Genesis to Esther Series – LESSON 21

Subject: The Nation Becomes A Kingdom

This nation, who up until now, has not become a kingdom, has now become a kingdom. And so, we have to look at it differently.

I. God Had Chosen This Nation To Be Different

God had chosen this nation of Israel to be different from all other nations,

1. Scriptures

Deuteronomy 7:6

(6) For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

A positive statement. God made choice of the children of Israel to be separate, special unto Him.

Deuteronomy 14:2

(2) For thou art an holy (set apart) people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

It is talking about the nation of Israel, and I repeat the heading. God had chosen this nation to be different among the nations.

Deuteronomy 26:18-19

(19) And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;

(19) And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.

Psalm 135:4

(4) For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

In each one of those passages God talks about Israel as being his peculiar people; not because of their dress, or their outward appearance, but they were to be peculiar because God had chosen them to be different than other people.

2. Israel Typifies The Church

There is no question that Israel typifies the church. I want to show you some New Testament references here.

I am not telling you that you are Israel, but I am telling you that what God did for Israel is to teach us something about ourselves.

1 Peter 2:9

(9) But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

What I want you to notice as I read on, and keep this in mind, what God said about Israel, he says about us. God says they are to be a peculiar people.

John 15:19

(19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

So often we think that if we talk in tongues, for instance, the world won’t like us. If we are too separated, the world won’t love us, but will you notice what that verse says:

God says, I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Can you see an application to the Jewish people? The world hates the Jewish people. It doesn’t matter where you read about them, the world hates them. And why does the world hate them? Because the world knows somehow that they are different, and people don’t like that.

And that is what Jesus is saying to us. Once He saves us, He says He has taken us out, and whether we acknowledge it or not, the unsaved know it? They feel it. When you come around the unsaved, just like they do with the Jew, they do with you. They feel there is something different.

Last Sunday night, I listened to an Evangelist. He preached a powerful sermon; I will try to remember as much as I can. He said, this girl was fifteen, and had been raised in a Christian home. Her parents prayed for her daily. As she was fifteen, she became rebellious; she left home, and lived an immoral life. She went down to the bottom, but her mother just kept on praying.

One of the rock bands came to town, and I hope I’m telling it almost exactly as the preacher told it. What do they do when they come to these towns? I’m so far removed from these things, I didn’t even realize this kind of thing was going on.

What causes a lot of these screaming girls to go? They hand out tickets. After the concert, people who win tickets, are allowed to go backstage and go to bed with these fellows; and anything those beasts want to do, they can do to these girls. This girl, whose mother was praying for her, got one of these tickets along with other girls.

I agree with what the preacher said, “When you find out what goes on behind stage, as well as on stage, you have to believe that some of these men are demon possessed.”

As they started to go, and I am using his words, there was a woman whom I can best describe as a witch who was standing and examining these girls as they went from across the platform, back stage to be with these rock fellows.

As they were going through, this girl came up and the witch put out her hand and said, “You can’t go in there.” It was the girl that the mother was praying for. And the girl said, “Why can’t I go in? I’ve got a ticket.” The witch said, “Are you from a Christian home?” And the girl said, “I’m not a Christian.” The witch said, “That is not what I asked you. My question is, are you from a Christian home?” Finally, the girl had to acknowledge she was; and that witch couldn’t let her pass. There was so much prayer that had gone up on behalf of that child, that they turned her back and wouldn’t let her go in where demons were at work.

I say, Praise God for that story. It illustrates, if that can be true of a child who has a praying mother and father, how much more is it true of those of us who know the Lord. When you know the Lord, whether you acknowledge it or not, the devil knows the difference, and the world knows the difference.

So, my advice to all Christians is: you might just as well be all out for the Lord anyway; because if you think that by having one foot in the world, and one foot with the Lord, you are going to please both, you are going to please nobody. The world is going to hate you just the same. The world doesn’t hate you because you talk in tongues, and the world doesn’t hate you because you are such a good Christian; the world hates you because, like the Jew, the world knows you don’t belong. Did you get that? You don’t belong!

When they built the church back in Pangman in 1955, I worked along with a man in building it. Although most of the work was done by the Christian men in the assembly, they hired two men to be carpenters and oversee the work.

I don’t know if this man ever took a stand for Christ or not. His name is Iver, and they hired another brother who is now in Heaven. His name was Rueben. On this particular day, we are almost finished with the job; we were working on the pews. I was working on the platform with Brother, Rueben, and down 40 or 50 feet away, Iver is working.

As we were talking on the platform, Rueben and I got talking about the years 1931 and 1932. And I said to Reuben, “When did your wife Evelyn get saved? What year was it?” He couldn’t remember. As we were talking, we weren’t thinking about this other man listening in; and remember now, this is 1955, and I am talking about 22 years back. Iver spoke up while we were talking, and he said, “I remember the night when people were called to the altar.”

Remember, this man has never said he was a Christian, and he never went to an altar. I didn’t know much about him. He said, “I remember the night your wife became a Christian.”

The thing that really bowled me over, as I listened: here is a man from the world, looking in. And of these five people, there is one man who went up to that altar that night, and as far as I know, he never showed any outward change. He never walked with God. Others walked with God, and praise God, to this hour, they are walking with the Lord. But this other fellow, was counted in, and he was separated out. He went to the altar too, and as far as that man of the world was concerned, he belonged to the crowd.

