (and the major ones, too), and drooling over the wisdom literature. The exceptions will be research books geared towards a project I'm working on...

Writing. I haven't finished a book since 2017's 400-page (and ironically named) A Short History of Medieval England. I'm halfway through the next zombie novel of The Procyon Strain Saga, but I've hit a speed-bump of lack of creativity. I may need to hop backwards a bit in the narrative and take the story in a different direction. My main writing goal for 2020, however, is a history of the Divided Kingdom of Israel from 931 to 586 BC. This period of biblical history has always fascinated me, and I've started piecing it together. I've just reached the reign of King Ahab of Israel and it's already clocking in at one hundred pages (and that's without the multiple appendices I plan on weaving through the book). I'd do well not to name this one a 'short history' of anything. 

books read: 2019

This year I set another record: 237 books read!

~  Science and Spirituality ~

THEOLOGY
  The Divine Conspiracy (Dallas Willard, 1998)
  Desiring God (John Piper, 2011)
  The Furious Longing of God (Brennan Manning, 2009)
  Does God Control Everything? (R.C. Sproul, 2012)
  Does Prayer Change Things? (Sproul, 2019)
  Heaven (Randy Alcorn, 2004)
  Supernatural: The Unseen World (Dr. Michael S. Heiser, 2015)
  Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World? (Tom Doyle, 2012)
CHRISTIAN LIVING
  The Five Love Languages (Gary Chapman, 2015)
  Prevailing Prayer (Dwight L. Moody, 1941)
  Practicing the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence, 2014)
  The Fruitful Life (Jerry Bridges, 2006)
  Disciplines of a Godly Man (R. Kent Hughes, 2006)
  Reforming Marriage: Gospel Living for Couples (Douglas Wilson, 2012)
  Fasting for Breakthrough and Deliverance (John Eckhardt, 2016)
  The Easy Way to Quit Smoking (Allen Carr, 2015)
  Atomic Habits (James Clear, 2017)
CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS
  On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (William Craig, 2010)
  The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel, 2016)
  The Case for a Creator (Strobel, 2004)
  The Case for Faith (Strobel, 2014)
  The Case for Miracles (Strobel, 2018)
  Darwin's House of Cards (Tom Bethell, 2016)
  Darwin on Trial (Philip E. Johnson, 1988)
  Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis (Michael Denton, 2016)
  Evolution's Final Days (John Morrison, 2019)
  Heretic: One Scientist's Journey from Darwinism to Design (Matti Leisola, 2018)
THE DINOSAURIA
  The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World (Steve Brusatte, 2019)
  Dinosaurus: The Complete Guide to Dinosaurs (Steve Parker, 2006)
  Feathered Dinosaurs (Christopher Sloan, 2000)
  Feathered Dinosaurs: The Origin of Birds (Thom and Laurie Holmes, 2002)
  Prehistoric World: Triassic Life (Dougal Dixon, 2006)
  Coelophysis (Susan H. Gray, 2004)

~  History ~ 

THE ANCIENT WORLD
  The Encyclopedia of Classic Warfare (ed. Jack Watkins, 2011)
  Egypt: A Short History (Robert L. Tignor, 2011)
  Greece and Rome at War (Peter Connelly, 2016)
  The Rise of Athens (Anthony Everitt, 2017)
  The Peloponnesian Wars (Captivating History, 2019)
  Late Antiquity (Gillian Clark, 2011)
  Byzantium (Peter Sarris, 2015)
  Ancient Rome
    The Legionary (Connelly, 1998)
    The Cavalryman (Connelly, 1989)
    Uniforms of the Roman World (Kevin F. Kiley, 2013)
    The Rise and Fall of the Roman Kingdom (Victor Miller, 2015)
    The Roman Republic (David M. Gwynn, 2012)
    The Punic Wars: Rome, Carthage, and the Struggle for the Mediterranean
      (Nigel Bagnall, 2005)
    The Roman Empire (Christopher Kelly, 2006)
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD
  The History of the Middle Ages: 500 AD to 1500 AD (i60Learning, 2018)
  Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels (Antonio Santosuosso, 2004)
  Fighting for Christendom: Holy War and the Crusades
    (Christopher Tyerman, 2005)
  The Greatest Knight: the Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind
    Five English Thrones (Thomas Asbridge, 2014)
  Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe (Nancy Goldstone, 2007)
THE EARLY MODERN WORLD
  1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (Charles C. Mann, 2006)
  Empires of the Sea: the Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest
    for the Center of the World (Crowley, 2009)
  The Tudors: the Untold Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty
    (G.J. Meyer, 2011)
  Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe
    (Sarah Gristwood, 2016)
  Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent, and
    the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe (John Julius Norwich, ??)
  American Colonies (Alan Taylor, 2002)
THE MODERN WORLD
  The Napoleonic Wars (Mike Rapport, 2013)
  The Mexican-American War (John DiConsiglio, 2014)
  A Night to Remember: The Sinking of the Titanic (Walter Loyd, 2014)
  The First World War
    A Very Simple History of World War One (Brian Eisenbise, 2018)

    Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (Erik Larson, 2016)

    To End All Wars: The Graphic Anthology of the First World War
      (Soaring Penguin Press, 2014)
    Sagittarius Rising (Cecil Lewis, 2014)
  The Second World War
    D-Day Through German Eyes (Holger Eckhertz, 2015)
    Tiger Tracks: The Classic Panzer Memoir (Wolfgang Faust, 2016)
    The Things Our Fathers Saw: Voices of the Pacific Theater (Matthew Rozel, 2017)
    Voices of the Pacific (Adam Makos, 2014)
    The Battle of Wake Island (Charles River, 2019)
    The Aleutian Islands Campaign (River, 2019)
    Coral Sea 1942: Turning the Tide (Freeman, 2019)
    Incredible Victory: the Battle of Midway (Lord, 1998)
    Torpedo 8 (Ira Wolfert, 2019)
    Iwo Jima (Hourly History, 2019)

~  Fiction & Literature  ~

HISTORICAL FICTION
  Historical Fiction of the Ancient World 
    The Eagle's Prey (Simon Scarrow, 2004)

    The Eagle's Prophecy (Scarrow, 2005)
    Eagle in the Sand (Scarrow, 2008)
    War of the Wolf (Bernard Cornwell, 2018)
  Historical Fiction of the American Civil War Era

    Gone for Soldiers (Jeff Shaara, 2003)
    Rebel (Cornwell, 2001)

    Copperhead (Cornwell, 2001)
    Battle Flag (Cornwell, 2001)
    The Bloody Ground (Cornwell, 1996)
    Gettysburg (N. Gingrich & W. Forstchen, 2004)
    The March (E.L. Doctorow, 2006)
  Historical Fiction of the Napoleonic Era
    Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, 1794 (C.S. Forester, 1950)
    Sharpe's Enemy: The Defence of Portugal, 1812  (Cornwell, 1984)
    The Ionian Mission, 1813 (Patrick O'Brian, 1980)
    Treason's Harbour, 1813 (O'Brian, 1983)
    Sharpe's Honour: The Vitoria Campaign, 1813 (Cornwell, 1985)
    The Far Side of the World, 1813 (O'Brian, 1984)
    Sharpe's Regiment: The Invasion of France, 1813 (Cornwell, 1986)
    The Reverse of the Medal, 1813 (O'Brian, 1992)
    The Letter of Marque, 1813 (O'Brian, 1988)
    Sharpe's Siege: The Winter Campaign, 1814 (Cornwell, 1987)
A GAUNTLET OF FICTION
  Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time (James Gurney, 2011)
  Dinotopia: The World Beneath (Gurney, 2012)
  Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara (Gurney, 2017)
  A Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martin, 1996)
  Comfort to the Enemy (Elmore Leonard, 2010)
  Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton, 1990)
  The Midnight Watch (David Dyer, 2017)
  Phantoms (Dean Koontz, 2002)
  Redwall (Brian Jacques, 2002)
  I Am Death (Chris Carter, 2017)
  White Plague (James Abel, 2015)
  Trial By Fire (Coyle, 1992)
  Golden Buddha (Clive Cussler, 2007)
  Sacred Stone (Cussler, 2004)
  Dark Watch (Cussler, 2011)
  The Silent Sea (Cussler, 2017)
  Six Years (Harlan Coben, 2013)
  Ashfall (Mike Mullin, 2012)
  It (Stephen King, 1986)
  The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson, 1959)
  Bird Box (Josh Malerman, 2014)
  The Amityville Horror (Jay Janson, 2005)
  The Call of Cthulu (H.P. Lovecraft, 2011)
  A Head Full of Ghosts (Peter Tremblay, 2016)
  The Winter People (Jennifer McMahon, 2016)
  Science Fiction and Fantasy
    Starship Troopers (Robert A. Heinlein, 1959)
    Forty Signs of Rain (Kim Stanley Robinson, 2005)
    The Forge of God (Greg Bear, 1987)
    New Earth (Bova, 2013)
    Earth Unaware (Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, 2012)
    Earth Afire (Card & Johnston, 2013)
    Earth Awakens (Card & Johnston, 2014)
    Ender's Game (Card, 1994)
    The Gunslinger (Stephen King, 1982)
    The Drawing of the Three (King, 1987)
    The Waste Lands (King, 1991)
    The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
      Drive (2012)
      The Butcher of Anderson Station (2011)
      Leviathan Wakes (2011)
      Caliban's War (2012)
      Gods of Risk (Corey, 2012)
      Abaddon's Gate (Corey, 2013)
      The Churn (James S.A. Corey, 2014)
      Cibola Burn (Corey, 2014)
    Star Wars Legends
      The Truce at Bakura (Kathy Tyers, 1994)
      Rogue Squadron (Michael A. Stackpole, 1996)
      X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble (Stackpole, 1996)
      X-Wing: The Krytos Trap (Stackpole, 1996)
      X-Wing: The Bacta War (Stackpole, 1997)
      X-Wing: Wraith Squadron (Aaron Allston, 1998)
      Thrawn (Timothy Zahn, 2019)
  American Westerns
    Aces and Eights (Loren D. Estleman, 1981)
    The Long High Noon (Estelman, 2015)
    Bloody Season (Estleman, 1988)
    The High Rocks (Estleman, 1979)
    Stamping Ground (Estleman, 1981)
    Murdock's Law (Estleman, 1987)
    The Stranglers (Estleman, 1984)
    City of Widows (Estleman, 1994)
    The Hell Bent Kid (Charles O. Locke, 2018)
    True Grit (Charles Portis, 2010)
    The Kid (Ron Hansen, 2019)
    The Sisters Brothers (Patrick Dewitt, 2012)
    Hell's Half Acre: The  Butcher of Baxter Pass (William Johnstone, 2017)
    Glorious (Jeff Guinn, 2014)
    Buffalo Trail (Guinn, 2016)
    Silver City (Guin, 2017)
    Dance on the Wind (Terry C. Johnston, 2010)
    Buffalo Palace (Johnston, 1997)
  The Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
    The Rapture: In the Twinkling of an Eye (2007)
    Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days (1995)
    Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind (1996)
    Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist (1997)
    Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides (1999)
    Apollyon: The Destroyer is Unleashed (2000)
    Assassins: Assignment: Jerusalem; Target: Antichrist (2000)
    The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession (2000)
    The Mark: The Beast Rules The World (2000)
    Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne (2001)
    The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon (2002)
    Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle of the Ages (2003)
    Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (2004)
    Kingdom Come: The Final Victory (2007)
  The Animorphs Series by K.A. Applegate

