The southern kingdom never experienced much peace but was constantly troubled by coup d'etats and spiritual trouble. From the time of the first king of Israel, the land became spiritually bankrupt. King Jeroboam, first king of the separatist kingdom Israel, set up two altars and golden calves: one in Bethel, on his southern border, and one in Dan, on his northern border; and both on major routes. He set up holidays at the same times as the holidays of God in Judah, and told the people to worship at his statues. He set up priests from whoever among the people wanted to be a priest, instead of the Levites, the family of Moses, who had been keepers of the Torah. Thus, God was alienated from the Kingdom of Israel by their actions.
Ahab, seventh king of Israel, fed as many as 850 prophets of Baal at one time from the royal table. In his time, the prophet Elijah lamented that he was the last person left who followed the true worship of God, and that the king sought to kill him. God revealed to him that there were yet seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal, and at least 1,000 of them were students of the prophets.
God continued to send prophets to Israel, including Elijah, Amos, and Hosea. Yet they continued to rebel. Finally, God had enough with them and sent them into captivity:
2 Kings 17:7 And it was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 8 and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they practised; 9 and the children of Israel did impute things that were not right unto the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city; 10 and they set them up pillars and Asherim upon every high hill, and under every leafy tree; 11 and there they offered in all the high places, as did the nations whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD; 12 and they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them: 'Ye shall not do this thing'; 13 yet the LORD forewarned Israel, and Judah, by the hand of every prophet, and of every seer, saying: 'Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets'; 14 notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their neck, like to the neck of their fathers, who believed not in the LORD their God; 15 and they rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies wherewith He testified against them; and they went after things of nought, and became nought, and after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them; 16 and they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal; 17 and they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and gave themselves over to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him; 18 that the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
At that time, only the people of Judah remained as those who followed the worship of God.
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