Divided Kingdoms

Around 925BC King Solomon is coming to the end of his reign. He anoints his son Rehoboam to be ruler, the only problem is King Solomon had heavy labor put on his people and they didn't like him. Rehoboam wasn't going to change much, the people didn't like this.
In 1 Kings 11:30 Prophet Ahijah takes his robe and rent it into 12 pieces. This was a prophecy toward a divided kingdom. Ten of these pieces went to Jeroboam, son of Nebat an Ephraimite. He was seen as a rival of Solomon. The people anointed him to be their king over ten of the kingdoms. Which is the exact number that Ahijah gave him of his robe. He was a wicked man who practiced idolatry, he was also was a construction man that helped finish building the First Temple Jerusalem which is today very impressive to archaeologist. The kingdom was called the Northern Kingdom or Kings of Israel which encompassed Hoshea, Pekah, Pekahiah, and Menahem who are apart of the original 12 tribes that were divided back with King David.
Shechem became the capital of Israel. Israel only lasted 210 years and was invaded by Assyrians in 722BC.

Rehoboam went on to rule over the Southern Kingdom or Kings of Judah. He was also wicked and worshiped false idols. Judah lasted three and half centuries longer than Israel and was invaded by Babylonians in 586BC.
There were many Prophets during this time that were crying repentance. Micah, Isaiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Lehi, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Yes, you saw that, Lehi was one prophet that cried repentance because this is the time that the Book of Mormon came about.
This is an overview of the history of what I am about to embark on with Kings and Chronicles. Now you can grasp a little bit of how I like to study my scriptures. It takes much longer for me to not only obtain this information to to actually understand how the timeline works. I am just very grateful for those who have gone before me in helping me see the big picture. There are a lot of wicked stories coming up, which, we all know will end in the destruction of Jerusalem, which, right now is under King Rehoboam.
One thing to note is before the people entered the promised land (which they are in right now). Moses warned the people just like King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon did about having kings. There were qualifications to being a king under God direction.

1. One chosen by the Lord
2. A member of the house of Israel and not a Gentile
3. One who did not seek to "multiply horses" (Hebrew meaning to make extensive preparations for aggressive warfare)
4. One who would not lead Israel back to Egypt. (Back to worldy ways)
5. One who would not multiply wives and wealth unto himself
6. One who followed the law of God in ruling the people
7. One who kept statutes (covenants in the temple) of God.
(Deuteronomy 17:14-20, Mosiah 23:8; 29:13)

When I look at this list I am drawn to the American world we live in now days. Looking back on history, we've only been a nation shy of 300 years. The Israel nation was demolished in 200 years. This is all because of the leaders that they chose or who were in reign by blood. Who are our leaders for our nation? Many say that it isn't important to vote or part take in politics. God clearly has stated how important our rulers are and we should feel the same. As the first Presidency has come out and said, we need to pray for our leaders and for our Nation.

Pictures: Prophet Ahijah renting his robe and giving Jeroboam ten pieces.
The division of the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, Northern and Southern.