    The Invasion (1996)
    The Visitor (1996)
    The Encounter (1996)
    The Message (1996)
    The Predator (1996)
    The Capture (1997)
    Megamorphs: The Andalite's Gift (1997)
    Megamorphs: In the Time of the Dinosaurs (1998)
  The Walking Dead Graphic Novels
    Days Gone Bye (2004)
    Miles Behind Us (2004)
    Safety Behind Bars (2005)
    The Heart's Desire (2005)
    The Best Defense (2006)
    This Sorrowful Life (2007)
    The Calm Before (2007)
    Made To Suffer (2008)
    Here We Remain (2009)
    What We Become (2009)
    Fear The Hunters (2010)
    Life Among Them (2010)
    Too Far Gone (2010)
    No Way Out (2011)
    We Find Ourselves (2011)
    A Larger World (2012)
    Something to Fear (2012)
    What Comes After (2013)
    March to War (2013)
    All Out War: Part One (2014)
    All Out War: Part Two (2014)
    A New Beginning (2014)
    Whispers Into Screams (2015)
    Life and Death (2015)
    No Turning Back (2015)
    Call to Arms (2016)
    The Whisperer War (2017)
    A Certain Doom (2017)
    Lines We Cross (2018)
    New World Order (2018)
    The Rotten Core (2019)
    The Road Back (2019)
    Falling Into Place (2019)
    Lines Are Drawn (2019)
    Storm the Gates (2019)
    The Last Stand (2019)
    Aftermath (2019)
    The Farm House (2019)

2019: the year in books

the reformation: new year, new goals

The image above captures, in a way words cannot, just how it feels to break in the New Year after not doing so hot with eating over the holidays. Thankfully there hasn't been any regression, despite there being no progress. I've kept up my workouts, but I've consumed far more sweets than normal (Ash is such a good baker, and she bakes candy, for God's sake!). The real culprit of a lack of progress for two months is more likely the copious amounts of beer I've been drinking. I don't drink much (or, at least, haven't drank much), but two years of near total sobriety ended when I popped open a two-year-old bottle of Great Lakes Christmas Ale during our Thanksgiving celebration. After that it was a downhill spiral. There's no sin it, no drunkenness at all, but it's a habit I don't want to get into, if only because of the monetary ramifications. 

"Are you drinking beer while doing your Bible study?" Absolutely I am!

All that aside, 2019 was a good year for the Reformation.

I lost thirty pounds and made leaps and bounds in weight-lifting.

I'm hoping to lose another ten pounds and double the weight I'm able to lift.

Plowing into 2020 I also want to get back on track with not drinking (or, at least, drinking only a few times a month). I aim to get more adept at deadlifts and their variations. I want to focus more on compound workouts and integrate calisthenics into my routines. I'm also experimenting with intermittent fasting (the good 'old 16/8 window). Everything I do is done from home: I don't have the time nor the money thanks to having children (that's not a complaint: I would much rather have my daughters at my side than have access to a gym). I'm reminded of a quote from It's Good To Be A Man, an organization I'm a part of:

The ungodly thinks, 'Children are a penalty because they get in the way of my pursuit of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.' The godly thinks, 'Children are a blessing because they get in the way of my pursuit of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.'