Tough-guy king
Judah fortifies cities: King Solomon’s son, Jeroboam, decided to play the tough guy as a new king. When the people of Israel asked him to not tax them as much or draft or work them as hard as his father had done, the king gave his people an answer they didn't like.
He took the advice of his young friends who knew nothing about how to rule a kingdom. The advisors said, “Here’s what you should say: ‘Work? You call that work? You think my father was heavy-handed. Compared to my heavy hand, my father was a pinky finger. He gave you a lot of work. But I’ll give you more than ever. He beat you with ropes. Well, I’ll thread those ropes with chunks of sharp metal.’”
Israel splits in two
Ten of the 12 tribes of Israel left and went home. On their way out they told the king, “Mind your own business.”
Israel split in two, leaving King Solomon’s son with just 2 tribes: Judah and Benjamin.
Suddenly, the king is a bullseye
The new king is suddenly weak and vulnerable to attack by enemies from all directions.
So he fortifies Benjamin’s cities in the north along with cities between himself in Jerusalem and the armies of Philistines, Egyptians, Edom, and Moab.
Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."
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But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.
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