Renowned for his wisdom, Solomon ruled over a kingdom finally at peace, allowing him to build a new Jewish temple on Mount Zion. Within it resided the Holy of Holies, which housed the Ark of the Covenant, and priests descended from Aaron offered sacrifices there while the tribe of Levi kept it in working order. Solomon, however, would succumb to the irreligious forces around him, even as God raised up a line of prophets – Elijah and Elisha, Amos, Joel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel – warning of the consequences of Israel’s unfaithfulness. The Israelite kingdom would fall to the Assyrians of Mesopotamia and the Babylonians, and, most heartbreakingly, the temple would be destroyed leaving the Jews yearning for a renewal of their covenant.

While the word "myth" has come to mean "untrue account," we mean something quite different. Throughout the long ages of human life and culture, myth has been a way of expressing deep truths. And so, here, "mythic narrative" means "meaningful account." Indeed, it is an account that might be entirely true... or mostly false... or somewhere in between. We know where we stand, but that's for each listener to discover.

www.primematters.com

A text version of this project is under production by ActsXXIX. See www.primematters.com/text.