"... The reasons for prophecy’s “decline” are subject to debate, but the connection between the monarchies of Judah and of Israel and the prophetic class, in both the northern and southern kingdoms, is often very close and politically charged. Samuel’s dual role in the formation of the monarchy—he is both bitterly opposed to it (1 Samuel 8:4–22) and instrumental in the election of Saul and David to the throne—is often duplicated in later centuries by prophets who are sometimes supportive and at other times contemptuous of the king. Whatever their respective attitudes toward a particular monarch, the prophets are seldom reluctant to intervene in the political intrigues that surround the royal court. Nathan, for example, first announces that God has adopted David as his “son,” promising an eternal dynasty, and then denounces David over his killing of Uriah (2 Samuel 12). Later, Nathan urges Bathsheba to demand that David appoint Solomon as his successor. In the next generation, the prophet Ahijah takes an even more direct role in the disputes between Solomon and northern tribal leaders when he invites Jeroboam to rebel against his royal patron and become king of a breakaway northern kingdom (1 Kings 11:26–40) ..."