I don’t know if you got what I was getting at or not. He counted him in. I want to tell you this, once a man takes a stand for Christ, as far as the world is concerned, regardless of how good he lives, the world knows, if he got saved, he is different. That is something you can’t hide.

And that’s why some who backslide go so deep into the world, they can’t ever be satisfied again. And so they go deeper and deeper because once you have had a drink of the water of life, there is nothing that can compare and satisfy your soul. Jesus said, The world is going to hate you because you don’t belong.

Titus 2:14

Talking of the Grace of God. The Grace of God teaches us how to live.

(14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,

Do you see why I am tying these Scriptures together? God said, He made Israel a peculiar nation. And God said He has made us a peculiar people; but I think for interpretation, read the rest of it.

zealous of good works.

If you have a zeal to be good, you will be so peculiar, the world will wonder what’s wrong with you. Some people have the idea that peculiar people means you wear black dresses all of the time, and you wear long faces all of the time, and you put on some outward show to show it. Listen, just have a zeal to be good, and you will be more peculiar than anybody else on the block.

Romans 12:1-2

(1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

(2) And be not conformed to this world:

I hope you can get what I am getting at, regarding Israel, God said, Israel, I made choice of you, so that in the nations you would be different. And God says to me, Lorne, I have chosen you so that you will be different. We are to be different. Don’t be conformed to the world.

Galatians 1:4

(4) Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.

God wants us to be different.

God made choice of the nation of Israel to be different. And that nation typifies the Church.

II. Israel Wanted To Be “Like” The Nations

God called them out to be different, but they wanted to be like the nations. Have you ever noticed with children, how all the teenagers want to be like all the teenagers? You know, adults are still the same as children in many ways.

1 Samuel 8:1

I said we would come back to this. We had read part of it.

(1) It came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

Mistake #1 for Samuel.

I remember, some years ago, that brother Dehaan preached a series of sermons on “The Blunders Of The Apostle Paul,” and he said, he never got so many adverse letters on anything he preached; because he found out that the Christians in Canada and America wanted to think that Paul never committed any blunders. Well, there are blunders for Paul.

And maybe you thought that Samuel couldn’t make a mistake, being such a Godly man. I’m glad that God records in the Bible, that these most outstanding men made mistakes. Why? I feel better, and maybe you do too; because none of them were perfect. And if you are thinking they were perfect, they weren’t.

Samuel did like so many people do; because the father is a preacher he wants his son to be a preacher. And because the father is a doctor, he wants his son to be a doctor. And because the father is a farmer, he wants his son to be a farmer. You go down the line. Samuel thought, “Well, if I’m a Judge, then my sons ought to be judges.” And you notice, in all the other cases, it was God who made men judges, but now it is Samuel who does it. Samuel makes his sons judges. He wants them to follow him in their calling. It goes on to give their names, and it tells where they judged. And in verse three, you can see where he made his mistake. This is hard to follow and understand.

1 Samuel 8:3-7

(3) His sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, (money) and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

His sons! Isn’t that something! Here is a Godly man, and yet his sons turn out this way. There are things in the Bible you can’t explain.

(4) Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

(5) And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

That would not have been so bad if they would stop there, in the light of what was going on. Samuel’s sons were not behaving themselves, and so if they had only said, “We want a king to better things.” But that isn’t what they said. They said, “Make us a king to judge LIKE ALL THE NATIONS.” They wanted to be like the nations. God wanted them to be different, but they wanted to be like the nations.

(6) But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.

(7) And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

In their choice, they are rejecting God. For through the Judges, God was ruling over them. But, as we shall see, God turns this about.

We are all originals. God has made us all originals, but we spend all our life trying to copy somebody else. Isn’t that true? We try and copy others. We want to be like somebody else, when God wants us to be like ourselves.

III. God Gave Them Their Request

1 Samuel 8:22

There is a very sobering lesson in here. In verse 7 God said hearken. Verse 9 God said hearken.

(22) And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

And then the next story is the choice of a king.

Hosea 13:11

It will give you a little illustration again how the Bible is all interlinked and interlocked together. When you read from Samuel, you don’t see the depth of the heart-cry of God when He said, It is not you Samuel that they rejected, they rejected Me.

(11) I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.

All I want you to see at this moment is: that God was angry when He gave Israel a king. I think you can see that. He wanted them to be different. They wanted to be like the nations, and so He hearkened unto them and He gave them a king. This is very sobering when you go to the Psalms.

Psalm 106:1-25

It talks about all God did for Israel. The Psalmist begins:

(1) Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

(2) Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise?

(7) Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

(8) Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, (the doctrine of Salvation) that he might make his mighty power to be known.(to Israel)

God didn’t save Israel because they were so good. God saved Israel because He was going to get Glory to His Name. And God didn’t save you because you are so good. He saved you for His Name’s sake. That takes you off the hook doesn’t it?

(9) He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

(10) And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

(11) And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.

(12) Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

That’s a key word for all Bible students. What is it that is going to make you praise God? Hearing and believing His Word. I think we have a lot of things backward these days. They believed His Words and then they sang His Praise. Did you get the order? A Brother said he goes to church, and he is not pointing out just one church,

We go to church today and somebody gets up behind the pulpit and tries to work you up. If one trick won’t work, they will try another one. So you try all the tricks in the book to get people to praise the Lord. You pump and prime, and pump and prime. Some times you have to prime more than other times, depending on how late the show was on Saturday night I suppose. The Brother said to me,

“The more you try to pump me up, the more solid I become. But if somebody will get up and give me something good out of the Bible, and feed me out of the Book, you don’t have to pump me to praise, I’m ready to praise God then.”

