It's sometime in the mid-900s B.C., Jerusalem, Israel.

The nation is in chaos. King Solomon, maybe the nation's most impressive king in terms of wisdom and splendor, has reached and passed the peak of his greatness; he has recently completed the building of the magnificent Temple, he has become famous throughout the known world for his wisdom, he has "made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem" (1 Kings 10:27). But just when all is nearly perfect, sin creeps in - silent and smooth, like the serpent in the Garden - and God's covenant with Israel demands that He respond to Solomon's rebellion: