As we mentioned in the first blog, we will share with you the unique story of Samaria. In days to come we will be glad to share with you how God is fulfilling His promises for this area, but we will start from the other end of the timeline - from the beginning.
Nowadays the areas of Judea and Samaria are often spoken in the same sentence. It gives an impression that this area has always been one unity. The impression becomes even stronger when instead of the names Judea and Samaria the area is referred to as “the West Bank” or “Palestinian territories.”
However, Samaria has a different history than Judea and the promises of the Bible are also different.
When the people of Israel came back from Egypt the promised land was divided among the 12 tribes of Israel. The tribe of Judah settled to the area which is called today Judea. The area which we know as Samaria was given to the tribes of Efraim and Manasseh (the sons of Joseph).
400 years later Israel had three kings: Saul, David and Solomon. Under their rule Israel acted as a one nation. However, the Bible tells that even then the nation was built up from two parts. King David was just the king of Judah before the other tribes (called Israel) accepted him as their king too.
“David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.” (2. Sam. 5:4-5 BSB)
After king David the kingdom stayed united only for 40 years, during the rule of king Solomon. It was divided immediately after his death.
Solomon's son Rehoboam rejected the request of the people to reduce taxes, and the 10 northern tribes of Israel abandoned him as their king.
“'What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!' So Israel departed to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.” (1 Kings 12:16-17 NKJV)
Since then there were two kingdoms in Israel.
The tribe of Benjamin, who dwelled between Judea and Samaria followed the tribe of Judah. The kingdom of Judah and Benjamin was called Judah, and the main area of their kingdom was Judea. During their exile in Babylon the people of Judah began to be called 'Jews.'
The ten northern tribes choose Solomon's servant Jeroboam as their king. The kingdom of the 10 tribes was called Israel. The leading tribe among the northern tribes was Efraim, and that's why the Bible refers the kingdom of Israel as 'Efraim', too.
The core area of the kingdom of Israel (Efraim) was Samaria and all its three capitals were there. The area was named Samaria after the name of the last capital city of the northern kingdom.
(The blog continues after the photo.)
The kingdom of Israel started worshiping idols with its first king Jeroboam. God sent prophet after prophet to speak to them (like Amos), but they did not return to God. The kingdom started to crumble around 180 years later and the story of the northern kingdom Israel ended when Samaria (the capital city) surrendered to Assyrian army year 722 BCE after a three years siege.
The story of the kingdom of the ten tribes lasted only 200 years, but the story of Samaria is not over. We'll return to that, Lord willing, in the coming blogs.
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