I wish we would get back to the order of the Book. Do you know what we do now? We spend an hour and a quarter trying to get people worked up, and then give the preacher ten minutes. And I think if we would turn that around, I think we ought to let the preacher on right away. First thing in the morning, let him stand up and preach the Word of God and see what kind of response there would be.

They believed His Word, and then they sang praise to God. I want to tell you, the singing that comes after believing the Word, is far better than the singing that comes when you are still getting over Saturday night!

They believed His Word and then they praised, but they soon forgot His Works. How could they? Well, that’s people. They soon forgot His Works. Why? Because they didn’t have time to wait on His counsel.

(13) They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:

(14) But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.

(15) And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

Did you notice what I read from Hosea? He gave them a king in his anger. He gave them what they asked for, but they got what they didn’t ask for. He gave them their request, but He sent leanness into their souls. Isn’t that sobering? They got their king, but they got something they weren’t expecting – leanness of soul. If you want to know what leanness of soul is, just skip through the rest of that chapter.

(16) They envied Moses

What is that? That is proof of their leanness. They hadn’t done that before then, but now they envied Moses.

(19) They made a calf

Leanness of soul.

(21) They forgat God their saviour

Leanness of soul.

(24) Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:

Leanness of soul.

(25) But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

Leanness of soul.

You go down through the rest of it, and it shows you what leanness of soul will bring. Have we envy in the church of God today? Have we covetousness in the church of God? Have we people that do forget about God? Have we people who won’t believe the Word? Have we people who are not interested in the Bible? What is the result? Where did it come from? Leanness of soul. He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul!

God Foreknew All This

The thing that amazes me, is that God knew all of this before it happened. Now, if you can explain that! And yet God allowed it, even though He knew it.

Deuteronomy 17:14

Before these people ever came into the land, before they had ever lived under the Judges, God said:

(14) When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;

That was in the days of Moses, before they ever came into the land. What does it prove? It proves the foreknowledge of God. It proves the fact that although these things follow a principle in their unveiling, God was not surprised by any of it. God knew, and I think this is worthy of saying again, God knew what these people were going to do, and yet He saved them anyway. And that blesses my heart.

God knew what you were going to do. When you look back at your life, put your name in there, and think of everything yesterday and back as far as you can think since you have been saved; is there anything in there that you are ashamed of? Don’t answer me, but think of the crooked trail that you left behind. Think of the things that you would like to erase, and you can’t. Aren’t you glad God knew all about it? He saved you just the same.

I pray you can stand here and raise your Ebenezer and look back over your life thus far, and say,

“If God has loved me all through this, I’m sure not going to worry about tomorrow. I praise God; if He can bring me this far, I can sing with renewed amazing Grace: His Grace has brought me safe thus far, and Grace will lead me home.”

IV. God Gave Them Three Kings

1. Saul For 40 Years

God gave Israel three kings; Saul for 40 years, during the days of Samuel the Prophet. Samuel then spans right over into the reign of Saul. The following Scripture chapters cover this period.

1 Samuel Chapters 9-15

1 Chronicles Chapters 1-10

Acts 13:21

(21) And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

2. David For 40 Years

Then after Saul, God gave them David for forty years during the days of Nathan the prophet. This history is in 1 Samuel Chapters 16 to 31, and all of 2 Samuel. The greater part of 1 Chronicles chapter 11 to 29 has to do with the life of David. There are so many things regarding these men that we can’t even touch it.

3. Solomon For 40 Years

Then God gave them Solomon for 40 years, during the days of an unknown prophet, Ahijah the prophet -- 1 Kings, chapters 1 to 11 and 2 Chronicles chapters 1 to 9 gives us the history.

Notice 40, 40, 40. And I just remind you that in no other history will you find anything like this. There has never been a time in English history, when three successive kings have reigned exactly for forty years. And so, the hand of God is in this. And the number 40 is the number of complete test. That’s all through the Bible – 40. It is the number of complete test.

And what does it mean here? God took three men over the space of 120 years, and gave each one of them 40 years to prove what failures men can be. That’s the reason. They proved they were failures. Do you know why? God is one day going to bring a King who won’t fail. And so, He draws the background with these who failed.

4. Thus The Kingdom Of Israel Was United For 120 Years

So the kingdom of Israel was united for 120 years. And we note that all three kings were failures.

The outstanding historical event of Solomon’s reign was the building of the Temple. That is interesting.

Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 13, 14, 21, 26

It’s not identified, but you come to the books of Chronicles and we find out what it is.

(5) But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there,

The word I want you to notice is “place.”

(11) Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there;

(13) Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: (any old place)

(14) But in the place which the Lord shall choose

(18) But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,

(21) If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, (I have some instructions for you)

(26) Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose:

I don’t know how many times it is, but what is it talking about?

1 Kings 11:36

(36) And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

You can’t get away from it: God chose a place. God chose a place to build a Temple. God chose a place to put His name—Jerusalem.

We have been considering the subject of the history of Israel. The nation that has now become a kingdom. God had chosen this nation to be different, without a king.

Israel wanted to be like the nations, and they wanted to have a king; so God gave them their request. He gave them three kings in the space of 120 years. Saul was king for 40 years, followed by David who was king for 40 years, and then followed by Solomon for 40 years.

