In my prior posts I never made much mention of a tragic reality of sin that was a part of Israel's history during this time period: the separation of the kingdom.  Due to the sin of Solomon and his many wives, the kingdom was broken into two parts: Judah and Israel.  In this portion of the reading there is fighting between the two kingdoms, and it really struck me that this was a tragic situation.  The fighting shouldn't have taken place because the kingdom shouldn't have been separated in the first place.  And even beyond that, the fighting itself was a result of sin.  When we choose to ignore God's commands, we face the reality of our choices; always the reality of those choices is a life that is less than what God desires for us.  The people in the two kingdoms faced situations that they would not have had to face if their leaders had fully followed God in the first place.