Table of Contents
Magazine
Items in the BMC Archive are made publicly available for non-commercial, private use. Inclusion within the BMC Archive does not imply endorsement. Items do not represent the official views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of Book of Mormon Central.
Monte Nyman
Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University
As one reads the brief records in the books of Kings and Chronicles, most of the kings are introduced with a phrase such as “and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,” or “and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.” Saul, David, and Solomon each had their periods of righteousness, and each fell because of evil practices. However, the divided kingdoms really explain why the kings did not succeed in the Old Testament. Of the 17 kings who reigned in divided Israel, Jeroboam, the first to reign, did both good and evil. Thirteen others are labeled as evil, and no comment is made of the other three, but their reigns were short. Of the 20 kings who reigned in the divided kingdom of Judah, nine are labeled as good and nine are labeled as evil. The two who are not labeled also had brief reigns. Each kingdom was destroyed and captured following a number of successive evil kings.
The Book of Mormon gives us a further explanation of this form of government in King Mosiah’s great sermon. (Mosiah 29.) The principles involved include:
The book of Ether is a second witness to these principles. The brother of Jared, when his people desired a king, protested: “Surely this thing leadeth into captivity.” (Ether 6:23.) His prophetic warning was fulfilled in the second generation of monarchy.
Thus, monarchy in the Old Testament period did not work primarily because evil men rose to the throne.
© 2024 Scripture Central: A Non-Profit Organization. All rights reserved. Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 20-5294264