There is much material in the Bible regarding these three kings, the united kingdom for 120 years. We note that all of these three kings were failures, but the outstanding historical event of Solomon’s reign was the building of the Temple at Jerusalem.

The following Scriptures all pertain to Solomon and the building of the Temple.

2 Chronicles 1:1

You go back to the books of Kings and Samuel, and you have the record of Saul and David. And now, in Chronicles it begins the history of Solomon.

(1) And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

Verse 12 of that chapter, it goes on to tell you what God gave him. God gave Solomon wisdom and knowledge, riches and wealth. And God said of him that there would never be a king like him on the earth. And Solomon stands head and shoulders above all the kings prior to that day.

2 Chronicles 2:1

(1) And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the Lord, and an house for his kingdom.

2 Chronicles 3:1-2

(1) Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

(2) And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

We have talked about the significance of that place where he built the Temple.

2 Chronicles 5:1-14

(1) Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished:

It starts telling, right from the beginning, and this is the main thing about his reign, he finished the Temple of Jerusalem.

and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

(2) Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem,

(now the significance)

to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

(3) Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.

(4) And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.

(5) And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

(6) Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

(7) And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:

(8) For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

(9) And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.

(10) There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

(11) And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:

(12) Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets,)

(13) It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;

(14) So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

There is a lot in regard to that, that is symbolic and typical, but I am trying to keep myself just to the facts of the history. There was a Temple built. You go back and think, in the book of Exodus, Moses finished a Tabernacle in the wilderness. And when he finished that Tabernacle, the Glory of God came into that Tabernacle. And by the Glory coming, Heaven was acknowledging the place.

And that is what you have here. When Solomon had finished building the Temple, and brought the ark into its place, which is typical of the Lord Jesus Christ, they drew out the staves. No longer was the ark to be moved. Then the Glory of God filled the House of the Lord. And it was the Glory of the Lord that made it the House of the Lord.

There are a lot of things that are there that are symbolic and typical, regarding things we can learn, but don’t miss the point that it was Solomon who built this magnificent Temple at Jerusalem; and it stood for over 400 years. And on that place now, is that which they call, “The Dome Of The Rock.”

Now skipping on and looking at a few things very quickly, in chapters six and seven.

2 Chronicles 6:1-3

(1) Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

(2) But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.

(3) And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.

In the rest of the sixth chapter, Solomon is preaching his sermon, and then he prays. Now we move over to the seventh chapter. Once more, a wonderful event takes place.

2 Chronicles 7: 1-2

(1) Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.

(2) And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.

That is repeated twice, but you can see that Heaven acknowledged this building. I want you to see that point. When the Glory of God came into it, and the fire of God came into it at Jerusalem, God acknowledged this building.

We have to move on, but we are going to come back to that building later on in the story.

V. The Nation Became A Divided Kingdom

After Solomon, the nation became a divided kingdom. You will never understand the prophets unless you get this history straight. I want to repeat, for 120 years the twelve tribes, (like our ten provinces in Canada,) were one nation.

After Solomon, his son Rehoboam came to the throne. I find that rather interesting; in looking over the history of Solomon. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines; and yet, according to the record, he only had one boy. Now, that’s an interesting fact regarding this history! He had a lot of daughters, but he had only one son. You try and figure that out. I can’t figure it out. All I say is: it teaches me that God orders these kind of things. You see, when Solomon died, he didn’t have any choice as to who would follow him.

As you go on and study about the kings; who followed was always quite a battle. Even Solomon’s father David had a problem regarding who was going to follow him; because David had so many sons. David didn’t want to make Solomon his successor. Apparently it was Bathsheba who had twisted Solomon’s arm. And that is why Solomon came to the throne.

But in this case, when Solomon comes to the end of his life, there is only one boy, and it is Rehoboam; and he turns out to be the biggest fool that Israel ever had.

When I read of these things in the Bible, I’m astounded. How could such a wise man produce such a fool of a son -- a wise man, and a foolish son! But I guess it still happens. When the Bible gives us history, it gives us history just the way that it is. Just because a man has brains, that’s no proof that his son will have brains.

We have some people today that think, as did Hitler and a few others like him, that they are going to produce a super race. Humans can’t produce a super race, because all humans are born in sin; that’s the reason. And so God can fowl up the thing here, and as my dad used to say, “throw a monkey wrench in the works.” God did that here.

Solomon has only one boy, and he is a fool. What does he do? -- when he comes on the throne, he divides the kingdom. You can read the story – that he went to the old men for advise; and the old men gave him good advise. They said, “Rehoboam, if you will relieve the taxes, if you will make it easier for your people, they will be your friend for ever.” Then Rehoboam went to the young men, and the young men said, “Make it worse,” and he did, and he divided the kingdom.

So that’s the background of the division of the kingdom. When Rehoboam came to the throne of Judah at Jerusalem, he divided it.

The Nation Became A Divided Kingdom

Israel Judah

1. North 1. South

2. Also called Ephraim 2. Included Benjamin

3. Ten tribes 3. Two tribes

4. Capital city: Samaria 4. Capital city: Jerusalem

5. First king: Jeroboam 5. First king Rehoboam

son of Nabat son of Solomon

1 Kings 11:26, 31 2 Chronicles 9:31

1 Kings 12:20

6. Place of Worship: 6. Place of Worship:

Dan – north, Bethel – south Temple at Jerusalem

1 Kings 12:28-31

7. Kingdom stood for approx. 7. Kingdom stood for

approx. 200 years. approx. 300 years.

