Upon Solomon’s death the
kingdom split in two.
1 Kings 12:19
19 So Israel
rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
The
northern kingdom was called Israel (it comprised 10 of the tribes), and
the southern kingdom was called Judah (it was comprised of Judah, Levi, and Benjamin). The Northern kingdom (from the
start) was not faithful to God’s instructions.
1 Kings 12:31
31 And
he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the
people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast
in the eighth month, on the
fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he
offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves
that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places
which he had made.
They soon
began to adopt the customs of the nations around them; something God had
specifically told them not to do.
Deuteronomy 12:28
29 When
the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you, whither you
go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwelt in their land;
30 Take heed to yourself that you
be not snared by following them,
after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not
after