8. Fell in 712 BC 8. Fell in 606 BC

Assyrian captivity Babylonian captivity

2 Kings 17:23 2 Chronicles 36:15-21

9. A full and final fall 9. Not final:

Promise of

Restoration

Amos 9:8-9 Jeremiah 29:10

We now have two kingdoms in the history, right through to the prophesy to Malachi . On the one side you have Israel, which is the northern part of the land. So Israel is north. And from here on, Judah is in the south. There are a lot of things that we are going to learn, by learning this simple history.

The northern kingdom, many times is also called “Ephraim” by the prophets. The reason being, Ephraim was the largest tribe. It was one of the ten, and being the largest tribe with the most people, it was often identified as the northern kingdom.

The southern kingdom included Judah and Benjamin. And so you can see the division. The northern kingdom has ten tribes. The southern kingdom has two tribes. The capital city of the north became Samaria. There is a lot in the Bible about that place. And right at the present time, there is a lot of trouble going on in Samaria. The modern name, near the site of Samaria is Nablus. And if you have read the news, it is only a few weeks ago that they shot the Mayor of Nablus. That is at this very point of this history. And so, Samaria is the capital of the north, and Jerusalem remains the capital of the south. So now, you have two kingdoms, and two capitals, because you have two kings.

The first king of the northern kingdom was Jerobam, son of Nebat. Let’s take our Bibles and turn to the book of Kings, and read these few facts regarding the king of the north.

1 Kings 11: 26, 31

Remember, we are talking about the king of the divided kingdom.

(26) And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda,

The Ephrathite belongs to the tribe of Ephraim. You can see another reason why they refer to Israel as being “Ephraim,” because their first king came from Ephraim,

Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zerush, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king. (the king of the south)

(31) The prophet said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

There you have the beginning of the history.

1 Kings 12:19-20

(19) So Israel (the northern ten tribes) rebelled against the house of David (the southern tribes) unto this day.

(20) And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

Later on we will see that included Benjamin. There you have the background of Jeroboam becoming the king of the northern kingdom.

The first king of the north was Jeroboam, the first king of the south was Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

2 Chronicles 9:31

(31) And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

In the north, they set up places of worship. The one was in Dan, and the other was in Bethel. In the south they carried on the worship at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Let’s go and look at that other history. The kingdom is divided. Now we have to think of two kings, and their names are so much alike. It is like Elijah and Elisha. Do you ever have any problem with those two men? Every once-in-a-while you say Elisha when you mean Elijah; you get them mixed up. It is so easy to get them mixed up, because the one is Jeroboam, and the other is Rehoboam. Rehoboam is from the south, and Jeroboam is from the north.

1 Kings 12:26-29

(26) And Jeroboam said in his heart, (the king of the north), Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:

He wasn’t very sure of his kingdom.

(27) If this people (the northern tribes) go up to sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

This is another example from the Bible where a man does very foolishly because of his fear. Fear makes men do foolish things. He is fearful of his life; because he said, If these people keep going south to worship, I’m going to lose my kingdom. So what does he do?

(28) Whereupon the king took counsel

It doesn’t say who his counselors were.

and made two calves of gold, and said unto them,

Later on you can read over and over again, that Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was the one who made Israel sin. Do you know what that means? He introduced idolatry into Israel.

The Bible is really interwoven with facts. They took counsel and made calves. I wonder where they got the idea? I wonder where that ideal came from! Do you remember the book of Exodus? Do you remember when Moses was up on the mountain for forty days? God had said to the children of Israel, they were to wait until Moses came down. And the people said, “As for this Moses we don’t know what has become of him.” They went to Aaron and said, “Aaron make us a god.”

If you ever read a story that reveals what is in the heart of men, it’s that one; because Aaron went about and collected the golden earrings and the golden mirrors from all the women, and he threw it into the fire, and the Bible says – Aaron made a calf.

And then, afterwards, when Moses came down from the mountain and got so angry and dropped the tablets of stone because of what he saw in the camp of Israel, Aaron said, “We threw in the gold and the silver and this calf came out.” Did you read it? We just threw it in, and it just happened! Oh what liars men are!

I want to tell you, it is a sad thing what Aaron did. What Aaron had done, so many years later Israel did. The sin of the father is visited unto the children of later generations. Aaron had made a calf, and now Israel starts worshipping idols as a result of that. They take counsel and they make a calf. But this time they didn’t make one, they made two calves.

(28) Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

That is exactly what you will find written back in the book of Exodus. When they made the calf, Israel started to say, This is the god that brought you out of the land of Egypt. You can’t understand people. And here they are deceiving themselves.

(29) And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

He is going to make it convenient. And you see, Dan was in the northern part of the kingdom. I’ve been there. And Bethel was in the southern part of the kingdom. So, we could put it up-to-date. Jeroboam made it convenient for these people to go to church. It’s too far to drive to Jerusalem; all you have to do is go to Dan if you are in the north. And all you have to do is go to Bethel if you are in the south, and we will worship the Lord there.

I want to read further. This comes back to haunt us later on in the story.

1 Kings 12:30-33

(30) And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

(31) And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

(32) And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah,….

(33) So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month (Look at this:) which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

He is trying to make it as much like Jerusalem’s worship as he can. Can you see that? It is counterfeit. He is making a feast LIKE the feast of the Lord. He has a house LIKE the house of the Lord, but in it, he has an idol. That became a sin to Israel, and later on, all the prophets talk about this.

The kingdom of the north only lasted for two-hundred years. The kingdom of the south lasted, in round figures, for three-hundred years. When I read this history, and then I go on to study the prophets; (for all of the prophets prophesied during these years of this divided kingdom,) I think about our situation.

The United States of America is only a little over two-hundred years old, and our Canada is just over one-hundred fifty years or there about. It only takes about 200 years for a nation to totally apostatize. That’s what this history is about. The northern kingdom became totally apostate in 200 years.

The northern kingdom fell in 712BC – 700 years before Christ. And the Assyrians took it into captivity.

2 Kings 17:16, 23

Talking about the ten tribes in the north.

(16) And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God,

When you start the history of Israel, they bragged, “We will keep them all.” But now here, they left all the commandments of the Lord.

(23) Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets.

That is talking about the northern kingdom.

So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

The captivity of the northern kingdom was full and final. That kingdom is never going to rise again.

Amos was a prophet, and I find this rather intriguing to see what the Lord does. When you read about the man Amos; he was a herdsman in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah, and that means he lived in the south. Amos lived in the south, or in Judah, and the Lord sent him north to be a missionary. And so, you have to get the background, to understand the way he preached.

He is a southerner, sent north. Isn’t it amazing what the Lord will do. He will send missionaries from Canada to Africa, and then he will send missionaries from Africa to Canada. He does that kind of thing, and that’s what He did with Amos; he sent him up north, and he got into trouble up there with the priest of the Bethel.

We’ve read a little bit about what Jeroboam did.

Amos 7:10-13

(10) Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel

Amos has gone from his home in the south, and he has gone north, and he had the gall to go and preach in the king’s palace.

Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

Here is the preacher from the south, the missionary, and this priest (one of these who are ordained of MEN. They couldn’t take, (not the man,) but his message. They rejected his message.

(11) For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

You are going to be led away captive, and the king is going to die.

(12) Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

We don’t need a preacher like you here. You go on back south where they need you.

(13) But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.

Don’t you know this is the king’s chapel? The king of the north went to church at Bethel. That’s what that means. The king of the north went to the church at Bethel, and now here is this farm boy, daring to come north to preach.

Every time I read that, I think of a few stories I can use to illustrate. Do you know where the good preachers of some of the denominations are? They are up north with the Indians. They are up north with the Eskimos. What are they doing up there? We in the south don’t need that kind of preaching, they need the Gospel up there, but they don’t need it here! So that is exactly what they said to Amos. They no longer wanted the truth.

Now, here is Amos talking about this northern kingdom:

Amos 9:8

(8) Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,

Remember, it is talking about the north.

and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth;

God said, I am going to destroy the thing utterly, but now notice:

saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.

In other words, God said, I am going to destroy that kingdom, but I am not going to destroy some of the people. I am going to show you how He does that later on. But the destruction of the northern kingdom is both full and final.

Judah lasted for three-hundred years. It fell, in round figures in about 606 BC, one-hundred years after the northern kingdom. The northern kingdom fell in 712 BC, and one-hundred years later, the southern kingdom fell.

Let’s turn to Chronicles and read about this fall of the southern kingdom.

I sometimes wonder how many of those that read the Bible, pay attention to some of the names of the last kings. Zedekiah was the last king to reign in the southern kingdom.

2 Chronicles 36:15-21

(15) And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them (the southern kingdom) by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending;

What is that talking about? They are talking about the prophets. He sent them prophets. He sent Jeremiah, He sent Haggai, and so on – these prophets that you read about.

because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

(which was the Temple at Jerusalem.)

(16) But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

(17) Therefore he brought upon them (the southern kingdom) the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

(18) And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

(19) And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

That is when the Temple was destroyed. When the Babylonians came in 600, they destroyed the Temple that Solomon had built.

(20) And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

(21) To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

The fall of the northern kingdom was final, but the fall of the southern kingdom was not final. And the reason why it was not, was because there was a promise of a restoration.

Perhaps I should refresh you memory. In the twenty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah, Jeremiah had predicted the Babylonian captivity.

Jeremiah 25:11

There is a prophesy that is made regarding the southern kingdom.

(11) And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

It is not final. The captivity of the south is not final, it is only going to last for seventy years.

Jeremiah 29:10

(10) For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

There is no return for the northern kingdom. There is only a return for the southern kingdom.

That is the history on which we follow what is here.

VI. All 12 Tribes Were Taken Captive From Judah

1. Learn This Well !

If you learn this lesson, you will never be taken in by British Israelism. If you learn this lesson, you won’t be taken in with the world-wide Church of God; because those people build their doctrine on a false premise. I’m going to show it to you from this. And I believe this is one of the main reasons for the history in the Chronicles.

During the years of the Divided Kingdom (for 200 years) when there was a revival in the South (by the way, there never was a revival in the north, but there was a Spiritual revival in Judah) people from all of the ten tribes in Israel in the Northern Kingdom moved south and took up residence there. Have you got the picture?

2 Chronicles 11:14-17

Rehoboam was the first king of the divided kingdom. In the first verse of 2 Chronicles 11, it is talking about the reign of Rehoboam.

(14) For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem:

What does that mean? They left the north and came south. They came to Jerusalem. Why did they do that?

For Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the Lord:

Who was Jeroboam? He was the king of the north, and here he defrocks the Levites. And because he defrocks the Levites, they move south.

(15) He (Jeroboam) ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

That’s Jeroboam in the north. He has made his own priests in Bethel and Dan, and so the Levites move south.

(16) And after them (the Levites) – after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers.

(17) So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

They couldn’t have strengthened the kingdom if they didn’t move and stay there. Are you getting the picture that I am showing you here? Because of the idolatry in the north; they couldn’t find God in the north, so they moved to the south and they settled in the south. And so, what have you got then? You have representatives already of all the tribes, living in the south. It is still Judah, and it is still the southern kingdom, but it is no longer two tribes.

The southern people, after a while, all became “Jews.” They were nicknamed “Jews.” The northern people were called “Israelites.” And where did this come in? Somebody tries to tell me, if you belong to Judah then you are a Jew, but if you don’t belong to Judah, you are not a Jew, but that isn’t the history. All of the tribes were preserved in the south, now all of the tribes are called Jews. And that follows right over to the New Testament.

When I meet a Jew, I don’t ask him if he is of the tribe of Judah. I don’t have to know that, because they are all Jews, because they are preserved, not in the north, but in the south. We will follow more of that in our next lesson. That’s a very important lesson.

In Review

We were considering the division of the kingdom into the north and south. We made the statement that all of the ten tribes in Israel (or the northern kingdom) moved south and took up residence there. We are showing, from the Scriptures, how this happened over the period of years of the division. 2 Chronicles 11:14-17 was the last passage we looked at. In that passage, we notice, people of the tribe of Levi moved south. Then in verse sixteen, after them, we find people from all the tribes moved south.

Now we go on.

Throughout the history of the book of Chronicles, and the kings of Judah, in particular, many of the kings were ungodly men, but every once-in-a-while God would raise up a Godly man. And when the king was Godly, there would be a revival in the south. The leader would revive the nation. And so now it is Asa.

2 Chronicles 15:8-9

(8) And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.

You see there were idols already in the south as well as the north. Now he has a revival. When they backslide, they get their idols; and then when they have a revival they break down their idols.

(9) And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh,

Isn’t that interesting for anybody who is studying about the lost tribes! Say, “Here they are!” Don’t go looking for Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim and Manasseh were in the south of Judah. You have the Levites, now you have Ephraim and Manasseh, and you have Simeon.

And out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

Are you seeing what I am reading? Why did they move in the days of Rehoboam? They moved because of the idolatry in the north. Now what has happened? God is with Asa. And there is a revival in the south, and so they fall from the north to the south in abundance. They come down south from all of the tribes. They come and they stay there.

2 Chronicles 19:4

Time goes on, and another Godly king comes on the throne. His name is Jehoshaphat. You have all heard of him. He is a Godly man. And he is on the throne in the south.

(4) And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba (that’s the south) to mount Ephraim (in the north), and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers.

There you have people again at a later date from the north, coming to the kingdom of Jehoshaphat.

2 Chronicles 24:1-2, 4-5

Another Godly king is on the throne. He is a boy. Joash was seven years old. This is an interesting, very captivating story.

(1) Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Zibiah of Beersheba.

If you read the story, it says Joash had a Godly uncle and a Godly aunt. They had brought him up.

Verse two, I can’t pass by.

(2) And Joash (starting at the age of seven) did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

Isn’t that precious! A boy, and at seven. He had an uncle who trained him.

(4) And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord.

Isn’t that interesting. Somebody reminded him – his Godly uncle that you read about. And so, there is a revival that comes, primarily not because of the boy, but because of the Godly priest (his uncle).

(5) And he gathered together the priest and the Levites, and said to them. Go out into the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel

What does “all Israel” mean? That means twelve tribes. For all Israel, it takes twelve tribes. And so, what is happening now? All the tribes are living in the kingdom of Judah.

2 Chronicles 29:24

Once again, we are back to a Godly king, and his name is Hezekiah. Hezekiah is reigning.

(24) And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel:

By the way, it was the greatest revival since David in the days of Hezekiah. Almost three-hundred years since David, and almost 200 years since Asa, and now they are having the Feast of the Lord like they haven’t had for years.

Atonement for all Israel. They are doing this in the south. They are offering sacrifices

for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

Just to reflect again. Remember when I read from Amos 9 – God said He would destroy the northern kingdom, but He wouldn’t destroy all of the people. How is He saving the people? By moving them from the north to the south.

2 Chronicles 30: 1, 2, 5, 6, 10-11, 25

(1) And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah

If you have any trouble there, getting it together, you have the northern and the southern – all the twelve tribes.

(2) For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover in the second month.

I like this sixth verse. It is so old English. I still like the old English.

(6) So the posts went with the letters

A lot of Canadians don’t understand that. That means “the mail went out.”

with letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abram, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

Doesn’t that add a little more? Now the captivity has come, but some have escaped and now they are turning back to the Lord under the reign of the south.

I want to show you, they weren’t all Godly in the north, because look at verse 10 and 11 of that same chapter.

(10) So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.

There were people up north that were not interested.

(11) Nevertheless divers of Asher (another tribe) and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

I think, if we read it all, before we are finished we will have every tribe name. They are all going to be named.

(25) And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

They dwelt where? In Judah. Can you see what I am showing you? They came from the north, and they made their homes in the south. They left Saskatchewan and went to British Columbia.

2 Chronicles 31:1, 5, 8

(1) Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present

(5) And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance

(8) And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel.

They are all there when he blesses them.

2 Chronicles 34: 9, 21, 33

Another Godly king. In-between it is an ungodly king. And now comes the last Godly king, and his name is Josiah.

(9) And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin

Can you see that they are all there? I think that is so wonderful. And so many times, we have the lost tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, but here they are, and they are named. Ephraim is there. Manasseh is there. Judah is there. Benjamin is there. Levi is there. They are all there.

(21) Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah

(33) And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 35:3, 17

(3) And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel

Where are the Levites teaching? Do you remember, when we started out this long list? The Levites had left the north. They are not teaching in the north. They are teaching in the south. And now, who are the Levites teaching? They are teaching all of the tribes. Where are all the tribes? They are in the south.

(17) And the children of Israel that were present kept the Passover at that time

Not the children of Judah, but the children of Israel kept the Passover.

Thus representatives (a remnant) of all twelve tribes, not just two, were carried captive into Babylon. They didn’t go just out of Judah and Benjamin. When the Babylonians came in the 36^th chapter of Chronicles, they carried all twelve tribes into that captivity. As I have shown you, this captivity was not final.

2. The Babylonian Captivity Is Described In Lamentations

The Babylonian captivity is described in Lamentations. Lamentations tells you about what the Babylonians did to the city of Jerusalem. You know what a Lamentation is? It is a song of sorrow. It is just the opposite of the Song of Songs which is Solomon’s. The one is a song of love, but the Lamentation is a song of sorrow.

What is it all about? Jeremiah who lived just before the captivity, and then lived during the captivity, was in Jerusalem when the Babylonians came. And he saw them plunder and kill the children, and kill the mothers. And the thing that broke his heart were the children in the city of Jerusalem who were hanging on to the apron strings of their mother and crying out for food. Jeremiah sat down and wept. And he said, I wish you could sit where I sat in Jerusalem. That is what that story is about.

Jeremiah describes the captivity, but let’s go to Ezekiel and Daniel, and see how this fits in with books that follow. All of this history is so inter-woven, that you cannot study what goes beyond here if you haven’t got this history straight.

Ezekiel 1:1

(1) Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year

I believe this is talking about Ezekiel’s thirtieth year. These prophets were types of the Lord. When did Jesus begin his ministry? When he was thirty years of age. And Ezekiel began his ministry when he was thirty.

It came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar,

In Babylon. Chebar was a canal, a river that had been man-made in Babylon. And Ezekiel says, “I was down by the river.” I want you to notice that he was a captive. Who had taken him into captivity? The Babylonians. And so, Ezekiel is a captive when he writes his book.

Daniel 1:1, 6

This adds more to the story of the captivity.

(1) In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.

Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem three times. The first time he took Daniel captive. The last time, he burnt the Temple. The burning of the Temple is in 586. The first invasion is in 606. And so, here Daniel is taken captive.

(6) Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

So Ezekiel prophesies during the captivity. And Daniel lives through the whole seventy years, and he becomes the Prime Minister of Mede-Persia after that. It is a tremendous story – a wonderful story about Daniel. He had to be at least 16 when he went into captivity. And he is in captivity for 70 years, so he is 86. And it is after that that he becomes Prime Minister of the realm with 120 men under him. A cabinet of 120, and he was the wisest man in all the land. Would to God we had a few more Daniels.

3. The Captivity Of The South Was Not Final

Jeremiah 25:11

(11) And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 29:10

(10) For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

VII. The Remnant Of The Captives Of Babylon Only

Continues The Recorded History Of The Nation Of Israel.

Let that sink in. As far as the Bible history is concerned, forget about the northern kingdom. It is gone! The history continues with those who went into Babylonian captivity – Daniel, Ezekiel and so on.

Because they were all taken captive from Judah, later when they returned, and even in captivity, all the tribes were called “Jews.” It was like the term “Christian.” If you want to go back to the philology of words, in the book of Acts we are told that the disciples were first called “Christians” at Antioch. It was a nickname.

The Bible doesn’t call us Christians. Did you know that? The Bible calls us “believers.” The Bible calls us “brothers and sisters.” It was the outside world that called us “Christians.” When they looked on those believers coming together to study the Bible, they nicknamed them “followers of Christ.” – “Christians.”

So, in like manner, when these Jews from Judah, go down to Babylon and the Babylonians don’t call them Israelites (God does but not the Babylonians) the Babylonians call them “Jews.” And from there on, they have been nicknamed “Jews.” Their real Bible name is Israelites. But they are nicknamed Jews, and it stays with them.

I have shown you Daniel 1:1. He was a captive during the reign of Jehoiakim, which was the first siege of Jerusalem by Babylon in the year 606 BC.

Ezekiel 1:1

(1) Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

He was a captive during the days of Jehoichin, who followed Jehoiakim, and that was approximately in the year 586 BC.

Ezekiel 33:21

(21) And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

In the 12^th year of the captivity, the Temple was destroyed. The year 586BC. And the history, as we have read it is in 2 Chronicles. And so 2 Chronicles ends with the story of the captivity.

2 Chronicles 36: 15-20

(15) And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

(16) But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

(17) Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

(18) And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

(19) And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

(20) And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: